Exercise Science

Advisors: Dr. Wanda Boda, Dr. James Gale

Biodynamics Requirements

Pre-Physical Therapy Requirements

Students who have an interest in adult fitness, biomechanics, exercise physiology and pre-physical therapy may select his concentration. It contains lower-division and upper-division course beyond the core required of all majors and a set of course specific to the subspecialty within the concentration.

Pre-Physical Therapy

Summarized below is information for students who, after completing a Bachelor's degree, plan to apply to a Graduate program in Physical Therapy. Completing the Kinesiology degree with the Exercise Science concentration, pre-physical therapy option, will satisfy many of the course requirements (or recommendations) which are prerequisites for admission to a physical therapy program. While there are similarities across physical therapy programs, there are also differences from one graduate program to another. Students are urged to contact personally any graduate school they may wish to consider and request admission requirements. Also, information can be obtained from the American Physical Therapy Directory in the Kinesiology office or from the American Physical Therapy Association website: http://www.apta.org.

No single list of prerequisites can be totally complete and accurate. This list summarizes current requirements for some programs in California, and the requirements are similar to other programs. It is suggested that you use the attached list as general guidelines until a specific school or schools are selected.

Additional Considerations:

- Plan on a minimum of two years beyond the Bachelor's degree to complete a physical therapy program. Actual times vary by program.

- Find out if the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required, and if so, what the required minimum score is.

- Strengthen your oral and written communication skills.

- Apply to several programs.

- Usually a 3.0 GPA is required; however, many schools actually use a 3.3 or higher GPA.

- Get extensive field experience, have excellent letters of recommendation, prepare a strong portfolio materials, and be ready for a good interview.

- Some programs may not take less than a "B" in a prerequisite course; some will not accept a repeat grade if the original grade was "C" or better.

- Many programs require that prerequisites be taken in the last 5-10 years; this varies from school to school.

- DO NOT take prerequisite courses for CR/NC

- Take elective courses in related fields, especially the biological sciences.

- Talk to physical therapists, other pre-p.t. students, and be active in the pre health professions clubs on campus.