Applying to an unaccredited school?

[DPTHopeful2012]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here on the forum. Hope to get to know all of you while we all go through the process of applying.

What do you all think of applying to a school that is in the process of becoming accredited? I've heard that all schools in the process of becoming accredited actually do get approved, but I don't know if that's necessarily true. I'm just worried about getting accepted to a school that's in the process of getting accredited, only to have it not pass, then being in the situation of possibly graduating from a PT school that isn't accredited. Thoughts?

Lisa

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[LadyCard05]

I will play devil's advocate here and say that I've been on the bad side of this situation before. I applied to a brand new program and was granted an interview last year. A week after my interview they notified all the applicants that they weren't able to obtain all the approvals necessary to submit their "Application for Candidacy" to CAPTE (Commission on Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education) in time to start the program August 2012. They now have an expected start date of June 2013. The one thing that really upset me about this is that they didn't accept anyone, they just offered to retain all your materials and put you in next years applicant pool.

That being said, this school is still my number one choice for several reasons. The right school for you is the right school, no matter what the circumstances. And CAPTE actually works with programs to get them accredited instead of being an enemy. Obviously if you're worried about it don't apply only to that school. Apply to several, I know I am. Also do your research. I'm confident this program will be successful because the director of the program started a DPT program at another university and that university's pass rate on the national board exam is 100% so far. If you know the people behind the program it helps a lot.

Just my $00.02

GOOD LUCK!!

 

[Merlin777]

So LadyCard05, then is it true that the accreditation of your school to some extent does not matter, because you will be allowed to take the certification exam ANYWAY?

 

[LadyCard05]

So LadyCard05, then is it true that the accreditation of your school to some extent does not matter, because you will be allowed to take the certification exam ANYWAY?

Actually, it does matter. You are NOT allowed to sit for the boards if your school is not accredited. The scary part is, the way the accreditation process works, CAPTE has to observe one cohort complete the program before it will approve it. So if you are in the first class of a program you won't know until right before you graduate if the program becomes accredited.

HOWEVER, CAPTE conducts several site visits throughout the program's first cohort, so it's very involved in ensuring the program succeeds. The faculty of the program have to try really hard to mess it up.

 

[kptnau]

I heard that RMOUHP has agreements with other schools that if they don't make it to accreditation by the end of the three years they have agreements with other schools who will give you a degree. I have a friend who got in their first year class when they were a candidate for accreditation.

 

[Azimuthal]

I heard that RMOUHP has agreements with other schools that if they don't make it to accreditation by the end of the three years they have agreements with other schools who will give you a degree. I have a friend who got in their first year class when they were a candidate for accreditation.

These agreements generally allows the student to transfer into a partner institution if the program does not get accredited. In most cases, this means 1) starting over or 2) completing a set amount of units [even if you finished] at the transfer-in institution. One program may not simply grant their institution's degree just by simply transferring in - especially from a non-accredited school. Most university policies will not allow this without a certain amount of units taken within that institution. Another issue is again, accreditation. Unless one program acts as an "umbrella" for the institution with the candidacy status - requiring oversight by the umbrella institution - you can't simply transfer in non-accredited courses and then say they are now accredited.

 

[Merlin777]

52K is not too bad of a price for their DPT, but for a not as of yet accredited program, I would expect maybe a little more of a discount.

 

[TexasPhysician]

I'd avoid anywhere unaccredited.

 

[wrennywren]

I heard that RMOUHP has agreements with other schools that if they don't make it to accreditation by the end of the three years they have agreements with other schools who will give you a degree. I have a friend who got in their first year class when they were a candidate for accreditation.

This is correct. I am a part of the 2nd class at RMUoHP and they do have those agreements in place, but I'm not worried in the least that the school will gain it's CAPTE accreditation. In fact, that should happen here in the next couple of months...