Pre-Physical Therapy 3+DPT Admission

Qualified applicants will be contacted by Enrollment Management for review. Students can only matriculate into the 3+DPT program directly from high school. Highly selective admissions criteria will be used to invite students already accepted to Arcadia University to apply to the 3+DPT pathway. After a student has been accepted to Arcadia University, they will receive a notification if they are being invited to apply to the 3+DPT pathway. The profile of a typical invited student is as follows: a minimum 640 evidence-based reading and 650 mathematics on the SAT or a 28 or better ACT composite and rank in the top 10 percent of their high school class with As in AP level math and science courses. The student must have completed physics as part of their high school curriculum. Matriculated students will not be accepted into the 3+DPT pathway. (Note: Matriculated students can follow the 4+DPT pathway leading to preferred admission in Arcadia’s DPT program for qualified students.)

At the end of the first year, students must have at least a 3.2 GPA in their major and overall to stay in the pathway. At the end of the second year, students must have at least a 3.4 GPA in their major and overall to stay in the pathway.

At the completion of their third year of undergraduate study, students will be evaluated to ensure that they meet the qualifications to begin graduate coursework. At this point the students must have met the following criteria:

At the start of their fourth year, students in the 3+DPT pathway begin their studies in the DPT program. Two undergraduate-level courses, BI477 and BI478 (Biomedical Foundations I and II), are taken in this fourth year and are only available to students in the 3+DPT program. These courses are equivalent to PT662 and 672 taken by the other DPT students.

By the Fall semester of their third year, students in the 3+DPT pathway must have completed, or made arrangements to complete, all application criteria for the preferred admission pathway including observations in two clinical settings (one inpatient and one outpatient as defined by PTCAS). These observations are expected to be completed before the Fall of the year of application to the program.  A minimum of two (2) and maximum of three (3) letters of recommendation are required, at least one from a currently practicing licensed physical therapist and one from their academic advisor in the Biology Department.

Students apply to the DPT program in the Fall semester of their third year through PTCAS (www.ptcas.org) by the specified Priority deadline.

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is optional but still strongly encouraged for students seeking the preferred admission pathway to the DPT program. Students are strongly encouraged to take the exam at least one year prior to application and no later than the summer preceding their third undergraduate year. NOTE: the GRE code for the DPT program is 7637.

A completed application includes responses to all essays and all of the supporting documents (the two previously stipulated recommendations, GRE scores (if applicable), and transcripts). Arcadia University students applying for Preferred Admission must electronically submit their completed application by the Priority deadline specified in PTCAS. Applications are NOT reviewed until ALL materials are received by Arcadia. The final decision will be made only after a full review of all application materials. Additionally, all successful applicants must display appropriate levels of professionalism and communication.

To meet the Preferred Admission requirements, all of the criteria in the Arcadia University Undergraduate Catalog (by appropriate year of entry) must be met at the time of the application deadline; however, not all of the prerequisite courses need to be completed to apply or to be accepted. If accepted, any remaining prerequisite courses need to be completed with a “C” or better in order to start the Physical Therapy program.

Upon acceptance into the program under the Preferred Admission category, students will be required to pay a deposit in order to reserve a seat in the class. Scholarships are based on merit and any offer of scholarships or other assistance will be made known to the student along with the letter of acceptance to the DPT program.

Students whose credentials do not meet the requirements that assure them admission to the DPT program in Fall of their junior year will be decelerated to the traditional four-year Biology degree. They still may apply for preferred admission to the DPT program in Fall of their senior year, but they must meet the minimum requirements for preferred admission at the time of application. 

To maintain the ongoing quality of the Physical Therapy program, the University reserves the right to limit the enrollment in all its offerings.

Essential functions are the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective skills necessary for a student to participate in the physical therapy program and become a physical therapist. View Essential Functions.