dilemma-what would you do?

[vinganca]

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LIke I said in my other posts, I'm in my first semester of OT school right now, and have realized that OT is not for me and I should have gone for PT (which is what I originally wanted in the first place).

So now I'm having a really hard time deciding what to do next. I'm torn between staying and finishing OT school, working for a few years as an OT to pay off the loan debt, and then applying for PT school...or scrapping OT school right now and taking the rest of my prereqs for PT school.

If I stay and finish OT school and go back for PT later, then at least I have a guaranteed profession now.

If I got out of OT school now and went back for PT, I've still got current observation hours, and am in touch with people that can re-write my LOR's, and all my prereqs that I've already taken are current. If I try to go back later, the prereqs will be too old and I'll have to retake everything.

So basically, any opinions and/or advice would be awesome, bc I can't even think straight anymore. What would you do if you were me, and why? Finish OT school now and stick with the guarantee, and go back for PT school years later (which would mean taking all my prereqs again and paying for grad school twice)? Or take the risk of ending up with nothing, and drop out of OT school and work toward PT right now?

Has anyone else been in this situation, changing tracks and dropping out of another academic program in order to go to PT school? How did it work out for you?

 

[jbizzle]

uuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm......hmmmm....it looks like you pretty much covered the scenarios yourself. That is a tough decision. Did you speak to any of the professors. Well, im assuming you dont want to do that because it would look bad, so forget that idea. How about family, what did they say?

If it were me.......hmmm....wow this is a tough decision.

Are you miserable in OT school. Are you happy with OT school? If you're happy I would finish up, then try for PT later. Have you gone to clinicals yet? Maybe wait it out until then?

If you're not happy, then I would just pursue PT. Example, I know a friend that was accepted to PT school and she dropped out after the 1st semester because she wasn't happy in PT school. She couldn't accept the responsibility that comes with PT. She went to nursing school instead. A member here on SDN is thinking about quitting PT school because she is having a tough time in PT school.

If you did dropout, the AdCom for PT wouldn't think your flaky at all. They will see that you really want to be a PT, and you just didn't realize it until now.

 

[markelmarcel]

As far as the age thing goes-- check out the "Older PT students?" thread. There are some people in their 30s-40s just starting school as well... It's definitely not unheard of!

I see that you have pretty much covered every scenario... Is there one professor that you could entrust to speak to?

When I was getting my bachelor's degree and was having doubts (Now I know why! I found PT is for me!) I would have never went to my advisor/a member of the department... However, there was another professor in a different department that I was very comfortable with... I had him for a class or two and I instead went to him to discuss my doubts/troubles. He was very helpful and of course, kept everything between him and I, and it was really nice to have that outside person to offer their assistance.

Have you considered talking to a PT professor at your school, or even another school? Perhaps, you could talk to him/her privately about your desire to move to PT and what they feel would be your best move.

If you know your heart is really into PT, will that change your attitude about the rest of your OT schooling? If you aren't passionate about OT, will your grades suffer? Will you be unenthusiastic when you go to clinicials/work with patients? If the answers are yes, then you should probably cut your losses and discontinue the program. If you think that you can still get through the program with some enthusiasm and passion, then stick with it.

 

[vinganca]

As far as the age thing goes-- check out the "Older PT students?" thread. There are some people in their 30s-40s just starting school as well... It's definitely not unheard of!

I know it's done and it's possible to go back to school late 30's, it's just that I don't want to be in school when I'm nearly 40. 🙁 When I'm 40 I want to be a practicing PT and at least somewhat established, not going to grad school a second time. And taking the GRE and all those prereqs involved loads of time, effort and money. When I think about having to take them all over again years from now, the sheer waste of it makes me feel ill. Of course, if I give up on OT school and then get turned down by every PT program I apply to, I'm pretty sure that will give me a dreadful feeling as well! 🙁

 

[jbizzle]

^
Sounds like you have your answer.