<p>She wants to be a Physical Therapist. She says that the couple of "C" grades she got in her Freshman year are the problem and wants to re-take those courses. She is graduating in May with a BA in Exercise Science...what are her options?</p>
<p>I don’t have specific advice for Physical Therapy graduate programs, however, if your daughter really wants to go to graduate school and didn’t get in the first year, she should definitely keep trying for another few years.</p>
<p>A friend of mine applied to medical graduate school to be a doctor and was turned down two years in a row. Year number three was the charm. In the years between rejection and admission, he retook several of his biology classes that he had done sub par on to bolster his academic record. He also took on a fulltime job (wasn’t even remotely related to medicine - it was an office job), did volunteer work and intermural sports. He kept his life full in case medical graduate school wouldn’t work out. And trust me, after 2 years of rejection in a row he was ready to quit… but the third year worked out for him. </p>
<p>So, have your daughter talk to people in her field to give her advice on how to bolster her application. I agree that retaking those classes and adding more real world experience (even just a fulltime job in any field) will help her look more mature and an interesting candidate for graduate school.</p>
<p>Also remind your daughter that the average age of people in graduate school is not 22 or 23… it is usually quite a bit older. Graduate schools often reward “maturity” of experience and age.</p>
<p>Annika</p>
<p>I agree with Annika (I like that name!). I, too, know of a number of kids who were accepted after a number of tries. It would help to retake courses and maybe take some additional classes .</p>
<p>Not sure where you are from, but I am a Physical Therapist. I can’t believe how competitive PT schools are these days; I probably would never have gotten in had I been trying currently! My experience with students (and I have coordinated a student internship program) is that many do NOT get in the first go-round. The schools seem to very interested in candidates with lots of volunteer/work in the field so they can gauge genuine interest and committment. It would probably be best if she speaks directly to the schools where she applied and find out what she needs to strengthen her application. It might make more sense to spend time in the field vs. retaking classes she got “C”'s in. Please send me a PM with more specific info if I can be of more help.</p>
<p>Can she explore programs in other states or private programs? Some programs at our state schools (CA) are so impacted that it seems almost impossible to get into them.</p>
<p>I agree with many of the thoughts expressed by annikasorrensen. Taking a post-bac year and re-taking those troublesome classes, taking other classes that might be looked on favorably by the admissions committee, re-taking any tests (GRE or whatever) for a higher score, and doing some volunteer work that might have some connection to the field might bolster her application for next year.</p>
<p>Also in the next year, she should be open to what experiences come into her life. The D of a friend was rejected from med school one year. She worked in a pharmacy while she was considering what to do. She ended up liking pharmacy work and she is now happily in pharmacy school.</p>
<p>Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans…</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, physical therapy is one of the toughest fields to enter, and that’s even true at an undergraduate level. I have been amazed at how high students’ gpas need to be for them to enter undergrad programs. </p>
<p>In addition to the suggestions from others here, your D may wish to consider other fields that are similar, but less competitive.</p>
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<p>Northstarmom, what fields did you have in mind?</p>
<p>How many did she apply to? Did she cast a wide net? As someone else asked, did she look at other states? Can she work for a year in a related field and reapply next year? She should weigh the costs of retaking the classes to replace a “C” vs. the other options.</p>
<p>My niece’s husband cast a very narrow net and didn’t get in anywhere. He took a gap year and worked at a health club, then was admitted casting with a wider net. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m not familiar enough with the physical therapy field to suggest other ones that she may enjoy. Her campus career office, though, may be able to help her.</p>
<p>My son’s girlfriend did not get into a pharmacy program despite a very good gpa. She took off a year, worked in a related field and took some additional science courses. She was accepted to a program the subsequent year.</p>
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<p>Any idea why this is the case?</p>
<p>Someone told me that any of the health professions are getting competitive because of the jobs that are out there for trained personnel. I know a number of kids who have upped their market salaries by going to community college AFTER graduating from a 4 year college and taking courses that specifically trained them in some medical field like medical transcription, medical technical writing, operating MRIs or other equipment.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about this field, but I was chatting with my p.t. a couple of weeks ago (he’s excellent), and he mentioned that he had done his training in Ireland. So maybe casting a wider net would include going overseas!</p>
<p>“Any idea why this is the case?”</p>
<p>Ever since i’ve been aware of the field – for at least 20 years-- it has been hard to enter. One reason is that it’s a restricted major at schools, probably due to the placements involving hands on training that are required. There just aren’t those many spaces for students. In addition, one has to take difficult science classes. The physical therapy students I have met were extremely bright, highly disciplined people with very high grades.</p>
<p>It’s also known as a profession with good pay, high job security, high demand, so lots of people want to enter it.</p>
<p>SIL is a PT. It was an extremely competitive program 20+ yrs ago. She ended up going out of state. She is not naturally strong in the sciences and had to work extremely hard to get into a program and also to stay in. I recall at the time her program had quite a high failure rate. Also I recall she had to pass a exam. Different States at the time required different scores. She said most PT’s are interested in Sports Med. She was not interested in that area and has worked with infants and young children. She has always found steady work at both the county and state level. In her field there is a shortage of therapists and she has never had a problem finding work full or part time. She presently runs a private company that contracts with the state.
Other related fields- PT assistant, Occupational Therapist.</p>
<p>*It might make more sense to spend time in the field vs. retaking classes she got “C”'s in. *</p>
<p>I would agree- particulary since the courses were freshman year- I imagine they would be prerequisites for subsequent courses, so what could she possibly improve on, if the later courses were mastered?</p>
<p>depending on what her emphasis is, I would suggest if she is determined to spend a term or two taking classes, take a short program through a reputable massage school.
She would be exposed to another side of the profession, and she could be certified and work as a massage therapist while she is waiting for PT school</p>
<p>As a practicing PT, nix the idea of the “massage school/therapist”. It has nothing in common with PT and would get her nowhere. PT has been competitive, as someone mentioned, for a long,long time. It is a great field — lots of diversity; I feel like I have had 4 different careers off 1 degree with tremendous flexibility to boot — but the education standards have gone up tremendously. It is a minimum masters and some schools have switched to DPT degrees (like D of Pharmacy, a professional degree) which is more time, more money and currently with little pay-off. My 2 cents: 1) experience in the field volunteer or paid is essential,2) speak with several different schools and find out specifically what you need to do to strengthen the application 3) cast a wide net.</p>
<p>PT school is REALLY competitive to enter. I would suggest taking a year or two off and working perhaps as a PT assistant/aide (I’m not sure if there’s any additional training she’d need to go through to get a certification or anything). I think work experience can be quite important for grad school as it shows you’re genuinely interested in the field and have an idea of what you’re getting into. I’m looking at PA schools and they pretty much all require you to get work experience before applying.</p>
<p>FWIW, anything associated with health professions is a great road to take re: career, job security, good salary, flexibility (you can move anywhere and work p/t), etc. One area I recommend is speech pathology/audiology. It is a masters program and a difficult one, but it is a great field with a major shortage. I am trying to get my d to see it as a possibility; when she asks me why it will be a growing field in the future I answer "because my generation is getting older!</p>