A Pre-PT’s Guide to PTCAS: Personal Information Section
The Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service or PTCAS can be hard to navigate for anyone. However, it is an essential component of the application process. In this post, we’ll discuss what you need to know about the Personal Information Section of PTCAS.
Important note, my knowledge of PTCAS is based solely on the 2021-2022 application seasons. I hope to update my blog accordingly as PTCAS changes throughout the years, but please keep in mind that some things do change from year to year.
There are 4 main sections in PTCAS and the Personal Information Section is the first. This is where you’ll sign your release statement, and enter your biographic, contact, citizenship, and other information.
Note that my section says it has been completed and has turned green. This is because I have already completed my application. New applicants’ sections will not be green.
Release Statement
The release statement is just a way for you to acknowledge that the information you have shared is correct and will be shared with others after the submission of your application.
Biographic Information
This section requests your name, sex, gender identity, pronouns, and birth information and will need to match what you provided during sign-up.
Contact Information
This section is pretty self-explanatory. You will need to input your address, phone number, and email address.
Citizenship Information
This section is also self-explanatory. They request your U.S. citizenship information, place of living (residency), Visa info if applicable, and previous state residency if you moved recently.
Race & Ethnicity
This section is self-explanatory as well. You are asked about your ethnicity and race.
Parent/Guardian
In this section, you can list a parent(s) or guardian. You must input each parent individually and enter information about them, their occupation, residency, education, and household. This is not required and I chose to skip this section as it had no bearing on my application.
Economic/Educational/Environmental Factors
This section is geared toward those who feel they have additional economic, educational, or environmental factors that might have impacted their application. You are asked about your home situation, childhood residency, high school information, and whether or not you wish to be considered a disadvantaged applicant.
Other Information
This section is geared toward those who believe additional information might have impacted their application or might add to it. You will be asked to input language proficiency, military status, academic infractions, license infractions, social security number, COVID-19 effects, academic record, previous physical therapist assistant education, previous physical therapist education, education interruption, and military service interruptions.
The COVID-19 question asks you to list any educational, personal, or professional experiences that have been impacted by COVID and subsequently affected your application.
I hope you’ve learned a little bit about the Personal Information section of PTCAS. This post was a bit short as this section is usually the easiest and first to be completed, but I hope you’ve still learned some things.
For the next post in this series, check out A Pre-PTs Guide to PTCAS: Academic History Section.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments!
