I really wanted to get some insight from the board on making a decision between these three schools. I currently live in Georgia and really love each school and recognize the unique opportunities each brings to the table. Emory offers electives during the third year plus all of the connections it has for clinical sites. Also, the facilities at Emory were great and the faculty as well. UAB seems to be a top notch school as well. I was really impressed with one specific faculty member at UAB who is performing research on vestibular function with concussions. I am really attracted to that side of PT. Samford is only in its third year but offers a lot as well. They have some faculty from UAB who came over to get this program going. Also, I like how it is a Christian school and seemed to be a really close group of faculty and students. Of course there are downsides like they are currently in the process of being accredited (should be by spring of 2018) and not as many clinical sites and connections. Any insight from anyone would be great. I have gotten some great help from a current Emory student with regards to their program. This forum has helped me so much throughout this process and I hope I can be as helpful to others next year.
Decision between UAB and Emory (and maybe Samford)
- Thread starter csupt16
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Unfortunately, all of the schools will be close to around the same total price. The head of the program at Samford has assured everyone that they will be fully accredited in the spring of 2018.
I do prefer a smaller class size. samford has 35, uab has 50, and emory has 75. I am really leaning samford at this point which I never thought I would. I guess my reservation is picking a much less known school and how it will affect me in the future.
From what I've read on this forum I don't think the name of the university matters much to your future employment. Other people can chime in on this if I'm wrong though! But since PTs don't do residencies (like in Med school) that do depend on the status of your school, I don't think it will greatly impact your future. Good luck on the decision, I know it's a tough choice!
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@csupt16 I am currently an undergraduate at UAB. If you are interested in doing some research I would recommend UAB over Samford. UAB has so many opportunities thanks to the hospital. Also, I have looked into these three school and cost will be about the same, therefore I would just go ahead and attend a more reputable program. UAB also has a occupation therapy program in the school of health profession so, you will have opportunities to work with the OT students just like you would in a hospital setting in the future. This is an opportunity that might not be available at Emory or Samford since they don't have an OT school.
Thanks for the advice. I believe I have narrowed it to UAB and Samford. It is quite the decision. I really feel drawn to Samford for some reason. However, the accreditation and zero data on board's pass rate is concerning. I have heard that at Samford, the class schedule is much less time consuming than UAB and Emory. For example, for the fall semester, the schedule was MW 8-3, no class Tuesday, 1-3 on Thursday and 8-12 on Friday. That sounds great and concerning at the same time. It would give me extra time to really explore areas I was very interested, but then again I do not know if this will set me up to pass the boards. With UAB, I know the pass rate and the reputation. As you can see I am still struggling haha
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I don't know how much this helps, but I work at a PT clinic and one of our therapist's brothers is currently in Samfords program and really likes it. Have you spoken with students from both programs?
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I have spoken with some at Samford and they also love it. Actually one of my good friends is a first year and is really liking it. I have not spoken with any of the UAB students outside of the interview day.
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I'm not sure how much you know about Samford's reputation, but it's a really well regarded school in Alabama and I have no doubts that it will get accredited as soon as it's possible. I have a friend that interviewed for a exercise science professor position and it was a day and a half long interview including a presentation he had to give. They seem very picky about getting good profs overall. UAB is obviously a very respected school for health schools, as you know.
The general advice on this board is always to go with the cheaper school unless there's some crazy thing that you hate about the school. It sounds like you're leaning toward Samford and, as far as I can tell, UAB is significantly more expensive. Someone please correct me if I'm misunderstanding this link: http://www.uab.edu/shp/home/admissions-tuition/tuition/tuition-fees ... First semester for 17 hours is ($1,435 * 1hr) + ($1,203 * 16hr) = $20,683. That honestly is comical to me, if that's correct, because the total cost of the program at 119 hours would be: 9 first credit hours due to there being 9 semesters, and then 110 subsequent hours or ($1,435 * 9) + ($1,203 * 110) = $145,245 just in tuition!?
Samford on the other hand: https://www.samford.edu/healthprofessions/doctor-of-physical-therapy is 9 semesters * $10,934 = $98,406. Not cheap, but that's a huge difference.
The general advice on this board is always to go with the cheaper school unless there's some crazy thing that you hate about the school. It sounds like you're leaning toward Samford and, as far as I can tell, UAB is significantly more expensive. Someone please correct me if I'm misunderstanding this link: http://www.uab.edu/shp/home/admissions-tuition/tuition/tuition-fees ... First semester for 17 hours is ($1,435 * 1hr) + ($1,203 * 16hr) = $20,683. That honestly is comical to me, if that's correct, because the total cost of the program at 119 hours would be: 9 first credit hours due to there being 9 semesters, and then 110 subsequent hours or ($1,435 * 9) + ($1,203 * 110) = $145,245 just in tuition!?
Samford on the other hand: https://www.samford.edu/healthprofessions/doctor-of-physical-therapy is 9 semesters * $10,934 = $98,406. Not cheap, but that's a huge difference.
That is good to hear on Samford. I guess I just wanted to make sure I was not crazy to really like Samford when compared with Emory and UAB. One note on the UAB tuition, I am in the process of seeing if getting instate tuition is possible. The town I live in is right on the border of Georgia and Alabama. Also, my family has a little property in Alabama. I may be able to get this which would dramatically reduce the cost.
Which program did you choose?
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If you're into Vestibular Rehab, Emory has a couple of faculty members who are into research in this area. I also think that Emory ha a Vestibular Training & Certification Program that they hold every other year or so:
http://www.rehabmed.emory.edu/pt/ce/info/Vestibular2014_MoreInfo.pdf
http://www.rehabmed.emory.edu/pt/ce/info/Vestibular2014_MoreInfo.pdf
