Admission and Application Information

Traditional Professional Admission Phase

Applications will not be accepted for the 2020 cohort as there are not any admission slots available.

Students who have earned a Bachelor’s degree from Lebanon Valley College or from another institution (or are in the final stages of earning a Bachelor’s degree), and want to pursue a Doctorate in Physical Therapy degree at LVC, may apply to the 3-year professional phase of the program. Students applying to the traditional professional phase will likely have met the following requirements:

• 3.0 GPA cumulative average
• 2.8 GPA in all science courses (Note: LVC may consider applicants with an overall GPA below 3.0 and/or a science GPA below 2.8 based on additional factors such as work/life experience, face-to-face meetings, letters of recommendation from colleagues, etc.)
• Exposure to physical therapy as demonstrated by documented paid or volunteer experience of at least 30 observation hours, preferably in more than one PT practice setting.

 

The 2020 cohort does not have any seats available. The online application for students seeking admission in 2021 will be available on November 1, 2020. The deadline for submitting all materials is February 1, 2021. Admission decisions will be made on March 1, 2021, and applicants will be notified by mail.

Students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree must have completed all prerequisite requirements and submit the following to apply to the Traditional Professional Admission (Graduate) Phase.

• A completed online application form (applicants may only submit the LVC application. The Common Application is not accepted for the graduate phase.)
• $50 application fee, payable to Lebanon Valley College and mailed to:    

Office of Admission

101 N. College Avenue

Annville, PA 17003

• Official college transcripts from all colleges attended showing at least a 3.0 overall GPA and a 2.8 science GPA in college coursework.
• Prerequisite Verification Form
• Documentation of Clinical Hours (observation as described in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Supplemental Application Materials section.)
• Documentation of clinical observation as described in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Supplemental Application Materials section.
• GRE taken within the last five years with minimum scores in all areas of the GRE:
  • Verbal Reasoning > 150
  • Combined Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning > 300
  • Analytical Writing > 4
• The GRE code for the Lebanon Valley College DPT program is 2364.

 

PT Accept Admission Guidelines

Offers of admission into the graduate phase of the Physical Therapy Program are based on academic performance and are dependent upon the number of students already committed to matriculating into the professional phase.

Applicants accepted into the Traditional Professional Admission cohort will be students of the highest academic quality most likely meeting the following requirements:

• Completed all prerequisite coursework to include General Biology I & II, Principles of Chemistry I & II, General Physics I & II, Statistics, Psychology, Sociology, Anatomy, and Physiology. Documentation of prerequisites is required using the Prerequisite Verification Form.
• A basic exercise science background is preferred, but not required. It should be noted that the majority of students in the program have completed undergraduate coursework in exercise science prior to entry into the DPT program.
• 3.0 GPA cumulative average in all courses
• 2.8 GPA in all science courses
• Exposure to physical therapy as demonstrated by documented paid or volunteer experience of at least 30 observation hours, preferably in more than one PT practice setting.
• GRE taken within the last five years with minimum scores in all areas of the GRE:
  • Verbal Reasoning ≥ 150
  • Combined Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning ≥ 300
  • Analytical Writing ≥ 4.

 

Documentation of Clinical Hours

The Traditional Professional Admission Phase requires students to complete a total of 30 hours of direct observation of the physical therapy profession. All 30 hours of documented clinical observation must be completed prior to applying. Observation opportunities can be found in such settings as:

• acute care hospitals
• outpatient or ambulatory care center
• long-term care facilities
• pediatric rehabilitation settings

Observations or work experience in the following areas will NOT be accepted as physical therapy observation:

• athletic training
• personal or other family experience with physical therapy
• personal trainer or fitness facility

Students should use the Documentation of Clinical Hours form to verify the completion of observation. The Documentation of Clinical Hours form should be returned to:

Lebanon Valley College

Admission Office

ATTN: Physical Therapy Liaison

101 North College Avenue

Annville, PA 17003

 

International Applicants

International applicants for any of the physical therapy admission phases must meet the requirements specified for each phase and must also submit:

• Certification of Financial Support for Professional Phase Applicants showing sufficient funds to pay for the professional phase of the program.
• A course-by-course evaluation of all foreign secondary school and/or university transcripts by an independent service based in the United States. World Education Services (WES) and SpanTran Evaluation Company are two suggested evaluators.

 

Physical Therapy Program Essential Requirements

There are physical, cognitive, and affective requirements for the professional phase of the program. Interested students should review these essential requirements prior to admission to the program. Requests for accommodations should be made to the department once the student is accepted.

 

Contact

For questions regarding the Doctor of Physical Therapy Traditional Professional Admission Phase, contact EJ Smith, Associate Director of Admission, via email at ejsmith@lvc.edu or phone at 717-867-6183.