By Rhyan Caruso
The required essay on PTCAS when applying to physical therapy school is one of the most important pieces to truly stand out from other applicants. On paper, most applicants are going to look very similar, with good grades, a lot of observation hours, job as a rehab aide, and lots of community service. However, the essay allows a student to have the opportunity to write personal experiences about their own lives and how their own experiences led them to the profession of physical therapy. Through a lot of trial and error, I was able to perfect my own personal essay, which allowed me to get accepted into 5 physical therapy programs. In this post, I will provide some tips and the template that I followed to formulate my personal essay. If you have any questions or want help with writing your essay, feel free to email me at [email protected], where I can go over your specific experiences and your “why” and help put pen to paper.
I will warn you, prior to beginning your essay, keep in mind that the limit on PTCAS for the essay is 4500 characters, and my personal essay being only 790 words; this INCLUDES spaces. This is not a lot of space to use for your essay, so when writing be sure to get straight to the point and refrain from writing about things that do not need to fill up your paper.
MAKE SURE that when you are following this template and telling your own experiences about how you were set on the path to pt that the stories are focused on YOU, and not anyone else. This essay is the most important piece of the application and gives you the opportunity to set yourself apart from the other applicants.
The prompt for the most recent PTCAS application cycle for 2024-2025: Every applicant is unique in their own way, possessing individual qualities, abilities, and backgrounds. What unique traits will you bring to the physical therapy profession that will help you to be successful?
The template I will be providing can be applied to most prompts that will be provided by PTCAS, as they change the prompt every few years, but remain somewhat similar, following the idea of what can you bring to the profession of PT.
Step #1: The Hook
This can be a question, quote, facts, exclaiming sentence. However you decide to start your personal essay, do NOT be boring. If you begin the essay with simply restating the prompt and answering the question directly, the person reading will be bored, and you will blend in with the applicant pool rather than stand out.
TIP: Do NOT just state specific traits that you have that will translate to your future as a physical therapist, but explain how you showcase these traits through your own experiences.
Step #2: Personal Story
Prior to writing, think really hard and deep about a personal story that might have sparked your interest in becoming a physical therapist. You might not realize it, but most people can trace a singular moment or story that occurred to them in their life that set them on the path to physical therapy, whether they realized it in that moment or not. Once you can think of this personal story, begin telling that story and getting straight to the point with exact details involving it. While you are describing this story, explain a little bit about what you have learned from this experience and how it can translate to your future as a physical therapist.
TIP: The personal essay on PTCAS will be on your application for all the school’s you are applying to, not just a specific one. Make sure you are not entering any specific information about one school, as every school will see it.
Step #3: Clinical Story
Next, I want you to transition telling an experience about a clinical experience you may have encountered after personally experiencing the profession, whether it be as a patient, observation student, or rehab aide/tech. Think of a specific clinical experience that may have cemented in stone your decision to become a physical therapist, get straight to the point telling a short story of this experience and the skills, knowledge, or outlook you may have developed from that specific experience. The main point of telling this clinical story is to let the PT schools know that you are 100% sure this is the career path you would like to follow.
TIP: When telling your clinical story, be sure to follow HIPPA Guidelines and refrain from mentioning any specific patient’s names or any other information that can identify the specific patient.
Step #4: Conclusion
This part should be relatively short, as there is not much space to use in the first place on PTCAS. In the conclusion, you should wrap up the skills you have developed from your experiences and explain what you can bring to the physical therapy profession, as well as further explain your own “why” as to wanting to become a physical therapist.
TIP: Once you submit your essay on PTCAS, you will not be able to edit it. I recommend typing in a word document as you go through the process of writing, and when it comes time to submit and you have taken the time to review your essay, just copy and paste it into the forum provided on PTCAS.