Advice on school choices...

[AlexFLA]

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What do you guys think about these schools? I'm looking for the inside information, stuff not on PTCAS or on Schools web page. Even stuff about the area around the school. ANY info is welcomed and appreciated.

Armstrong Atlantic University
Boston University
Emory
Florida International
LIU-Brooklyn
Lynchburg college
MGH
Nova
Touro- Nevada
U Miami "The U"
University of New England
UNC Chapel Hill
Western University of Health Science

 

[PTMattI]

If you want to live in Atlanta, check out Mercer, cheaper than Emory and the faculty are top notch

 

[AlexFLA]

Nice thanks

 

[WarriorPT]

Boston University - Great program, competitive, great clinical rotations available for OJT

MGH - Is this Mass Gen? If so, great, great program, very competitive, great clinicals

U Miami "The U" - I've heard mixed reviews. Worked with 1 PT who is an alumnus. She liked it.

University of New England - Somewhat isolated in Maine. Maine is awesome in the summer. If you are looking at the N.E. area, maybe consider URI (my Alma mater). Lots to do: Newport, Boston, NYC...

UNC Chapel Hill - A top school on your list. Great research, great networking. I work with a lot of UNC-PT grads.

Western University of Health Science - blah, fall back school in my opinion.

When considering a school, also think about where you want to practice. A school closer to the epicenter of your job hnt will provide better networking. Also consider the specialties of the faculty at each school. If you are sport/ortho you may want to avoid a faculty base that is heavy with women's health and pediatrics.

_______________________
Licensed Physical Therapist

 

[bpdpt]

To kind of echo what warriorpt said: the 2 in boston are great programs but very expensive (not to mention one of the most expensive cities to live in in the country) and I hear a lot of good things about UNE. The campus is small but portland is beautiful with a ton of things to do and it is only 5-10 minutes from downtown

 

[rammerjammer]

I volunteer at an SNF with a current Lynchburg PT student who is doing her summer clinical right now. She said they required everyone to do their first clinical at an SNF and that there were places all over the country they could choose from. She also said the facilities at Lynchburg are really, really nice and the PT school isn't actually on the Lynchburg campus but in a separate building. I actually like that because I haven't been too impressed with Lynchburg's campus. I asked if she would recommend Lynchburg to others and she kind of gave the response of "Ehh why not, I like it." Liberty University is the main school in the city of Lynchburg so Lynchburg College kind of takes a backseat. Because of Liberty, the city gets a lot of really famous Christian singers and speakers to come if you're into that. VA is also a beautiful state, you definitely get all 4 seasons. Hope this helped you out some.

 

[Outdoors]

first glance at the list....EXPENSIVE schools(but good)! MGH, BU, UNE, Elon, ect.

Remember a license is a license 😉

As for impressions, UNE really gave me bad vibes when I was applying but that could have been just my case dealing with grad admissions. MGH has a top-notch program but is difficult to get in. Remember as someone already said, you have picked schools in cities with high costs of living. Are you looking to stay on the east coast?

Good luck!!

What do you guys think about these schools? I'm looking for the inside information, stuff not on PTCAS or on Schools web page. Even stuff about the area around the school. ANY info is welcomed and appreciated.

Armstrong Atlantic University
Boston University
Emory
Florida International
LIU-Brooklyn
Lynchburg college
MGH
Nova
Touro- Nevada
U Miami "The U"
University of New England
UNC Chapel Hill
Western University of Health Science

 

[02143]

I currently attend MGHIHP and absolutely love it. I would chose to come here time and time again. MGHIHP also offers a handful of merit scholarships, that are quite generous (many of them cover 40-50% of tuition, I believe).That being said, living Boston can be expensive. However, a large portion of students live in the suburbs and you can find a great steal in the suburbs, while also being closer to everyday conveniences, such as grocery stores (which can be harder to come by in the city). Its really about what is important to you - a couple students live in the North End, and pay significantly more for a lot less space because of the location. On the other hand, many students live in the Longwood area, Malden, Brighton, Somerville, etc and are able to get a lot more "bang for their buck."

I would also advise you to check out Mercer (as mentioned above)! Its a newer program, and about $75,000 instead of $100,000+ for tuition, but the faculty are really great. They are also really quick about communication through the admissions process, which is a huge plus! =]

Another random bit of information -- I've heard that Boston University uses prosected cadavers. I'm not sure if actually dissecting a cadaver is important to you or not, but its just something to consider.

