How To Apply
Dear PTA Program Applicant:
Thank you for your interest in the PTA Program at Pearl River Community College. If you have questions or we may provide assistance during the application process, please do not hesitate to call us at (601) 554-5487.
The application deadline is April 1 of each calendar year. Please note: Items are subject to change. You will be notified of any changes if we have your current address.
Information Sessions
Please click on the PTA Information session below. This must be viewed in order to apply to the PTA Program. After watching the video in its entirety, you may email questions to PTA@prcc.edu.
The PTA Program will conduct an optional in-person information session on March 6th at 6:00 pm in the Cecil Burt Special Events Room in Building 5. Faculty will be available to answer any questions not addressed by the video session and receive any mandatory forms.
Admission
The selection of students is competitive; based on ACT scores, overall GPA, core GPA course work, and interviews for selected applicants. Admission to the program is limited to approximately twenty students each August. No prerequisite coursework is required for admission into the program. Pearl River Community College and the Physical Therapist Assistant Program offer equal admissions opportunities to all qualified applicants and to all employees of the College without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or handicap. This policy applies to all aspects of admissions, enrollment, and employment, including, but not limited to, enrollment, recruitment, hiring, and placement, rate of pay, promotion, transfer, demotion, and termination.
How to Apply
Please read the following instructions to apply to the PTA Program:
- Complete the PRCC Admissions Application. Within 3-5 days, you will receive RiverGuide Credentials.
- Once you receive your RiverGuide credentials, use them to complete the Physical Therapist Assistant Program application.
- You must give the correct information. All information will be verified. If you provide inaccurate information, your application will automatically be rejected, and you will not be eligible for the program you are applying.
- You must mail or eScript an official high school transcript and official transcripts from all previously attended colleges. Your application will not be complete unless the college/program receives these items. Please send these items to:
Pearl River Community College
Office of Admissions
101 Highway 11 North
Poplarville, MS 39470
- You have the option of saving your information when completing your application. This information can be changed and will be saved until the program deadline. Once you have completed the information and submitted the application, the application will no longer be available in your personal information section on the WildCat Web until the next application process begins. You will receive an email stating your application has been submitted for the current program application period.
Items to be Sent Directly to the PTA Department:
- Optional observation hours form
- Copy of a valid Mississippi driver’s license
- An information session must be attended or viewed online. Please see the PTA Home Page for the online version.
For a complete explanation of the PRCC PTA Admission Scale, please click here.
Health Care Criminal History Background Check
Applicants for allied health/nursing programs must submit fingerprints for a Criminal Background Check in accordance with Mississippi state law. This process is necessary for the allied health/nursing student to enter the healthcare facilities for clinical. All allied health/nursing students must participate in the required clinical training. Facilities require a satisfactory criminal background check to participate in clinical activities.
Therefore, if any applicant is found to have a disqualifying event on their background check, they may be prohibited from training in the health care facility for clinical, thus disqualifying the applicant from meeting the criteria of the program.
If further information or assistance is needed, please contact the Physical Therapist Assistant Department at PTA@PRCC.edu or 601-554-5487.
Program Entrance Requirements
Minimum program entrance requirements to enter PRCC Physical Therapist Assistant program are:
An acceptable ACT score (A or B):
- Attain an 18 or higher ACT composite score, and a 19 or above on the math subtest (or have already completed College Algebra with a “C” or better by the deadline), and a 17 or higher on the English subtest (or have already completed English Composition I with a “C” or better by the deadline) to meet ACT minimum standards for consideration to the PTA Program. The minimum composite score of ACT administrations prior to October 1989 is 15, a 16 or above on the math subtest (or have completed College Algebra with a “C” or better by the deadline) and a 14 or above on the English subtest (or have completed English Comp I with a “C” or better by the deadline of April 15).
OR
- Attain a 16 or higher ACT composite (since October 1989), a 19 or above on the math subtest (or have completed College Algebra with a “C” or better by the application deadline), and a 17 or above on the English subtest (or have completed English Comp I with a “C” or better by the application deadline), and achieve 12 semester hours of the general education coursework in the PTA Program curriculum with a grade of “C” or better from an accredited college or university. This includes Principles of Anatomy and Physiology I OR Anatomy and Physiology I (A&P I), Principles of Anatomy and Physiology II OR Anatomy and Physiology II (A& P II), College Algebra, English Composition I, General Psychology, Public Speaking, and a Humanities/Fine Arts elective. If Principles of A & P I and II OR A&P I and A&P II were taken more than three years prior to admission into the PTA Program, you will be required to take it again once in the program.
Admission Committee Notification
- A maximum of 60 applicants will be invited for a program interview based on the point scale ranking.
- Up to twenty (22) students will be selected for admission. Selection is based 50% on the rank score and 50% on the interview score. Five (5) alternates will also be selected in case any of the 22 applicants accepted choose to decline their acceptance.
- All applicants will receive written notification of acceptance or denial of admission unless the applicant has failed to meet the deadline.
Observation Hours
Observation hours are optional. If the applicant performs 16 hours of observation at a physical therapy department, they will receive an additional point on their rank score. The observation form must be signed and dated by a physical therapist or a physical therapist assistant with the facility name and turned in prior to the application deadline, observation form. It is the applicant’s responsibility to set up dates and times with a PT department of their choice.
All PTA program applicants will be “ranked” according to the “Admission Point Scale” as explained below. The Admission Point Scale will identify students who have potential for success in the PTA program. The Advisory Committee reviews a list of candidates according to “rank” on the point scale for potential for an interview. Interview points will be added to the rank score for determining admission. Points granted at the interview will be based on:
- Verbal and nonverbal communication skills including writing skills; and
- Knowledge of the field of Physical Therapy and role of the PTA, as well as other standard interview skills.
Follow the appropriate procedure below to determine your point “ranking” for PRCC’s PTA program.
Procedure A
If you have completed 12 or more program core semester hours
- Take column (A) and multiply 20 percent (.20); column (B) and multiply by 40 percent (.40); and lastly, column (C) and multiply by 40 percent (.40);
- Subtract 1 point for each course taken with resulting grade of an F within 3 years of the application date.
- Add 1 point for 16 hours of observation.
Procedure B
If you have completed less than 12 program core semester hours or no college credits:
- Take column (A) and multiply by 40 percent (.40); and column (D) and multiply by 60 percent (.60);
- Add 1 point for 16 hours of observation.
Please note that an interview will not be offered to applicants who have under a 3.5 high school GPA when the high school GPA must be used for ranking purposes.
*Classes taken during the Spring semester of the deadline date will not count toward admissions GPAs.
PTA Program Admission Point Scale
| Points | (A)Enhanced ACT | (B)Overall College GPA | (C)Program Core Courses | (D)High School GPA |
| 21 | 26/+ | 4.0 | 4.0 | X |
| 20 | 25 | 3.9 | 3.9 | X |
| 19 | 24 | 3.8 | 3.8 | X |
| 18 | 23 | 3.7 | 3.7 | X |
| 17 | 22 | 3.6 | 3.6 | X |
| 16 | 21 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| 15 | 20 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 14 | 19 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
| 13 | 18 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.7 |
| 12 | 17 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 11 | 16 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| 10 | 15 | 2.9 | 2.9 | |
| 9 | 14 | 2.8 | 2.8 | |
| 8 | 13 | 2.7 | 2.7 | |
| 7 | 12 | 2.6 | 2.6 | |
| 6 | 11 | 2.5 | 2.5 | |
| 5 | 10 | 2.4 | 2.4 | |
| 4 | 9 | 2.3 | 2.3 | |
| 3 | 8 | 2.2 | 2.2 | |
| 2 | 7 | 2.1 | 2.1 | |
| 1 | 6 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
*GPA based on 4 point system.
