After You Apply
You’ve applied and submitted your application. Now what?
Make sure your application gets verified Heading link
Before we can consider your application, it needs to be complete and verified by PTCAS before the deadline. This can take a up to 6 weeks after submitting. Resolve any issues PTCAS may have with your transcripts or observation hours or letters of recommendation. Also, be sure to complete the UIC supplemental application.
While PTCAS allows for transcripts and scores to continue coming in after submitting your application, UIC does not accept coursework or GRE exams taken after our October deadline.
After a decision has been made Heading link
What next?
We notify applicants of their acceptance status via email as soon as decisions are made.
With rolling admissions, notification will begin in November. The target date for notification for all applicants is December 20. Later notification is possible.
If you’ve been admitted…
Congratulations! You can expect an acceptance email through PTCAS. You’ll be invited to an Open House in January before you make your decision. See the Accepted Applicant Information and Checklist to follow up with next steps.
International students: If you’ll need a student visa, you should submit OIS financial documents through the application checklist for the Office of International Services. Contact the OIS concerning document requests and visa processing.
If you’ve been waitlisted…
Let’s face it, when over 500 talented applicants apply, we end up with a larger pool of candidates than we can accept. If you’re waitlisted, that means you aren’t admitted, but you’ve come closer than many applicants do. We don’t disclose where you are on the waitlist, but we almost always end up admitting students from this list.
As you get higher on the waitlist, UIC will reach out to you to see if you have all the information you need to make an informed decision quickly – within a day or two. If second round offers are made, they’re typically made between March and April, but an offer could come as late as August. You can visit and tour the program at one of our Advising Sessions, or contact Erin Fagan for details about the program. And, review the Road to Registration checklist.
If you’ve been denied…
Don’t give up! Admission to our program is highly competitive, and applicants now face more rigorous standards than ever before. Don’t be afraid to work on your application and reapply. Many students who aren’t accepted the first time they apply take additional courses (preferably science courses) to show that they can perform successfully in the physical therapy program.
If you need to defer admission…
Admission deferral can be requested once for up to one academic year. Notify us as soon as possible that you’d like to submit a request to defer admission.
Waive policy
If you are admitted, you may petition the faculty for consideration to have courses in the program waived. These petitions will only be considered if you took similar coursework beyond the undergraduate level, such as from another physical therapy program or health professions program.
We only consider courses with grades of B or better. You can only waive a maximum of 16 semester hours. If you have courses waived, you’ll need to complete the rest of the curriculum courses and requirements (other than waived courses) for graduation.
What We Look For Heading link
We use a holistic process to identify diverse students with the academic ability and personal resolve to successfully complete our rigorous program and become licensed physical therapists. Outstanding communication skills, compassion, and desire to work with/help others are key characteristics for the field. Several success indicators are evaluated for each applicant and applicants are then ranked relative to each other.
Admissions decision criteria
Our holistic admissions process considers the balance of a multitude of factors:
- Cumulative GPA based on the last 60 credit hours, whether at the undergraduate or graduate level.
- Prerequisite GPA computed by averaging grades earned in course prerequisites. It doesn’t MATTER WHERE OR WHEN these courses were taken to be included.
Both an original score and a retake score are averaged together in the prerequisite GPA. - Additional factors and Personal experiences based upon:
- Extracurricular activities – time management, relevance, leadership, recognition, research publication
- Work/volunteer experience – time management, relevance to profession, leadership
- Other language fluency
- Variety and quantity of observation hours – more than 3 different settings/patient populations and more than 40 hours minimum
- Specific facts presented in personal statement and letters of recommendation
- Efforts since last application to program: additional course work, additional work/volunteer experience
- Academic preparation based on:
- Course load taken/factors affecting course load (e.g. full time work, athlete)
- Number of credit hours per term
- More than one science/math taken per term and grades
- Additional science courses taken; caliber, type, grade, relevance, lab
- Recentness of prerequisite science courses – if more than 5-years-old, is there an update of old prerequisite science courses or work experience refreshing the material
- Type and amount of prerequisites left to complete and plan for completion
- Graduate course work taken and grades
- Unique Life Experiences of hardship, unique circumstances, or issues you have had to manage as noted in the PTCAS application.
- GRE – IF you take the GRE multiple times, UIC considers a super-score, or the highest score you have received in each section.
- Verbal and Quantitative sections based on the sum of the scores of these two sections.
- Analytic Writing section based on the score of the GRE Writing Assessment
This process may change in future admission cycles.
Questions? Heading link
Questions?
We’re here to help. If you have questions about what to do next, email Erin Fagan.
You can contact Erin at:
Email efagan@uic.edu
Phone 312.996.1501
Address 1919 W. Taylor St.
450 AHSB, MC 898
Chicago, IL 60612