the chronicles of a pre-PT

Hi! Welcome to my e-blog about exploring the world of physical therapy and navigating the application process. ask me anything about pt! personal stats admission requirements landing a pt aide position interview advice acing the gre

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interview reflections & final decision

On February 7th, I interviewed at UCSF/SFSU. Their interview process was a two day affair - Bay Area locals interviewed on Friday, while those from further away interviewed on Saturday. There were tours at all three campuses - Mission Bay, Parnassus, and SFSU. 113 people competed for 50 spots.

The interview itself was pretty standard - there were no questions that caught me completely off guard. I was actually impressed with myself for some of the answers that I came up with, which is rare.

Throughout the last few years, I've learned quite a bit about interviewing. What I've noticed is that the main thing that people want to see is what you're like so that they can be sure that you'll fit in to the culture of their company/school/whatever. They already have your resume and know your qualifications; they wouldn't waste their time interviewing you if they didn't think that you were capable of doing whatever it was that you applied for.

This time around, I was pretty nervous on the day of the interview. Part of me felt like I hadn't prepared as much as I could have. I arrived at my interview half an hour early and sat in my car reading over my notes for a few minutes. However, I realized that doing so was only making me more nervous, so I decided to leave my car and meet up with the rest of the people interviewing at the same time as me. When I sat down in the lobby, everyone was quiet and reading through their own notes, but instead of cracking open my notebook, I began a conversation with the group. Everyone ended up talking with each other until it was time for our interviews.

Instead of obsessing about the impending interview, talking to the others allowed me to relax - and probably helped them relax as well! I ended up entering the interview room confidently, with my nervousness very much decreased. It's true, smiling and faking being relaxed can actually make you feel more at ease.

In case it isn't already obvious, I was accepted by UCSF/SFSU. I got the call this morning at 10am, a mere 3 days post-interview. I've decided to accept their offer. It just makes the most sense for my situation - a strong program close to home with great clinical affiliations in California, which is where I want to live.

Time to start apartment hunting. :)

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updates & dilemmas.

Since I last posted, I received additional notifications from schools. I applied to Mount St. Mary’s and USC in early December, shortly before their application deadlines, because I was feeling nervous after not receiving any acceptances at that point. Once I was accepted to UIC, I decided to not finish applying to USC (they required me to send in my transcripts directly to their graduate school in addition to the ones I had already sent to PTCAS) because I didn’t want to spend the extra money sending in transcripts when I had been accepted into a less expensive university already. I was not expecting to hear from Mount St. Mary’s because I knew that they had already filled their class due to their rolling admissions process.

I ended up being accepted to USC, which was a huge surprise, and wait listed to Mount St. Mary’s.

Additionally, I am #23 on the wait list for CSUN, which was previously my top choice. The class size is 32, and they went through 127 people on their wait list last year to fill their class.

That’s it for the updates. The only school I have not received an admissions decision from yet is Chapman, but at this point I don’t think I’d go there even if I got in. I have my interview at UCSF/SFSU in a few weeks and then I’ll be done with this crazy process.

However, I’m not even close to deciding where I want to go to school. My mind changes every week. This week, I’m heavily favoring UCSF, contingent on my acceptance, of course. It makes the most sense career-wise for me given the fact that I would like to live in California long-term. The clinical affiliations are especially strong in California, with UCSF Med (obviously), Stanford, and UCLA Med all piquing my interest.

I’ve already declined USC and Touro. I declined USC mainly because of cost, and Touro because of the professor LOR I would have to acquire as well as other factors such as (primarily) not using a cadaver lab.

I visited Chicago this past weekend for UIC’s open house, hoping that visiting Chicago for the first time would help me to at least make a decision between GWU and UIC. I am left more confused than ever, to be honest. Both programs have very similar curriculums - the only difference I really noticed was that UIC has a 2 week full time clinical immersion in the summer after 1st year while GW does not. Both have three 12-week clinicals in the 3rd year. Both universities have very high pass rates for the NPTE. While I prefer GW’s campus location, UIC is located in Chicago, which is a beautiful city with a really great vibe. Winters are brutal in Chicago, but the summers are hard to compete with (or so I’ve heard). Both cities have a very young population with many events going on. Chicago is much cheaper to live in, and UIC has a slightly cheaper tuition. UIC is technically ranked higher. GW is a private school, which - I assume - has more students from across the country, vs UIC which is in-state and primarily composed of local students.

