I’m SUPER INTERESTED in physical therapy but also I’m looking for a large(10,000+ students) school with good school spirit and sports! Also I’d rather not be in a super cold climate but still want seasons(I’ve been thinking of mid atlantic). I know that is a lot to ask for in a college but does anyone have any recommendations for what schools I should look at?(I’ve been looking at georgetown but don’t know if they have opportunities for physical therapy)
as a reference I have a 4.0 gpa and have yet to take SATs
Arcadia has one of the best grad physical therapy program. I’m not sure if you have more of a chance to get in if you are undergrad there, but it’s very well known. Don’t let them relatively low selectivity of the school fool you.
Some basic internet research often provides a great start. Google “colleges with PT” and that will provide a number of lists of colleges that offer PT which can help you start your search.
A school that fits your criteria pretty nicely is Ohio University. It’s in south eastern Ohio which has 4 distinct seasons though it definitely has a winter. It has around 18,000 undergrads and is division 1 on sports. It has a very good DPT program with excellent outcomes. They have two pre PT routes in Biology and Psychology though you can major in anything and take the pre PT courses (my D is planning to study PT and is a Dance major there). Many students also choose an Exercise Physiology route. If you were to attend their DPT program after undergrad it is one of the least expensive in the country. I don’t believe they are direct admit but they did tell us they do give preference to their students. The campus is beautiful and Athens is a wonderful college town. Good luck.
Here is some basic information on OU’s pre-PT information.
https://www.ohio.edu/cas/undergrad/bachelors/pre-health/physical-therapy.cfm
Here is a directory of DPT programs. It may help you as well. A school does not have to have a DPT program for you to do undergrad there though having a DPT program MIGHT mean they provide better advising.
You can do a lot of research yourself on schools you are interested in. Type in pre-PT Georgetown University to see if they have any information.
If you’re sure that PT is what you want, then a direct-entry program is the “brass ring” at this stage. Here’s the APTA’s list of programs, filtered for direct freshman admission to the DPT program: http://aptaapps.apta.org/accreditedschoolsdirectory/AllPrograms.aspx?UniqueKey=
Most of these schools do not meet both the “not super cold” and the “large, spirited & sporty” criteria. If you do very well on your SAT/ACT in addition to keeping your GPA up (with honors/AP’s for rigor/weighting), then BU and Northeastern could be possible - Boston is colder than you prefer but not Great Lakes level cold, and these are terrific programs at schools with the size and spirit (albeit not Southern flaghip level spirit) you’re looking for.
Of course there are many great programs at schools that don’t have direct entry, but if you can get into a direct entry program, I wouldn’t turn that down lightly.
UConn? Not sure if that would qualify as “not super cold.”