There’s no denying the fact that the biggest obstacle standing in the way of students who want to get into PT school (in the United States and ESPECIALLY in Canada) are the dreaded GPA (grade point average) requirements. I know this situation first-hand VERY well, so read on if you want my best insight for this situation.

The quick answer for how to get into PT school with a low GPA

First, you need to make sure that your GPAs meet the minimum requirements for the school you’d like to apply to. If they don’t, you’ll need to do some academic upgrading. You always want to apply with the highest GPA possible.

If your GPAs meet the minimum requirements but aren’t much higher, you’re likely not the strongest candidate. To offset this, you should consider meeting with faculty and admissions councillors in person for a variety of reasons. Doing so will help ensure that you won’t simply be just a number on a piece of paper when you apply.

The quick overview of this article

• A low or inadequate GPA is what notoriously holds aspiring PT students back from getting into PT school.
  
• Most PT schools within the US look at two GPA values: Your GPA for prerequisite coursework and your overall GPA (which usually is based off your most recent 15 or so courses from undergrad – though this can differ from one school to another).
  
• If either of your GPAs fail to meet the requirements of a school, you will not be considered an eligible candidate. You will need to go through some academic upgrading if you still wish to apply in the future. See my article How to Make the Most of Academic Upgrading to Get Into PT School if you are considering academic upgrading.
  
• If your GPA just barely meets the minimum requirements, you may still want to consider redoing some courses, as nearly all candidates selected into their PT programs have GPAs that are well above the minimum requirements.
  
• If your GPA meets the minimum requirements but isn’t much higher, you will need to apply some extra effort to help yourself stand out to the school you’re applying to. This will be tough, be can be doable if you keep a few things in mind.

A quick note declaring my expertise within this area

What makes me qualified to write an article on this matter? I re-did almost HALF of an undergraduate (after already having completed my undergraduate) degree over a two-year span to get my GPA up to where it needed to be (both for prerequisite GPA and overall GPA). I either re-took or took a total of 11 undergraduate courses to make my dream of becoming a PT student a reality.

The unfortunate truth of the GPA

Whether you’re applying to PT schools in the States or in Canada, GPA requirements are one of the first criteria you should meet before progressing to the application stage for a particular institution.

In a very real sense, meeting GPA requirements are just one of the many and cumbersome hoops you will have to jump through to get accepted into a DPT program in the US or the MScPT program in Canada. With so many individuals applying to PT programs and only a limited availability in seats, a GPA is a quick way for schools to weed out applicants right away.

As you may well know, a good GPA in’t necessarily indicative of someone being able to become a great therapist. A lot more goes into becoming a great physical therapist than GPA alone. Work ethic, emotional intelligence, professionalism, and so on are also important characteristics and features of what a great PT requires. This is not to say that GPA doesn’t matter at all, just rather that it is only one component.

But, when it comes to pursuing acceptance into a PT program, characteristics and factors outside of a student’s GPA are largely ignored by many institutions. This is just the unfortunate reality when it comes to applying to PT programs. Some institutions will consider other factors and try to learn more about you as an individual through an interview, but even then, you only get to that point on their radar after they see you’ve got a decent GPA.

The two GPA values that schools look at: The prerequisite coursework GPA and the overall GPA

While some schools may do it slightly differently, the vast majority of PT schools within the US will look at two GPAs.

1. The prerequisite coursework GPA. This GPA refers to your grade point average for the courses that are specifically required for you to have completed in order to be eligible to apply to the program. For most schools, the prerequisite courses are:
   1. Anatomy (with a lab component)
   2. Physiology (with a lab component)
   3. Two chemistry courses (both with lab components)
   4. Two physics courses (both with lab components)
   5. One or two courses in biology (both with lab components)
   6. One or two courses in psychology
   7. Introductory statistics

It is important to note that there are some variations between schools for required courses, but all of the above courses are largely universal requirements of prerequisite coursework into a DPT program within the US.

1. The overall GPA. The overall GPA refers to the sum total of your grade point average from all of your undergraduate coursework. Again, schools might have slight variation in how they calculate this. Some schools may only take the most recent fifteen or twenty courses on your transcripts, while others might take even more. Just know that the overall GPA is largely what it sounds like – it’s the overall picture of your grades throughout your undergraduate studies.

If either one of your GPAs are below school requirements, you will need to pursue academic upgrading if you still want to pursue PT school

One very important thing to know is that if either (or both) of your GPAs aren’t at the minimum mark of where the school(s) you’re applying to require them to be, then you really need to consider academic upgrading your only option. Applications can be expensive and time-consuming and I haven’t ever come across any stories where a student got accepted despite being below the minimum GPA requirement(s). (Not saying it hasn’t necessarily happened, just that it would be extremely rare and I’ve never heard of this happening, personally).

