Financial Aid for DPT

[fitchick26]

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[DesertPT]

Student loans = financial aid. Google is your friend.

 

[fitchick26]

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[DesertPT]

Thank you for your sarcasm. But there are people who have received aid, that is NOT in the form of a loan.

You didn't say that in your first post, and we are not mind readers. You asked "Is it even possible to get financial aid for PT school?" and the answer is yes, 99% of PT students use some form of financial aid (aka loans). Also, you could have answered your question yourself using Google and the search feature of this forum, so my answer above was true, not sarcastic.

But I'll answer the question you meant to ask anyway: some schools do offer small scholarships to PT students depending on the amount of money the department has available, and a few have student worker/graduate assistant type positions. There may be a small private scholarship out there for PT students but I haven't seen much. Graduate students generally aren't eligible for federal grants, not sure if there are rare exceptions. But you should plan on paying for all of PT school with either loans or your own money, and if a couple thousand bucks happens to come your way in the form of a scholarship it will be a pleasant surprise.

 

[fitchick26]

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[DesertPT]

I don't know what your problem is, but you don't need to answer any questions I have. Your answer was unwelcomed. You felt the need to go out of your way and try to make me feel stupid.

But I did answer your question accurately and save you from having to do your own research, which was me trying to be helpful despite my brash tone. At the end of the day you got the information you came seeking.

 

[fitchick26]

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[DesertPT]

The fact that you asked "Has anyone else applied to FAFSA for financial aid?" shows me that you did not attempt to search the forum for previous threads on this topic.

 

[DesertPT]

No answer at all is apparently better than an accurate and helpful answer with a harsh tone.

 

[fitchick26]

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[DesertPT]

I WOULD PREFER YOU DIDNT ANSWER AT ALL. I DONT UNDESTAND WHY YOU ARE GOING OUT OF YOUR WAY TO MAKE ME FEEL STUPID.....

STOP RESPONDING. I DID NOT ASK YOU TO RESPOND.

My intention was not to go out of my way to make you feel stupid, but I did go out of my way to answer your question.

 

[fitchick26]

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[DesertPT]

YES, your intention with your first post was to make me feel stupid. And you continued. Because god-forbid someone doesn't use google and chooses to use a forum full of people in the same boat to acquire more information. Because I didn't detail the post, the way you would have, you automatically assumed I was incompetent. GOOGLE by the way does not have all the answers.

JUST STOP. STOP. STOP!

The choice as to whether or not to feel stupid is entirely up to you. Everything I have said has been entirely factual, and you have no way of knowing anything about me or my intentions.

And by posting on a public forum of which I am a member, you did ask me to respond. Your question was not directed to anyone specifically.

Glad I could be of service.

 

[fitchick26]

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[DesertPT]

Thank you a******.

You are very much welcome. Sorry to have gotten you so fired up.

 

[Nancy.Elizabeth323]

I received my letter of acceptance for physical therapy, and among the content it said to apply to FAFSA for financial aid....

Has anyone else applied to FAFSA for financial aid? Is it even possible to get financial aid for PT school? Is anyone receiving AID for PT school???? Please let me know....

TO CLARIFY, I am asking specifically about AID in the form of scholarships and/or grants and not loans....

I'm receiving a scholarship from Boston U, so it is very possible. I would say to get in contact with your school and see what options they have available. For the most part grants and scholarships are not publicized, its almost like they want us to be in ridiculous debt lol!!! But they are around.... When Boston U informed me that I was awarded a scholarship, it was my first time hearing about it, I had already assumed that I would have to take out major loans.

 

[fitchick26]

I'm receiving a scholarship from Boston U, so it is very possible. I would say to get in contact with your school and see what options they have available. For the most part grants and scholarships are not publicized, its almost like they want us to be in ridiculous debt lol!!! But they are around.... When Boston U informed we that I was awarded a scholarship, it was my first time hearing about it, I had already assumed that I would have to take out major loans.

So it wasn't something you had to apply for?

 

[Nancy.Elizabeth323]

So it wasn't something you had to apply for?

It was a Merit based scholarship and was sent with my acceptance letter.

