Hi! I’m Jazmine, and as I write this, I’m currently waiting to hear back from 4 Physical Therapy schools for the 2024-2025 application cycle. Did I get in? Did I not? It’s a pretty awkward time I’m in, but now that I’ve gone through all the phases of getting ready and applying, I’m here to share my experience in hopes of helping someone else. So, let’s go over some general stats on my application, shall we?

Education Background

• For undergrad, I got my B.S. in Exercise Science (I did the fitness/wellness track at my university).
• For grad school, I got my M.S. in Sports Science and Rehabilitation. (Graduate degrees aren’t necessary for PT school, I just wanted one so I could pursue college-level teaching opportunities. Spoiler: I never got hired.)

Graduate Record Exam Score(s) (aka the GRE, or as I Iike to say: BOME)

• *1st attempt (2024): 156 Verbal, 147 Quantitative, 4.5 Writing (303 combined score)
• 2nd attempt (2024): 157 Verbal, 146 Quantitative, 3.5 Writing (303 combined score)

*I’ve taken the GRE previously (TWICE) in 2020, my scores were unimpressive, that’s all you need to know. And if you’re wondering, BOME stands for Bane of My Existence. In 2024, I happened to take the new version of the GRE, which I will admit is a much better format. We’ll talk more about that in a separate article. (Make sure to sign up below for notifications so you don’t miss it when I post that.)

Observation/Volunteer Experiences

• I did 40 observation hours at a Drayer PT outpatient clinic near me.
• I did 80 observation hours at a Hospital near me (inpatient).
• I did 80 observation hours at a sports physical therapy clinic near me (outpatient).
  Altogether, that’s 200 observation hours. (120 outpatient, 80 inpatient)

Volunteer hours….**crickets**
Technically, I have volunteer hours from church related activities and internships, but I never went out and sought volunteer hours. It just wasn’t on my heart or mind while I was in undergrad/grad school… and that brings me to:

What I Wish I Knew About Applying to Physical Therapy School

Number 1: Aesthetics.

A lot of applying to PT school is aesthetics. What kind of person do you LOOK like on paper? Outside of your academic record, do you serve your community? Are you in or have you been in any clubs or leadership roles? What are some hobbies and interests you have? These things may seem obvious if you’re super zealous and have known you wanted to be a physical therapist since high school, but if you’re like me, and you only began to explore the idea of PT school halfway through college or after, these things may not have been on your radar.

Why do I call these things “aesthetic?” Well, because there’s no way to truly tell one’s character through a piece of paper. In fact, since I’ve begun my journey to PT, I’ve realized that applying to PT school is like a game, and students are playing to win. They join clubs because it looks good on their resume, they cozy up to professors because they want that letter of recommendation, the volunteer in their community because they know it’s what these schools want to see. I can’t tell you how many times in the last year I’ve crossed paths with students who’ve told me they joined a club or got a certain job or whatever else because of how it looks on their application. You see what I mean? Aesthetics.

When I started to realize these things, I became extremely unsettled, and I began to lose confidence in my application. When I was in undergrad, I joined clubs I was interested in because I wanted to, not because of what it would look like on my application. I didn’t volunteer unless my heart was in it, because I wanted it to be something I did altruistically, not because of what it would look like on my application. Admittedly, I did seek PT aide jobs because of the opportunity to use the work hours on my application, but I also want to become a physical therapist, so that’s… a pretty reasonable job to seek after. My point is, I had the idea of applying to PT schools bare-faced, when I should’ve been wearing make-up.

And want to be clear, this is to no fault of the students. Getting into PT school is ridiculously competitive, so we do what we have to do. It just sucks that what used to be legitimate markers of one’s character have been turned into stepping stones to get to the top of the acceptance chain.

Number 2: You. Need. Time!!!

Kudos to the students who apply and get into PT school straight out of undergrad, because it truly does take time, and great time management skills, to prepare for a PT application cycle. I was fortunate to have plenty of time to start getting ready for the application cycle (I started in December 2023, applications opened June 17, 2024), but I would still recommend you start preparing for the application cycle at least a year in advance.

Off the top of my head, here’s a list of all the things that you will need in preparation for your application:

• Bachelor’s Degree (you can be finishing up when you apply, you just have to have the degree before your PT classes start).
• Pre-Requisite Courses either completed or in the works (must be completed before PT classes start).
• Observation Hours (not always required but definitely recommended).
• GRE (you MUST get your scores back in enough time to meet application deadlines)

Those 4 things may seem simple when you’re in your planning phase, but in reality, it may take much longer. For example, it took me a MONTH to get my inpatient observation opportunity set up because of weeks of emailing and following-up with different people at the hospital. Altogether, I spent 2 weeks observing at Drayer PT, 4 weeks observing at the hospital, and 4 weeks observing at the sports clinic. That’s two and a half months plus another month of getting set up, so 3 1/2 months spent on observing for me. Not to mention I was also taking a pre-requisite course in the meantime.

