Defer and reapply

[FTZ]

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I have been accepted to an out of state school. My top 2 schools are in the same city where I live. I also will have 100% of my tuition covered through my Veterans benefits if I stay where I am at. There is no guarantee, and most likely they won't, that my tuition will be covered if I have to move out of state. I am wondering if anyone has ever accepted and deferred while reappyling the next cycle. Anyone?

 

[DesertPT]

I don't know exactly how this works with PT. I know that if you do this with MD programs, your medical career is essentially over, as schools can see that you have been accepted in the past and would never take someone who turned down a previous acceptance. However I don't think this is the case with PT school, but I honestly don't know. You might want to try talking to some Adcoms to see how this works for sure.

 

[89bogues]

You've probably already looked into your options as far as in-state tuition goes, but in case you haven't, check out this thread.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/veterans-looking-for-in-state-tuition.1115739/

After being in the Army I definitely understand the allure of staying close to home/friends/family, and everyone's personal situation is different, but there is no guarantee you will get into your schools of choice next year. Then again, having to pay out of state tuition for three full years would definitely make me cringe.

 

[starrsgirl]

To me, you need to figure out your VA benefits. Many states have in state tuition waivers (is it a state school?). I don't understand how you aren't sure of coverage. This should be an easy call to student veteran services. Or post here, maybe someone can help.

 

[FTZ]

To me, you need to figure out your VA benefits. Many states have in state tuition waivers (is it a state school?). I don't understand how you aren't sure of coverage. This should be an easy call to student veteran services. Or post here, maybe someone can help.

This isn't GIbill or have anything to do with in-state tuition. This is voc rehab which works state by state and the reps can only approve it in the state I live and not any other state. Thank you but I have my benefits figured out.

 

[FTZ]

I don't know exactly how this works with PT. I know that if you do this with MD programs, your medical career is essentially over, as schools can see that you have been accepted in the past and would never take someone who turned down a previous acceptance. However I don't think this is the case with PT school, but I honestly don't know. You might want to try talking to some Adcoms to see how this works for sure.

Yea I've read that but Im not sure its the same for PT. When I got the deferral the admissions coordinator said they'd send me their admission info and acceptance packet in Aug or Sept. It sounded like it wasn't a big deal and I'd still have the option to go to a different school if I chose, but I want to be sure I am not screwing myself. How would I go about talking to an adcom? Is that through the point of contact in the Admissions dept?

 

[tjara03]

You should contact the VRC at the school you were accepted to. They will point you in the right direction. From my experience I don't see why it would be an issue to use ch31 out of state.

I plan on using it as well if/when I get accepted. I applied to in and out of state schools as well.

 

[FTZ]

You should contact the VRC at the school you were accepted to. They will point you in the right direction. From my experience I don't see why it would be an issue to use ch31 out of state.

I plan on using it as well if/when I get accepted. I applied to in and out of state schools as well.

When I didn't get into the 2 schools in my state, I called my Voc Rehab counselor and she told me she can only write plans and authorizations for the state in which I live. She said to go out of state there is no guarantee that the Voc Rehab program will accept me in the state I was accepted. She furthered this by saying that generally I would need to live there even before applying.

As you can imagine, it's a $100K risk in this situation. If I wait and improve my application, there's a decent chance I could come out of school completely debt free and without having to leave my support network (very important for me) which makes waiting all the more worth it. Now, I understand I may not get in here next cycle and I was very impressed with the school I was accepted at (AT Still) and going there wouldn't be bad at all, but there are no guarantees that I would get CH.31 there. I just don't want to commit career suicide and be blacklisted from the PT profession for trying to set myself up to have no student debt. In the MD forums everyone says deferring admission and reapplying is a death-touch for getting into a program; but this isn't MD.

 

[tjara03]

That's understandable. Of course it does not hurt to talk to the ch31 reps in Arizona. Apply for benefits and go from there.

Either way, I wish you the best of luck!

 

[DesertPT]

I would call the admissions departments at the in-state schools you are interested in attending and ask them whether or not they would be able to know anything about it next cycle if you turn down an acceptance at another school this cycle and then reapply, and if so would doing so hurt your chances of admission. It's all about whether or not the school(s) of interest will know and/or care about it.

If you find out anything helpful, please let us know for the record. 🙂

Also, consider the fact that while you are taking a $100k risk by attending AT Still this year, by deferring and reapplying you are taking a big risk that you will not get accepted again next year. If you didn't get accepted to your state schools this year, you will not be likely to be accepted next year either unless you significantly improve the quality of your application. While the $100k risk may arguably seem like the bigger one, the risk of delaying your ability to start earning income as a PT is substantial as well. I'm not advocating any one approach over the other, just providing some food for thought.

 

[FTZ]

I would call the admissions departments at the in-state schools you are interested in attending and ask them whether or not they would be able to know anything about it next cycle if you turn down an acceptance at another school this cycle and then reapply, and if so would doing so hurt your chances of admission. It's all about whether or not the school(s) of interest will know and/or care about it.

If you find out anything helpful, please let us know for the record. 🙂

Also, consider the fact that while you are taking a $100k risk by attending AT Still this year, by deferring and reapplying you are taking a big risk that you will not get accepted again next year. If you didn't get accepted to your state schools this year, you will not be likely to be accepted next year either unless you significantly improve the quality of your application. While the $100k risk may arguably seem like the bigger one, the risk of delaying your ability to start earning income as a PT is substantial as well. I'm not advocating any one approach over the other, just providing some food for thought.

Thanks for the reply. I'll certainly call the schools and see what they say and post it here. I have certainly thought about what happens if I don't get in locally and the wasted year. It's a tough decision. I probably wouldn't be so likely to do this but a PT that I know that is faculty at one of the programs tried to get me a last minute interview but was not successful. She really wants me to go to the school she teaches at and offered to help me improve my application so I decided to move on her offer. This is quite a position to be in and probably one of my more challenging life decisions.

 

[DesertPT]

This is quite a position to be in and probably one of my more challenging life decisions.

No doubt. Good luck. 👍