PTCAS Grade Replacement Policy: Retaking Classes for PT School

The Prerequisite Disaster

You took Physics I your sophomore year and got a 'D'. Physics is a hard prerequisite for every Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program in the country, so you have no choice but to retake it.

You retake it the following summer and get an 'A'. Your university registrar graciously applies "Grade Forgiveness," deletes the 'D' from your transcript, and recalculates your university GPA.

You apply through PTCAS feeling confident.

When PTCAS generates your Academic Summary Report, your GPA plummets.

The PTCAS Averaging Rule

The Physical Therapy Centralized Application Service (PTCAS) does not honor university grade forgiveness policies.

If you take a class twice, PTCAS will locate the original 'D' (1.0 weight) and the new 'A' (4.0 weight) and mathematically average them together.

For the purposes of DPT admission, your final grade for Physics I is a 'C+' (2.5).

The "Latest Grade" Exception (School Specific)

While the central PTCAS algorithm averages all attempts, there is a massive loophole you can exploit.

Once PTCAS verifies your averaged GPA, they send your application to individual DPT programs. Every DPT program has the legal right to apply their own internal rules to your data.

While many schools use the averaged PTCAS GPA, a large subset of DPT programs explicitly state: "We only look at the highest/latest grade earned in a prerequisite."

If you have multiple retakes on your transcript, you must act strategically. Do not apply to schools that use the strict PTCAS average. You must scour the admissions websites of 50 different DPT programs and only apply to the schools that explicitly honor the highest grade.

The Financial Cost of Retakes

Because PTCAS averages grades, retaking a 'C' just to turn it into an 'A' (which averages to a 'B') is usually a massive waste of tuition money. You should only retake a class if you received a 'C-' or lower and physically failed the prerequisite cutoff for the program.