Pre-Physical Therapy at Augustana

	More Information Dr. Lori Scott

The pre-physical therapy curriculum includes courses from a variety of areas including psychology, biology, chemistry and physics. Students can choose their major from one of these departments, or choose from nearly any of the other academic programs at the college.

Students have opportunities to participate in widely varied clinical experiences at local hospitals, private clinics, rehabilitation centers and geriatric care facilities. Students can also participate in a full- or part-time internship during one term, gaining academic credit and practical experience.

Augustana is one of only three undergraduate institutions with an articulation agreement with the respected graduate program in physical therapy at Washington University in St. Louis. This agreement gives Augustana Pre-PT students who have met established criteria a significant admissions advantage over students from other colleges.

Augustana is among the nation's most respected centers of undergraduate instruction in science and the pre-health professions. The science building offers students the latest in high-tech labs and research facilities, including the human cadaver dissection lab. Cadaver dissection offers pre-professional students an additional edge in preparation for graduate work in physical therapy, as Augustana is one of the few undergraduate schools in the country to offer this hands-on opportunity to its students. This experience is especially impressive to physical therapy school application evaluators.

Due to the challenging and diverse curriculum, opportunities for clinical experience, and dynamic faculty, Augustana students achieve great success in physical therapy graduate programs across the country.

Pre-Physical Therapy Program Outline

The Augustana College pre-physical therapy program is not a graduation major, so a major in some other field must be completed if the student intends to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree. The choice of graduation major is not critical for acceptance into a PT graduate program, but because of the high number of required courses majors in biology and psychology are the most common.

Guaranteed Admissions Program - Washington University

Applicants who meet the following requirements are reviewed by Washington University's Program in Physical Therapy Admissions Committee. A maximum of 3 students will be automatically accepted into the program. Those students who do not meet the requirements listed above will be reviewed under the standard admissions process established by The Program.

1. Receive a BA from Augustana (most common majors are biology and/or psychology)
2. Hold an overall 3.5 GPA on a scale of 4.0 scale. The majority of prerequisites should be completed at Augustana College but courses completed at other 4-year universities and 2-year colleges are acceptable.
3. Receive a 1000-combined score on the verbal and quantitative sections on the GRE.
4. Submit three favorable letters of recommendation, one of which must come from a biology or psychology faculty member.
5. Submit a complete application by November 15th of the year preceding the desired year of admissions. NOTE: Dr. Lori Scott must be notified prior to this date of your intentions to apply to the guaranteed admissions program as she is required to send a notification of intent to the admissions committee.