How To Choose Which PT Schools To Apply To

I remember when I officially decided I wanted to go to physical therapy school. It was equally relieving and terrifying at the same time. I finally decided the career path I wanted to take. But, there was now the new obstacle of choosing what physical therapy school I wanted to go to. In addition, I needed to consider which programs I could realistically get accepted to.

Click here to Read More About My Journey to PT School

When considering where I wanted to spend the next 3 years there were several factors I needed to think about. Although I didn’t necessarily need every point on my wishlist to be met, I wanted to remind myself what I wanted out of my time in PT school. I decided to write them all down to help me remain consistent and accountable during my search. I separated these into categories: needs, wants, and considerations.

Example:

Need:	Want:	Considerations:
– Plenty of clinical experiences – Research opportunity, but does not require – Mentorship from faculty – values lifelong learning, evidence based practice, and individualized care	– Can be near family – Location outside the midwest – Affordable cost of living – Small cohort size	– GRE score requirements – Observation hours requirements – GPA requirements – Where can I realistically get accepted to?

I knew school was primarily going to be paid for using loans or any financial aid I might be provided. There was only one school remotely near my hometown that I would go to if I was accepted, otherwise I wanted to go somewhere in the country that would push me outside my comfort zone. I wanted a larger school than my undergraduate institution that still had a relatively small cohort size. In addition, I was seeking a program with enough clinical and practical experience opportunities that would prepare me to enter the field. I was interested in research, however it was not a make or break for me if the school had adequate clinical/observation experiences.

Deciding on Schools

All of these aspects of education were important to me. First, I considered some schools that I knew older classmates from my undergraduate program had applied to. I reached out to those classmates to get their thoughts on their coursework so far. I made a list of those schools that I thought would give me the experiences that I wanted based on what they told me.

Reference PTCAS

I looked at the PTCAS (Physical Therapy Centralized Application Service) list of programs (which can be found here). I found a few more programs that fulfilled various aspects of my wants in a school. While I was deciding where to apply, I went back to my list of what I wanted and needed.

Were the programs on my list going to give me the experience I wanted? Or was I settling for any school that would accept me? Regardless of if it was going to be the best environment for me to learn?

I say all of this, and share my experience, because I want you to consider what YOU want. Don’t get discouraged by your own inner saboteur. These schools are not just trying to find the best fit for their program. You should be trying to find the school that will be the best fit for YOU as well.

You got this <3