Admission to the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program

There are two forms of admission into the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program: freshman admission and transfer admission.

Freshman Admission

Minimum criteria for admission to the pre-DPT program are:

1. Class rank in the top 1/3 of the graduating class;
2. Minimum combined SAT score of 1050 for Critical Reading and Math (or the equivalent ACT score), with minimum SAT scores of 500 for Critical Reading and 500 for Math; and
3. Completion of at least three years of mathematics, one year of biology, and one year of chemistry in high school.

Additionally, high school preparation in physics is highly recommended. Exposure to and exploration of physical therapy as demonstrated by paid or volunteer experience is strongly encouraged.

Students admitted as pre-DPT freshmen are guaranteed progression into the graduate DPT program, as described in "Advancement to the Doctor of Physical Therapy Graduate Program." There is no need to re-apply for admission into the graduate program.

Transfer Admission

Physical Therapy Centralized Application Service (PTCAS)

Misericordia University participates in the Physical Therapy Centralized Application Service. Applicants who apply through PTCAS will submit a completed web-based application comprised of biographical data, colleges and universities attended, academic course history, physical therapy observation hours, list of reference providers, work experience, extracurricular activities, honors, professional licenses, and a personal essay. It is the applicant's responsibility to read and follow all PTCAS and program-specific instructions.

The 2009-2010 PTCAS admissions cycle begins in July, 2009 and ends on May 14, 2010. Applicants may start and submit the PTCAS application as soon as it is available. It can be accessed at http://www.ptcas.org.

The next graduate DPT cohort will begin studies in Spring 2011. The deadline for submitting an application for transfer admission into the DPT program is May 14, 2010. Contact the Admissions Office for further information: http://admissions.misericordia.edu.

Internal Transfer

Students who currently attend Misericordia University and who wish to transfer into the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) graduate program will be evaluated by the Physical Therapy Admissions Committee, along with external transfer applicants. Admission to the Physical Therapy major is not guaranteed, and is on a space available basis.

The criteria for admission into the DPT graduate program (spring semester) are:

1. Completion of requirements for baccalaureate degree.
2. Completion of required prerequisite courses with a grade of at least C for each course.
3. Cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.
4. Pre-requisite GPA of at least 3.0.
5. Exposure to and exploration of physical therapy as demonstrated by documented paid or volunteer experience of 50 or more hours in at least two different facilities or a minimum of one year's full-time professional experience within the health care system.
6. Successful completion of one credit medical terminology course or its equivalent.

External Transfer

The criteria for admission into the DPT graduate program (spring semester) are:

1. Completion of baccalaureate degree.
2. Completion of required prerequisite courses with a grade of at least C for each course.
3. Cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.
4. Pre-requisite GPA of at least 3.0.
5. Exposure to and exploration of physical therapy as demonstrated by documented paid or volunteer experience of 50 or more hours in at least two different facilities or a minimum of one year's full-time professional experience within the health care system.
6. Successful completion of one credit medical terminology course or its equivalent.

If SAT scores are older than five years, GRE or Miller's Analogy Test scores are required.

Required Prerequisite Courses

Policies related to transfer of credit to the University and the academic calendar can be found in the "Academics" section of the University catalog.