 

[Phyline]

 

[NJ DPT HOPEFUL]

I got a small scholarship from a private thing. But if you're asking about Fasfa, the answer is no. As soon as you have a bachelors you're no longer eligible for the Pell grant or similar things we got in undergrad. You can ask your school if they have anything or search for scholarships independently, but unfortunately you're most likely going to have to plan to pay with loans/working

 

[PTX2]

If you search "scholarship" in the pre-pt forum you will get a list of threads which contain information on programs that may offer scholarships.

If you take the time to read through the various threads you can usually find out how much students have received in the past.

You can then check if stats from those students are available (by further searching threads). If so, you can compare your own stats and determine if you have a chance at receiving the same scholarship.

This is what I did.

 

[fitchick26]

If you search "scholarship" in the pre-pt forum you will get a list of threads which contain information on programs that may offer scholarships.

If you take the time to read through the various threads you can usually find out how much students have received in the past.

You can then check if stats from those students are available (by further searching threads). If so, you can compare your own stats and determine if you have a chance at receiving the same scholarship.

This is what I did.

Thanks

 

[fitchick26]

I got a small scholarship from a private thing. But if you're asking about Fasfa, the answer is no. As soon as you have a bachelors you're no longer eligible for the Pell grant or similar things we got in undergrad. You can ask your school if they have anything or search for scholarships independently, but unfortunately you're most likely going to have to plan to pay with loans/working

thank you

 

[steveyk]

it depends on your school really. in order to receive any type of federal aid (technically includes loans, grants, ships, just $$ in general in some shape or form), I believe you need to complete your FAFSA.

My school specifically gives scholarships to all DPT students (they're angels, I know), but you have to complete FAFSA in order to receive them. Ultimately, FAFSA doesn't make a difference in the funds you're receiving but it's just part of the logistics in processing financial aid.

The only situation I can see where a PT student would NOT have to complete FAFSA is if they're receiving funds through an outside source to cover the entire cost of school/living. Example: financially capable parents, third party ships/loans

 

[fitchick26]

it depends on your school really. in order to receive any type of federal aid (technically includes loans, grants, ships, just $$ in general in some shape or form), I believe you need to complete your FAFSA.

My school specifically gives scholarships to all DPT students (they're angels, I know), but you have to complete FAFSA in order to receive them. Ultimately, FAFSA doesn't make a difference in the funds you're receiving but it's just part of the logistics in processing financial aid.

The only situation I can see where a PT student would NOT have to complete FAFSA is if they're receiving funds through an outside source to cover the entire cost of school/living. Example: financially capable parents, third party ships/loans

Thanks, I completed the FAFSA earlier this morning. Hope I get something not in a loan shape. I shiver at the thought of having a 6 figure loan I have to pay back with interest

What school gives out scholarships to all DPT students? Seems I've applied to the wrong place lol

 

[RhinoDPT]

Wow, there was some hate in this thred lol

 

[BrokenDancer]

Thanks, I completed the FAFSA earlier this morning. Hope I get something not in a loan shape. I shiver at the thought of having a 6 figure loan I have to pay back with interest

What school gives out scholarships to all DPT students? Seems I've applied to the wrong place lol

The FAFSA doesn't award anything other than loans for this level of education, so don't get your hopes up.

 

[Nancy.Elizabeth323]

The FAFSA doesn't award anything other than loans for this level of education, so don't get your hopes up.

But the school in which you are applying to looks at the information submitted to Fafsa and can decide to give a scholarship and or grant....

 

[BrokenDancer]

But the school in which you are applying to looks at the information submitted to Fafsa and can decide to give a scholarship and or grant....

For merit scholarships, if they go purely by GPA and such, then no, they don't. Need based scholarships are basically non-existent with PT programs, but if OP's program is one of the rare ones that has them, surely they would have notified incoming students that it's a possibility. She should contact the program directly to find out if that's the case.

And fitchick, to answer your question about which program steveyk is applying to, their post history indicates that they're going to Angelo State University in Texas. As a former student of the program, I can tell you that they do give a scholarship to every student based on GPA/GRE/interview performance, which is fantastic, and that this automatically qualifies all students for in-state tuition, making it even more helpful. Financially, he made a great choice.

