Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)

Students MUST apply through  PT Central Application Service (PTCAS)  BEFORE Applying to A-State Graduate School.

Admission Requirements for the DPT Program

Admission to the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program is competitive and processed through the PT Central Application Service (PTCAS). To be considered, applicants must meet the following criteria:

General Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree: Must be earned prior to admission. No specific major is required.
• Graduate Record Examination (GRE): Must be completed.
• Acceptance to A-State Graduate School: Required before entering the program.
• Overall GPA of 3.0 or Higher: Includes all coursework—high school (if applicable), undergraduate, and graduate.

Note: Students may need to complete more than the minimum credit hours for graduation depending on their chosen major.

Prerequisite Courses

All prerequisite courses must be completed with a grade of B or higher from an accredited college or university:

• Medical Terminology: 1–3 credits
• Statistics: 3 credits
• General Physics I: 4 credits (must include lab)
• General Physics II: 4 credits (must include lab)
• Anatomy & Physiology I: 4 credits (must include lab)
• Anatomy & Physiology II: 4 credits (must include lab)

Additional Requirements

• Technical Skills & Abilities: Must be verified prior to admission.
• Background Checks: Must be successfully completed.

Meeting all admission requirements does not guarantee acceptance. Admission is based on a competitive, space-available basis.

No specific field of study is required for the bachelor’s degree. Students are encouraged to select undergraduate majors consistent with their individual abilities and interests; however, the required courses in some majors such as biology and exercise science are more consistent with the specific DPT prerequisites. Students in other majors may have to complete more credit hours than the minimum required for graduation. Applicants must have an overall GPA score of 3.0 or higher to apply. The overall GPA includes concurrent high school, undergraduate and graduate credits.

Completing admission requirements does not ensure acceptance into the DPT program as students are admitted on a competitive space-available basis. Prior to admissions, students must verify they meet the Technical Skills and Ability for the program and successfully pass background checks.

A-State’s DPT program subscribes to the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service (PTCAS). Applicants for admission to the A-State DPT program MUST apply online 1) using the PTCAS application, and 2) to the A-State Graduate School. Transcripts must be sent to both PTCAS and the A-State Graduate School.

To learn more about the PTCAS application process and to get started, please go to the https:// portal.ptcas.org/. Information about the A-State Graduate School application is included as “supplemental material” on the PTCAS website. If you encounter difficulty with PTCAS, please contact their Customer Service at 617-612-2040 or ptcasinfo@ptcas.org.

Once a student submits an application through PTCAS, the transcript information is verified by PTCAS. This process takes time and depends both on the efficiency of PTCAS and the speed with which schools respond to the inquiries from PTCAS. A-State will accept completed, verified applications from PTCAS until March 1st.

If PTCAS has not completed the verification process by March 1st, the application will not be considered, even if it was submitted by the February 1st deadline. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications well before the deadline to ensure that the verification process will be completed by the deadline.

Arkansas State University DPT Program Application Instructions

A-State’s DPT program uses the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service (PTCAS). Applicants must apply online through:

1. PTCAS: https://portal.ptcas.org/
2. A-State Graduate School: Info available as “supplemental material” on the PTCAS site.

Transcripts must be sent to both PTCAS and the A-State Graduate School.

For help with PTCAS, contact Customer Service at 617-612-2040 or ptcasinfo@ptcas.org.

Application Timeline & Deadlines

• PTCAS verifies transcripts after submission. This can take time depending on PTCAS and school response speed.
• A-State only accepts verified applications until the first Monday in February.
• If verification isn’t complete by February 1st, the application won’t be considered, even if submitted on time.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early to ensure verification is completed by the deadline.

GRE Requirement

GRE scores are required. Send scores to:

• PTCAS: Code #4108
• A-State Graduate School: Code #6011

Spanish Proficiency (Optional)

Spanish proficiency is not required, but applicants can earn up to 5 points based on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). Submit OPI results to both PTCAS and the A-State Graduate School.

More info here

Review & Admissions

• Application review begins upon receipt of verified applications.
• Rolling admissions run from August to January 31st.
• Admission is awarded to applicants scoring >80 based on criteria listed here:
  https://www.astate.edu/college/conhp/degrees/degree-details.dot?mid=e3ca7087-e029-48ec-8e76-bf031e71f16b

The Department of Physical Therapy requires a high level of proficiency in English so that all students will be able to fully meet academic and clinical objectives as well as meet criteria for professional licensure. All *foreign-born students and nurses must take one of the following tests:

1. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a score of 83 on the preferred internet-based test (iBT), 570 on the paper-based test, or 213 on the computer-based test.
2. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with a score of at least 6.5 and a spoken band score of 7.
3. Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE) with a score of 56.

The TOEFL is available at the A-State Testing Center. When taking the exam off campus, the report code for Arkansas State University is 6011.

