Hi everyone, this is my first official DPT School Post. Just to let you know I’m going to try to keep these as short, to the point and fun as possible.
First things first, I am a slightly nontraditional student. What I mean by that is that I didn’t apply for PT school my senior year of college halfway through my senior year. Actually I applied for chiropractic school (which is a WHOLE other story, that I might get to in another post) which definitely has affected my perspective on the whole process.
The PT school application process for me was not too bad. Most of the schools I applied to (KU med, University of Central Arkansas, South Carolina Med School, St. Mary’s, and Regis) were on PTCAS, which is the centralized application service. One was not, that is UT Southwestern in Dallas.
There were several landmark events in my process of applying, I’ll hit on them all briefly, hopefully this will give you an idea of how the process works as a whole.
PTCAS: PTCAS is the centralized application service that most PT schools use. What this means for you is that you make one application online and send that one application to several schools. So, applying has a whole lot easier than I expected…at least at this point.
Pros:
- one application
- can send to several schools with ease
- all electronic
Cons:
- can get expensive quickly
- there are usually extra applications for schools
So I filled out my PTCAS which includes a extensive amount of information including: all the information about every class you took in college (most time consuming part), a resume, personal essays, letters of recommendation, observation hours, and a couple other things. Filling in my entire course history was pretty exhausting. I recommend having a transcript in hand, it doesn’t have to be an sealed off, super intense one, just something with all of your classes, grades, credit hours, and course numbers.
I can’t emphasize enough how important the essay portion of the application is!!!!! For most of the schools you apply to this is the ONLY thing they have to “really get to know you,” which I think is criminal. That being said, have a voice in it, as clique as it sounds be yourself and tell your story well. I might post my essay on here so you can get a feel for it (not that mine’s great or anything but just so you can see). That’s all I’ll say on that.
SUPPLEMENTAL APPLICATIONS: Theres not a ton to be said about this but I think it is important to mention one thing. Almost every school will have some form of supplemental application, usually they just want your money 🙂
WAITING…. This one is the killer my friends. I finished my application near the end of September and I didn’t hear back from anyone until the middle of December, and they [Rockhurst] were very quick to get back with me. I didn’t hear from other schools until January and February. So just be prepared to wait and wait hard.
INTERVIEWS: Ahhh the interviews…everyone’s favorite… I’m weird in that I actually like interviews, I think that the schools who take time to interview their applicants are much more likely to have a successful relationship with their students. There are tons and tons of resources out there for how to nail an interview, how to come across professionally and all that. Personally, I think that stuff just stresses people out more. The programs want to see that you have a passion for physical therapy, a passion for patient care and a passion to succeed in school. They don’t care if you wore the right power color or if you looked them in the eyes for 2 seconds instead of 3, remember the people interviewing you are most likely PTs, who have similar passions and people skills that you do. I had 3 interviews, all 3 of them were completely relaxed, conversational and enjoyable. That is what the majority of interviews will be! So relax, put on some extra deodorant and get after it.
LETTERS: After a shorter time of waiting, usually around 2 weeks, the schools will send you a letter, or an email or both. This is both the most terrifying and awesome experience of the whole process. There are 3 options: yes, no, or waiting [alternate] list. I’m assuming you know what yes and no mean, so I’ll talk briefly on alternate list, hopefully lift your spirits. The alternate list can be a tricky and confusing thing, I was on 2 of them. It essentially means that if one of the people they selected decides to go to a different school then a spot opens up. Simple enough right? Well, the filling of that spot is the tricky part. Most, I may even say all schools will NOT tell you what your position on the list is. I don’t know why but they just don’t. The good thing about the alternate list is that students often get into multiple schools and spots open up like crazy. I got into Rockhurst off the waiting list..so whoever you are out there who peaced out..THANK YOU. The waiting list was a huge test of patience and a growing time for me and my wife. Lots of good came out of it.
DEPOSITS: You need to pay a deposit to accept your spot in the class, this goes to your first semester of class’s tuition.
All right folks that post was long enough, hope it was helpful, let me know if you have any questions–I kinda simplified some things.
F3 Physical Therapy 