Finally, I've heard that UNC Chapel Hill is very hard to get into. I think they interview 90-100 candidates for 30 spots. But, that area of North Carolina is beautiful and there is a lot to do.

 

[AlexFLA]

first glance at the list....EXPENSIVE schools(but good)! MGH, BU, UNE, Elon, ect.

Remember a license is a license 😉

As for impressions, UNE really gave me bad vibes when I was applying but that could have been just my case dealing with grad admissions. MGH has a top-notch program but is difficult to get in. Remember as someone already said, you have picked schools in cities with high costs of living. Are you looking to stay on the east coast?

Good luck!!

Hey can you share what gave you bad vibes about UNE? You can PM me if you don't want to share it here.

Thanks for all the great info guys, exactly what I was looking for

 

[NewTestament]

What do you guys think about these schools? I'm looking for the inside information, stuff not on PTCAS or on Schools web page. Even stuff about the area around the school. ANY info is welcomed and appreciated.

Armstrong Atlantic University
Boston University
Emory
Florida International
LIU-Brooklyn
Lynchburg college
MGH
Nova
Touro- Nevada
U Miami "The U"
University of New England
UNC Chapel Hill
Western University of Health Science

You've applied to a good batch of schools, and I don't think you'll be disappointed wherever you go. One disgruntled student here started a thread calling Western University a "malignant" PT school, but these claims were not corroborated by other posters here. Lynchburg College is nascent, but it has already developed a wonderful reputation: clean and new facilities and a spectacular faculty. The only downside is that it's in Lynchburg, which never recovered from the Civil War.

I was impressed with Nova Southeastern. I think you'll like studying with students who are becoming different sorts of clinicians: PAs, nurses, and OTs. It also has a fantastic campus. The students I met there were enthusiastic about the school. Miami didn't impress me as much, but maybe my expectations were too high. If you're not interested in research, don't apply.

Kevin

 

[PTMattI]

Full disclosure: I am a student at Mercer.

I would strongly consider checking out Mercer because of the fact that we have anatomy lab for 2 whole semesters. (August until May) and we do not share the lab with any other programs; we do all of the dissecting.

I cannot speak for all of the other schools on your list, but I know it is rare for a PT program to spend so much time on anatomy and to have the lab all to itself. This translates to anatomy not being as rushed, allowing you to retain more information, and to go more in depth as well.

 

[NewTestament]

Full disclosure: I am a student at Mercer.

I would strongly consider checking out Mercer because of the fact that we have anatomy lab for 2 whole semesters. (August until May) and we do not share the lab with any other programs; we do all of the dissecting.

I cannot speak for all of the other schools on your list, but I know it is rare for a PT program to spend so much time on anatomy and to have the lab all to itself. This translates to anatomy not being as rushed, allowing you to retain more information, and to go more in depth as well.

I was impressed with Mercer's program as well. I liked how everything (faculty, wet lab, lecture hall) was in one place. I had a really good feeling there. It was hard rejecting the offer of acceptance but I had already decided to go somewhere else. Mercer is also in Dunwoody, which is a fantastic suburb of Atlanta.

Kevin

 

[AlexFLA]

Mercer sounds great but they want a sociology class and I have two psychology classes so my pre reqs don't match up

 

[rammerjammer]

Update on Lynchburg College:

I started talking to the SPT some more and found out some good stuff. Apparently they hired a new program director recently... and within 2 weeks of hiring that person, 4 faculty (who she considered to be really good professors) resigned. Just something to consider I suppose...

Also, the PT school has a 37,000 sq ft building all to themselves and they don't have to share anything (including cadavers) with anyone else. Furthermore, she is in her 3rd semester now and her class started out with 48 students but is now down to 42.

 

[NewTestament]

Update on Lynchburg College:

I started talking to the SPT some more and found out some good stuff. Apparently they hired a new program director recently... and within 2 weeks of hiring that person, 4 faculty (who she considered to be really good professors) resigned. Just something to consider I suppose...

Also, the PT school has a 50,000 sq ft building all to themselves and they don't have to share anything (including cadavers) with anyone else. Furthermore, she is in her 3rd semester now and her class started out with 48 students but is now down to 42.

😱That sounds disturbing. I have to wonder why they've already lost six students in the first two semesters. Everything else I have heard sounds great. I think we need one or two more students to corroborate this, however.

Kevin