Physical Therapy School

[Anonymous]

Direct admit is always a better option than applying later to grad school.

[Anonymous]

Maybe consider University of Lynchburg for a top-tier PT facility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ts a flat field, meaning when you finish you get a salary and cant go up unless you do the business side of it--like own your own agency. Upi can make more not taking insurance but in that case you have to live in a HCOL. I think they make around 80-110K?

Well, you won’t compete with a lawyer, but my sister works for the school system, so is part of the teacher’s Union. That was convenient when her kid was little. School systems compete for her with better packages. Every time she takes a few credits (random courses that interest her), she gets a raise. She will have a pension when she retires. And over the summer (when school PT is not offered), many parents want to continue so she takes them on as “private patients.”

Whether all of that is appealing Depends upon your frame of reference (you sound like a man).

[Anonymous]

Don't worry about major, just good GPA in the pre-reqs.

Our 5 or so direct admits did their senior college year as the first PT school year. They were quite a bit younger and didn't really fit in as well with the class as the rest of us had done 1-2 gap years, so see what % of the class is doing what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ts a flat field, meaning when you finish you get a salary and cant go up unless you do the business side of it--like own your own agency. Upi can make more not taking insurance but in that case you have to live in a HCOL. I think they make around 80-110K?

Well, you won’t compete with a lawyer, but my sister works for the school system, so is part of the teacher’s Union. That was convenient when her kid was little. School systems compete for her with better packages. Every time she takes a few credits (random courses that interest her), she gets a raise. She will have a pension when she retires. And over the summer (when school PT is not offered), many parents want to continue so she takes them on as “private patients.”

Whether all of that is appealing Depends upon your frame of reference (you sound like a man).

Flat salary person is not wrong. Plus it's a huge debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My high schooler is interested in becoming a physical therapist. He's looking at both the six year options, where you are guaranteed admissions and get the BS and DPT combined, and regular options where you spend 4 years on your BS and then apply for a DPT program.

My preference for him is the regular option, but he's worried that it will be hard to get into PT school, and that the six year option is safer for that reason. Does anyone have any knowledge of how hard it is to get into PT school?

Also, how important is name recognition for PT schools? A lot of the six year programs are at schools without big names. Does it matter a little? A lot? Not at all?

Finally, do people often get into PT school with prerequisites but without a science major? He's not a kid who loves science. He does fine, gets good grades, but there are other subjects he likes more. He's very athletic, and loves volunteering with kids with disabilities, which is why he's thinking a PT who focuses on kids would be a good job.

He's going to need a heavy science course load and he'll need to do well in all of them. He doesn't have to major in a science but he will spend a lot of time in science classes. Here's the requirements for the UMD program. https://pt.umaryland.edu/education/doctor-of-physical-therapy/ Although it is out of state you might want to look at VCU. Depending on his grades, he might be able to get into their honors college and then the Preferred Applicant Track for PT. It is very competitive though. If he's set on PT he probably should go the direct admit route.

[Anonymous]

University of Delaware has a good program

[Anonymous]

I know a young woman who is about to enter her final her of the 6-year DPT direct admit program at Marquette University in Milwaukee. She has nothing but wonderful things to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a young woman who is about to enter her final her of the 6-year DPT direct admit program at Marquette University in Milwaukee. She has nothing but wonderful things to say.

Marquette has an amazing program. My kid started the program then switched out to a better fit for them major.
Not cheap though, financial aid and merit awards do extend thru the first 4 years if you are in the direct entry. program as you are still considered an undergrad (and most everyone in the direct entry program would have gotten a decent merit award for the first 4 years--MU gives merit to almost everyone in the top 50%)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a young woman who is about to enter her final her of the 6-year DPT direct admit program at Marquette University in Milwaukee. She has nothing but wonderful things to say.

Marquette has an amazing program. My kid started the program then switched out to a better fit for them major.
Not cheap though, financial aid and merit awards do extend thru the first 4 years if you are in the direct entry. program as you are still considered an undergrad (and most everyone in the direct entry program would have gotten a decent merit award for the first 4 years--MU gives merit to almost everyone in the top 50%)

Can I ask what kind of stats and EC's your kid had to get in?

-- OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My high schooler is interested in becoming a physical therapist. He's looking at both the six year options, where you are guaranteed admissions and get the BS and DPT combined, and regular options where you spend 4 years on your BS and then apply for a DPT program.

My preference for him is the regular option, but he's worried that it will be hard to get into PT school, and that the six year option is safer for that reason. Does anyone have any knowledge of how hard it is to get into PT school?

Also, how important is name recognition for PT schools? A lot of the six year programs are at schools without big names. Does it matter a little? A lot? Not at all?

Finally, do people often get into PT school with prerequisites but without a science major? He's not a kid who loves science. He does fine, gets good grades, but there are other subjects he likes more. He's very athletic, and loves volunteering with kids with disabilities, which is why he's thinking a PT who focuses on kids would be a good job.

hmm, maybe have him do some research about whether or not pt is the field for him? you don't need a science major, but most pre-PT students do end up majoring in a science because the pre-reqs are very science heavy and that way they can "double dip"- it somewhat varies by pt school but at a minimum he will need 2 semesters of biology, 2 of chemistry, 2 of physics, and 2 of human anatomy&physiology as an undergrad in order to apply to PT school. and then the courses once you actually get into pt school are pretty science heavy too- lots of anatomy, physiology, etc.

[Anonymous]

My friend did PT at Emory, but it is in the medical field, so if your kid doesn’t like science, why do they want to be a pt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You definately want to go the direct entry route for PT school. Admission into PT school after a regular 4 year degree is more competitive than Med school.
Key is to find a university that has a broad range of majors/interests, so that if your kid does decide not to do PT, they would also be very happy there.

Signed, parent whose kid started out wanting PT, was not direct admit, and it became painfully obvious by end of freshman year that they should switch career plans/majors (was Exercise Physiology---whihc is really just a pre-PT/pre-OT major), very happy parent that the university had many other choices to switch into (kid has graduated already)

sure, Jan.

[Anonymous]

Seriously considered the direct entry and heavily researched this path. Ultimately, kid got admitted direct entry to DPT at Pitt, but by that point decided picking.a school based on DPT was the wrong idea- wanted more flexibility to potentially pursue other options. Heavily warned that a DPT is not worth the $$ investment in the degree. Did get in to UVA Kinesiology. I think that the prior poster was trying to say with UVA is that Kinesiology is the only direct admit major there (must apply as a HS senior). Many go on to DPT. My kid looked at schools with strong Kinesiology programs. We connected with many students/parents of kids who went to school for pre-PT and were not having any success getting a seat in a DPT program. They are SUPER competitive. Mostly because there is more demand than there are seats since going from a Masters to a Doctorate (not enough programs.)
If your son is SURE he wants DPT, direct admit is the best option. If he's 50/50, find a direct admit program at a school with other options in case he changes his mind. If it's just an option he's considering- look at schools with strong placement into DPT programs that have Kinesiology, Health Science, Pre-PT Exercise Physiology majors.
MANY kids don't ever get in to a DPT program and have to find other options. Some degrees are more useful in this situation than others.
My kid ditched PT and is a Kinesiology major pursuing Pre Med.
-Mom who researched this for three years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You definately want to go the direct entry route for PT school. Admission into PT school after a regular 4 year degree is more competitive than Med school.
Key is to find a university that has a broad range of majors/interests, so that if your kid does decide not to do PT, they would also be very happy there.

Signed, parent whose kid started out wanting PT, was not direct admit, and it became painfully obvious by end of freshman year that they should switch career plans/majors (was Exercise Physiology---whihc is really just a pre-PT/pre-OT major), very happy parent that the university had many other choices to switch into (kid has graduated already)

sure, Jan.

Ditch the attititude---and see the post right below yours. Yes, admission to DPT school is extremely competitive, as competitive if not more so than medical school. Kids with 3.8 GPA and great GRE scores apply to 10-15 schools each cycle and often need 2-3 cycles to secure a spot. There simply are not enough spots for the applicants. Hence, why your kid should ideally try for direct admit program if they are at all seriously considering DPT. They can always switch out, but getting in is incredibly difficult. My kid has friends who are doing just that right now. Top students, at a great university, struggling to get into a DPT program.