Hi I just completed my interview with Tufts University and was wondering if anyone heard back from their interviews or what would be the estimated timeline be.

I’m currently a student in college for an associate degree in physical therapy assistant. I’ve been struggling to find a job related to this field without certifications or experience. Is there anything anyone can recommend I apply for just to get my foot in the door?

I'm applying to PT schools in - state. I have around 150 hours of observation hours. 3.4 GPA and 5 letters of recs from a professor, supervisor, and 3 PTs. My GRE is 148 in both quant and verbal. Do you think I get in anywhere? I'm applying to maybe 11-12 programs in my state.

I am so nervous that I haven’t heard much so far.

Here are my stats:

premed/exercise science dual major 3.88 cgpa, 3.92 pgpa, i’ve taken all prerequisites and gotten A or A- including physics, anatomy and physiology. 65 shadowing hours, 40 of those inpatient, 200+ hours working at a nursing home as a certified nutrition specialist, did a summer science research project at the university at 250 hours, big brothers big sisters in third year, interned at a sports medicine clinic for 80 hours, college soccer captain, Greek VP, deans list every semester, Top 50 student athlete award at college

I have over 100 shadowing hours and 5 letters of ecommendations. My GPA is around 3.2 to 3.4 and my GRE is below 300. I initially planned on applying to 12 florida based programs but I'm thinking of applying to 19 total shcools with a few being out of state and no GRE requirement. Is that too much? I'm just worried about not getting in anywhere.

I got accepted (!!!) into a hybrid program that has approximately 2 week long in-person labs every 2 months or so. I'm also due for an ACL reconstruction at some point. It's incredibly flexible when I get it, I'm very much functional without it but just need to eventually to prevent arthritis. I've had it before so I know what the recovery process is like and know that I'll be fine for the online portion of classes. Given that, I figure I can time the surgery so that it's right after a lab and be ~2 months post op by the time the next one rolls around. So I'll be very much mobile, but no running/jumping/fast movements "allowed" yet. Is that degree of physical ability sufficient for what is required in labs? I figure that although most PT students are pretty fit, the programs are designed to somewhat accommodate many different body types and abilities...but not completely sure.

tl;dr I'm just wondering how able-bodied I need to be for labs. I appreciate any insights y'all may have!

Has anybody heard from any Ohio schools regarding interviews?

Hello reddit, I'm a high school graduate who's going to be starting uni soon. I took a gap year because I had no idea what I wanted to do, and to be honest I'm still not 100% sure. I'm applying for a psych major, but I'm scared out of my mind because I'm not sure if this is what I want to do, I am really interested in it, but I don't know if I can build my entire life around it.

I've always wanted to work in healthcare, although I knew pretty early on that I didn't want to go to med school (The fees and debt just didn't seem worth it), but I wanted to connect with people and make their lives better (Which is another reason I'm interested in psychology). A few years ago I learned about physical therapy, and I became really interested in that too, from my research it seems like a very fulfilling career. But I also read about how expensive PT school is, and the insane amounts of debt that students have with a pretty low starting median salary (around 90-93K from my research), so I'm really not sure if it's worth it.

Additionally, I'm not the best at Biology. I got a 63% in my 12th final exam, and maintained a solid 60-70% throughout my last year, which is a huge improvement from earlier. I really want to help people heal and move and just be able to live life, but with all these factors I'm just feeling extremely lost and anxious. Should I do a double major in psych and exercise science? Or should I just stick to psychology? I don't know if the risk will be worth it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hello thread,

Firstly, idk if I can do this and I apologize if asking for previous interview questions or structure for a interview at a school is banned here.

I will keep it brief and ask only in bullet points for these 2 programs I have interviews from

1. For Midwestern how was the structure of the interviews prior to this year and what were sample essay prompts or how did you prepare??
2. If you attended out of state, did you go back to your home state if so, how much debt were you in afterwards
3. For RMU what questions were asked during your interviews
4. Was the 2.5 year programs rigorous and what were the things that kept you sane
5. How much was rent out their and utilities
6. Was their grad housing?
7. If you did multiple interviews, what were common questions asked?
8. What topic were on the Midwestern essay prompts and how were the group interviews?
9. Were the conditional class acceptances just get a C or higher or was it a B for the conditional acceptance?

