Application Checklist
Long Beach State's Doctor of Physical Therapy program requires the following two applications: PTCAS and Cal State Apply.
Both applications must be completed in order to be considered for admission to our program. The PTCAS application is the application to the PT Department or the DPT degree. The Cal State Apply application is the application to attend graduate school at CSULB.
Please review the following sections to make sure you have met ALL of the application requirements for our DPT program.
The PTCAS application is the primary source of information the Admissions committee will use when reviewing the application.
This is the application to the DPT program for CSULB.
It is the applicant’s responsibility to make sure all information is submitted to PTCAS in a timely manner and that all information is verified by PTCAS.
- We will not check for an applicant if the information submitted to PTCAS is verified.
Please be sure of the following when completing the PTCAS application:
- [ ] Have you checked your prerequisite courses to make sure they meet the required criteria?
- [ ] Were all the prerequisite courses taken within the last 10 years from the year applying, with the exception of human anatomy and physiology taken within 5 years of applying?
- [ ] Did you take all of the required prerequisite courses?
- 1 year of human anatomy/physiology, 1 year of general biology, 1 year of general chemistry, 1 year of general physics, 1 course in statistics, and 1 course in general psychology?
- [ ] Were lab components included with the following courses: human anatomy/physiology, general biology, general chemistry, general physics?
- Allowed substitutions: microbiology for the biology II prerequisite requirement, organic chemistry for the chemistry II prerequisite requirement, and abnormal psychology for the psychology prerequisite requirement.
- [ ] Have you checked that the prerequisite courses taken were for science, allied health, etc., majors?
- We will not accept prerequisite courses for non-science, allied health, etc., majors.
- [ ] If prerequisite courses were taken at a community college in California, did you check to see if the equivalent courses at CSULB would be accepted as meeting the prerequisite requirement?
- DO NOT contact the CSULB PT Department, Admissions committee members, or any faculty or staff to review your courses or recommend courses for meeting the prerequisite requirements.
- We strongly recommend you contact an academic advisor at the college/university you took the course from in order to check if the prerequisite course in question meets the requirements.
- [ ] Have you submitted official transcripts from all colleges/universities?
- The transcripts must be verified by PTCAS in order for the grades/courses to be considered as meeting the prerequisite requirements.
- If you are taking courses in the fall academic term of the year applying, you need to make arrangements for the transcripts to be submitted to PTCAAS as early as possible once the courses are complete.
- We will not accept prerequisite courses taken during the spring academic term of the year applying.
- [ ] Are both your cumulative and prerequisite GPAs at least 3.00?
- [ ] Are both your cumulative and prerequisite GPAs at the recommended 3.50 or higher?
- [ ] Have you submitted your GRE scores to the CSULB DPT application on PTCAS?
- The GRE scores must be sent to our program using the ETS code # 7782.
- The scores must be submitted to PTCAS prior to the November 1st PTCAS deadline.
- We strongly recommend to take the GRE exam no later than 4 weeks prior to the PTCAS deadline.
- The scores must be taken within 5 years from the year applying.
- [ ] Are your scores at least the recommended 150 for the Quantitative, 150 for the Verbal, and 4.0 for the Written sections?
- The GRE scores must be sent to our program using the ETS code # 7782.
- [ ] Have you submitted all of your experience/observation hours?
- All experience/observation (E/O) hours must be completed and verified by PTCAS to be considered for the application.
- We will not accept E/O hours listed as “planned”.
- E/O hours must be listed on the application at the time of submission. Please check with PTCAS directly in regards to adding/updating E/O hours after application submission.
- All E/O hours must be done under the supervision of a licensed PT in the USA or Canada.
- All E/O hours must have been completed in a PT setting (e.g. outpatient clinic, hospital, etc.) in the USA or Canada.
- We will not accept E/O hours obtained from outside the USA or Canada with the exception of E/O hours obtained on a US military base under the supervision of a PT licensed in the USA.
- All experience/observation (E/O) hours must be completed and verified by PTCAS to be considered for the application.
- [ ] Have you had all of your letters of recommendation submitted to PTCAS?
