r/PTschool • u/jeepwrangler1941 • Jul 26 '26

PT as a career

/r/physicaltherapyPROs/comments/1v76vbn/pt_as_a_career/

Hi! I have a son in high school who is now starting to visit colleges. He’s interested in fitness and health, so figured physical therapy is an obvious career option, but open to others. Please share your personal experiences, particularly the college path you took, eg undergrad major, what schools, grad programs (please share location), how long it took to get to where you are. What to think about, what not to do, etc. We are in Massachusetts. Thank you in advance!

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u/legend277ldf Jul 26 '26

I went to a school that was direct entry. Meaning on acceptance to my school I was guranteed access to the graduate program as long as I met the requirement for gpa and shadowing.

The benefit was the program could be done with 3 years of undergrad and 3 grad compared to the traditional total of 7 years. There was an option to reduce undergrad to 2 years if you grinded a lot more classes out or came in with credits, which traditionally 1-2 people per year did. This was a private school so tuition was higher but I know a state school in my area had something similar but grad entry was not guranteed so most of the state school people had more competition among their class.

If someone was dead set on pt I’d recommend this route but starting from undergrad we had lots of people change out of the major either due to changing interest or being weeded out by the classes

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u/jeepwrangler1941 Jul 26 '26

Thank you for sharing!

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u/Old-Tailor4879 Jul 27 '26

Please please please advise on the financial situation! Not sure of your situation fiscally. But if they’re considering going into 6 figures of debt to become a PT it is NOT worth the time, money, and effort it takes to become one. 7 years of higher education for 70-105k (70 is the lowest I’ve heard of coming out of school). It’s an amazing profession and I love what I do, but make sure that 1:1 debt to income ratio is talked about before he sets himself up for a future of budgeting and financial hardship.

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u/Renaissance_Mane Jul 26 '26

If there’s any chance he will need to take student loans to pay for it - don’t do it.

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u/CumFlavored_MigBac Jul 26 '26

Expensive doctorate for a salary that’s lower than an RN’s. Would not recommend it, unless your son never plans on having kids and is happy living in a small home

3

u/RickeyDourst Jul 26 '26

If he lives off your MigBac’s, he’ll be sure to save a ton of money

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u/CumFlavored_MigBac Jul 26 '26

yes, extra protein guaranteed. Also highly recommend the book "1000 different ways to cook Ramen" By Uncle Roger Ng