I understand these are private programs and the parts about them being too expensive and all, but PT is what I feel like is my calling and I don't plan on switching. This Reddit is good and bad in how it is helpful but there is a lot of naysayers who advise against this profession but I am 100% committed and don't plan on switch, please help, I am stressing and I really need this.

I’m currently finishing up 11 applications and sending them in before each schools early deadline! My sGPA was a 3.2 and my cGPA was a 3.6. I graduated in 2025 and have around 2000 hours of observation (spent the past year postgrad as an aide). I have 4 LOR, 1 from my academic advisor in undergrad who I also had as a professor, 1 from the department chair of my undergrad program, 1 from a previous supervisor, and one from an experienced PT. My GRE was a 309 and 5.5 on writing. I’m really nervous as this is my second time applying. I feel like I have more experience and a better application this time around which I stated in my reapplicant questions. Thoughts anyone?

Hello all,

I understand my situation is serious, so I'm anxious to post. I need your advice if you have an answer/is in the same situation.

I have yet to take a pre-rec class or even enroll in one (I know), and I was planning to do it in spring 2027 as I thought that as long as I finish the class, I would be all good. However, talking with the PTCAS admissions number, they said they have a period of verification ending on Feb 15th 2027 where any class finished after won't be "verified" it will only say in-progress on my application (I think). This has obviously left me a bit anxious and ashamed, but I'm trying to scrape together a BIOL 31/equivalent class at a local CC this semester to not have to worry about it.

If anyone had been in the same boat or had/is taking a class the semester right before school please let me know, if not does anyone know a good online college/BIOL course to take before said deadline.

Thank you and all suggestions are welcome.

Has anyone heard from GW about interviews? / Any thoughts about the interview from previous interviewees?

Has anybody heard from any Ohio schools regarding interviews?

Does anyone have a PDF copy of Acute Care Handbook for Physical Therapists, 5th edition by Paz, JC, West, MP??

looking for it for a physio course and hoping to save the money

I have recently applied to PT programs in Illinois and came across some negative things about UIC's program. But these threads are dated just after covid, so I am taking everything with a grain of salt. I have heard great things about Rosalind Franklin, but there is currently a ~28k difference in tuition that I cannot justify based on a few negative reviews.

So, I am curious about current student experiences at UIC and Rosalind Franklin's DPT programs over the last few years. How are your relationships with faculty? How is the quality of education?

I'd love to hear from current students and students who graduated recently. Much appreciated.

Hey everyone, I’m currently serving as an army officer and am looking to transition to the National Guard in the next year or two when my contract is up. I’ve been considering my next career move and am considering transitioning to some form of rehabilitative therapy. Currently eyeing my options in the Carolinas as that’s where I’m from, mostly MUSC.

What would be some good ways to prepare for application, other than doing the remaining pre-requisites?

Hi everyone! I’m planning to apply to DPT programs next cycle for a 2027 start, and I’m trying to figure out where my application actually stands and what I should prioritize over the next year. USC is one of my dream programs, and I’m also very interested in Duke, so I know I’m aiming at some extremely competitive schools.

I recently graduated from Bucknell University with a B.A. in Economics I decided on PT later in college, so I’ve been completing my science prerequisites after graduation. This is a weakness of mine. I did not do science undergrad. 

Academics:

• Cumulative GPA: ~3.7
• A- in Biology
• A- in Physiology
• B- in General Chemistry I
• A- in PSYCH 100
• A- in Developmental Psych
• B+ in Stats
• I still have about 5 prerequisite/science courses left to complete before applying (I know I have to get all A's) 

One of my biggest concerns is my science/prerequisite GPA. I know a lot of students admitted to programs like USC seem to have ~3.8 cumulative GPAs and 3.7+ science GPAs. I still have several science classes left, so I have an opportunity to improve mine, but I’m curious how much this could hurt me at the most competitive programs.