- All letters of recommendation (LOR) must be submitted and completed prior to the November 1st deadline in order to be considered for review.
- It is the applicant’s responsibility to follow up with their LOR authors that the information was submitted to PTCAS.
- We require at least three (3) LOR, with a maximum of five (5) allowed.
- [ ] Do you have the correct authors for your LOR?
- Academic source: a faculty member that has taught a course that you have taken, preferably a prerequisite course.
- Licensed PT: a PT that you obtained E/O hours from.
- Employer: someone who you currently/previously worked for.
- If an employer is not available then either another academic source, or licensed PT, athletic coach, academic counselor or college/university club advisor will suffice.
- We will not accept for review LOR authorship from:
- Academic source who did not instruct you in a college course, high school academic sources, licensed PT who you did not earn E/O hours with, clergy, family member, friend, physical therapy assistant (PTA).
- All letters of recommendation (LOR) must be submitted and completed prior to the November 1st deadline in order to be considered for review.
- [ ] Have you answered the prompt on the personal essay as stated on the PTCAS application?
- [ ] Did you address the question/statement honestly and in your own words?
- [ ] Did you remember to include any extracurricular activity on the PTCAS application?
- This would include work history, club participation, membership on athletic teams, research conducted, etc.
The Cal State Apply application is required by CSULB for any applicant considering attending graduate school at the university.
The only materials that need to be submitted for the Cal State Apply application are official transcripts and GRE scores.
- All materials and requested information need to be into Enrollment Services at CSULB by the January 15 deadline.
When applying, you will need to submit the following:
- Official transcripts from the degree-conferring university you attended
- [ ] Do the transcripts state that you did graduate with at least a Bachelor's degree from that university.
- [ ] The transcripts can be sent either electronically to ES-IDPTrans@csulb.edu or regular mail:
- California State University, Long Beach
Enrollment Services/Admission
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
- California State University, Long Beach
- [ ] Official GRE scores from ETS
- Use code #4389
When applying to the Doctor of Physical Therapy program be sure to do the following:
- [ ] Apply for the upcoming Fall semester and use the Masters or Higher" option.
- Our program officially starts in late May but the University requires applicants to apply for the Fall semester.
- Do not use the "Certificate" option.
- [ ] You can check the status of your Cal State Apply application using the following link application status
Enrollment Services will notify the PT Department when the application is listed as "Graduate Dept Review"
- Once your application has reached this status, your application is complete and is now just awaiting a review and decision by the PT Department Admissions committee.
If you have any questions regarding your Cal State Apply application you will need to contact Enrollment Services at CSULB directly.
- The PT Department does not have access to your Cal State Apply application. We cannot check to see if certain materials have been submitted or received or processed.
PTCAS
- [ ] Have you submitted official transcripts from all colleges/universities you attended?
- This is required.
- [ ] Have your transcripts been verified (green check) by PTCAS?
- If the grades are not verified then we cannot accept the course as meeting the prerequisite requirement.
- [ ] Are you taking any prerequisite courses or courses for graduation in the fall semester of the year you are applying?
- If so, you will need to submit official transcripts as soon as possible from your college/university during the PTCAS Academic Update window which opens mid-December.
- The grades will be accepted once they are verified by PTCAS.
Cal State Apply
- [ ] Have you submitted official transcripts from your degree-conferring college/university with your degree confirmed?
- This is required.
[ ] Did you submit your GRE scores to PTCAS for CSULB using the ETS code # 7782?
[ ] Did you submit your GRE scores to Enrollment Services at CSULB for the Cal State Apply application using the ETS code # 4389?
- We recommend minimum GRE scores in the following sections:
- Quantitative 150
- Verbal 150
- Written 4.0
- We will only accept the best scores on a given date.
- We do not accept “super scores” (e.g. taking the exam for one section only on a particular date.
- We will only accept GRE scores taken within the last five (5) years from the year applying.
[ ] Have you taken the appropriate prerequisite courses?
- [ ] Do each of your prerequisite courses meet the criteria listed below?
