Is physical therapy a good career?

How can I pursue a career in physical therapy? What should I major in?

• I'll be going to college next year, and I'm not sure what to major in. I think I'd like to be a physical therapist. Not many schools in my state (NY) have a pre-physical therapy major, and I'm not sure what I'd need to major in in order to have the right credits to get accepted to a physical therapy grad school. I've done some research and I've seen people say that you can major in biology or chemistry. Is this true? Is anyone reading this a physical therapist, and what did you major in? Thanks for any advice, I'm very stressed :/

• Answer:

  You can major in anything. I do not advise bio or chem. The problem is too many difficult courses. Look at health science, exercise science, kinesiology, but again you can major in anything- business, english, etc. You just need to get the pre reqs which generally include one year of gen bio, gen chem, gen physics, A and P, math through calc, stats and psy. The best source of information is the national PT website under prospective students. www.apta.org You can go to community college if you wish intially. I highly recommended going where you can get out of school with the least amount of debt. You will not be able to work much in grad school for PT. You will also need a good gpa and gre. A gpa of 3.5 is required to be competative. Your application will not even be considered without a 3.0. In NY, there are many schools that offer freshman admit into PT school. If you maintain your grades, you are guareenteed in the program at the end of your third year.