Keiser vs Community College for Sonography/Radiology

[chasingzion]

Eventually I want to be a pediatrics radiologist but along the way id like to become either a sonography or radiology tech.
Im confused on whether to go to Valencia College which is a state community college or go to Keiser University, which is a private school and ill end up with an overwhelming amount of loans.

Valencia = no loans but it will take me 2 years to complete the prerequisites and then another 2 years to actually grduate with the associates in radiology/Sonography

Keiser = take out loans but have an associates in 24 months .

After I get my associates I plan to get a bachelors in biomedical sciences to prepare for med school.

Keiser = has a bachelors degree in biomedical sciences (so I wont have to worry about which credits would transfer if I get my associates at keiser as well) but once again I will have a tremendous amount of loans

Valencia = has no bachelors degree in biomedical sciences so id have to worry about catching up on prerequisites and which credits would transfer

Its all so confusing, I dont know what to do.

Im a single mom struggling to make ends meet. My baby is 10 months old. Im trying to get a career asap so that I can givr him a better life which is why id prefer to get my radiology degree and be able to make decent money while I progress in my education.

What do you all suggest?
Should I just worry about the loans later and go ahead with Keiser? Or should I takw the less expensive yet...MUCH LONGER route?

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[QofQuimica]

You should be able to transfer your CC credits from Valencia to UCF or one of the other state universities without any issues, although you're right that trying to transfer your CC credits to a school outside of the state university system might be problematic. But if you're planning on staying in FL for your BS anyway, I'd suggest going the Valencia route rather than Keiser. Like you said, it's a lot cheaper, and UCF certainly takes plenty of Valencia transfers every year. You could also consider taking your med school prereqs at UCF, and then you won't have to transfer them at all. So maybe do your tech program at Valencia and your BS at UCF.

The other thing you might consider doing is contacting the UCF med school admissions office for a pre-application advising meeting. REL Larkin used to be the UCF medical school's Admissions Director (and even posted on SDN sometimes), but I think he's doing something else now. Still, it's worth talking to their admissions office now while you're early on in the premed process about what you can do to make your app as strong as possible.

FWIW, I vote for you doing sonography over radiology. First, ultrasound is a totally up and coming imaging technology, and people keep finding more and more uses for it. So the demand for sonography techs should keep growing. Second, it's very popular as a pediatric radiology modality since pediatric specialists want to avoid irradiating kids whenever possible. So it would be especially applicable for someone who's interested in pediatric rads.

 

[chasingzion]

You should be able to transfer your CC credits from Valencia to UCF or one of the other state universities without any issues, although you're right that trying to transfer your CC credits to a school outside of the state university system might be problematic. But if you're planning on staying in FL for your BS anyway, I'd suggest going the Valencia route rather than Keiser. Like you said, it's a lot cheaper, and UCF certainly takes plenty of Valencia transfers every year. You could also consider taking your med school prereqs at UCF, and then you won't have to transfer them at all. So maybe do your tech program at Valencia and your BS at UCF.

The other thing you might consider doing is contacting the UCF med school admissions office for a pre-application advising meeting. REL Larkin used to be the UCF medical school's Admissions Director (and even posted on SDN sometimes), but I think he's doing something else now. Still, it's worth talking to their admissions office now while you're early on in the premed process about what you can do to make your app as strong as possible.

FWIW, I vote for you doing sonography over radiology. First, ultrasound is a totally up and coming imaging technology, and people keep finding more and more uses for it. So the demand for sonography techs should keep growing. Second, it's very popular as a pediatric radiology modality since pediatric specialists want to avoid irradiating kids whenever possible. So it would be especially applicable for someone who's interested in pediatric rads.

Valencia actually has a bachelors of Radiologic Imaging


remember, my ultimate goal is to go to med school and become a radiologist
if that fails I'd like to go to PA school

in the mean time, I'd like to do radiology or sonography (thanks for the insight on sonography though, I will take that into consideration)

I'm saying I'm a bit confused on which route to take. Say I get the associates in sonography, will the bachelors in radiologic imaging be worth it? Or should I just jump in to a bachelors in biomedical sciences

 

[chasingzion]

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing. I figured it would be a waste of time to get the bachelors in radiologic imaging

 

[QofQuimica]

Surprisingly, specialized health majors as a broad major seem to have the worst acceptance rate, though their numbers are much smaller than biological sciences (500 vs 10,000 applicants). My suggestion that if your ultimate goal in physician or PA than get the AA and move on to biomedical sciences

It's actually not surprising when you consider that these are allied health degrees. So you're talking about a group of people who are interested in health care careers but have self-selected away from applying to med school, either because they don't want to be a physician, or because they do want to be a physician but aren't a competitive applicant for med school.

OP, it really doesn't matter what you get your BS in as long as you complete the med school prereqs. I have a liberal arts degree (went to New College in Sarasota). Assuming you don't want to move, I still think it would be best for you to get your BS from UCF rather than Valencia though, since a state university will be seen as more selective of an institution compared to a CC. And seriously, major in anything you want. You don't get any bonus points with adcoms for having a bio degree.

 

[chasingzion]

It's actually not surprising when you consider that these are allied health degrees. So you're talking about a group of people who are interested in health care careers but have self-selected away from applying to med school, either because they don't want to be a physician, or because they do want to be a physician but aren't a competitive applicant for med school.

OP, it really doesn't matter what you get your BS in as long as you complete the med school prereqs. I have a liberal arts degree (went to New College in Sarasota). Assuming you don't want to move, I still think it would be best for you to get your BS from UCF rather than Valencia though, since a state university will be seen as more selective of an institution compared to a CC. And seriously, major in anything you want. You don't get any bonus points with adcoms for having a bio degree.

Thanks. The reason why I was deciding to go in to Sonography was because I figured (financially) it would give me a nice cushion while I progress in my academics. Although, considering that allied health programs take much longer, I think it will just be a waste of time to pursue an associates in sonography since my main goal is to go to med school.
Obtaining an associates in sonography would just set me back a whole 2 years.

I will consider your advice to go to UCF for my bachelor

 

[chasingzion]

Its surprising to the students, so many of which I meet who assume that having a nursing or allied health degree is a great direct stepping stone to medical school.

Well, before I decided I wanted to go in to medicine, I was taking up Real Estate Law.
I was an assistant property manager for an apartment complex before I decided to go back to college. My vision was working at a large property management firm. I got bored with that ....quickly. Especially after I spent a few years in the field.

The only reason I considered allied health was because I figured it would get me a nice job with a decent salary while I continue my education. I imagine it would allow me to take care of my son without being on public assistance.
As opposed to working 40 hours a week as an apartment manager on $12 per hour.

 

[chasingzion]

Then I realized that it takes about 2 years just to complete the prerequisites for the allied health programs and another +2 years to actually complete the program *sigh*
My son is 10 months old. I need a career.
I can't waste 4 years trying to get a 2 year degree when my ultimate goal is med school anyway.
Im having 2nd thoughts.
I think I will just go ahead and do the associates in biomed and continue on for the bachelors and skip sonography all together.