Other OT-Related Information OT school debt

[Otogp]

hey guys, I’m looking for some advice.

I am graduating from undergrad with about 20k in student loans. I’ve been waitlisted from Towson university, which is the only school in my home state. I’ve been accepted to other schools, all of which will cost me close to 100k in student loans. Should I go to one of these schools and graduate with close to 120k in debt (worst case scenario)? Or would it be smarter to take a year off and reapply once I’ve saved a little bit of money? Am i going to be absolutely drowning in debt?

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[gatorbait2342]

My personal plan if I was not accepted to my in-state cheaper options was to take a gap year and reapply! The benefits of a gap year to me outweighed the exorbitant debt I would have had if I went with one of the other options. You can work and if you save the money well to reinvest in your tuition for the following year (even if you are only left with the 100k programs), you can help make a dent in your costs and hopefully reduce the loans you have to take out. Also, you can make your application even stronger and possibly get in to even cheaper programs!

I feel there sometimes is a negative connotation with gap years and/or it might seem daunting to not just keep going with school. I think everything happens for a reason and taking a gap year to reapply could better yourself personally, professionally, and hopefully financially in the long run! However, if your gut says that you just really want to enroll for this upcoming cohort, more power to you! Either route will help you be the great OT that you're meant to be.

 

[ImAnOGOT]

I agree with the others: a gap year could be incredibly beneficial in terms of getting more experience to not only strengthen your application, but to use that experience to REALLY be sure this is what you want to do (especially if you end up taking monstrous loans) and to have much stronger context as you go through school. I'm also a non-traditional student: 34 year old career changer with a toddler and a two month old. I got into a top-ranked school last year which would have cost $100K+, but my husband and I decided to instead try and fit in one more kid while I worked as a hospital rehab aide and reapplied to the much less expensive state school. Things have luckily worked out as we had hoped: I had a child in February and was accepted into my top choice school in March. Even with childcare for two and my tuition, we'll be in much better shape than we would have been if I went ahead with the more expensive school. Life is funny like that...consider all your options and don't rush into things because you feel like it's "now or never". Best of luck!

 

[OTHannah96]

It also depends on what you want to do with your career. I want to have the option to potentional work in higher education, so an OTD was a better fit for me, even though it is about double the cost. My local school was half the cost of the school I decided to attend, but if you add in getting an OTD later, then price ends up being the same but then it’s an additional two years. If you want to be a practitioner your whole career then there is no need to go for the more expensive OTD route. If you have the option to take a gap year and save up a substantial amount of money to make a dent in whatever program you choose then I would say go for that, unless you get off the waitlist. If you don’t end up getting off the waitlist, then I would contact the school to talk to them to see what would make your application stronger in their eyes. I have seen other people do this on the thread and it really showed their dedication to that program and ended up getting accepted.