GENERAL Advice for Selecting and Gaining Admission to Physical Therapy Programs

Information on virtually all accredited Physical Therapy programs can be found at the American Physical Therapy Association web site: http://www.apta.org  Then click on "Education" at the left.  Then click on "PT Programs" under "Accreditation" at the left.  Then click on "PT Programs" in the grey box on the right that says "Accredited Programs."

Preparing Yourself for Admission

·         Learn the specific admission requirements for several programs early in your undergraduate career.   Different schools have different course work and clinical experience requirements.  Prepare yourself early.

·         Establish a strong academic record.  A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required by most schools (but not all).  The average GPA of accepted students is often 3.5-3.6.

·         Gain clinical experience.  Many schools require a minimum number of hours of clinical experience (40-100 hours).  In order to be a competitive candidate at almost any school, you will need significant experience in a clinical, physical therapy setting.

·         Establish a record of commitment to non-academic activities.  Leadership, active participation, and perseverance in a few extracurricular, community service, or clinical work activities is preferable to passive participation in many activities.

Generalized Admission Requirements from 12 North-Midwest Schools

 The following advice about physical therapy program admission requirements is based on the published requirements of 12 schools from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (including all five in Wisconsin).

•  Biology - 12-16 credit hours (in 11 out of 12 schools) including:

  •  Human Anatomy & Physiology (in 8 out of 12 schools)

• Chemistry - 8 credit hours with lab (in 11 out of 12 schools)

• Physics - 8 credit hours with lab (in 11 out of 12 schools)

• Psychology - 6-12 credit hours (in 10 out of 12 schools), Abnormal Psychology specified by 2 schools

• Clinical Experience - specified in 1/2 of schools

• GRE - required in 8 out of 12 schools

 Factors to Consider When Selecting Schools

 ·         Success rates of recent graduates in the job market.  (How long before employed? Starting Salary?  Signing Bonuses?)

·         Date of initial accreditation of the program.  Programs created within the last 5-10 years may be less established or known.

·         Additional health-professional programs at the college or university.  The presence of additional programs that train health professionals may provide you more opportunities with and access to other students, faculty, patients, and equipment.

·         Specific clinical, research, and classroom opportunities in the program.  The educational and training opportunities in the program should match your own specific career goals.

·         Acceptance rate.  Typically, the better the program, the more students apply, which leads to a smaller percentage of applicants being admitted.   However, with the reduced number of applicants seen in the last few years, this criteria does not always have much meaning.

Click here for information on the UW-L Physical Therapy Graduate Program.

Click here for information on the application process to the UW-L Physical Therapy Graduate Program, including the form for your clinical experiences.

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