Do you think you have a better chance of admission if you do your undergrad at the same school as the PT program
Some like Quinnipiac offer guaranteed slot from freshman year on, if you keep your grades up.
At some places…yes. At many places…no.
Some places offer guaranteed acceptances to the DPT program given certain criteria.
Some colleges offer a direct admit into a program where you end up with the DPT degree. For example - “Northeastern university is a freshman entry program in a 3 + 3 curriculum format. Students graduate with a DPT after 6 years.”
Aside from looking into the guaranteed admit, which I highly recommend , ask each school . We found that at some schools it was only a small bump, and others it definitely would have been an advantage .
Depends. If not a guaranteed spot, some will give extra “points” on their admissions application or some other kind of admission advantage.
I cannot speak for all programs. My D attends Ohio University as an undergraduate and will be attending their DPT program starting this summer (2020). When she was inquiring about programs when searching undergraduate universities she asked if they gave any weight to their own graduates. They said they did because they knew what kind of education they were receiving in their prerequisite courses. Since then (her sophomore year) they implemented a “Guaranteed admissions program”.
https://www.ohio.edu/chsp/rehab/physical-therapy/guaranteed-admissions-program
It allowed students in certain majors to be referred by their department. If they met certain criteria they would be guaranteed acceptance into the program. My D was a Dance major and didn’t qualify but did very well an was able to be an undergrad TA and do research there. This is not the same as a direct entry program where a student applies when applying to the school as an undergraduate.
The most important advice I would give is to consider the cost of the program. DPT programs can be very expensive. While it’s considered a good career it’s pay relative to the cost of the program can be low. 3 or 4 +3 programs can be great but look carefully at what the graduate portion of the degree will cost you. There are some schools (University of Evansville comes to mind) that will give you the financial aid for all years. Many instate programs are much less expensive than private schools. All programs guaranteed or not are going to require good grades and perhaps good GRE scores. They will also have shadowing requirements. Good luck.
There are so few seats in programs that even if they do give preference, that is no guarantee.
Just wanted to comment that Northeastern no longer has the Direct Entry program as of this year.