Plan vs. Reality
In the perfect world everything happens exactly how you imagined….
Now let’s be real, nothing goes as planned. In life we hit a few roadblocks, some more than other, but the point is well all go through it.
Here’s a few of my plans that didn’t quite work out the way I imagined.
Plan A
Graduate from college and go straight into Physical Therapy school.
Reality
I realized after graduation I wasn’t ready to apply to Physical Therapy school because my GPA wasn’t competitive enough and had not taken the GRE.
So I decided to take a year off of school gain experience in the field and give myself some time to prepare for the next round of applications.
Plan B
Apply to as many schools as possible with the hopes that one school HAS to accept me. ( side note when I wrote this I didn’t care about what school I got accepted into as long as I got accepted. I’m here to tell you now DON'T have that mindset. Do your research, don't just go because you’ve been accepted.)
Reality
I didn’t clearly think this through, nor did I have the funds to support my ambitious hopes. After applying to over 11 schools my first time around I learned I will never do that again. They say less is better, but I honestly was afraid that I might not get accepted into school, but ANY school should not be the mindset. I realized that whatever school I attend I will be there for the next three years, so it should be somewhere I actually like.
Plan C
Retake Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology I and II.
Reality
I spent my summer working two jobs and taking three classes. I retook Chemistry because I received a C my sophomore year and knew that if I retook it at a community college I would get a higher grade. Anatomy and Physiology was tricky because at NIU I took Human Physiology and received a C, not a lot of other schools offer Physiology by itself. The requirement for PT schools is to have a two semester fulfillment of either Anatomy and Physiology separately or A&P I and II. Since I couldn’t find it separately I had to take both. Only one of the times offered at Prairie state worked with my schedule, so in order to get both out of the way I took A&P II at Prairie State and A&P I at Moraine Valley, all while taking Chemistry at Prairie State. I thought I could apply for FAFSA and receive some type of government assistance to help with the cost, but unless you are degree seeking there’s no assistance, which left me with a hefty bill.
Plan D
Visit as many schools as possible and connect with faculty members
Reality
This was really fun part I had a chance to visit:
Governors State University
Hampton University
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Midwestern
Visiting the campus helped me get a better feel how the campus life, students and the faculty. Visiting those schools was a great experience because I had the opportunity to connect with the students and faculty. (I’ll have a blog post further down the line that will touch on my experience at these schools.)
Plan E
Save money by living at home
Reality
I had to buy a car (yayyy), but a monthly car note on top of other living expenses while working two part times jobs just wasn’t enough to get by. Let’s not forget all of the application fees.
Plan F
Start PT school in 2017
Reality
Majority of the schools have rejected me. So what now?
Plan G
Apply for a Master program in Kinesiology then apply to Physical Therapy school. After I’m done with the program I’ll have a new GPA for PT schools to reference.
Reality
Now that I was looking for Grad schools with a Master in Kinesiology these are a couple of things that I looked for:
NO GRE requirement
One year program
Start in the Summer
After looking into schools it came down to EIU and SIUe
I got accepted into both of these programs to get my Mastered in Kinesiology. I mention this because just because things aren’t working out for you now doesn’t mean they won’t at all. Be patient. God's timing is always on time.
Stay tuned to see if I actually went for my Masters at EIU or SIUe.