Doctor of Physical Therapy Admission Requirements

Please join us for a DPT Information Session - September 18, 2013

Please join us for a DPT Information Session. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the DPT program at Samuel Merritt University. Faculty will present an overview and Admission and Financial Aid staff will be present to answer your questions. Please click here for more information.

Virtual Drop-Ins Now Available - Join an DPT chat room online
We are pleased to offer virtual drop ins to prospective DPT students.  You are welcome to virtually “drop in” and ask quick, general questions of an Admission Counselor.  This is entirely online.  Please click here for more information about the VIRTUAL DROP INS.  After you have reviewed the general chat information and are ready to start the chat click a date and time below to join the live chat.

  Dates and times are:

Please note that all times are Pacific Standard Time (California time zone).

Drop-In Counseling (Oakland only)
If you have a quick question or just need to know one or two things, drop-in counseling may be perfect for your busy schedule. No appointment is needed. Drop-in counseling is available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. These are brief visits designed to provide you with some quick information. Drop-in counseling is not available during the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's.

Applying for Admission

The DPT program at Samuel Merritt University participates in the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service (PTCAS).

Applications for each fall admission cycle are available on the PTCAS website beginning July. Please be advised that applications will only be accepted through PTCAS and the deadline for applications is October 1st. Instructions for submitting an application are available on the PTCAS website, http://www.ptcas.org/. We require that applicant e-submit their application by October 1st. Applicants must e-submit their PTCAS application by 11:59pm EST on the deadline date posted. Documents are not required to be received by the deadline date. Documents should be sent to PTCAS several weeks in advance of the deadline to ensure all items arrive in a timely manner.

Notifications regarding interviews (on-campus and required) are sent in late December and interviews are held in early February.  For a representative Application/Admission Processing Timeline for fall 2013, please click here.

International Transcripts

All foreign academic transcripts must be evaluated by a U.S. evaluation service that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluations Services (NACES) for degree, course content, semester unit equivalencies, and science and cumulative GPAs prior to the application deadline. Information on NACES may be found at www.naces.org. These evaluations should be sent to PTCAS along with any other US transcripts.

Minimum criteria for admission include:

• Completion of baccalaureate and all prerequisites, from an accredited institution, by the end of spring term before entry
• Minimum cumulative GPA: 2.80
• Minimum prerequisite GPA: 2.60
• Minimum GRE Verbal score of 150 and a minimum GRE Quantitative score of 144. On the old scoring scale a minimum Verbal score of 450 and minimum Quantitative score of 500 is required. We do not require the Analytical section of the GRE, nor is it taken into consideration when applying if taken. The GRE must be taken prior to the October 1^st application deadline, and entered into the PTCAS application prior to e-submitting. Please see http://www.ets.org/ for more information on registering for the GRE; the institution code for the DPT program is 7593.
• Supplemental Essay; in addition to the standard PTCAS essay questions. The PTCAS application will automatically prompt you to respond to our custom essay once you designate Samuel Merritt University on your application. Applications without the custom essay will be considered incomplete.
• Inpatient Experience: a minimum of forty (40) hours of volunteer or paid experience in an inpatient physical therapy setting is required. The PTCAS Physical Therapy Observation Hours Verification Form must be signed by the physical therapist who supervised you and submitted through PTCAS. This form must be completed and verified by the end of the spring term prior to entry.
• Two letters of reference; one from a professor (science or non-science) who can address your academic preparedness for a DPT program and one from a physical therapist who has supervised you in a clinical environment (inpatient or outpatient). You may also submit up to 2 additional letters of your choosing but this is not a requirement. Letters of reference are submitted through PTCAS.
• TOEFL (U.S. citizens or international students) - The need for TOEFL will be assessed based on information provided by applicants on the application for admission; if required, a score of 100 must be achieved and official score results must be provided.

Prerequisites

All prerequisites must be completed with a grade of "C-" or better by the end of Spring term before entry:  Please see the Course Resource Guide for helpful information regarding prerequisites.

GPA Calculation and Course Repeat Policy

Overall GPA: All grades earned will be included in the overall GPA calculation. If a course is repeated, both the initial and repeat grade will be included in the overall GPA calculation.

Prerequisite GPA: Courses satisfying a prerequisite requirement may be repeated once if the initial grade earned is a C+ or below. If a prerequisite course is repeated, the new grade will be used in the prerequisite GPA calculation if available at the time of application.

Admission Statistics

Admission Statistics about all of SMU's programs are available on our statistics at a glance website.