Have I chosen a reasonible degree?

College Life
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Hi I am an under graduate student tending UIS (University of Illinois of Springfeild) I am in my second semester here and I do like the school and live with my boyfriend (most might be against that but he makes me a stable happy person been dating for years, hes beyond mature for his age and a US soldier amazing at math which helps me) so I am not looking to transfer anytime soon since we just bought a house here.
So a little about me is, I do have a learning disability of some sort, I don’t retain knowledge easily and process slowly. I am in the process of finally figuring out if I need medication for ADHD. I am a golfer and on the team at this school, could become pro if I had the mental stability an gave my all to golf rather than some to school an some to golf. I am someone who want to help people in the health and sports industry so much if golf becomes the path I don’t take. I dedicate my life to athletics and know I would love my job as a Physical Therapist when/if I got to that point in my life.(I think, I don’t know I do want to be somewhere in health an still make a good buck.) The problem is the unbelievable amount of schooling for this job. Even if I just stick with the Physical Therapists assistant I still need to really work my way through calculus, chemistry Biology’s and much more in between classes. Math and me are beyond so sad together it hurts, I cannot retain my math skills from high school (even though my high school didn’t do the best job) the basics still should be there. The ADHD aspect of not focusing like most can, can think outside the box, not knowing how to study a subject I’m SO interested in (Biology from my first semester) made me have to drop it and try it again. Math scares the hell out of me, my 094 math class is what I barley passed with a C but my exam let me skip to college pre calc and I know it will be so challenging with most in the class thinks its easy. I just don’t know what I want, I feel like there are a lot of intrests I have out there that I have not found yet and I need to know by next fall.

Do you think im in an unrealistic major or do I just need to find how to fix my disabilities to get through any degree?

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also I came to this school for my golf scholarship which goes to amazing places to golf. But I did not realize that when they said they have physical therapy under grad program-that it was only pre med which is so tough for me. There are schools with physical therapy paths right away which would be a lot better than going down a path most doctors do is really stressing me out.

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–To clarify, you are not actually in a major right now, are you?
–Which major do you plan to pursue? Biology?
–What was your high school GPA and your SAT/ACT score?
–How did you do in high school math and science classes?

To be frank, I’m questioning whether you have adequate high school preparation for a science major and/or whether the ADHD is something you need to take care of right away before things get worse.

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Your campus learning center will have some assessments you can take to help you identify your academic strengths and weaknesses, and those results might give you some direction. If you’re interested in the health field but find the math and science too challenging right now, (1) you’re not alone! and (2) take a look at perhaps psychology, communication, social work, or public policy - all programs with health-related career options requiring less math-y skills.

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But I did not realize that when they said they have physical therapy under grad program-that it was only pre med


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This makes no sense. A pre-PT program would not be premed, it would be pre-PT…the prereqs for a grad PT program.

If you want to become a PT, then that program should work. can you link to the program?

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DPT programs have a central application system (PTCAS) that has a list of prerequisites on the website. Every DPT program has slightly different prerequisites, but they are mostly similar. Most require:

1-2 semesters of anatomy & physiology
1-2 semesters of biology
1-2 semesters of general chemistry; some require organic chemistry
1-2 semesters of physics
1-2 semesters of psychology
1 semester of statistics

Actually, the majority of DPT programs do not require math course. Only 24% require one or more courses in math other than statistics. And I poked around, and that math is usually not calculus. Alabama State, which is one of the schools, requires pre-calculus, trigonometry or higher. New York Medical College simply says “one course in mathematics.” Northwestern does require calculus. Rutgers-Newark says “college level pre-calculus, calculus, trigonometry, or geometry.” Most of the programs from recognizable flagship campuses (University of Florida, University of Miami, Stony Brook, Ohio State, Marquette, Georgia Regents, George Washington, Emory, etc.) don’t have a separate math requirement.

So you really just need to do well in your pre-calculus class - try to get at least a B - but it seems like for the vast majority of DPT programs, you do not need to take calculus. So you will probably be fine even if you don’t like math, as long as you work hard in the one math class you should take.

Now if science requirements are too difficult for you, then yes, it’s a bad major - DPT hopefuls have to take biology, chemistry AND physics, and those are just prerequisites. You will also have to take classes with those concepts in them in your DPT program.

Now, is it unrealistic? It depends on the nature of your learning disability and whether you are willing and able to put in the work to overcome the disability.

Also, I don’t think there are any more BA-level physical therapy programs, but there are a few BS-level occupational therapy programs and some 5-year BS/MS programs in occupational therapy. But right now the standard of education for physical therapy is the DPT.