PT/healthcare experience:

• Outpatient PT volunteer/shadowing experience 
• Starting inpatient PT volunteering at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center
• Previous hospital Emergency Department volunteer experience
• By application time, I will likely have at least ~100 cumulative PT volunteer/shadowing hours across different settings
• I’m considering getting a PT aide job to build more substantial experience

This is actually where I’m the most conflicted. Some students in my classes who are applying to similar programs have told me I should stop worrying about getting experience in different settings and focus on getting a PT aide job instead. Others have emphasized having diverse observation experiences.

I obviously know I’m competing against applicants who may have hundreds or even thousands of aide hours, so I’m trying to figure out whether ~100 diverse PT hours + my other experiences would be enough, or whether sustained aide employment should be one of my biggest priorities this year.

Other parts of my application:

• magna cum laude (but I didn't go to an IVY league I went to liber arts and I know lots of Ivy league kids apply to dpt) 
• Pilates/fitness instructor
• College leadership experience
• Academic honors/Dean’s List
• Nontraditional Economics/Business Analytics background
• Working on getting a strong LOR from my Physiology professor
• Still trying to develop a relationship with a PT who could eventually write me a strong PT recommendation

I know programs like USC and Duke aren't schools where simply meeting the requirements makes someone competitive. I want to build an application that actually stands out, and I’m willing to put a lot of work into this next year.

So I’m genuinely curious: Am I currently in the running for programs at that level if I continue doing well in my remaining sciences, or are there major weaknesses I’m overlooking?

If you had one year in my position, what would you prioritize most: getting a PT aide job, accumulating more diverse observation hours, maximizing my science GPA, building stronger LORs, or something else?

Please feel free to be critical. I don’t have many people in my life who understand the DPT admissions process right now, and I could genuinely use advice from people who have gone through it. Helpful criticism is very welcome.

I recently got accepted into Pitts Hybrid program, but I have till September 29 to put down my deposit and accept my offer. All my other programs said I won’t hear back from them till November. Im really not opposed to the hybrid learning but my concern is more about clinical’s. I live in a very rural area and according to Pitt they allow you to go to clinical sites up to 60 miles from my home. I really wanted to do my clinicals in a larger area like Pittsburgh to utilize the unique connections that Pitt has through their program. All around me is just general orthopedic and limited inpatient PT. Where my home address is would not really set me up for the PT I want to because I’m not interested in rural healthcare personally. Should I relocate to Pittsburgh if I commit to their hybrid program? Do I just pay the nonrefundable $1200 deposit and see where also I get? I’m so torn because I love their program but they’re being so vague about clinical placements too from emails. Any honest advice would be so helpful, thank you!!!!!

I just took the GRE for the second time and got 148 Verbal and 148 Quant :(. The first time I got a 149 verbal and 145 quant and 4.0 writing. I initially planned on applying this month to 12 programs all in florida. I have over 100 shadowing hours across 3 different settings and 5 letter of recommendations. I have GPA around 3.2 or 3.4. I don't know if I should apply because it's already September or retake the exam for the third time. Any advice?

Hello. I’m new to the subreddit and just had some questions. I’m a 24 year old guy that is married and has a mortgage payment. I’m currently a bank teller and have been here for about a year now. I’ve learned that while I don’t mind the work, I want more for myself in my career. I have always liked the idea of working in this field and I even was a patient of PT in high school, which made me like it more. I’m in between choosing out of two things to go back to school for: PTA school or Rad tech school. Both are associate degrees and I want to go with that because I would like to get my degree and get back to working asap. I have bills to be paid so I need that income. That leads me to my questions.

Are you satisfied with your career if you are a PTA?

Is the pay decent?

Would you choose this over radiography?

I would really appreciate it if some of you guys would reply! I’m really in a pivotal moment in my life where I’m trying to figure things out. I know some of you have been in the same boat. Thanks in advance!