Anyone else think it's pretty inconvenient how prof schools give acceptances?

[member0000]

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I think they should all have a set date at every professional school across the country (one date for med school, one date for dental school, one date for PT schools etc etc), that decisions are made on. I mean, I applied to PT school (7 of them), and have received 5 acceptances so far, and have yet to hear from the other 2 (which happen to be my top 2 choices, so I don't want to accept anywhere else yet and wait to see if I get interviews at these 2 schools). I'm going to likely lose thousands of dollars in deposit money because I don't want to turn down a school when I don't know yet if I'll get in my top choice. Ugh. Frustrating. Ok, I just needed to rant.

 

[NeophyteParkour]

I think the greater problem is with the nonrefundable deposit more than anything else.

Even if every school had to follow a strict deadline of the same day, that would still not be without flaw. If someone gets multiple acceptances like yourself, then that would mean the schools you're not accepting would have to be notified of that and then send someone else an acceptance letter which would have to be at a later date.
In the end someone still gets their acceptance at one school later than another.

When you think of everything you have to spend for just a 'maybe' it can be rather frustrating, and I agree with that. I spent plenty on the GRE, application fees, travelling, etc., but in the end I'm in PT school now. Maybe I'm spending way more than I want to, but I'll be getting my degree.

 

[adh28]

hey member, congrats on 5 acceptances wow! just curious where you applied to?

 

[Myosin]

That's one of my major pet peeves with the education system. It's not just DPT school either. I went through that exact same thing as an undergrad. I had to wait almost two months after all my other acceptances came in before I got the acceptance letter from my top school. At least I didn't have to put a deposit down as an undergrad though.

Here are two other things that schools do that make my blood boil

1) Charging a $100 application fee and they don't even have an interview. There are a lot of schools that judge applicants only on raw numbers, but they still have the balls to charge that much money. This is just taking advantage of students.

2) The most annoying thing of all is that they can actually take you off the wait list and accept you into the program a week after the program actually started. This is just beyond insulting. Do they really think their programs are so magical that you're just waiting by the phone, with your life on hold, days before classes start?

I actually know a guy who was called two days before classes started because someone else dropped at the last second. He had already made wedding plans with his fiancee instead and other work plans and was planning to apply again next cycle. He declined because he said it was insulting and there's no way he could relocate two states away in two days.

 

[member0000]

I tend to agree on a lot of that as well, Myosin. It's like..How are you just completely supposed to wait around and put your life on hold like that? There is work to be found, money needed to be saved etc for perhaps another application round...But I know it's also not just PT that happens with. I have lots of friends who have applied to other professional programs (med, optometry etc), and they've had to put deposits for fear or not being accepted anywhere else, and lost considerable amounts of money.

I mean, for being fresh out of undergrad, how do they think these 21-22 year old kids can afford to drop thousands of dollars in place-holding money? I have absolutely no shame in admitting that if it weren't for my parents helping me financially, it would be impossible for me to do this application cycle--with PTCAS expenses, the money it costs to send transcripts, take the GRE (sometimes more than once), travel expenses, hotel arrangements, gas money to travel to the interviews...I (like all other students) have spent hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on this whole application process. I couldn't do it without the help of my parents. I don't see how anyone could do it alone being fresh out of undergrad.

 

[member0000]

Oh and how could I forget...Even more "supplemental fees" from almost every school on top of all this

 

[jdaniels360]

Where were your acceptances member0000?

 

[Myosin]

I tend to agree on a lot of that as well, Myosin. It's like..How are you just completely supposed to wait around and put your life on hold like that? There is work to be found, money needed to be saved etc for perhaps another application round...But I know it's also not just PT that happens with. I have lots of friends who have applied to other professional programs (med, optometry etc), and they've had to put deposits for fear or not being accepted anywhere else, and lost considerable amounts of money.

I mean, for being fresh out of undergrad, how do they think these 21-22 year old kids can afford to drop thousands of dollars in place-holding money? I have absolutely no shame in admitting that if it weren't for my parents helping me financially, it would be impossible for me to do this application cycle--with PTCAS expenses, the money it costs to send transcripts, take the GRE (sometimes more than once), travel expenses, hotel arrangements, gas money to travel to the interviews...I (like all other students) have spent hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on this whole application process. I couldn't do it without the help of my parents. I don't see how anyone could do it alone being fresh out of undergrad.

Welcome to the modern day system of higher education. You know why they call it "higher" education? Because the cost just goes higher and higher, year after year.

Students loans are given out like candy and the schools expect you to take as much of it as you possibly can.

It's even easier when "put it on the card" became a social norm. There was actually a time when debt was considered bad

Just put those $100 application fees for college, tens of thousands in undergrad tuition, thousands more for books, $140 GRE fees, more $100 application fees for grad school, $100k for grad school, hundreds more for grad school books, and $500 "technology" fees so you can use the Dell computers on campus, on the credit card.

Then, you and your 14 room mates can treat yourselves to a value pack of Ramen for all your hard work.

Don't worry though, other people who have inherited or were given their money that will tell you that the system isn't broken and hard work is the secret to success

Obviously a comedic exaggeration, but the education system is in bad shape and it's not going to be pretty when the Sallie Mae bubble pops.


You know, had my parents not started saving for my college fund before I was even born, I would probably just now being going into my first year as an undergrad. I refused to take out loans. I even went to CC for two years just so I could keep some of that money so I could have it towards my DPT tuition.

I have about 50% of my DPT tuition already saved up. I'm still scared and hesitant about the remaining 20k I will need, plus my cost of living for 3 years. That alone sometimes makes me actually consider delaying DPT school for another year or two or until I save the remainder up.

I love having the freedom of waking up, working my own hours, and just being able to do or buy whatever I want. You can't do that with student loan debt.

My heart truly does hurt for those who didn't have someone to guide them and got sucker punched by the system and now have to spend the next 20 years of their lives paying the bulk of what they make into student loan debt.

This image sums up better than words how I feel about the current system

http://apt46.net/2012/09/10/the-truth-about-college-education/

 

[Litlwarrior08]

Funny Myosin...........my undergrad orientation told us they were there to educated and they weren't an employment agency. Like....give us your money, sit in our classes, ....then you're on your own.

 

[NewTestament]

I have a cousin who's in PT school right now at a private school. She went to private school for part of her undergraduate studies, and now is going to a private school for her graduate studies.I can't imagine how much debt she will have in three years before she even has her license.

If my family weren't helping me, I definitely would not have taken this route. I probably would have applied to a few PTA programs in my area, and then graduated in two years. You can finish PTA school for less than $10k. If you live at home, you can save even more. Just as the government and society pushed everyone to own a home, everyone is pushing young people to get an education.

The miscellaneous fees, textbooks, supplemental fees, technology fees, parking fees, etc increase the debt load. Some of then are unnecessary. But what choice do applicants and students have? If they don't pay, they won't get a degree. There's no shortage of applicants, so schools can charge whatever they want.

I tell young people now to go to community college, live at home, not to commit to a degree until their absolutely sure what they want to do, and then go to a graduate school in their state. They should choose a career that has a low debt/salary ratio. PT is not one of them.

Kevin