Business major thinking about switching to PT

[Mushman18]

Hope fully someone can help me out and give me some advice.

So I'm 24 years old and graduated high school in 2011 and have been in and out of college trying to get my associates in business since then. In between i tore my ACL twice (same knee) and got my first surgery in 2012 which put me out of school for about a year. the second surgery was in september 2017 and i didn't go to school in the fall because it was my right knee both times. While all that was going my parents went through a bit of a rough patch which lasted from the age if 16-22 which resulted in me not making great life decisions and dropping classes/semesters, not attending classes or if i did attend just not retaining any knowledge because of household issues. My gpa is currently at a 2.4 and 24 credits. I have most of my gen-ed course work completed and after maturing a bit and going through physical therapy a second time I feel like I've found my calling. Im fairly active so I did remember a lot of the workouts and exercises from my first time being in PT in 2012/2013 and i caught myself always listening to my PT and what she was telling other patients and grew more and more interested. I know how competitive PT school is to get into and with such a low gpa is it still possible to have a fighting chance. I also don't have an option but to work and have been bartending/ serving for the last 7 years and im burnt out. i got both my surgeries at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC (i live in central jersey close to rutgers) and was thinking about getting a PT aide/tech job there since i have friend who works there and she said the pay scale is almost double from what I'd get in jersey. Would the name of HSS on my resume in itself add to my chances of acceptance in PT school? i would of course work on boosting my GPA and all that. I want to make a change in my life and Physical Therapy is what i want to do. just need help from others who were in my shoes with a low gpa and turned life around and accepted into PT school to help boost my confidence.

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[Elauz]

Hope fully someone can help me out and give me some advice.

So I'm 24 years old and graduated high school in 2011 and have been in and out of college trying to get my associates in business since then. In between i tore my ACL twice (same knee) and got my first surgery in 2012 which put me out of school for about a year. the second surgery was in september 2017 and i didn't go to school in the fall because it was my right knee both times. While all that was going my parents went through a bit of a rough patch which lasted from the age if 16-22 which resulted in me not making great life decisions and dropping classes/semesters, not attending classes or if i did attend just not retaining any knowledge because of household issues. My gpa is currently at a 2.4 and 24 credits. I have most of my gen-ed course work completed and after maturing a bit and going through physical therapy a second time I feel like I've found my calling. Im fairly active so I did remember a lot of the workouts and exercises from my first time being in PT in 2012/2013 and i caught myself always listening to my PT and what she was telling other patients and grew more and more interested. I know how competitive PT school is to get into and with such a low gpa is it still possible to have a fighting chance. I also don't have an option but to work and have been bartending/ serving for the last 7 years and im burnt out. i got both my surgeries at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC (i live in central jersey close to rutgers) and was thinking about getting a PT aide/tech job there since i have friend who works there and she said the pay scale is almost double from what I'd get in jersey. Would the name of HSS on my resume in itself add to my chances of acceptance in PT school? i would of course work on boosting my GPA and all that. I want to make a change in my life and Physical Therapy is what i want to do. just need help from others who were in my shoes with a low gpa and turned life around and accepted into PT school to help boost my confidence.

Hi! Sometimes it takes a little time to figure out your true calling. I can't tell you what to do, only you can decide for yourself, but I believe that if you truly want to make a career in physical therapy, you can do it. At 26 I realized my passion for PT, and took every prereq as a post-bacc course (I have my BA in Communication). Although my undergrad GPA was decent at a 3.28, I had straight up failed a math class in the past, and I was really nervous about having to face math again. However, I knew I wanted to become a physical therapist so I adopted a positive mindset and I found that I was a much better student the second time around.

I think getting a job as a technician is a great idea, as it will certainly look good on your application and will provide much needed observation hours. It will also provide plenty of insight into PT so that you can determine if it's still a good fit for you. Although it won't be easy having to work while finishing your bachelor's degree, it's definitely possible to get A's while doing so!

Focus on improving your self-confidence, and the rest will follow. I read a book called Mindset while I was taking my prereqs and I found it very helpful in improving my positivity and self-confidence. I hope this is helpful! Good luck to you!!