What prompts those of us with already stable careers to take the leap and apply to PT school later in life? Are we driven by unseen forces and internal fire? Are we simply bored with our current career path and looking for a change? And most of all, is it worth taking the leap?

"I love the independence and freedom I have as a practicing PT."

Applying to PT school as an established professional and well developed adult has its positive selling points. We tend to look more well-rounded on applications because of the additional experiences those years have given us. Perhaps we have travelled, lived in a foreign country, run a business, or raised children. We bring to the table a maturity, and in making this transition to PT school later in life, we show we are serious.

Making this decision as an older candidate also comes with a different variety of challenges. Perhaps we are in the process of raising small children, have mortgage payments to make, or feel inept at using modern...

Spending weeks of writing and editing your application essays can easily leave you feeling emotionally and mentally drained. I’ve been in the same boat of working tirelessly through what seems like constant writer’s block. Unfortunately, I repeatedly asked myself the same question: “Is my essay what the admissions committee is looking for?”

I had the pleasure of speaking with 4 individuals involved with the admissions process through their respective physical therapy programs. While each program will have differing opinions on each of the following questions, overall each of the 4 individuals wrote similar answers for each question. The following answers are direct quotes (with minimal editing).

I truly hope that this post helps guide you through this stressful time, and I wish you the best of luck with completing your essays!

 1. What are qualities that you typically look for in an essay?

• Make sure you answer the question or theme the essay is...

"Are you just an average PT student? Or will you be an excellent PT student who will then become an excellent PT?"

What would your perfect PT school applicant look like? The most interesting part about it is that many times, it’s pre-PT’s that are saying, “If I were on the other end, what is it that programs are looking for? What would I be looking for if I were a faculty member or as a student that's already in the PT program? What would I’ve been looking for?” Before we get into conversation, this is a question that you should think about as a pre-PT. If you are able to answer it, it will help you so much in terms of putting you in a position where you can now become your own perfect PT school applicant.

So first of all, let’s get the elephant out of the room. Let’s address it. We gotta talk about GPA. We gotta talk about GRE. The admissions crew for the school you are applying to look at those things. They have to pay their...

"Based on the compound law of improvement, if everyday we commit to become 2% better than yesterday, our performance will be more than 1,000 times better one year later."

Being a PT is rewarding and promising. We are able to help people get better and return to doing things they enjoy just with our brains and hands, and we don’t rely on medications, expensive machines or scalpels. Our professional knowledge enables us to do amazing things. However, becoming a PT is no doubt a grind. As a PT who just finished school fairly recently, I would like to talk about three attributes that I think are the most important to succeed in school and become an effective therapist.

1. Be Open-minded: Lifelong Learning

We all know that learning continuously is important, and it’s important to establish the
habit of learning inside and out of the classroom. Acquiring PT-related knowledge helps
us treat our patients better. Also, continuing education is...

I was in the final months of my internship at Jump Start Physical Therapy in Massachusetts, and I was knee deep in the process of obtaining my PT license back home in New Jersey when my phone buzzed. My brother texted me that one of his friends who coached high school soccer was looking for a JV coach for her program. I thought, ‘Hey, that could be fun while I look for a real PT job back home, sure!' I spoke with the head coach and got the job a few weeks later. Little did I know how much I’d love coaching high schoolers, and that 2 years later, I’d be forging a way to integrate coaching and practicing physical therapy.

In the past 2 years, I’ve worked in an outpatient ortho facility part time, covered various outpatient clinics, and worked in a school district treating pre schoolers, all while locally coaching high school soccer, basketball, and softball. I traveled to Cincinnati and became a certified Sportsmetrics trainer so I could specifically offer ACL...

“A commitment to service, a desire to add value, and a love of teaching” – according to Gary Vaynerchuk, in his new book, Crushing It, these are three characteristics that today’s greatest entrepreneurs and influencers share. However, I believe these traits not only apply to great entrepreneurs but should also be applied to us as future physical therapists, business owners, and healthcare professionals. As Pre-PTs, it is our duty to develop and live out these characteristics on a daily basis, not just for ourselves, but for our future patients. Personally, coaching basketball has allowed me to practice these core values. It gave me the opportunity to practice and enhance many skills necessary as a future physical therapist. 

1. A Commitment to Service

Coach: One of the biggest lessons I learned as a coach is that the most important pre-requisite for leadership is a commitment to serve. As a coach, service boils down to two...