So I’m basically at a standstill until my UCSF/SFSU interview and admissions decision. Even then, I don’t know what I will do. And what if I get admitted into CSUN, which is very possible? 

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crazy week.

Hours after my most recent post, I got another acceptance - Touro Manhattan.

Today, I got my interview invitation for UCSF/SFSU.

Happy holidays to me! :)

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first acceptances!

It's been a crazy last few days. On Monday, I got an acceptance email from UIC, and this morning, I got another from GWU.

Now I have to decide which I prefer of the two...it's definitely a great problem to have, but it doesn't make it any less stressful! Any advice?

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how to get observation hours.

I've now shadowed in three settings: outpatient orthopedic, skilled nursing facility, and acute care in a hospital. All three were extremely helpful in confirming my decision to pursue physical therapy school and I enjoyed them all. I highly recommend getting experience in a variety of settings to not only strengthen your application, but also give you something to talk about during your interviews and to reinforce why you're going into PT (or maybe to change your mind!).

Hospital Settings (Acute Care, etc)

The process for shadowing in a hospital is probably the most convoluted and complex out of the different fields due to administrative details and overabundance of students who want to shadow. Some helpful tips:

Start this process very early. For reference, I first emailed the director of the PT department in July, and got my shadowing hours in during October.

Contact the PT department directly (if you can). The main hospital administration might not know about PT shadowing and may attempt to direct you to general volunteering.

Prepare for paperwork - my hospital experience required a TB test, proof of various immunizations, a resume, etc.

Other Inpatient Settings (e.g. Skilled Nursing Facility)

Google facilities in your area. Check their websites or call them to find out if they employ physical therapists, and ask them if it's possible for you to shadow.

My SNF experience was a much quicker process than my hospital shadowing process - I called on a Monday and was shadowing the following Monday.

Outpatient Orthopedic

Find nearby offices and call them up! Most clinics are pretty open to shadowing.

Some general tips:

The APTA Find a PT tool is helpful for finding PTs with different specialities. 

Wear business casual unless instructed otherwise. Check to see how the PTs are dressed and then follow their lead. Wear comfortable shoes.

Try getting a job as a PT aide! Most schools require letters of recommendation from one or more physical therapists. Some PTs won't write letters of recommendation for people who shadow, some will. Working as a PT aide is the best way to get to know PTs, which in turn leads to better letters of recommendation.

Anyone have any advice for getting shadowing experience in specialties such as pediatrics, cardiopulmonary, integumentary, neurologic, women's health, etc PT?

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interviews.

I had my first interview last weekend at GWU in Washington, D.C., and had a great time. Leading up to the interview, I was extremely nervous, but once I actually got there and began talking to and meeting people, my nerves quickly subsided.

One of the first things I learned about interview day is to check and double-check what time your interview is. For some reason, I thought my interview was at 8:30AM. I got ready, ate a small snack, called a Lyft, and headed down the elevator at my friend's apartment before glancing at my email and realizing my interview was actually at 12:30PM. Well, I guess it would have been better to be early than late! Good thing I noticed before I left.

If you've been invited for an interview, you can rest easy knowing that the school and admissions department believes that your grades, GRE scores, extracurriculars, and so on are strong enough to succeed at their program. That's a great sign! With the interview, they're checking to see if your personality would fit in at the school. After all, once you're in graduate school, the faculty are more like peers rather than tyrannical authority figures. They're going to be working with you for the next three years and want to make sure that you're someone they want to be around. 

