Northern Arizona University

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The Physical Therapy Program at Northern Arizona University participates in the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service (PTCAS). Applicants applying to the physical therapist program for the 2012 entering class must therefore apply online using the PTCAS application. Applicants may begin completing their PTCAS application in July 2011. The deadline for submission of the application is November 1, 2011. To learn more about the PTCAS application process, please visit the PTCAS web site at www.ptcas.org. On campus Interviews will be conducted on Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3, 2012. In addition, you will need to apply for admission to the Graduate College at NAU. You can do this online at http://home.nau.edu/gradcol/.

There are five essential requirements for admission to the physical therapy program at Northern Arizona University. These are:

1. Completion of a baccalaureate degree of your choice. There is no preference given to any particular baccalaureate degree, but it must be awarded by August 2012.
2. Three letters of recommendation. At least one must be from a licensed physical therapist. These letters of recommendation need to be submitted through PTCAS.
3. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores including the Quantitative, Verbal and Analytical Writing portions of the exam. To be considered for interviews, the application to the NAU Graduate College and your GRE scores must be completed by December 31, 2011. The College Code for NAU to receive your GRE scores is 4006. The specific program code for Physical Therapy is 7606. UPDATE 7/28/11 – AS OF JULY 28TH, WE WILL ACCEPT BOTH GRE EXAMINATIONS, IF SCORES ARE RECEIVED BY THE GRADUATE COLLEGE NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 31ST, 2011. For additional information concerning the changes to the GRE, contact ETS at http://www.ets.org/gre.
4. In addition to completing the PTCAS application, an application for admission to the Northern Arizona University Graduate College (http://home.nau.edu/gradcol/) must also be completed. This application, accompanied by a copy of your undergraduate university transcripts must be received no later than January 1, 2012 in order to be considered for an interview.
5. Completion of the required prerequisite science courses by the end of the spring semester (or quarter) prior to commencing the program. It is highly recommended that no more than two prerequisite courses be taken during the spring 2012 semester or quarter before commencing the program. These courses include:
   • one year of laboratory and lecture-based anatomy and physiology courses
   • one year of laboratory and lecture-based general chemistry
   • one year of laboratory and lecture-based college level physics
   • one semester of general psychology
   • one semester of statistics
   • one semester of abnormal OR developmental psychology

At Northern Arizona University, these prerequisite sciences are:

BIO 201 & 202	Anatomy & Physiology
CHM 151, 151L, 152 & 152L	General Chemistry
PHY 111 & 112	Physics
PSY 101	Psychology
STA 270/PSY 230/EPS 525	Statistics
PSY 240 OR 415	Abnormal OR Developmental Psychology

The final stage of the application process consists of on-campus interviews from which the final physical therapy class is selected. Students are selected for an interview based upon the applicant’s overall grade point average and Quantitative, Verbal, and Analytical Writing GRE scores. Applicants must meet the following minimum requirements to be considered for an on campus interview.

• Overall GPA of at least 3.0
• Quantitative GRE score of at least 550
• Verbal GRE score of at least 440
• Analytical Writing GRE score of at least 3.5
• At least one letter of recommendation from a licensed physical therapist

Because of the significant competition for admission, meeting these minimums does not being invited for an interview or admission. When selecting those individuals for an interview, Arizona residents are given preference over non-Arizona residents.

The final selection of those who are offered a position in the physical therapy program is based upon the applicant’s overall grade point average, prerequisite science grade point average Quantitative, Verbal and Analytical Writing GRE scores, the strength of the letters of recommendation and personal statement as well as the rating received from each of two one-on-one interviews.