<p>So I have a 2.9 overall GPA with a Kinesiology major. I’m trying to go to physical therapy school. I have about 2 D’s, an F (the F is in organic chemistry), and a few C’s on my transcript. I received the F when I was transitioning from a pre-med to a physical therapy tract. My science and math GPA is also low. The physical therapy centralized application system that I sent my information to had a different point system than my school so according this program I have a 2.77 GPA instead of the 2.90 that’s on my transcript. Throughout my four years at school, I suffered from financial problems, due to my mom getting laid off, and identity theft both contributed to some of my poor grades. </p>
<p>I think I did well on the GRE: 152 on the Verbal, 148 on the Math, and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. I am retaking the GRE pretty soon. I believe my recommendations speak highly of me. I have substantial exposure in the field. I know for a fact that my GPA does not reflect my true abilities as a student. I’ve already gotten denied from 3 of the 16 Physical Therapy schools that I applied to. I’m really worried that I will get denied from all the other schools that I applied to. </p>
<p>I just want to know how you get a bad transcript past graduate admissions?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call it “getting it past” the admissions people. I would say “showing them you have more to offer than can be seen by your transcript.”</p>
<p>But to make up for that GPA, you would have to have a lot else going for you, including a very strong personal statement, stellar letters of recommendation, extensive experience in the field, and a really good GRE score. The first three are hard to quantify, but the last one does bode well for compensating for your GPA. According the the ETS website (<a href=“http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_guide_table1a.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_guide_table1a.pdf</a>), your verbal score is 53rd percentile, quant only at 33%, and writing at 35%. Your chances, I am sorry to say, do not look fantastic.</p>
<p>152 V and 148 Q is not really “did well,” it’s about average in verbal and below average in the math. And you can’t have “substantial exposure” if you’re still a college student, unless you worked for several years before college.</p>
<p>I once talked to a physical therapy student when I was in the waiting room of the student health service here at my Ivy (we both had the flu). She told me that she and many of her classmates not only had excellent grades in undergrad, but what many of them did was got a 2-year certificate/degree as a physical therapist’s assistant and worked in that role for 2-3 years before applying to the DPT program here. So that’s an option for you. AFAIK DPT program admissions are VERY competitive, and the average GPA is often above the stated minimums, so you may want to consider getting certified to be a PTA or OTA and work at that for a few years and then try again.</p>