If upgrading is something you will need to (and are willing to) do, fear not. Many successful PT’s (including myself) have had to go through this process. And, if you want to know how to use your time spent upgrading courses to your advantage, be sure to check out the blog post I’ve written on How to Make the Most of Academic Upgrading to Get Into PT School.

If you currently just barely meet the minimum GPA requirements

If your GPA is acceptable by the school’s standards, but still not great, then upgrading can still be a wise move, though not technically necessary. Just know that the higher your GPA(s), the better off you’ll be. The vast majority of successful applicants have GPAs that are well above the minimum requirements.

While GPA requirements across the US are universally similar, there is in fact enough variance that it’s worth checking out the specific requirements of each school; one school may require an overall GPA of, say, 3.3 while another might require only 3.2 as a bare minimum. Now, as mentioned before, it’s always better to be above the bare minimum when you apply. But if you HAVE to apply with a GPA that isn’t quite at the mark of what a school requires, see if there’s another suitable school that has slightly lower requirements.

If you’re planning on applying with a bare-minimum GPA

If you meet all your school’s application requirements, but your GPA is the weak point in your application, there’s some key steps you will likely need to take in order to help your application as much as possible. They are by no means a guarantee, but if you need to pack every bit of strength into your application as possible, they may be worth doing.

The first step: Boost and strengthen all other aspects of your application

The first step to take is to bolster the rest of your application however you can – extra volunteer hours in the clinic, additional extracurriculars, perhaps a more recent or stronger reference, etc.

What this will look like will likely be different from one individual to the next. I remember that I took some weekend certification courses in the realm of sports therapy in order to list them on my resume (this was of course in addition to my academic upgrading).

The thing to be aware of with taking this action is that it doesn’t offer you a high degree of likelihood for swaying the application committee in your favour, ESPECIALLY if you’re applying through PTCAS where you’re essentially just an application number on a piece of paper (at least for the initial stages of application review). So, you run the risk of pumping in some extra time and perhaps money towards beefing up your application for minimal (if any) return on investment, but it’s still worth considering.

You can maximize this benefit of having taken an extra weekend course or being involved with more volunteer hours at a clinic, extracurriculars, etc. by mentioning them on your PTCAS and school-specific essay questions. If you do this right, maybe it can swing the tides in your favour for when the school reads over your essays or resume.

The second step: Meet face to face on campus with department and program faculty

This second step is the better one to take if you could only choose between the aforementioned step or this one. It offers a much higher likelihood that you’ll make a favourable impression to those who may have some sort of say in the review of your application. Being able to do both steps though is the ideal method.

It’s not likely an option that’s available to those perhaps applying to school far from home, but if it’s within your power to do so, then find a way to arrange a personal meeting with faculty or advisors on the campus for the school you’re applying to. What you are trying to do here is become more than just an application number on a piece of paper. You want to present yourself face to face with anyone in the department that you can in order to introduce yourself to them directly.

As a quick side note: This tactic is EXTREMELY beneficial if you’re applying to a school that does not use the PTCAS system, as was the case with my school at the time. Non-PTCAS schools are more accustomed to getting to know potential PT applicants face to face than those that route everything through PTCAS.

Arrange a meeting with a graduate admissions councillor and ask if you’d be able to tour the campus and perhaps quickly introduce yourself to any faculty that may be on campus. This is what I did for the school I ultimately got accepted into and while I never got a verbal admission from the faculty that this helped me get accepted into the program, I’m pretty confident in saying that it helped a ton.

When you arrive on campus, be dressed professionally and have hard copies of everything – resume, references, copies of certifications, etc. This shows them that you mean business. Ask all sorts of questions pertaining to the application requirements while letting them know the strengths of your application.

I still remember the day when I had my on-campus meeting that I had arranged. The graduate admission councillor was so impressed with my preparedness, maturity and the questions that I was asking that she said she was going to try to let the faculty know that I would be an excellent fit for their program.

Bottom line: Give them a reason to remember you.

Concluding Remarks

Your best chances of getting into PT school always begin with a high GPA in your prerequisite courses as well as with the rest of your courses. PT school is incredibly competitive to get into, and while having a GPA that meets the minimal requirements allows you to be eligible, the higher it is, the better off you’ll be.

If you plan on applying and want to do all that you can to increase your chances of getting in, you’ll need to do your best to strengthen all other areas of your application for which the school might take notice. If at all possible, arrange a formal meeting with the admissions office for the campus you’d like to apply to. From there, take appropriate, professional steps to show them that you’re far more than just an application number on a piece of paper.

Nothing’s guaranteed when it comes to getting into PT school, but if you’re going to apply with a lower GPA, you might as well do everything else that you can to strengthen your chances of getting in. After all, nothing’s impossible.