I am currently a junior kinesiology major at UMass Amherst and was looking into PT school. Previously I was looking into Med School but after realizing 1) I’m not looking for 4 years more of school 2) it’s not a career path that fits me and 3) (probably the most compelling reason) I simply don’t have the grades for it, I began to look elsewhere. Physical therapy always fascinated me and it allows me to be in an interactive role in helping people get better physically as well as emotionally. I currently have a 3.2 GPA and am on course for taking all of the prerequisites because of my major. I planned on taking the MCAT this upcoming summer because of the possibility of still applying to Med School, but I would also have to take the GRE for the PT school application. In all honesty, I haven’t completely taken Med School out of the question, but PT school seems to be the most realistic. If I do pursue PT school, where do I go from here? I take the GRE this summer but is my GPA competitive enough? I am also in a physical activity lab here at school in the kinesiology department so im sure that’ll give me a nice resume boost but it even PT school realistic for me? I know there’s a lot in this thread but any help would be appreciated!
Well, PT school is 3 more years of school, and as far as I can tell PT students attend school year round (summers too). So PT school really isn’t that much less time, if any, than medical school. Reasons #2 and #3 are more compelling, though.
That said, PT programs are not a whole lot less competitive than medical school. The biggest requirement that you’ll have to satisfy is some volunteer/shadowing hours with a PT or OT; most programs require their applicants have a certain number of hours (often around 50-100) of shadowing a physical or occupational therapist and a letter of recommendation from an OT or PT testifying to your potential to become one. So if you don’t have that, you’ll need to start working on getting that. You can probably volunteer beginning second semester and over the summer.
Most programs require you to have at least a 3.0 GPA and somewhere around a 3.0 in your prerequisite classes, with a C or higher in all prereqs. SO your GPA is high enough; it may be less competitive for top programs, but you can make up for that with intense PT shadowing experience and your lab research, perhaps.
OP, I suggest you look at physicaltherapygraduate.com and the PTCAS websites. They provide information on average GPA and GRE scores of accepted candidates for their PT doctoral programs.
What we saw in researching PT schools was that there are very few where the average accepted GPA was below 3.5. Overall, the average acceptance rate for PT programs is around 15%.
It’s been my experience that PT is just as competitive , if not more competitive than medical school because there are fewer accredited PT programs. If you truly are considering medical school, you may want to consider Physicians Assistant programs or orthotist/ prosthetist programs.
I’m a physical therapy student and honestly a 3.2 is low. I got into PT school with a 3.87 from undergrad and I didn’t even get into every school I applied to! My suggestion is to retake any classes that you got a B or a C in, especially science courses. Do a TON of observation hours at different PT clinics, do pediatrics, in patient, hospital setting, outpatient ortho, neuro, etc. They want to see that you care!