bachelor’s degree at the time of application to the program are not required to complete the general education requirements of the University unless they choose to earn a second bachelor’s degree. Students interested in pursuing physical therapy should seek advisement from the physical therapy faculty by calling the program office to schedule an appointment.
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, 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: www.utc.edu/physicaltherapy. 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 will be admitted to the 3+3 professional physical therapy program prior to beginning the first year of professional course work. While maintaining undergraduate status, students will take graduate courses at the 500-level. Upon 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 52 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 68 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 14 semester hours of electives is included in the undergraduate 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.
Expenses and Transportation
Each student admitted to the program is required to purchase professional liability insurance annually. Additional expenses include laboratory/clinical attire and dissection instruments. Classes are required during the summer semester of both the first and second years of the program. Physical therapy clinical experiences scheduled throughout the academic year require students to provide their own transportation to the clinical sites. Full-time clinical experiences are scheduled during the summer semesters of both the first and second years. Students must be financially prepared for travel to and living expenses in other cities throughout the United States during clinical education courses.
Continuation and Graduation Standards
Standards of the physical therapy profession require that graduates be prepared to practice safely and competently with the physical therapy scope of practice. To ensure safe and competent performance by students enrolled in the program, the following continuation standards must be met for students to remain enrolled in the program:
- To progress in physical therapy, students are required to:
- maintain a 2.0 grade point average for all courses taken at the undergraduate level; students must maintain a 3.0 for all courses taken at the graduate level.
