<p>This is my second time applying to Physical Therapy programs and it is not looking any better than the last time I applied. Last year I got a last minute interview to the school and ended up being 9th on the wait list. I reapplied to that school and other schools I had previously applied to. I have gotten another rejection from the school that offered me the last minute interview last year. My grades meet the requirements and I have volunteer hours in every area of the field. I improved my application by gaining 150 additional hours in a nursing home with the physical therapy department as well as continuing teaching horseback riding lessons. At this point, I do not know what else to do and have contacted the school and they just give the generic response of how getting in is very competitive and that's just how it is. I have a job now and have tried to find a job as a physical therapy technician in order to show that I have more hands on experience. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice as to how I could stand out more. I have talked to physical therapists and they say that unfortunately because I am a female, it will be more difficult; so what would make my application jump out to an admissions board because as of now I am at a loss. </p>
I’m not an expert where physical therapy is concerned, but I’m pretty sure that this thread is under the wrong category (which is probably why no one else has responded to it). If I’m not mistaken, this should go under “Graduate School” or “Pre-Med & Medical School.” (From what I’ve seen thus far, “College Admissions” is geared for high school students trying to get into undergraduate programs.) You can access both of these categories by clicking on the following link and scrolling down to where it says “Professional & Graduate School:” http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/categories
Before you create another post in either of those categories, however, I would like to give you some general advice. I do think that you’re going to want to be more specific for your next post, especially regarding your statistics, your extracurriculars (your job and your volunteer work), and, if applicable, your letters of recommendation and/or personal statements (or the like). For example, if you have to take a standardized test (e.g., the GRE) to get into physical therapy programs, have you already taken it? If so, how many times have you taken it, and what did you get each time? As another example (again, if applicable), have you had someone, such as an English professor or a writing center tutor, look over your personal statements and tell you what they think of them (if they think that they’re good or not)?
By being more specific, it’s more likely that you’ll get a stronger, more specific answer to your question, since others will have more concrete (more detailed) advice to give you about what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.
Good luck getting into physical therapy programs!
Meeting the required grades is not enough to gain admission to physical therapy schools. Most physical therapy departments will have data showing the average GPA’s of admitted students which is always significantly higher than the minimum to apply. One of my daughters is a DPT. From observing the admission process, I would hazard an educated guess that additional volunteer hours will not add much to your application. The schools want to know that you have had enough exposure to physical therapy to be sure that it is a career you would enjoy. But any additional hours will not provide you an advantage in getting through PT school. High GPA and GRE scores are critical factors in admission because the PT curriculum is difficult.
My suggestion for you, if you pursue applying again, is to not apply to schools where you have previously applied and not gained admission. Instead, do some intense research to find which schools may be less competitive for admissions. Schools have data on how many were admitted vs how many applied. Good luck.