Before You Apply

Take the first step in preparing your application by attending one of our pre-admissions advising sessions. This will give you the opportunity to learn more about our program and the admissions process. It’s your chance to ask questions about prerequisites, the application process and evaluation criteria.

Can’t make it to an Advising Session?  Contact Mollie Rose at mhrose@uic.edu.

Are you a pre-PT student at UIC? You’re welcome at these advising sessions, too! You can also go to the LAS advising office in University Hall for help.

Applications are due October 1 of the year before classes begin. There is no early admission.

There are two parts to the application process: The online PTCAS application and an online UIC application. Both will be available in July.

Don’t wait until the last minute to apply! Start early and give yourself plenty of time to make sure your letters of reference, transcripts, and GRE scores arrive. Applicants are often contacted by PTCAS to take some corrective action, so it’s recommended to provide a buffer of time for that possibility.

• Bachelor’s degree in any field of study
• GRE General Test
• Prerequisite Courses (listed below)
• Forty hours of physical therapy clinical experiences

See details of how we weigh these criteria on the After You Apply page.

International Students: If English isn’t your native language, you may need to take a minimum English proficiency test. Check out the International Requirements to see if this applies to you.

We don’t accept transfer students from other physical therapy programs or other types of health professions programs for the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. All applicants must apply through the regular DPT admissions process.

If you’re offered admission to the program, you may petition the faculty for consideration to waive certain courses. See more details on the waive policy on the After You Apply page.

If you’re applying for Fall 2019, you must have completed at least seven of the science and math prerequisite courses by the end of the Summer 2018 semester.

Ideally, required science and math courses should be taken within five years of application. Courses taken before that time will be considered as meeting requirements for prerequisites but may weaken your potential for admission.

Science prerequisites

These courses must have lab components, carry at least four credit hours including lab, and qualify for majoring in the sciences. Online science courses are not accepted.

• General Biology
• Human Anatomy AND Human Physiology (or a year of human anatomy/physiology combined)
• Two semester courses of Chemistry
• Two semester sequence of General Physics

Other prerequisites

These courses must carry at least three credit hours.

• Applied Statistics
• Calculus (Pre-calculus does not meet this prerequisite. We prefer calculus for mathematics, engineering, or natural science, but will accept business calculus.)
• Introductory Psychology
• Developmental or Abnormal Psychology

Prerequisite courses are expressed in terms of semesters. Three quarter courses are equivalent to two semester courses. Advanced Placement credit courses must appear on a college transcript to be considered for satisfaction of a prerequisite.

If you don’t have all your prerequisites done when you apply, you must have a reasonable plan for completing them before entering the program.

By the application deadline, you must complete 40 hours of physical therapy experiences of observing, volunteering or working. Clinical experiences are documented on PTCAS.

We recommend that the experiences be of different specialties. The more extensive and varied your experiences, the more prepared you’ll be for elements of the program.

You may consult hospitals, nursing homes, community organizations (such as Easter Seals, United Cerebral Palsy or March of Dimes), home health agencies (such as Visiting Nurses Association), health maintenance organizations or stand-alone physical therapy clinics for observation opportunities.

You are responsible for finding your own volunteer placements.

When you apply, you must submit your transcripts and two to four letters of recommendation. Get started on those now! Refer to the Applying page for all the specifics.

The application process is paperless. Please don’t mail any materials unless told to do so. Uploaded documents must be in PDF format, no larger than 5 MB in size. “Portfolio” PDFs and secured PDFs which require a password are not compatible with our system.

International Students: You may have to provide additional items. Read the International Requirements page to make sure you have everything you need.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are required for all applicants.

There are several UIC departments, so be careful to send your GRE results to the right one. Scores should be sent directly from Education Testing Service to Code 7784. The GRE must be taken within five years of the application due date –request that scores be sent from ETS to Code 7784.

International Students: Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores must be submitted to UIC directly from ETS. Paper score reports will not be accepted.

See what funding options are available to you. The Graduate College has information on financial resources and funding opportunities. DPT students are considered graduate students for financial aid purposes.

The department occasionally offers part-time research assistantships to DPT students. These carry a partial tuition waiver and a monthly stipend. We also offer limited part-time hourly positions that do not include tuition waivers.