Physical therapy doctoral program goal, what undergrad?

[bettyandbob]

Dd is considering PT, possibly OT. After looking admission requirements for PT programs it looks like there are more requirements than MD programs. It's hard to figure out a specific degree and easily fit in all requirements.

 

Add to that, dd wants to keep taking Japanese.

 

Kinesiology seems like a good fit. (Mom wants to know, what do you do with this if you don't go to PT school)

 

A couple schools we saw had a Health Sciences degree (again what can you do with this)

 

Virginia Tech had a Human Nutrition and Exercise Degree that almost exactly matches PT requirements. That program has an option of obtaining RD certification. The credits are all completely decided, so even though VT has Japanese, continuing to study would not be possible.

 

Has anyone researched good majors for someone hoping to get into PT school.

[Myra]

Look into Ithaca College in New York State.  It has a well-respected 5 year PT program!

[Crimson Wife]

 

Kinesiology seems like a good fit. (Mom wants to know, what do you do with this if you don't go to PT school)

 

Fitness instructor, recreational therapist for the disabled, public health educator (you'd need to get a master's in public health for this), sports psychologist (you'd need a master's or PhD. for that), PE teacher (you'd need a state credential), etc.

 

ETA: If she rides horses, check out hippotherapy/therapeutic riding instructor. http://www.pathintl.org/resources-education/certifications

[raptor_dad]

My sister majored in Exercise Science at App State before going to PT school at UNC.

 

Quoting the college page[1], the pre-professional track "provides the science-related foundation required for successful admission to professional schools for students interested in becoming Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physicians and Physician's Assistants. The ES Pre-professional concentration includes minors in both biology and psychology."

 

[1] http://hes.appstate.edu/academics/exercise-science

[Starr]

Here are Clarkson University's pre reqs. They can be taken at another institution or as part of undergrad at Clarkson.

 

http://www.clarkson.edu/pt/admission/prerequisite.html

 

 

[justkeepswimming]

Another point of interest (dd1 has recently started looking into this career as well) is that (for the universities we looked at, at least) none of those specific curriculum requirements can be from AP or CLEP credits. They must all be actual classes taken at university.

 

So, even if she finished AP Bio and Physics and Psychology and took Chem at the CC, she would have to take them again (not an issue of you've chosen a bio-heavy major, but she was looking at something else entirely, so even with AP credits, she'd still have to fit these classes in).

[bettyandbob]

Another point of interest (dd1 has recently started looking into this career as well) is that (for the universities we looked at, at least) none of those specific curriculum requirements can be from AP or CLEP credits. They must all be actual classes taken at university.

 

So, even if she finished AP Bio and Physics and Psychology and took Chem at the CC, she would have to take them again (not an issue of you've chosen a bio-heavy major, but she was looking at something else entirely, so even with AP credits, she'd still have to fit these classes in).

Dd and I were aware of this. She goes to public high school. She will have IB psych, IB physics, AP statistics, DE English and DE history and a couple other classes next year. Her previous math course covered topics into second semester calc. She knows she will have to repeat all accept the history. We debated a long time about math this year and decided that since PT required both stats and calc it would be good to get both in now. That way when she takes at the university pace they will already be familiar topics.

 

My main approach to AP, IB, DE was not for my dc to earn transfer credit. It was more for them to show colleges that they were willing to challenge themselves and had strong academics on their transcripts.

 

We've considered some prgrams that are direct admit programs. There is no state school that has one. We have two state supported PT programs. We also have a few private ones. We aren't going to pay private or out of state tuition for six years. Dd has a plan that fully funds an in state school for 2 years, possibly 3, so we plan to have her graduate with a bachelors debt free. We will help her get loans for the PT program if necessary. So, basically we are looking in VA.

 

I think we need to ask each school directly what majors are the best fit for PT requirements and what their rate of acceptance to PT school is.

[TechWife]

 

I think we need to ask each school directly what majors are the best fit for PT requirements and what their rate of acceptance to PT school is.

 

Also contact the PT programs and ask where their qualified students come from. They may give you some ideas. 

[Crimson Wife]

Do check out private schools that offer good merit aid. Frankly, if your student is not competitive for merit aid, she is unlikely to be competitive for PT grad programs. VA has some great public colleges so I'm not trying to bash them. But don't limit your daughter to only those because you may be surprised just how affordable a private college with a high "sticker price" really is.