 

[Nancy.Elizabeth323]

Fitchick I'm sorry you came to the forum for assistance and info only to get criticized and receive unwelcomed remarks.

I hope your school awards you something.

If I were you I would delete this thread if you can..... Best of luck.

 

[redrose424]

I hope your school teaches you research skills and anger management. Taking the initiative to discover answers to your own questions will be a great life skill. The reason you were criticized is not because you are stupid, as you put it, but simply because you were too lazy to use the search feature and instead wanted others to do the work and hand the information to you. I know that you did not bother to do any research, because your question is very very easily by looking through pages on here and google.

 

[okramango]

Your best bet is to directly ask your school if they offer any scholarships. FAFSA will only award loans for PT school. My school is pretty generous with scholarships, but they did require us to fill out the FAFSA, plus the school's own scholarship application, in order to apply.

 

[antochí]

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[DesertPT]

I hope your school teaches you research skills and anger management. Taking the initiative to discover answers to your own questions will be a great life skill. The reason you were criticized is not because you are stupid, as you put it, but simply because you were too lazy to use the search feature and instead wanted others to do the work and hand the information to you. I know that you did not bother to do any research, because your question is very very easily by looking through pages on here and google.

Exactly.

The problem was not that the original question was an inherently bad question - on the contrary it is a perfectly legitimate question - but that it was an extremely poorly constructed question that was not informed by any attempt at gaining some background knowledge. You will have faculty in PT school who don't respond to poorly constructed questions any better than I did.

 

[antochí]

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[DesertPT]

So your tone is cool bc someone else's is worse? Never in my professional life have I excused a tone like yours simply bc I'd previously encountered a worse one. That's a pretty low bar to set, especially when someone has already asked you to step back bc you're not actually being helpful, whether you think you are or not.

You're missing the point. You can't walk into the clinic as a student and just ask your CI if they ever measure shoulder flexion and if so how you are supposed to do it. If you did their response is going to be something like: When do YOU think we might need to measure shoulder flexion, and how did YOU learn to do it school? And if your answer is I didn't bother to learn shoulder flexion in school and I was hoping you would just tell me, they aren't going to coddle you and tell you how your other CI's and professors who refused to spoon feed you were big meany heads. They are going to get on your case a little bit, and rightly so.

So the reason I responded like I did was that I wanted this person to have accurate information (which I willingly provided by the way for all the people erroneously calling me a hater in this thread), but I also want people entering my profession who are critical thinkers and who can search out information and then learn more by starting discussions with others who are more knowledgeable than themselves based on informed and well constructed questions. When you ask questions to people who are knowledgable about a topic, they can ALWAYS tell if you have made no attempt to figure out the answer for yourself first.

 

[antochí]

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[DesertPT]

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[Azimuthal]

Someone, quick, create a forum labeled "Pre-PT Safe Space". Wait until they meet that one patient...

 

[Azimuthal]

I WOULD PREFER YOU DIDNT ANSWER AT ALL. I DONT UNDESTAND WHY YOU ARE GOING OUT OF YOUR WAY TO MAKE ME FEEL STUPID.....

STOP RESPONDING. I DID NOT ASK YOU TO RESPOND.

Shhhhhhh....<whisper>Why are you yelling?</whisper>

 

[Azimuthal]

Merit based scholarships are given after you submit your FAFSA, if one is available, based on individual institution's minimum GPA cut offs. They want your individual FAFSA to ensure that you're eligible to have the remaining fees/tuition covered when drafting your reward and for regulatory reporting purposes. Like all scholarships, they will come in different amounts, depending on the school (usually only a small percentage). FA offices will also have needs-based scholarships and may also have a master list of other available scholarships that you may be eligible to apply for (write an essay). Keep in mind that many schools take away needs-based scholarships if you receive other scholarships.

Federal Pell Grants are not available for graduate students, however, you may ask for your FA office to maximize your Perkins Loans versus Graduate Plus or whatever. There are many advantages to Perkins Loans. That's what I did.

 

[GOGOGO1528]

 

[DesertPT]

Someone, quick, create a forum labeled "Pre-PT Safe Space". Wait until they meet that one patient...

Hopefully some skin gets a little thicker over time...