The term, "foreign-born" refers to people residing in the United States who were not U.S. citizens at birth. The foreign-born population includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent immigrants, refugees and asylees, legal non-immigrants (including those on student, work, or other temporary visas), and persons residing in the country without authorization. In contrast, the term native born refers to people residing in the United States who were U.S. citizens in one of three categories: 1) born in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia; 2) born in United States Insular areas such as Puerto Rico or Guam; 3) born abroad to at least one U.S. citizen parent.
Students may be exempt from the English proficiency testing if the student is foreign-born but attended school in the United States since kindergarten. For the exemption, students must provide official school records showing continuous enrollment in U.S. schools since kindergarten.

Students who do not meet the required English language proficiency may enroll in A-State's English as a Second Language (ESL) program in the International Center for English. Potential physical therapy students enrolled in the ESL program must maintain an average of 85 or higher in levels 0 through 4. In the final or 5th level of the ESL program, an average of 90 or higher must be maintained.

On completion of the ESL program, the potential physical therapy student must take the internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Upon successfully meeting the proficiency requirement, potential students are eligible to apply to the Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

International Student Information

Students MUST apply through  PT Central Application Service (PTCAS)  BEFORE Applying to A-State Graduate School.

UNCONDITIONAL ADMISSION STATUS

View University Graduate Degree Policies

The following Graduate School admission requirements are minimum standards which identify the pool of applicants from which departments select students to be admitted in a degree program. To be granted unconditional admission status in the Graduate School, applicants must:

• Submit a completed online application for admission and the nonrefundable application fee of $30 for U.S. Applicants, $40 for International Applicants, or $50 for Doctoral Applicants to Graduate School Admissions, along with the required program documents, by the deadline on the department website.
• Earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution (or its equivalent as determined by the Graduate School).
• Achieved a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.75 on a 4.00 scale or a 3.00 GPA on the last 60 hours.
• Achieved a minimum 3.00 GPA on any previous graduate courses completed at either Arkansas State University or another accredited university.
• Submitted official transcripts from each college or university as requested by the Graduate School. Official transcripts must be submitted directly from the registrar of other institutions to the office of the Graduate School at Arkansas State University.

CONDITIONAL ADMISSION STATUS

An applicant who fails to meet the GPA requirements for Unconditional Admission Status, who lacks the appropriate undergraduate background for a particular degree program, or whose baccalaureate degree is from an unaccredited institution, may be granted conditional admission status after:

• Submission of a completed online application for admission and the designated nonrefundable application fee mentioned above to Graduate School Admissions, along with the required program documents, by the deadline on the department website.
• Submitted official transcripts from each college or university as requested by the Graduate School. Official transcripts must be submitted directly from the registrar of other institutions to the office of the Graduate School at Arkansas State University.
• Achieving a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.50 on a 4.00 scale or a 2.75 GPA on the last 60 hours for admission into a graduate program or for admission as a non-degree student.

PROGRAM ADMISSION CRITERIA

Meeting the minimum requirements for admission to the Graduate School does not necessarily ensure acceptance into a particular graduate degree program. Individual departments may establish requirements for individual degree programs above and beyond the standards for admission to the Graduate School.

1. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION MATERIALS

Closely observe the deadline and required materials set by your graduate program of interest, including any additional documents requested of students who are seeking departmental funding through assistantships or fellowships. Complete the application and fax, e-mail or mail any materials that could not be submitted online to A-State Graduate Admissions.

General documents needed in the application process:

• A completed online application accompanied by the appropriate application fee ($30 for U.S. applicants, $50 for International applicants, $50 for Doctoral applicants), along with the required documents for that specific graduate program. See the program website for specific required documents. (There may be separate application forms for some programs, as noted on the departments' websites.)
• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended since leaving high school. Transcripts must be mailed directly from the institutions previously attended. If you are a graduate of A-State, we will obtain your transcript for you.
• All students are required to present written documentation of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) immunization. This immunization must have been received after the first birthday and after January 1, 1968.
• Arkansas law requires that, in order to be eligible for enrollment at a public institution of higher learning, a male applicant between the ages of 18 and 25 who is a U.S. citizen must be registered or be exempt from registration with the Selective Service System.
• If a standardized test is required for your major, you may contact the Testing Center at Arkansas State University at (870) 972-2038 for information regarding tests and test dates.

 

2. REVIEW BY THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM

Once an applicant has submitted all required documents to Graduate Admissions, the admissions committee for that particular academic program will review their applicant file and make their decisions regarding admission.

3. FINAL REVIEW BY THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

Once the Graduate School receives the academic program’s admission decision, they email a copy of that Notice of Admission Decision to the applicant, unless the program notifies their applicants directly.

4. ADMISSION

If accepted into the degree program to which you applied, Graduate Admissions will admit you to the University and email you a copy of your Notice of Admission, unless that program notifies their accepted applicants directly. Admitted applicants need to check with their assigned advisor, as noted on their Notice of Admission, in order to be able to register for the semester.