[bettyandbob]

Do check out private schools that offer good merit aid. Frankly, if your student is not competitive for merit aid, she is unlikely to be competitive for PT grad programs. VA has some great public colleges so I'm not trying to bash them. But don't limit your daughter to only those because you may be surprised just how affordable a private college with a high "sticker price" really is.

 

 

Dd's tuition plan is specific to VA. If she goes out of state or private she can't use it. And Yes VA does have very good schools and a good range of environments (urban, rural, mountains, coastal, small, very large) so this is not limiting and dd was happy with the selection. It's really not an option to not use the tuition that is already there. 

 

Honestly, I don't know why you bring up whether competitive. I could go through and list every course she's taken, but be assured that the courses I listed for a senior year a lighter than than junior year and yet she's taking 2 DE, 2 IB and 1 AP course. So we are not worried about whether this is a realistic goal. My thoughts on what she would do with certain degrees had more to do with what if she changes her mind. Yes, she is quite aware that this is a very competitive process. 

[Crimson Wife]

 

Honestly, I don't know why you bring up whether competitive. I could go through and list every course she's taken, but be assured that the courses I listed for a senior year a lighter than than junior year and yet she's taking 2 DE, 2 IB and 1 AP course. So we are not worried about whether this is a realistic goal.

 

Wow, you don't have to get all snotty with me. You didn't mention earlier that you have a pre-paid tuition plan that can only be used at VA public colleges. All you said in your previous message was that you weren't going to pay for private or OOS colleges.

 

Most people I hear making similar statements don't have pre-paid tuition plans but simply are scared off by the high "sticker price" of private colleges. They don't realize that generous merit aid can make the net price for private colleges equal to or even lower than state schools. It would be cheaper for my kids to attend Harvard than it would be our local UC school.

 

[flyingiguana]

I know someone who did an art degree, then took a year or so of classes to get into a PT program.

 

So if she's interested in another major for the undergrad degree, it is possible.  If she knows she wants to get into a PT degree, she'll have an advantage in that she can take some of the classes while an undergrad rather than picking them up after the degree.

 

Not saying that's the best or easiest way to do it, but if she's interested in having several options after graduating, that is one approach.  

 

I also know someone who majored in English, then took another year of classes and went to med school.

[mjbucks1]

I am a physical therapist and when I was in school for my masters (no DPTs at that time), half of my class of 70 were people who were changing their careers midlife and had degrees that were not related to physical therapy (but they took the prerequisite classes to get admitted).  If your dd would like some sort of business major, and  is able to fit in prerequisite classes, I think that would be a great option, especially if she would like to go into management some day.  If one of the schools has a public health option that would also be great (and if she can keep Japanese, that would be amazing!)  I am certain that PT schools see an overabundance of people who major in the sciences, so a major that is different from the norm would help her to stand out.  I majored in biology and biochemistry which did not offer much in terms of jobs upon graduation (but I knew I was going to grad school).  Good luck to your daughter!       

[Reesegirl]

My dd graduated from a private university in 2013 with a pre-physical therapy degree.  During her 4 years in university she went back and forth with whether she really wanted to be a physical therapist.  I think originally she chose this degree because she had some wonderful PT's working with her while she was in a 3 week in patient program for RSD, right after she graduated from High school.  While in college she had over 200 hours in shadowing various PTs.   She was dissatisfied with watching what happened in a general clinic, but LOVED when she shadowed at a wound care clinic.

 

Late in her Junior year one of her professors suggested that she look into Physician's Assistant programs and she quickly found that this was really want she wanted to do.  She shadowed some during the summer and during Christmas break.  She loves biology and physiology and the mystery of the body.  She applied to 3  PA schools that did not require 2000-4000 hours in the medical field and was accepted at 2.  She chose the one closer to home and is now ready to graduate this week. 

 

 

One thing that one of her advisors said was that Physical therapy grad school is harder to get into than medical school.  The association keeps the number of grad students down to control the number of therapists in the field.  It seems to protect their wages. 

 

My dd had looked at a couple of schools for PT and estimated that she would have over $150,000 in debt, just for grad school.    There is a ceiling for wages in PT and she realized that it would take a long time to pay that back.

 

I am not suggesting that your dd will change her mind or major, but just to say that a pre-physical therapy major can give her other options.  The only class my dd had to pick up for requirements to PA school was organic chem and she had room in her schedule to fit it in her senior year.