- Please see the list of prerequisite courses, if taken here at CSULB, that would meet the required prerequisite criteria. Compare the course description of these courses to the courses you took at your college/university. If the course descriptions are similar then we would likely accept the course as meeting the prerequisite requirement.
We require the following prerequisite courses:
- 1 year of general biology with lecture and lab components,
- 2 semester/3 quarter courses.
- Taken within 10 years of the year applying.
- We will allow microbiology (lecture and lab) as a substitute for the biology II requirement.
- 1 year of human anatomy and physiology with lecture and lab components
- 2 semester/3 quarter courses.
- Taken within 5 years of the year applying.
- 1 year of general chemistry with lecture and lab components
- 2 semester/3 quarter courses.
- Taken within 10 years of the year applying.
- We will allow organic chemistry (lecture and lab) as a substitute for the chemistry II requirement.
- 1 year of general physics with lecture and lab components
- 2 semester/3 quarter courses.
- Taken within 10 years of the year applying.
- We will allow either algebra- or calculus-based physics.
- 1 course in statistics
- Taken within 10 years of the year applying.
- We will likely accept any basic statistics course to meet the prerequisite requirement.
- 1 course in general psychology
- Taken within 10 years of the year applying.
- We will allow abnormal psychology as a substitute for the psychology requirement.
- We do not accept developmental psychology as meeting the prerequisite requirement.
[ ] Are the prerequisite courses (per the course description) listed as for: science majors, allied health majors, biology majors, kinesiology majors, etc.?
- If the science course is listed “for non-majors” we will not accept the course as meeting the prerequisite requirement.
[ ] If you took a prerequisite course at a community college in California, did you check the equivalency of the course to courses at CSULB?
- If the course is equivalent to a course at CSULB that meets the prerequisite requirement then we would most likely accept the course as meeting the prerequisite requirement.
The PT Department will NOT do the following:
- Review unofficial transcripts
- Check for equivalency of a course you took (either at a community college or a 4-year university) to that of one at CSULB
- Recommend a course for you to take at another college/university in order to meet a prerequisite requirement (for obvious reasons)
- Set up a meeting (via zoom, phone or in-person) to discuss the courses you may have already taken or may take in the future.
[ ] Do you have the minimum number of 100 experience/observation (E/O) hours?
- The E/O hours must be completed and verified by PTCAS at the time of submitting your PTCAS application.
- If you are interested in submitting more E/O hours after your application has been submitted, you will need to contact PTCAS directly for that procedure.
- In our scoring rubric we will give an applicant credit for up to 400 E/O hours.
- More than 400 E/O hours will not negatively affect the applicant.
- In our scoring rubric we will give an applicant credit for up to 4 different sites/settings in which they earned their E/O hours.
- More than 4 sites/settings will not negatively affect the applicant.
- There is no minimum number of E/O hours required for each site.
- The E/O hours must be under the supervision of a licensed PT in the USA or Canada.
- We do not accept E/O hours under the supervision of an OT, PTA, MD, RN, NP, PA, ATC, etc.
- The E/O hours must be obtained in the USA or Canada.
- We do not accept E/O hours obtained in foreign countries with the exception of E/O hours obtained on a US Military base under the supervision of a US-licensed PT.
[ ] Do you have the correct number of letters of recommendation (LOR) and acceptable authorship?
- We require a minimum of three (3) and will accept up to five (5).
- Acceptable authors include the following:
- Academic source: someone who taught a course that you took, preferably a prerequisite course.
- Licensed PT: someone who you obtained E/O hours.
- Employer: someone you are currently/have worked for.
- This can be another licensed PT
- If you do not have an employer then either another academic source or licensed PT (as stated above), academic advisor, college/university club advisor, athletic coach can be substituted.
- We will not accept LOR authorship from the following (this is not an exclusive list):
- Academic source who did not instruct you in a college course
- High school academic sources
- Licensed PT who you did not earn E/O hours with
- Clergy member
- Family member
- Friend
- Physical therapy assistant (PTA)
- Another healthcare member (e.g. MD, OT, RN, NP, RN, PA, etc.) unless they meet criteria for acceptable LOR authorship as stated above.
