Utica College Is A Small, Personable School That Can Help You Shape Your Physical Therapy Career

Utica College can provide you with an atmosphere of collaborative, positive learning as you earn your DPT.

UC's blended program incorporates traditional learning with case analysis (see information and courses below). Faculty members who are both solid educators and experienced physical therapist prepare students to become knowledgeable and skilled practitioners who care for their patients and profession first and foremost. 

Success in the Utica DPT program has a lot to do with the environment that a small college like UC creates.

Located in the heart of upstate New York, we are a small, friendly, down-to-earth campus with award-winning faculty and an accommodating staff who knows you by your first name.  Lynn, Jess and John will guide you every step of the way through the application process. Jenna is your graduate student financial services counselor.  Tracy and Megan are your go-to people in the Office of Graduate Studies when you need anything grad at UC.

On-campus parking is free at UC.

We are also known as a college that “thinks outside the books” and prides itself on cutting edge research.  We even have a bacteria named for us (Pseudomonas uticaensis) that was discovered by microbiology professor Larry Aaronson and three undergraduate bio majors.

Utica and the Mohawk Valley also offer an amazing environment to graduate students…minutes from all that the Adirondack Mountains has to offer, Broadway productions downtown at the Stanley theater, Utica College hockey on Friday nights and an ever expanding brewery district. UC is also less than a day’s drive to New York City, Boston, Montreal and Toronto.

If you are looking for the right school for you as you become a physical therapist, we just might be that place.  I look forward to telling you more during the Virtual Fair on September 16-17.

John D. Rowe

Executive Director of Graduate Admissions

Utica College Doctor of Physical Therapy Information Page

Graduate Admissions Office, 120 White Hall (315) 792-3010

John D. Rowe, Executive Director (jrowe@utica.edu)

Lynn M. Cope, Assistant Director (lcope@utica.edu)

Thank you for your interest in Utica College for your physical therapy education.

We pride ourselves on being a small, personalized and effective program dedicated to providing excellent education and training to our PT students.  Our success can be measured by talking with any of the hundreds of UC PT alumni who live and work throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

Before you apply, please review the information below.  We are a highly competitive program and have specific requirements.  If after reading this you have any further questions about the program, please contact John Rowe jrowe@utica.eduor Lynn Cope lcope@utica.edu in the Graduate Admissions Office at (315)792-3010.

1. We have limited availability each year because UC has its own 3+3 program for PT.

Utica College is a “guaranteed freshman admit” school for PT which means that several seats in our 36 seat cohort are taken up by our own internal students who have met continuation requirements.  The remaining seats are filled from a pool of external applicants who apply through PTCAS.  

Note: Utica College undergraduates with a health studies major or a biology major must apply as external candidates through the PTCAS application process.  They are considered as external candidates and compete for seats with applicants from other schools. 

Utica College applicants can apply starting in July before their senior year.

Normally we have approximately 18 to 20 seats to fill from PTCAS external applicants.  We also maintain a wait list that expires at the beginning of the cohort start each year (mid-June).

The deadline to apply for the Utica College DPT program through PTCAS is January 15^th.

2. Our program has a specific minimum GPA requirement to apply.

You must have an OVERALL GPA of 3.0 or higher to apply. We do not look at more specific GPA’s such as last two years, science courses, etc.

While you may apply with a 3.0, please understand that the average GPA of accepted students is usually much higher.  For example, the incoming cohort (Class of 2017) has an average overall GPA of 3.53.

3. Utica College requires a specific set of prerequisites and minimum grades for those prerequisite courses.

Utica College requires that eleven prerequisites be met successfully by June 1^st of the cohort year to which you wish to apply:

Prerequisite courses that require a grade of B or better (a B or better is required in both lecture and lab--- B-‘s are not acceptable).

• A&P 1 with lab
• A&P 2 with lab
• An upper level Biology (at the 300 or 400 level)
• College Physics 1 with lab
• College Physics 2 with lab
• College Chemistry 1 with lab
• Either College Chemistry 2 with lab or Organic Chemistry with lab

Remaining prerequisites (Must have a minimum grade of C )

• Three psychology courses (any course with a psychology prefix)
• Statistics

We understand that your school may have different course titles.  If you are unsure if a course at your school meets the Utica College prerequisite requirements, please email a copy of the course description, name and number to John Rowe (jrowe@utica.edu) or Lynn Cope (lcope@utica.edu) in Graduate Admissions for review.

Please Note:  Only one retake of the seven science prerequisites in order to earn a B or better is allowed for our program.  More than one retake of a science prerequisite will disqualify your application, even if you earn a grade of B or better.  Successful completion of all prerequisites does NOT constitute a guarantee of acceptance.

4. We Do NOT Require the GRE.

5. Knowledge of the profession through work or volunteer experience is expected. 

40 total hours of clinical observation with a practicing PT is required in at least two different settings.  At least 10 hours of this experience must be in an acute care/ hospital setting with the remainder of the experience in one or more other clinical settings.  A Clinical Observation Sheet must be completed by the attending PT for each experience.   The observation form is part of the PTCAS application.

6. If your application is selected by the admissions committee you will be invited to UC for an Interview Day

The admissions committee holds Interview Days from late October through February for selected applicants.  We normally invite between 50 and 60 applicants to our Interview days.

An Interview Day at UC consists of a small group interview, a tour of campus, lunch with current DPT students, observation in a DPT class and an information session about the DPT curriculum.  

We invite between 7  to 10 students per day.  Small group interviews consist of you and two to four other students being interviewed by members of the committee which is made up of DPT faculty.  During the interview, it is important to be able to clearly explain why you want to be a PT and what motivated you to prepare yourself to enter a graduate PT program.

The DPT Interview Day is a chance for the committee to get to know more about you beyond your PTCAS application. Conversely, it is also a time for you to get to know UC better in order to see if our program is a good fit for you. 

7. Utica College uses the PTCAS Centralized Application Service

Utica College uses the PTCAS Centralized Application Service through APTA .  The application portal opens in early July each year. (www.ptcas.org)

You may apply to several colleges using a single application.  However, please keep in mind that you must pay a fee for each school you send your application to.  That is why it is important to meet or be working toward meeting all Utica College criteria before applying.

Note:  The Utica College and the Graduate Admissions Office will only consider those PTCAS applications that meet our application criteria.

8. Utica College has a three year program that includes three summers

The course and clinical schedule is as follows: