A few months into the new PTCAS prompt, I’ve edited a ton of essays and seen a lot of both great and not-so-great personal statements.
The prompt for the PTCAS personal statement essay for the 2026-2027 cycle is: “As a prospective Doctor of Physical Therapy, how do you see yourself having an impact on the profession upon entering the field? Consider areas such as practice, education, research, leadership, or community-based endeavors.”
Here are my top tips for a great PTCAS essay:
- Don’t answer an old prompt. I personally thought the previous prompt was great. I loved reading about what makes you unique, but unfortunately, PTCAS has moved on. I’ve worked with several applicants reapplying to PT school who were told after the first time that part of why they were rejected was not answering the essay’s prompt well. Don’t let this be you! You can still write about what makes you unique, but make sure you’re also answering the current prompt!
- Be specific. The prompt is asking about the impact you want to have on PT. Be specific about what you want to do AND how you will accomplish this. If you want to work with dancers or help underrepresented communities, write about HOW you intend to accomplish these things. You can use some of the experiences you’ve had to back up how you will accomplish these things.
- Decide what to include (and what to cut). You can’t write about every single job or experience you’ve had in the essay. But that’s ok, there are other sections in PTCAS for these.
- Make your point early. In most cases, I should know the impact you want to have on the field by the end of your first paragraph, and I definitely shouldn’t have to wait until the conclusion to find out what it is.
- Avoid overstating the obvious. It goes without saying that as a future PT, you’re going to stay up to date on research, treat your patients as more than just a diagnosis, and help them emotionally as well as physically. This is part of the job description and likely not worth mentioning in your statement.
- Write about more than sports or working out. Being an athlete might have helped you stand out in high school or college, but it’s not going to separate you from the crowd applying to PT school. PT tends to attract athletic people, and almost all of your classmates will have played high school sports and a significant percentage will have played in college too. Your PT school class will also be heavily made up of people who run or lift weights. Writing about only wanting to work in outpatient or with athletes won’t help you stand out and can even show you don’t fully understand the field .
- Nix the story about being a patient in PT. Most people discover the field by getting hurt and attending PT or accompanying a loved one to their sessions. Not only is this not unique, but it’s likely not going to tell the reader a lot about you. Instead, focus on other experiences you’ve had. It’s cliche and often boring to read about what you did in PT.
- Don’t say too much about your observation hours. They confirmed PT for you, but they don’t tell us much about who you are. They’ll also appear elsewhere in your application, including the spots where PTCAS makes you list them. If you have to include your PT experiences, make sure you’re an active participant in the story and that the reader is learning something about who you are from what you include. Along these lines, I recommend not telling a patient’s whole story in this essay. There just isn’t room to talk about someone else in an essay meant to be teaching the reader about you, even if they had an incredible recovery. Think about why you’re including the story – is it because the patient meant something special to you, or is it because you did something special in the story for the patient? The latter is the type of story you want to include.
- For example, asking an older patient a question and hearing their version of the meaning of life, or watching them miraculously overcome a devastating injury, is about them and not you.
- But, staying late to help a patient find a bus to get home, or getting a patient who doesn’t talk to anyone to open up to you, are stories where you’re the main character and the reader learns about you.
- Write about your background. The essay is directly asking you about it, and most if (if not all) PT programs are trying to increase the diversity of their classes to increase diversity within the profession. If you belong to a minority or underrepresented group, and feel comfortable sharing, consider writing about this.
- Kill the flowery language. “The wind whipped through my hair on the bright windy day while I walked quickly to the clinic.” I’ve read sentences like these in most essays I edit, and while they would be right at home in a novel, they might not make sense in a relatively short essay. You probably don’t have room for this level of description. If you absolutely have to describe something in detail, make sure you’re describing something more important than your commute to the clinic.
If you’d like to work with me to brainstorm your essay topic or edit your essay once it’s written, reach out, and if you need extra preparation, take a look at my PT school essay course! Good luck!