For the GRE, I struggled with self-study. I had a negative association with the exam from previous experiences, so I procrastinated HEAVILY in the months leading up to taking the exam. I got a little done here and there, but ultimately, I was disappointed in myself for how much time I didn’t use to study. Granted, I was taking pre-requisite courses and observing at the same time, so it’s not like I did nothing when I wasn’t studying, but I’m a little hard on myself anyway. Regardless, I recommend studying for at least three months for the GRE–do LOTS of practice questions and tests.

That doesn’t even cover the application itself!!! Here are some time considerations you’ll need to take into account when you’re filling out the application:

• You have to manually enter every. single. class. on your transcripts. Yes. MANUALLY.
• You will need to send letter of recommendation requests through the application portal, but you can’t send them until after the new application cycle opens up (around June 15th of every year).
• You’ll have to send in your official transcripts to PTCAS (the application portal) for verification.
• You’ll have to send in your GRE test scores to PTCAS for verification.
• PTCAS has a general essay that every student answers, but each school you apply to may have their own essay(s) they want you to write as well.

All of these things take quite a bit of time because of processing times. The essays take time because, well, they’re essays! And depending on how many schools you apply to, you could have plenty of writing to do.

Number 3: Money.

Applying is EXPENSIVE. I wish I had looked into scholarships and vouchers that can help cover the costs of applying to PT school way further in advance. Here are some cost considerations based on what I paid this year, (all of these prices are subject to change):

• $220 for the GRE exam (and I took it twice 🥲) so $440 for me
• PTCAS Application Fee for your first school: $170 (I applied for a waiver so I didn’t have to pay this for my first school)
• PTCAS application fee for the remaining schools: $70 each (I applied to 3 other schools)
• Separate application fees for the schools themselves. I paid
  • $50 for School #1
  • $50 for School #2
  • $80 for School #3
  • $41 for School #4
• It costs $35 to send your GRE scores from ETS to a school or institution. I paid:
  • $35 sending scores to School #1
  • $35 sending scores to School #3
  • $35 sending scores to School #4
• It costs to send your transcripts to PTCAS/Schools. I spent:
  • $12 sending transcripts to myself so I could manually enter grades on PTCAS
  • $42 sending my transcripts to PTCAS
  • $32 sending my transcripts to School #1
  • $10 sending my transcripts to School #2

Altogether, I’ve spent $1,062 on my applications. And I only applied to 4 schools. Fortunately, I’ve had help from my family handling all these fees, but imagine the burden on those who don’t? Start saving ahead of time.

Number 4: How PTCAS (Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service) Works

Here are some basics about PTCAS:

• The application process is centered around PTCAS, you fill out your information on PTCAS, and PTCAS sends it to all the schools you choose.
• The PTCAS application cycle opens up the year prior to when you will start school if accepted.
  • For example, applications open up in June 2024 for the 2025 cohort. So, If your goal is to start PT school in 2026, you need to apply when the application cycle re-opens in 2025.
• The application cycle lasts from about June 15th to June 1st of the following year. (Exact dates vary but are around those dates.)
  • PTCAS closes the cycle at the beginning of June and then re-opens for the next year in the middle of June.
• Completing your PTCAS application is essentially like filling out a resume but it involves your academic history as well.
• Getting letters of recommendation is done through PTCAS: you will send your references a link via PTCAS that they will receive in their email inbox. They then have to complete your recommendation through the link they receive.

These are just a few things I had no idea about until the months leading up to actually filling out my application. I bring it up because I tried to be proactive and started filling out my personal information and academic history early, only to realize I was filling out the 2023-2024 application, not the 2024-2025 application. The good news is, you can transfer over your personal information and academic history to a new application cycle, but that’s it! If you try to do the essays or get your letters of recommendation in early, those things DON’T transfer over, so you’d have to do them all over again.

WHEW! That’s a lot of typing, so I think I’ll end the post here, but I have a to-do list of separate articles that will go in depth about several of the things I mentioned in this article, such as:

• The GRE
• Tips on How to Get Observation Hours
• PTCAS

So, be on the lookout! If you didn’t already, please be sure to sign up for email notifications that way you don’t miss my next PT-school related post!