You’ve taken the classes, have all your observation hours ready, the experiences necessary, and have all your references set to go. Now we can begin the PTCAS application process!
Applying to PT school can take a very long time to complete. There are different sections you need to fill out, and you’ve got to make sure everything is as accurate as possible, which can be a bit daunting. We at Dysfunctional Anatomy are here to guide you through the process and help you shape your application to be the best it possibly can!
So to begin, pre-PT students wishing to applying will go to the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service (PTCAS) to apply for schools.
Welcome to PTCAS
Here is the welcome page for reference. For starters, simply click on Create an Account and fill in your information. When prompted for an email address, we recommend using an email that lacks any clutter or extra emails to prevent any emails from PT schools from being overlooked.
Here is the ‘My Application’ for PTCAS. This where you can see each section needed to be completed prior to submitting your application.
Personal Information
Let’s start off with one of the easier sections to complete. This is where you’d fill your background information, which includes things such as biographic info, contact info, citizenship, race/ethnicity, and parent info. You’re also given the opportunity to discuss economic, educational, or environmental factors where you can decide if you’d like schools to consider if you were a disadvantaged applicant. Keep in mind though, this is should be reserved for applicants who have had profound things occur that may have skewed their ability to succeed.
This section also gives you the opportunity to explain how COVID-19 has impacted you. How did it affect your education? How about your personal life? Did it hurt your professional career? These are just some of the few things to consider. COVID-19 truly hurt many of us, you should take this time to explain how hard it impacted you and allow the schools to consider any struggles you had.
Academics
Here is where you’d input all the colleges you attended, your transcripts, and standardized tests. Word of advice? Order your transcripts and standardized test scores* as soon as possible. You can submit your application before transcripts are turned in, but it’s better to have them in as quickly as possible so these schools can verify your grades.
PTCAS offers the Professional Transcript Entry service that inputs your classes and grades on your behalf. The service is $75 for up to 3 transcripts, $100 for 4-6, or $150 for 7 or more. It can be useful, as this section can be very tedious and this saves time, we’ve been told by a few colleagues that some errors occur in which grades were not inputted correctly. Regardless of what you decide to do, ALWAYS double and triple check to ensure that everything is put in 100% correctly. You don’t want to experience any issues here.
*After completing the GRE and reviewing your unofficial scores, you can send them up to 4 grad schools as part of your test fee.
Supporting Information
Any additional information that will strengthen your application will go here. This includes observation hours, experiences, achievements, licenses and certifications, and the essay.
Input all observation hours (paid or unpaid) performed under a licensed PT in this section. You don’t have to get them verified, but it makes your application more credible when they are. At one of my clinics, I carried an excel sheet that held all my hours, and when I had left, the PT signed it and added their license number, which I later uploaded onto PTCAS to verify my hours.
Add all of your non-observational related experiences under ‘Experiences’. There are 4 experience types you can choose from: employment, extracurricular activities, research, and volunteer. Include any extracurricular you did during your undergrad, or post-graduation. The more you did, the more diverse your experience was, the stronger your application!
If you received any awards, honors, or scholarships, include that under the achievement section. After you submit your application, if you won any more achievements, fill free to continue adding them here!
The Essay
Here is also where you will be submitting your essay. PTCAS appears to change the essay every 2-3 years, but the same principles apply every year. Here are 5 principles to follow when writing an essay.
- Read the essay prompt carefully, and actually answer it. Many students make the mistake of trailing off topic and don’t answer what the prompt asks for.
- Show us your story. Don’t just tell your readers what you did. Show them what you did. For example, “I gained confidence and performed better” How? Give me an example of how your performance increased.
- Check for spelling mistakes/grammar. This seems very simple, but if you don’t check for this, your essay could become very sloppy very easily.
- Know your why. Sit back and really think about it. If “physical therapist” can be replaced with any other healthcare professional, then it’s not clear enough. Do your best to explain why no other career can compare to PT for YOU.
- Make your story unique. a Majority of students were introduced to the profession following an injury after being referred to a PT. But that’s just the introduction (and it’s a popular one). What really drove you into this career. When I wrote my essay, I wanted to stand out. I was introduced to PT when I hurt my knee, but in my essay, I wrote about puzzles and how cool I thought they were, and made that connection to PT.
Last Year’s Prompt
“Every person has a story that has led them to a career. Since there are a variety of health professions that “help” others, please go beyond your initial interaction or experience with physical therapy, and share the deeper story that has confirmed your decision to specifically pursue physical therapy as your career.”
PTCAS Prompt 2022-2023
Above you’ll see this year’s essay prompt. Really take your time when writing this essay. Follow the 5 tips above to strengthen your application, and if you feel that you need more assistance, or want the perspective of current students on your essay, feel free to reach out to us on our blog or DM us on IG. We provided many services and are more than happy to help you succeed.
Program Materials
Once you add programs you wish to apply to, they will be found here, where you can find more information about deadlines, supplemental applications, any fees, anything extra that the program may require you to do prior to submitting your application, and where you would submit your prerequisites.
You should note, the PTCAS has changed slightly, so this is where you’d submit your references now.
Personal Information
When each section is finished. The section will turn green, as above.
Submit
Now when you’re ready to submit your application, you must submit the total fees. The first application is $160*, any additional application is an extra $60. Keep in mind, once you submit your application, you can continue adding information, but you cannot remove any.
*If you’re eligible, you may be able to get a fee waiver for the application. Check out https://www.apta.org/cas/ptcas/application-prep for most information and see if you qualify!
And that’s it! We’ve hoped this made navigating PTCAS more manageable for you, and we wish you the best of luck. If you have any questions, please reach out to us and we will be more than happy to help!
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