College of Health, Education and Professional Studies
Admission to the Professional Physical Therapy Program
Application procedure and admission to the University does not assure acceptance into the physical therapy program. Enrollment is limited, and the number of qualified applicants may exceed the number of students who can be admitted.
Selection by the admissions committee is based upon a number of factors including overall GPA (calculated for all academic courses attempted up to the point of application to the program), GPA for science courses alone (including biology, chemistry, physics and psychology courses), references and interviews.
Applicants with the best combination of these factors will be selected for the class. Students may apply who have a minimum cumulative GPA and science GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 grading scale and meet the minimum prerequisite requirements. Entrance into the program is contingent upon the completion of all prerequisites with a minimum grade of C.
Application forms are available on-line at the physical therapy web site. The completed application packet must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on the day of the deadline posted on the physical therapy website.
Applicants are responsible for assuring the completion of the packet prior to the deadline. Following initial review of the application materials, invited interviews are conducted, and the decision of the admissions committee is mailed to each applicant. Students are asked to verify their acceptance to the program in writing. Classes begin in late August.
Undergraduate students who are admitted into the program will be required to apply to and be admitted into the Graduate School at the completion of the first year of the physical therapy program. Upon the successful completion of the first year of the professional program, undergraduate students will be granted a bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitation Science. Applicants who have previously earned a bachelor's degree from a regionally-accredited institution must apply and be admitted to the Graduate School prior to admission to the DPT program.
If a student is admitted to the DPT program, but declines to accept a position in the class to which he or she has been admitted, the student must reapply to be considered for admission to the program at a later date.
Prerequisite Courses
Undergraduates must complete ninety-six semester hours of course work prior to initiating study within the professional program. Prerequisite eligibility requirements to apply are as follows:
Block One: Fall Application Deadline
Note: Consult www.utc.edu/physicaltherapy for specific deadline dates.
Undergraduate applicants must complete a minimum of 60 semester hours of the prerequisites by the end of the preceding summer semester to include two English composition courses, two biology courses, one chemistry or physics course, one mathematics course, and one psychology course.
Applicants having already earned a degree from a regionally-accredited institution and planning to apply through the Graduate School must complete the following prerequisites by the end of the preceding summer semester: two biology courses, one chemistry or physics course, one mathematics course, and one psychology course.
Block Two: Spring Application Deadline
Note: Consult www.utc.edu/physicaltherapy for specific deadline dates.
Undergraduate applicants must complete a minimum of 75 semester hours of the prerequisites by the end of the fall semester to include two English composition courses, two biology courses, one chemistry course, one physics course, one mathematics course, one psychology course, and an additional two courses in chemistry, physics or psychology.
Applicants having already earned a degree from a regionally accredited institution and planning to apply through the Graduate School must complete the following courses by the end of the fall semester: two biology prerequisite courses, one chemistry course, one physics course, one mathematics course, one psychology course, and an additional two courses in chemistry, physics or psychology.
A total of 19 semester hours of electives is included in the prerequisites. Students are encouraged to select elective course work that could be applicable to an alternative bachelor’s degree in the event that admission to the program is denied.
Applicants who have already earned a bachelor’s degree are required to complete only major-related prerequisite courses. Transfer students should enroll in courses with course descriptions equivalent to the UTC course prerequisites.
2530 - Rehabilitation Science (B.S.)
- General Education (see for list of approved courses)
- Rhetoric and Composition: English 121, 122 (6 hours)
- Mathematics: Mathematics 131 or higher level approved Mathematics course* (3 hours)
- Statistics: One approved statistics course* (3 hours)
- Natural Sciences: Biology 121* and Chemistry 121/123* (8 hours)
- Humanities and Fine Arts: Two approved humanities and fine arts courses, one from fine arts and one from either (6 hours)
- Cultures and Civilizations: Option (a) Western Humanities I and II and Non-Western cultures and civilizations OR Option (b) World Civilization I, II, III (9 hours total)
- Behavioral and Social Sciences: Psychology 101* and Psychology 241* (6 hours)
