Physical Therapist Assistant Program
Selection criteria and application process
ADVISING:
Students should meet with Dr. Rhonda Crider, PTA Program Director for advising.
You may contact her by:
Email: rcrider@nwacc.edu
Phone: 479-619-4253
Appointment: Office # 2442 in Burns Hall (please call to set up an appointment if you are traveling to the college)
PTA PROGRAM ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS & SELECTION CRITERIA:
Application:
Students must complete and turn in a PTA Program application. The application will be available on the PTA website in early November. You will be able to print one from the PTA website or they can be picked up in the Allied Health Department on the 2nd floor of Burns Hall.
Applications are due the first Monday in March in the year the student is applying; for example if you are applying
for June 2010, you should submit your application in March 2010. You can be completing the last pre-requisite
courses in the 2010 spring semester. So, students applying to start in June 2010 can be
completing the pre-requisite courses in spring 2010. |
Time line for PTA Program Application
|
DATE: |
PROCESS: |
|
First Monday of March |
Application and application materials due |
Third week of March |
Application file checked for completeness |
|
Fourth week of March
|
Letter sent to applicant to inform applicant of missing information |
|
First week of April |
Applicant files reviewed by program director |
|
One week after grades were due in the Registrar's Office for spring semester grades |
Letters of notification sent to applicants |
Summer registration per catalog |
Registration for summer classes as appropriate per program degree (pre-registration based upon acceptance to the program may occur) |
First Monday in June |
Classes for the technical phase of the PTA Program begin |
Students are ranked based on the following Selection Criteria:
100/247 = 40.5% PHTA 2105 Clinical Kinesiology in PT
72/247 = 29.1% A&P I, A&P II, Medical Terminology
60/247 = 24.3% ENGL Comp I & II, General Psychology, Intro to Computers, College Algebra or Math for AAS
15/247 = 6.1% Essay/observation
247/247 = 100% Total points possible
Essay:
As part of the application process, students will be required to attend 3 different physical therapy clinics for 3 hours
each for a total of 9 hours of observation. Students will then write a one page essay based on specific questions.
Instructions and documentation log are located in the PTA Program application.
ADMISSION into the PTA PROGRAM:
Acceptance into the program is made to the top ranked 12-14 applicants after receiving the spring final grades for
the pre-requisite courses based on the selection criteria. The top 12-14 applicants are offered a position into the
technical phase of the PTA Program which begins in June every year.
Recommended Links to become a NWACC Student:
Go to the NWACC Home page at: http://www.nwacc.edu
New Students Admissions: http://www.nwacc.edu/LSS/Adm.php
Semester Course Schedule: http://www.nwacc.edu/DirectoryClasses.php
Online Registration: http://www.nwacc.edu/LSS/WebRegistration/index.php
Placement Testing: http://www.nwacc.edu/LDC/testingcenter/index.php
Academic Calendar: http://www.nwacc.edu/calendar.php
College Catalog: http://www.nwacc.edu/presidentsoffice/publications.php
PTA SELECTION CRITERIA:
The following outlines how the selection criteria points are calculated to rank students applying to the program:
Selection of students into the PTA Program is based on a point system (see Selection Form in PTA Application).
Students with the highest total points are selected for admission. Admission criteria are as follows:
1. Grades for Prerequisites (GPA): 232 points possible
a. 100 points are possible for PHTA 2105 Clinical Kinesiology in PT
b. 72 points are possible for the combined points for pre-requisite courses:
32 from BIOL 2214 A&P I
32 from BIOL 2224 A&P II
8 from AHSC 1001 Medical Terminology
72 points possible from science pre-requisite courses excluding PHTA 2105
Points will be awarded based on the following formula for science courses: Multiply the # of credit hours for the course by the student earned grade withan A = 4; B = 3, C = 2; then multiply that number by 2 i.e. if a student earns a B in BIOL 2214 A & P I the points earned would be calculated in the following way: 4 credit hours x 3 (B in course) = 12 x 2 = 24; the student would have earned 24 points of the possible 32
c. 60 points possible from other General Education Pre-requisite courses which include:
ENGL Comp I and ENGL Comp II; General Psychology, Introduction to Computers, College Algebra or Math for AAS points will be awarded based in the following formula for other general education pre-requisite courses. Multiply the # of credit hours for the course by the earned grade (A=4, B=3, C=2) i.e. if a student earns an A in English Composition I which is a 3 credit hour class then the student would earn 12 points of the 12 possible for that course.
- (if a student has work experience or another form of meeting prerequisite criteria other than a single course with an earned grade, those credit hours are not utilized in the calculation).
- Grades less than a C are not considered as having met the prerequisite requirement.
- If a student has repeated a class the highest earned grade is used for the calculation
- If a student submits a course substitution and it is approved for the PTA degree plan, the grade from that course will be used in the calculation.
2. Observation / Essay: 15 total possible points
Essay will receive a rating using a 1 to 5 rating system with 5 = excellent; 4= above average 3 = average, 2= below average, 1 = very, very, poor essay. Once the essay is rated, the score obtained will be multiplied by 3. See essay instructions, essay questions, and grading criteria in application packet
Score Tabulation: Sum Total / # of Assessors = score
The points possible and then percentile toward total rank for admission Approved by Advisory Board:
100/247 = 40.5% PHTA 2105 Clinical Kinesiology in PT
72/247 = 29.1% A&P I, A&P II, Medical Terminology
60/247 = 24.3% ENGL Comp I & II, General Psychology, Intro to Computers, College Algebra or Math for AAS
15/247 = 6.1% Essay/observation
247/247 = 100% Total points possible
For questions/comments on this content, please contact rcrider@nwacc.edu
This page was last updated on:
|
