The various physical or occupational therapy schools require some common courses, as shown below in the table, but every school has it own curricular nuances. Students are strongly urged to obtain information from all the schools of interest and be sure to incorporate the required courses into their four year plan. All physical therapy programs now require completion of the doctoral level. However, many physical therapy schools allow you to apply for direct admission in a combined undergraduate/doctoral program. Alternately, physical therapy schools also allow you to transfer into their programs or apply following completion of your undergraduate studies.
PHYSICAL/OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SCHOOL BASIC REQUIREMENTS |
MBC EQUIVALENTS |
English (6 hrs.) |
ENG 102 and ENG XXX |
Biology with labs (8 hrs.) |
BIOL 111-112 |
Human Anatomy and Physiology (8 hrs.) |
BIOL 264 - 265 |
General chemistry with labs (8 hrs.) |
CHEM 121-122 |
General physics with labs (8 hrs.) |
PHYS 201-202 |
Mathematics (3 hrs.) |
MATH 150 or higher |
Statistics (3 hrs.) |
PSYC 250 |
Psychology (6 hrs.) |
PSYC 111, 203, 210, and/or 211 |
Sociology (3 hrs.) |
SOC 100 |
Ethics (3 hrs.) |
PHIL 102 |
It is imperative that students trying to gain entry to physical/occupational therapy programs accumulate as many hours of volunteer/work experience as possible prior to application. Some schools require a minimum of 100 hours, but it is beneficial for application to all the schools. See the Premedical Sciences Advisor for advice on how to obtain these hours.
By the spring of your junior year you should take the Graduate Records Examination, or GRE. Over the summer you should collect your application materials and by early fall semester of your senior year be ready to submit these materials. You may receive a supplemental application from individual schools later in the fall and then be invited for an interview.
Most schools require completion of the GRE. This test consists of three sections: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing. Each of the multiple-choice sections is scored on a scale of 200 to 800. The average scores for the GRE are about 470 for verbal reasoning and 570 for quantitative reasoning. The analytical writing section is scored on a scale of 0 to 6. Some schools require that applicants take the GRE subject test in biology. Applications to take the test can be obtained online or by contacting:
GRE-ETS
PO Box 6000
Princeton, NJ 08541-6000
