Physical Therapy Requirements

Applicants to the DPT program must demonstrate the following to be considered for admission:

  • Completion of a bachelor's degree at an accredited university in a discipline other than physical therapy. 
  • A minimum cumulative 2.9 GPA, all prerequisites 3.2 GPA, and science prerequisites 3.2 GPA is required.
  • Completion of all prerequisites and undergraduate degree by the end of the spring semester prior to beginning the program.
  • Professional References-three required.
  • Personal Essay.
  • A TOEFL score of at least 550 (if the applicant is an international student whose first language is not English).
  • Completion of all materials in the online application.
  • Participation in a personal interview.
  • GRE score (Graduate Record Exam) official GRE PTCAS code 7638. A verbal score of 150 and quantitative score of 148 is strongly recommended.

We recommend that students observe physical therapists in a wide variety of settings before applying.

List of prerequisite courses
(numbers in parentheses reflect semester credit hours)

  • English I & II (6)
  • Fundamentals of Communication (3)
  • Ethics (3)
  • Psychology (6)*
      *General Psychology (3) and (3) hours upper level 300 - 400: prefer Developmental or
        Abnormal Psychology
  • General Biology with lab (4)
  • Human Anatomy with lab (4)
  • General Physiology with lab (4)
  • General Chemistry I & II with labs (8)
  • Physics I & II (non-calculus) with labs (8)
  • Statistics (3)

All prerequisite courses must be completed for a grade of "C-" or better.

Prerequisite courses that were taken more than 10 years prior to application will only be considered by petition to the Physical Therapy Admissions Committee.

If you question whether a specific course meets our prerequisite requirements, please contact Terry Forge at Terry.Forge@Rockhurst.edu.

List of recommended courses

  • Interpersonal Communication
  • Abnormal Psychology
  • Embryology
  • Histology
  • Kinesiology

Requirement for laptop computer
Given the increasing availability of information on computer networks and the Internet, and the growing need for students to be able to find, analyze and use that information, the Department of Physical Therapy Education requires that all new students have a laptop computer for use throughout the DPT curriculum. The computer will be used during lecture and laboratory sessions on campus as well during on-line courses that will run concurrent with full-time clinical internships. Rockhurst's campus-wide wireless network makes accessing files and the Internet convenient and easy across all campus buildings and classrooms.

Requirements are subject to change. It is the applicant's responsibility to contact the Office of Graduate Admission or the Department of Physical Therapy Education to inquire if there are changes before submitting an application.