Physical Therapy Admission Requirements
Application materials for the professional program are available Sept. 1 - January 31. All application materials must received by the Physical Therapy office on or before February 15.
Criteria for Admission | Submission of Application Materials
Course Requirements for Admission
Physical Therapy - Admission to the Professional Program
Admission to the professional Physical Therapy Program is competitive with thirty-six students admitted each Fall Semester. Students must be admitted as an undergraduate to NIU before they can be considered for acceptance into the professional program. However, admission to NIU does not guarantee admission to the professional program. The admission requirements outlined below are designed to insure that students admitted to the program have reached an acceptable level of academic achievement. These requirements are subject to revision based on annual review.
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Physical Therapy - Criteria for Admission
Admission to the professional physical therapy program is based on the following criteria:
- Undergraduate admission to NIU for the Fall semester you are planning on entering the professional program.
- Completion of course requirements as indicated below.
- Minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale for all undergraduate college-level course work including all transferable courses.
- Minimum GPA of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale for all prerequisite courses.
- Documentation of a minimum of 50 hours of experience in one or more physical therapy setting (e.g., observation of, work with, or supervision by a physical therapist). The hours must be obtained within two years of the time of application.
- Two recommendations from work-related sources, one of which must be from a licensed physical therapist. A reference based on volunteer work is acceptable.
- Timely and appropriate submission of application materials as stated below.
- An on-campus interview may be required.
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Physical Therapy - Submission of Application Materials
All applications to the Program must be received by the Physical Therapy office on or before February 15, during years which this day occurs as part of the normal business week (Mon. - Fri.). This date will be called the "application deadline date." For years in which February 15 falls on a weekend, the application deadline date will be the first Monday following February 15. The Physical Therapy office will not accept, under any circumstance, application materials delivered to the office after the application deadline date even if these materials were sent and were in transit prior to this date.
The Physical Therapy office will accept application materials submitted on paper only and delivered either in person or by US Postal or other service (FedEx, UPS, etc.). The office will not accept application materials submitted:
- by fax machine,
- by electronic means such as through E-mail or network data files, or
- on magnetic or optical media such as computer disks or CD-ROM.
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Physical Therapy - Course Requirements for Admission
- Consideration for admission requires that the applicant have no more than four of the following prerequisites, or their equivalents, remaining by the application deadline date. All prerequisite and general education courses must be completed prior to matriculation into the professional program.
BIOS 208, Fundamentals of Biology I (4)
BIOS 209, Fundamentals of Biology II (4)
BIOS 357, Human Anatomy and Physiology (5)
CHEM 210T and CHEM 212, General Chemistry and Lab (3/1)
CHEM 211T and CHEM 213, General Chemistry and Lab (3/1)
MATH 155, Trigonometry and Elementary Functions (3), OR MATH 229, Calculus I (4)
PHYS 250, General Physics (4)
PHYS 251, General Physics (4)
PSYC 102, Introduction to Psychology (3)
PSYC 225, Lifespan Development: Childhood to Adult (3) OR
FCNS 280 (3)
PSYC 316, Introduction to Psychopathology (Abnormal Psychology) (3)
STAT 208, Basic Statistics (3), OR MATH 301, Elementary Statistics (4)
Four advisor approved courses in an area of study (12)*
*This requirement goes into effect for admission to the professional program starting Fall, 2003
- A maximum of seven courses remaining to be completed (from all university general education and physical therapy prerequisite courses) by the application deadline date. General Education Requirements that must be completed are:
ENGL 103 (3)
ENGL 104 (3)
COMS 100 (3)
Humanities Electives (9)
Social Science Elective (3)
Interdisciplinary Elective (3)
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