So what do you do in your free time? What are your hobbies and interests? Are you active in your community? Do you participate in any volunteer work? It is important that you ask yourself these questions before you start to apply to PT schools.
Today for #dptwiththecc I will be discussing EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES!
For a well-rounded application (and to stand out), be sure to have a variety of extracurricular activities. Your extracurricular activities are important and could be the reason you are accepted over another applicant, especially if your GPA or GRE scores are similar. If you are feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, you can check Google for volunteer opportunities in your area. Thankfully, my university had a database for this, so I used that when looking for new experiences. You can also ask your friends or classmates about places that they have volunteered at.
Programs want to see that you’ve been involved in your community throughout your undergraduate career, and this will prove that you will be able to handle the course load of PT school. They don’t want you to spend all of your time studying (shocker lol), so join a club (and try to hold a leadership position), volunteer often, and find a few new hobbies! This will also give you experiences to write about when you start your application essays! For each experience, I would suggest you try to volunteer for at least 20 hours, to show that you were committed to the cause. Side note: your experiences do not have to be medical-related! Feel free to branch out and do things that you actually enjoy!
My Extracurricular Activities
- Kinesiology Club
- Bronze Leadership Challenge (leadership workshop through my university)
- Kinesiology Commencement Honor Marshall
- Club Lacrosse Secretary
- Campus Activities Board Member
- Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society
- Employee for my University’s Facilities and Game Operations (2+ years)
- Retail Sales Associate (5+ years)
- Retail Store Lead/Key holder (new position)
- Volunteer for a Summer Enrichment Program for refugee and immigrant youth (42 hours)
- Muscular Dystrophy Association Summer Camp Counselor (144 hours)
- Muscular Dystrophy Association Muscle Walk Volunteer (8 hours)
I would also recommend that you keep track of the hours you accrue within these experiences, as this will make your life much easier when entering this information into PTCAS. In addition, make sure you record:
- A brief description of what you did including your responsibilities/roles
- The duration of the experience
- Contact information for whoever oversaw the experience (number and email address to be safe)
And that’s all I have to share about extracurricular activities! Be sure to come back on Friday, as I will be discussing OBSERVATION HOURS! If this is the first post you’re reading, be sure to check out the “Pre PT” section of the blog for previous posts from this series. So far, I have covered how to get organized before applying, and grades and study tips for pre-req courses. I hope this was helpful! Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday, and thanks for reading!
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