 

[redrose424]

I'm not missing the point. You don't seem to realize that you aren't anyone's faculty and we aren't in class. You don't need to grade anyone's paper here. If you find a question unclear, feel free to move along to the next one that meets your standards.

Further, if we're going to grade every message board post like it's a professional interview, you should know that if i had a PT who carried him/herself like you do here, I'd leave and never come back. Your approach is off putting to say the least.

It's really not about "grading" anyone's paper or acting like faculty. It's basic human interaction and quite frankly I find it annoying that someone is too lazy to do their own work. I'm surprised you don't, and I wonder if it's because you do the same thing. Sometimes people need a little "tough love" or they won't be successful therapists who take initiative to teach themselves new information.

The question is valid by a technical standard, but not appropriate for a forum full of strangers (and those that probably have no background in financial aid). The question could have been easily answered with a two-step click while googling FAFSA. There is a whole page dedicated to answering this question very easily found. The ton comes from years of lazy peers, lazy friends, and now a lazy forum poster. But it comes from a place of pragmatism, why simply hand a man fish when you could teach him to fish for himself?

 

[antochí]

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[okramango]

Are there even any moderators at all on these PT forums anymore? This thread has gotten so far off topic... And the OP is long gone....

 

[redrose424]

I think we can agree the issue here is certainly basic human interaction.

What I quite frankly find annoying is berating people, because it's not necessary. Yes, it's the internet, but there are real people on the other end of all these handles. If you wanted to do your own research (click on profile name > click on # of messages > click on postings), you could have read all of my previous posts and you'd have a really good idea of whether or not I put up lazy posts. You'd also know that I've agreed with DesertPT on a lazy post before. The point here is that once people besides you & DesertPT jumped on the thread, OP started getting personal answers to her question that wouldn't necessarily have turned up in a google search. A null contribution on your parts would have been a lot more helpful in this case.

But none of the answers are personalized because they didn't ask a personalized question. They asked a generalized question about federal aid but not loans... ok.. a QUICK google search will pull up information on the FAFSA and ANY federal aid a graduate student is eligible for. They did not say "Hey you guys, I'm attending XXX school and I wanted to ask current/former students if they were offered any scholarships from XXX school because I want to find merit/need based scholarships instead of federal loans." And they did not say "Hey, I'm a prospective DPT student and I'm really interested in applying to schools that will offer a scholarship, does anyone have any experience looking for schools that do this?? (which, btw, a quick forum search would have found the answer). It's not berating people because I'm on the internet, if I was asked a similar question face-to-face I would have replied "google it" or "call your schools financial aid office." And laughed.

Literally the question was about FAFSA. More specifically, it was simply if anyone had applied to FAFSA and what aid they received. Google "student aid" - first link: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/

WOW. To any future students, I've done your google work for you! Look, the webpage even has helpful questions you might be asking yourself about aid like: "What types of aid can I get?" "Do I qualify for aid?" and "How do I apply for aid?"

In easy to find subsections!! WOW! All her questions answered by two clicks!!

Anyways - I'm done with this. Let's all foster initiative and critical thinking. I'd rather have a jerk therapist that can find their own information and use critical thinking skills than a nice one who can't any day.

 

[DesertPT]

I'd rather have a jerk therapist that can find their own information and use critical thinking skills than a nice one who can't any day.

That's debatable...depends how big of a jerk I guess. Other than that totally agree with everything you have said.

 

[DesertPT]

What I quite frankly find annoying is berating people, because it's not necessary.

Berate means "to scold and criticize someone in a loud and angry way". None of my posts were scolding or angry in the least. They were certainly providing feedback in a critical way, perhaps a little bit too assertively for your taste. But saying that I berated the OP is a bit of a stretch.

 

[GoDux1016]

But I'll answer the question you meant to ask anyway: some schools do offer small scholarships to PT students depending on the amount of money the department has available, and a few have student worker/graduate assistant type positions. There may be a small private scholarship out there for PT students but I haven't seen much. Graduate students generally aren't eligible for federal grants, not sure if there are rare exceptions. But you should plan on paying for all of PT school with either loans or your own money, and if a couple thousand bucks happens to come your way in the form of a scholarship it will be a pleasant surprise.

This thread should have ended here
(although I did enjoy the ensuing ridiculousness)