My first piece of advice is simple: Be confident, be yourself, and smile. They expect you to be nervous, but don't let your nerves get in the way of showing your personality! I used to think that interviews were supposed to be entirely serious and stoic - and in some cases, they might be - but I've found that my best interviews have been the ones with a more conversational flow. I've even talked about frozen yogurt in a few of my past interviews! Of course, there's a time and place for everything, so make sure to follow the cues of your interviewer(s).

When in doubt, dress professionally. Out of the 60 or so students present at my interview, all but one were dressed in suits. One girl was wearing jeans - don't be that girl!

Research the school and its program ahead of time and prepare questions to ask the interviewers, faculty members, and current students. Remember - they're trying to look as appealing to you as you are to them! Pay attention to important information such as NPTE pass rates, clinical affiliations, whether anatomy consists of a cadaver lab or a virtual program, etc.

Find out what the interview is going to be like from past interviewees, admissions directors, and/or the SDN forum and prepare. I knew based on past years' interviews that my interview would consist of a group interview portion, a relaxed one-on-one portion, a group activity, and a campus tour. Some schools have an timed written essay as a part of their interview. Knowing what to expect allowed me to prepare better and as a result helped me feel more comfortable going into the interview day.

Practice for questions that you might be asked on interview day. Here are the main ones - I was not asked all of them, but practicing them allowed me to better answer other questions:

Why do you want to be a physical therapist? (Note: "I like helping people" is not a good answer. There are a lot of professions in which you can help people. Why not be a doctor? Why not work in customer support? What made PT stand out to you?)

Why do you want to attend this particular program? (Check their website - they will advertise their unique benefits and advantages. Do you like their class size? Do they have new facilities or a particularly good cadaver lab? Are their clinical affiliations top notch? Is their curriculum appealing to you compared to other institutions? What's their research like?

What is the role of a physical therapist?

How do you deal with a difficult patient/difficult situations?

What are some current issues in the PT field?

What are your strengths/weaknesses?

How prepared are you to handle rigorous graduate level coursework?

What did you learn from your shadowing experiences?

They might also ask you behavioral-based questions, such as: How have you dealt with conflict in a situation? Describe a failure and how you overcame it. 

As for my own interview, I think it went pretty well. I enjoyed the entire experience and thought the faculty and current students were very friendly. The D.C. area itself is wonderful, and this California girl even got to experience some snow! I'd definitely be very fortunate to be admitted.

Anyone else have any interview tips they'd like to share?

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observation hours.

Observation hours are not only a critical part of the application - they show you different aspects of physical therapy that you might not have been exposed to before. The best way to make sure that physical therapy is the right career path for you is by exploring different settings and talking to various people in the field.

I have been working as an outpatient orthopedic aide for the past few months, so I have a pretty good grasp of what that setting consists of. However, even within outpatient orthopedics, you can encounter a lot of variation. For example, some clinics could be physician-owned (POPT), seeing 3 patients per hour, whereas at my small clinic, the physical therapist sees one patient every 45 minutes.

I actually had no idea how different physical therapy could be in different settings until I observed in a skilled nursing facility. Even after just a few hours, the difference was clear. While I was used to physical therapists using a lot of manual therapy on patients, in the skilled nursing facility, the therapists were mostly working on transfers and walking - doing basic life skills. I had a similar experience at the local hospital in acute care. The pace was much slower in the inpatient setting due to the fact that you could see patients whenever you wanted, spending more time with certain patients and less with those who may not need it as much.

Ultimately, shadowing further piqued my curiosity - I am even more excited about physical therapy than I was before because I enjoyed all of the settings that I observed in. I also am interested in exploring other specialties as well, such as pediatrics. I can see myself partaking in the academic side of the field sometime in the future - teaching and conducting research are definitely on my mind as well.

I highly recommend prospective students to explore as many different settings as possible as early in the application process as possible. Not only will you strengthen your application, you will also be even more confident in your decision to pursue the physical therapy field. You'll also have more to talk about come interview time!

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gre domination.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted…I’ve been insanely busy with applications, work, studying for the GRE, and now I’m on vacation in Spain. Needless to say, blogging has been far from my mind for the most part.

