Admissions and Application Process
The following are requirements for admission to the Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) Program. Each of these requirements must be fulfilled and evidence of their completion must be submitted. Failure to submit evidence of fulfilling all admission requirements will exclude applicants from consideration for admission.
- Complete all admission requirements and be admitted to the Blinn College District. Applicants must be TSI compliant ( www.blinn.edu/testing/tsi ) or exempt. All developmental classes must be completed prior to admission to the program.
- Complete the PTACAS Application - The Blinn PTA Program application cycle opens October 1 and closes March 1 each year.
- The deadline for official transcripts to be received by PTACAS is February 1 each year. Please see FAQs below for more information.
- There is a $25 application fee through PTACAS per school application. Apply for a fee waiver through PTACAS
- Send official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended to PTACAS. Once you have created a PTACAS account and started the application process on PTACAS, there is an option to order your transcripts directly through their system.
- Take the Test for Essential Academic Skills Test [ TEAS VII - Allied Health ] administered by the Center for Student Development.
The following components are required to complete the PTACAS Application:
- Official transcripts from every college or university you've ever attended. You must send official transcripts to PTACAS for your application to be considered.
- If accepted into the Blinn PTA Program, you must also send transcripts to Blinn College.
- Completion of all prerequisites with a grade of "C" or better
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- The following courses must be completed prior to beginning the PTA Program:
PTHA 1201, ENGL 1301, PSYC 2301, and BIOL 2401 - The following co-requisite courses can be taken throughout the curriculum:
BIOL 2402, HITT 1305, and a Humanities elective- Please note: Although you can take these co-requisite courses during the curriculum, it is highly recommended that you complete them prior to beginning the PTA Program. Completion of these courses prior to application correlates to a greater success rate in the program, and will make your application highly competitive.
- If you are enrolled in any of these courses during the Fall semester and you want them to be factored into your application points, please wait to send transcripts and submit your PTACAS application after grades are posted for the Fall semester.
- If you are enrolled in any of these courses at the time of application in the Spring semester, you will not receive points on the application for “In Progress” courses, and they will not be factored into GPA calculations. Once you have completed the Spring semester, if you are taking courses anywhere besides Blinn College, you must send an updated transcript to Blinn after grades are posted so you can receive credit for those courses on your degree plan.
- The following courses must be completed prior to beginning the PTA Program:
- ATI TEAS Test Score sheet
- Observation Hours:
- A minimum of 20 observation hours in any Physical Therapy setting is required. This can be paid or volunteer experience. Observation hours are valid for two years.
- All observation hours must be verified. In the Observation Hours section, you can verify your hours electronically (PTACAS generates an email to the therapist) -OR- you can upload a log of your observation hours with the therapist's signature as verification. If you need an hour log form, you can print and fill out our Documentation of Experience Form.
- Required Evaluations:
- One evaluation from each PT clinic/facility that you observe at least 20 hours with (up to 3 evaluations). These must be completed by either a Licensed Physical Therapist or Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant.
- For example:
- If you shadowed at 1 PT clinic, you will have 1 PT/PTA evaluation.
- If you shadowed at 3 PT clinics (a minimum of 20 hours at each), you will have 3 PT/PTA evaluations.
- For example:
- One evaluation from a non-PT individual. This can be from an employer or supervisor, professor/instructor, mentor, community service personnel, or any other individual who has observed you in a professional or workplace capacity. This can not come from a family member or friend.
- Evaluations are generated from the PTACAS system. You will enter the individual’s email address and the CAS will send an email automatically. Please see the FAQs section on our website for more information on evaluation requirements.
- One evaluation from each PT clinic/facility that you observe at least 20 hours with (up to 3 evaluations). These must be completed by either a Licensed Physical Therapist or Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant.
The following items are not required, but are considered enhancements to your application:
- Additional observation or employment hours in a PT setting
- Completion of all prerequisites at the time of application
- 2.5 GPA or higher
- Previous degree (Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, Ph.D.)
- Certifications (EMT/Paramedic, CPR/AED, First Aid, LMT, ATC, etc.)
- Community Service hours
All application components must be submitted through PTACAS no later than March 1.
It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure PTACAS and Blinn College receive all application materials. The top applicants will be selected for interviews. Selection is based on how each applicant compares with others in the applicant pool. Final selection for the program is determined by the Blinn PTA Program Director and faculty based on consideration of all components of the application process.
For questions and help with the PTACAS website and application, please visit this help guide at https://help.liaisonedu.com/PTACAS_Applicant_Help_Center
This will depend on how many PT settings you’ve observed in.
Example #1: If you shadowed in 1 outpatient clinic for 20 hours and 1 acute care hospital for 20 hours, you will create 2 separate Observation Hours entries in PTACAS. You will receive credit for the initial 20 hours (minimum requirement for the application), and then you will also receive enhancement credit for the second 20 hours. You will submit 2 evaluations (one for each facility), plus your 1 additional non-PT evaluation.
Example #2: If you only shadowed in 1 outpatient clinic for 20 hours, you will only submit 1 Observation Hours entry. You will submit 1 evaluation for the clinic, plus your 1 additional non-PT evaluation.
