Hiiiii. As of last month, I officially chose a physical therapy program, and now that my journey to getting into a school is complete, I want to share my timeline of events to give you an idea of how long the process can take.
Observation Hours
- Drayer PT (Outpatient)
- December 4th to December 15th: 40 Hours
- Schedule: M-F, 8a.m. – 12p.m. (20 hours per week)
- Local Hospital (Acute Inpatient)
- January 8th to February 9th-ish: 80 Hours (I forgot exactly which day, but it was the first week of February when I finished)
- Schedule: M-F. 8a.m. – 12p.m. (20 hours per week)
- Sports Medicine Facility (Outpatient)
- May 1st to May 23rd: 80 hours
- Schedule: Tuesday and Thursday 7a.m. to 6p.m. (20 hours per week)
PTCAS Application Season (Order of Events)
- Application Cycle Opened: June 17, 2024
- My Application Submitted to School #2: July 24, 2024
- My Application Submitted to School #3: August 11, 2024
- Interview Offer from School #2: August 19, 2024
- My Application Submitted to School #4: August 22, 2024
- My Application Submitted to School #1: September 2, 2024
- Interviewed with School #2: September 20, 2024
- Waitlisted by School #2: October 8, 2024
- Interview Offer from School #3: October 23, 2024
- Interviewed with School #3: November 15, 2024
- Accepted into School #3: December 3, 2024
- Waitlisted by School #1: December 17, 2024
- Accepted into School #2: January 22, 2025
- Accepted into School #4: January 31, 2025
- Accepted into School #1: February 4, 2025
Okay, let’s make all of this easier to digest.
I’ll break everything down based on the application due dates for each school.
School #3 had the soonest application due date: September 16, 2024
- I submitted my application for School #3 one month and 25 days after the application cycle opened (June 17th), and 36 days before School #3’s deadline.
- I received my interview offer from School #3 two months and 12 days after submitting my application.
- I interviewed with School #3 23 days after receiving my interview offer (3 months and 4 days after submitting my application).
- I received my admissions decision from School #3 18 days after my interview (3 months and 22 days after submitting my application).
School #4 had the next application due date: October 1, 2024
- I submitted my application for School #4 two months and 5 days after the application cycle opened and 40 days before School #4’s deadline.
- I received my admissions decision from School #4 five months and 9 days after submitting my application. Yes. Over five months later. I hope this gives you some perspective on how long this process can take!
School #2 had the next application due date: October 2, 2024
- I submitted my application for School #2 one month and 7 days after the application cycle opened and 2 months and 8 days before School #2’s deadline.
- I received my interview offer from School #2 26 days after submitting my application.
- I interviewed with School #2 32 days after receiving my interview offer (one month and 27 days after submitting my application).
- I was waitlisted by School #2 18 days after interviewing with School #2 (two months and 14 days after submitting my application).
- I was taken off the waitlist for School #2 three months and 14 days after being put on the waitlist (five months and 29 days after submitting my application).
School #1 had the latest application due date: October 15, 2024
- I submitted my application for School #1 two months and 16 days after the application cycle opened and one month and 13 days before School #1’s deadline.
- I was waitlisted by School #1 three months and 15 days after submitting my application.
- I was taken off the waitlist for School #1 one month and 18 days after being put on the waitlist (five months and 2 days after submitting my application).
One important note…
For the sake of simplicity, I used the phrase “taken off the waitlist” when describing when I received an admissions offer from certain schools. “Taken off the waitlist” means that they offered me a seat in their program— I then had to either accept or decline their seat offers.
My Application Results Summary
- School #1: Waitlisted, then accepted.
- School #2: Waitlisted, then accepted.
- School #3: Accepted.
- School #4: Accepted.
Overall…
The longest amount of time I waited for an admissions decision (i.e., accepted or rejected) was five months and 29 days (basically 6 months) after submitting my application, and the shortest amount of time I waited for an admissions decision was three months and 22 days after submitting my application.
The point of all of these dates and numbers was to illustrate just how long this process can take. You will likely receive an official admissions decisions from the PT schools you apply to several months after submitting your application. You may hear from them periodically if there are interviews involved, but if not, you may be waiting in the dark for a little bit the way I did with School #4.
There are several factors that play into how long you may wait to hear back from these schools, such as:
- The number of applicants
- Some schools get over a thousand applicants and have to filter through them all.
- If the school does interviews or not
- the interview process extends your wait time in some ways, and shortens it in others. It extends your wait time because the school may have multiple rounds of interviews to go through. It shortens your wait time because schools typically let you know if you’ve been accepted or not two weeks after your interview is completed (this can vary though, but in my experience it was two weeks).
- The number of spots available in the program
- If there are a limited number of spots in the program, the admissions committee may take an extended amount of time to thoroughly consider all applicants so that they can fill their spots carefully.
- The application deadline
- If a school has a later application deadline, you may wait longer to hear back from them because they started reviewing applications later than other schools.
- If the school does rolling admissions or not
- Rolling admissions means that a school offers spots to students even before the application deadline passes. Schools that do not do rolling admissions wait until the application deadline has passed, and then after the deadline, they begin reviewing applications and offering spots.
I know it can be a stressful process, but try to keep your mind occupied in other ways while you wait to hear back from schools. It’s a long process, but it can be rewarding. If for some reason you do not get into a school, please don’t give up. It is very common to apply two or even three times to get into PT school, and there is absolutely no shame in that.
Anyway, I’ve done enough talking. I hoped this helped, and as always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to leave me question in the comments below!