I took the GRE the day before I left for Spain. I gave myself about two weeks to study - luckily I’m pretty good at standardized testing so I wasn’t really too worried about completely bombing it. I studied using the GRE for Dummies book, the Manhattan Prep book of practice problems, and the Kaplan book. I did a ridiculous amount of practice problems, memorized as much of the Kaplan vocabulary as I could (using flash cards), and did all of the practice tests in my books. By far the most helpful thing was Kaplan’s computer-based practice tests - they prepared me extremely well for the real thing. In fact, I think the actual test was slightly easier than the practice tests (and I got a higher score on it than any of my practice ones), but that could just be due to the increased concentration and focus associated with taking the real test.

I didn’t really practice the writing section much, as I had taken the GMAT before and it has a writing section that’s similar. The difference is that the GRE has two, and one of them involves either agreeing with or refuting a statement and using evidence to back it up. I find the other type of essay - analyzing an argument - to be much easier.

Memorizing vocabulary for the verbal section was extremely helpful, but doing a large number of practice problems was essential. There is a lot of overlap between problems so the more you practice, the more familiar you become with them (which is kind of obvious, but…yeah).

The quantitative section was pretty easy because it’s all high school level math. There were a few things that I needed to review - permutations, combinations, probability, and some geometry - but for the most part, it was a matter of just not making stupid mistakes. The best thing to do is just complete a bunch of practice problems and review concepts that you have forgotten, and memorize formulas such as n!/(k!(n-k)!)

Last but not least, my score: Verbal: 165 (95th percentile) Quant: 166 (93rd percentile) Writing: 5.5 (97th percentile)

Obviously, I am very happy with my score! Having a good GRE score is an essential part of the application process and the fact that it only takes a few weeks to a few months of studying (versus four years of college for your GPA) means that it’s something that can be attainable to anyone with enough preparation.

If you have any questions about the GRE, feel free to ask!

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personal stats.

A little background about me. I’m a 23-year-old female who graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in Biology in 2012. Since then, I’ve ventured into the business field, realized it wasn’t for me, and returned to science. I did a research internship, and upon its completion, I devoted myself to the pursuit of physical therapy, with the goal of applying to PT schools in summer 2013 for admission in 2014. In the meantime, I work part-time as a PT Aide in an outpatient orthopedic clinic, I am taking additional pre-reqs, I’m studying for the GRE, and I will be volunteering in a variety of PT settings.

University: UCLA

Major: B.S. Biology

Cumulative PTCAS GPA: 3.54 (3.55 after academic update)

PTCAS Prerequisite GPA: 3.59

GRE: 165V/166Q/5.5AW

PT Hours: 300+ outpatient ortho (PT aide); 20 acute care (hospital); 14 SNF

Extra-Curricular: Director of two committees in student government; intramural soccer; cell biology research and development internship (5 mos) & published; ecology & evolutionary biology research (~2 yrs); molecular pharmacology research (6 mos); employee at large American company - business training program (6 mos); optometry office assistant (~2 yrs)

Applied To: UCSF/SFSU, CSUN, Chapman, GWU, UIC, Touro Manhattan, USC (close to the deadline), Mount St. Mary’s (close to the deadline)

Interviews: GWU (12/6/13), UCSF/SFSU (2/7/14)

Rejections: N/A

Waitlisted: CSUN (#23; 1/2/14), Mount St. Mary’s (1/2/14)

Accepted: UIC (12/16/13), GWU (12/18/13), Touro Manhattan (12/18/13), USC (1/7/14), UCSF/SFSU (2/10/14), Chapman (2/26/14)

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how to get a job as a pt aide.

There are a few ways that you can go about obtaining a position as a physical therapy aide.

The easiest way by far is via Craigslist. Most private practices don't advertise their positions on large websites such as Indeed due to the cost of posting a job and instead opt for a Craigslist posting. If you go to the Jobs section and search for either physical therapy aide or physical therapy tech under the Healthcare Jobs tab, you're sure to get some matches. This is how I landed my PT Aide job in less than a week! I got three interview offers at different clinics within two days of responding to Craigslist job ads.

