Start treating your application like a workday and treat it with priority and importance as a job. If you can start practicing breaking everything down like most of the students in the Accepted System, we literally teach them how to reverse engineer everything. Make it simple for yourself and ask yourself, what do I need to do tomorrow? What do I need to check off the list? That will allow you to be on track for what you need to do and worry about your application. Once you check the task off the list, then treat yourself to some snack you like, watch whatever movie you want to see. Like literally, if you do that, then what will happen in those days will build upon your application.

If you continue to treat your application like a priority, eventually, those little things on your checklist will build this grand, pretty, beautiful, and massive completed application. In reality, what makes the application great, is you. You made the observation hours great, and you made PTCAS great....

The topic today is; it's common sense. Have any of you ever heard those three words? Maybe when you have been preparing for the GRE or PT cast and someone says, "it's common sense." If it was common sense, well, the truth is every single one of you would already be in PT school. Some of you may not have heard those three words. The truth is what holds people back with that statement is that it discredits the detail of what has to take place for you to set yourself up for your PT application. These details can be holding you back, whether it's a low GPA or GRE but, to say it's common sense means one of two things either we have forgotten what we went through, or we are saying it was much easier than it was. We remember memories that showed it was not a straightforward journey, but we will remember it as being much lighter than it was. These actions can throw people off because we're like, "don't worry about the GRE and don't worry about focusing on the program that you're going...

We all love taking advice from people we love, right? Everybody has an opinion, and getting advice can be a good and dangerous area to play. When taking advice, be very aware of the advice bringing you closer to getting accepted into PTs rather than farther away. A lot of people will give you input on what they think you should be doing right now as a pre-PT. While that can be a good thing from the right person, it can also be a scary thing from the wrong people. It can feel like you're being pulled in multiple directions. You can be taking advice from people that are kind of contradicting each other which becomes overwhelming and messy.

What I want you to do is, especially with people that have never applied to PT school, when they're giving you advice, ask yourself what they're telling me to do, or how they're advising me. Is it bringing me closer to my dream of becoming a physical therapist or, is it taking me away? Understand that when most people are giving you advice, they...

Everything we talk about is based on setting yourself up to be the student that no one can forget. During a group interview, we also want to stand out as an applicant. A group interview is just an interview where other people just happen to be in the room. A lot of the stress and anxiety comes from not being used to interviewing with multiple people. Understanding why may ease some of the stress and anxiety. The reason why the school does a group interview can be as simple as saving time. The school may not have the time or the faculty to interview everyone individually. Another reason why may be to see how you interact with the other students, faculty, and PT profession. They might be trying to see if you are a team player or just trying to sabotage everyone else.

A tip is to realize that everyone is just as nervous as you. Every applicant most likely has the same fears as you. Everybody is thinking the same, wondering rather to outdo or sizing each other up. Use that to your...

       I hope that your Thanksgiving holiday was as much of a blessing as it was for me! I would like to share with you a brief Pre-PT and Life lesson I learned from a Black Friday chat with a Best Buy Employee just hours after the food was settling in. As I was waiting to be checked out, I got into a casual conversation with an employee that soon turned to a deep discussion about life and success.

       He went on to tell me how he blew an amazing opportunity while playing college football as a wide receiver. It was the kind of opportunity that would have likely ended with him going pro. However, a few mistakes completely altered his trajectory. During his first year of college, he did not take his academics seriously, and this led to him losing a major scholarship as well as an opportunity to play professionally. Following that, he spent some time in the military where he learned the power of habits. He said, "Joses, there is nothing...

  When gearing up to apply to physical therapy programs you end up with a laundry list, a long laundry list, of things to do. Letters of recommendation, personal essays, observation hours, resume building, the list goes on and on! If you’re familiar with my background story, you know that I applied to PT school for two cycles, which means I had two laundry lists. Now I’m no expert, but I think the second time around I did a much better job with my laundry list and kept more of my sanity. So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed with how to be the best pre-PT student possible and you want some insight of how to stay organized during your application process keep reading because I’m going to share some tips with you!

Obtaining Observation Hours

            Between deciding where to go for your observations hours, how many hours to do, and how to make the most of the experience there’s a lot to...