Comparing Programs - Geography

[BenchAndCurls]

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I am currently in the process of selecting a PT school to attend, but I would like the input of current and past physical therapy students.

One of the factors that distinguishes two programs I am looking at is geography. One school is in Massachusetts while the other is in Colorado. Between these states, their is a huge discrepancy in salary (98k vs 72k). My question is, do pt students traditionally practice and maintain jobs in the state of the school they attend? How difficult is it to receive a job offer from a location other than the school you attend? Both programs I am considering are nationally recognized, with the one in MA being a slightly more prestigious than the other one.

 

[callmecrazy]

You are free to practice wherever you'd like when you graduate; I probably had as many classmates leave as stay. Those leaving probably had an easier time finding a jobs, actually, because they were open to relocation.

Far more important than salary near the program, are the cost of the program and the cost of living you'll be facing while a student. I'm also side-eyeing those salaries a bit...especially if you were proposing those numbers as starting salary.

 

[jblil]

Are the two salaries (98K and 72K) an apple-to-apple comparison? Averages don't mean much: the higher salary may comprise PTs who have 20 years of experience working in rural areas where nobody wants to go to, while the lower one surveyed PTs with just a few years of work under their belts in a metro area flooded with PTs. Bottom line, I think that difference in pay does not mean anything, unless you have details on how the numbers were derived.

 

[BenchAndCurls]

Hmm, I guess my salary numbers were off. I looked at indeed.com but according to BLS, Colorado does have one of the lowest compensations.

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291123.htm

 

[NewDPT31]

We therapists tend to be healthy folk and at least semi athletic. Lots of my classmates played ultimate frisbee, ran marathons, loved to hike, yatta yatta etc etc. Colorado has a great climate, lots to do outside, lots of sunny days, and a pretty healthy lifestyle. PT jobs are extremely hard to come by in Colorado