Searching on Indeed can't hurt, either - sometimes major hospitals will post their listings there. I found a few listings but decided to stick with Craigslist because it was a much more relaxed way of applying - no formal cover letters required!

You can also try contacting physical therapy clinics directly via email or telephone and inquiring about job opportunities. Especially around this time of year, when the office's current PT aides may be preparing to leave for school, they may be on the cusp of searching for new aides but could have not posted their job online yet. That's how I landed my previous job as an optometry office assistant - I emailed them, and their assistant happened to be leaving at around that time. 

Finally, if all else fails, secure a volunteering/observing position at a clinic or a hospital. That way, if their current aide leaves, your dedication and experience will make you first in line for that position!

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pt aide: day 1.

So, yesterday was my first official day as a Physical Therapy Aide! I work in an outpatient orthopedic/sports rehabilitation clinic, which is owned by two of the four therapists that work there. They recently hired the 4th therapist, so things got a little hectic and they decided to bring in a second aide...yours truly!

One of the first things that happened after I walked into the door was the office manager informing me that this was the fastest that they've ever hired someone. Usually it takes two weeks, she said, but me? They called me with a job offer less than 24 hours after my interview. So that was a nice self esteem pick-me-up to start the day.

I started by shadowing the morning PT aide, and she showed me how to do basic cleaning (wiping down tables, laundry, etc) as well as stim and ice/heat. Basically, at my clinic, the patients have 45 minutes with their physical therapist, and then they can hang around and do their exercises. At the end of their appointment, the aides give them ice and electric stimulation for 15 minutes, and then they're on their way. It's actually pretty easy to do, but when you have a lot of physical therapists at the clinic at once, there's a lot of ice/stim overlap and it can get pretty hectic!

For the second half of the day, I shadowed the office manager, as she normally leaves the office at 4:30 and I will be there until 7, which means that I take over front desk duties for the rest of the day. Pretty straightforward stuff, and most of the work gets done by the time I sit in the chair - I will pretty much just have to answer the phone and set up appointments as they come in. Not too bad, although I absolutely hate talking on the phone. I know, I'm weird.

Anyway, it was a great experience. I was a little nervous doing ice and stim on patients just because I'm still so new at this. The morning PT aide assured me that after about a week or two, everything becomes second nature. It's crazy how both the office manager and the aide know almost every patient's name! I hope that I'll be able to do that as well.

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admission requirements.

GPA Most schools require a minimum cumulative and pre-req GPA of 3.00. A GPA of 3.50+ is competitive. GRE Most schools require a minimum GRE score of 150 verbal, 150 quantitative, and 4.0 analytical writing. Verbal and quant are out of 170; Analytical writing is out of 6.0. OBSERVATION HOURS Most schools require 100+ observation hours in a variety of settings: acute inpatient, peds, SNF, orthopedic outpatient, etc. VARIETY trumps QUANTITY -- schools want to make sure that you are exposed to every facet of the profession before committing to 3 years of schooling. Recommended number of hours: 200+. Remember that most schools want your hours verified on PTCAS by your supervising Physical Therapist, so be sure to keep a log of your hours and have your PT sign off on it to keep a written record. LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION Most schools will require 3 references. Each school has different specifications, but a good bet would include having a pool of 2 PT recommendations on hand, 2 professors/academics (generally in a pre-requisite course), and/or 1 employer/supervisor. Get these taken care of early in the admissions process. PRE-REQUISITE COURSES Although some schools differ when it comes to pre-requisites, the core curriculum is roughly the same. Keep in mind that most DPT schools require a bachelors (4 year) degree, but the major is not important as long as your pre-requisites are complete. Below is a list of the most commonly required coursework:

General Inorganic Chemistry with lab (1 year)

General Physics with lab (1 year)

General Biology with lab (1 year)

Human or Comparative Anatomy with lab

Human Physiology with lab

Psychology (2 courses): General & Abnormal Recommended

Statistics