Example #3: If you shadowed in 1 outpatient clinic for 20 hours, 1 acute care hospital for 20 hours, and 1 home health agency for 20 hours, you will submit 3 Observation Hours entries. You will submit 3 PT/PTA evaluations, plus one additional non-PT evaluation.
The number of PT/PTA evaluations you submit will equal the number of observation facilities, plus one additional non-PT evaluation.
Yes. You are allowed a maximum total of 4 evaluations. You may submit up to 3 PT/PTA evaluations, and 1 non-PT evaluation.
Example #1: If you shadowed in 1 outpatient clinic, you will complete 1 PT/PTA evaluation, and then you will submit 1 additional non-PT evaluation. So in this example, you would have a total of 2 evaluations. This is the minimum required number of evaluations.
Example #2: If you shadowed in 1 outpatient clinic, 1 acute care hospital, and 1 home health agency, you will submit a total of 3 PT/PTA evaluations (one for each facility), and then additionally you will submit 1 non-PT evaluation. So in this example, you would have a total of 4 evaluations. This is the maximum number of evaluations accepted.
In this example, you will complete 1 Observation Hours entry for the 40 PT observation hours, and have the Licensed PT or PTA verify your hours (verified by signature on the Documentation of Experience Form or email verification through PTACAS). You will also enter an email address for the therapist in the Evaluations section so he/she can complete a PT/PTA evaluation for you.
You will also submit your 30 hours of community service in the Experience section of your application. If you’d like to use your supervisor of this experience as a reference, you can use him/her as your non-PT Evaluation.
No. The first 20 hours will satisfy the minimum requirement, but you must observe a minimum of 20 hours at each additional facility in order to get enhancement points on your application.
In this example, I would recommend completing another 10 hours at the second clinic (to equal 20 hours) if possible, in order to receive application points.
Although we always recommend shadowing in a variety of different settings, you will only receive credit for up to 3 facilities on the application.
*Please be sure the observation hours you submit are no more than 2 years old.
We recommend that if you are currently enrolled in one or more of the pre-requisite classes in the Fall semester in which you are applying, wait to send your transcripts and submit your PTACAS application once grades are posted. This way, you will receive application credit for completion of the class(es), as well as GPA credit for the grade.
Unfortunately, because our application cycle closes March 1st, any classes in progress in the Spring semester of application will not be completed before the due date, and therefore will not be factored into application points or GPA calculations.
The 4 pre-requisites (PTHA 1201, BIOL 2401, ENGL 1301, and PSYC 2301) must be completed before starting the PTA program.
The 3 co-requisites (BIOL 2402, HITT 1305, and Humanities elective) can be completed once you’ve been accepted and started the PTA program. However, we advise all applicants to complete these classes prior to beginning the program. Applicants who have completed all 7 of the classes prior to application/admission are highly competitive and have a greater chance of being accepted into the program. Additionally, completion of the classes prior to admission correlates to a higher success rate in the program due to the comprehensive nature of the curriculum and emphasis on foundational knowledge.
The $25 application fee is charged by PTACAS, not Blinn College. You can apply for a fee waiver through PTACAS. This is a first-come, first-serve waiver program, so the sooner you apply, the better. Click here for waiver request through PTACAS.
You must enter your overall TEAS score in the “Standardized Tests” section of the PTACAS application, as well as upload a copy of your score sheet into the “Required Documents” section. Please make sure your official score sheet includes your name, date of exam, and overall score in order to validate the score that was entered.
When you enter your courses in the "Transcript Entry" section, you will enter ALL classes you’ve taken, including if you’ve taken a course multiple times. Whenever you get to the "Prerequisites" section, only match the course you want to count toward your Prerequisite GPA.
For example, if you took Anatomy & Physiology 1 and made a C the first time, but then re-took it and made an A, you will only match the course with the A to that prerequisite.
Please watch this video from the PTACAS Help Center regarding the status of your application.
In order to ensure all materials are received, processed, and verified by the application deadline, official transcripts from all colleges attended MUST be received no later than February 1st each application cycle. Please do not wait until the last minute to request your transcripts or follow-up on delayed transcripts, as this will delay your application verification and, therefore, the scoring process. If your transcripts are not received by the February 1st deadline, your application may be considered Incomplete.
It is the applicant's responsibility to contact PTACAS and/or your institution regarding outstanding transcripts. It usually takes between 24-72 hours to receive an electronic transcript request, and may take up to 7-10 days to receive via regular mail. Applicants should anticipate delays, though, and order transcripts far in advance.
Please Note: If you have chosen to pay the additional fee for the "Professional Transcript Entry", you must allow extra time for this process. It typically takes approximately 10 business days for the CAS to enter your transcripts AFTER your transcript has been received and verified. All courses must be entered and verified by the application deadline.
It is the applicant's responsibility to contact your evaluator(s) regarding outstanding evaluations. All evaluations must be RECEIVED by the application deadline. If they are not received by the deadline, applicants will not receive points for that evaluation.
If the evaluator did not receive the evaluation request via email, applicants can request it to be sent again. Advise them to check their "Junk" folder for request emails also. If the evaluator still is not receiving emails, please contact PTACAS for further assistance.
