Hello all,
I realize this topic has been brought up before, but I didn't find any particularly like mine. Most people seem worried about GPAs and GRE scores, but my concern primarily is the financial aspect PLUS the concern of having an unorthodox bachelor's (and some other peculiarities! ugh).
December 2012, I graduated with my BS in History and got my Secondary Education license. I accrued WAY too much undergraduate debt: sitting at about $79000 between private and federal loans. I never received a single grant or whatnot because my parents claimed me as dependent--so hopefully some grant money can be used in my graduate work. With my debtload, though, I told myself I pretty much have to get a fulltime job--no more schooling for me.. So all my interests that were stewing in the back of my mind (as someone interested in emotional and physical disabilities, Pharmacy and Physical Therapy were two of my interests) seemed and still seem impossible with the 79000 undergrad debt, especially since these require prereqs I haven't taken.
I currently am taking advantage of free schooling as a grad assistant to receive my special education endorsement which is something I like but I haven't had the same drive as I used to have.. I get a small stipend a month so it's extremely hard to keep up on even paying off interest on these loans.
I plan to observe some physical therapists over winter break. On a more pragmatic note, I'm curious about the financial viability of this. Is this unusual to have close to 80000 before entering into PT school? I hope to take all prereqs at a community college nearby so the cost wont be as much to get prereqs done. The schools I'm considering for PT are NIU, UIC, UW Madison, and Marquette.
My undergrad GPA was 3.84 or so. I'm fully confident that I will rock the prereqs, even if I don't take them at community college. I love science and I love physiology (physics and calculus will be the hardest parts for me). I did okay on the GRE though I definitely could do better; I got Verbal - 165 (95th percentile), Quantitative - 155 (61st percentile), Writing - 4.0 (54th percentile) (I hadn't taken a math class since high school, so I know I could do better!).
Does this sound viable? Should I just focus on special education work and get a full-time job and re-look at PT in the future? Or should I get on these prereqs and observations and start on it? I don't want to start on it and just set myself up for failure :-/ It'd be awfully disappointing to learn the job market is saturated or it just simply costs too much to be reasonable...
Honesty would be appreciated. Don't be too mean though
I realize this topic has been brought up before, but I didn't find any particularly like mine. Most people seem worried about GPAs and GRE scores, but my concern primarily is the financial aspect PLUS the concern of having an unorthodox bachelor's (and some other peculiarities! ugh).
December 2012, I graduated with my BS in History and got my Secondary Education license. I accrued WAY too much undergraduate debt: sitting at about $79000 between private and federal loans. I never received a single grant or whatnot because my parents claimed me as dependent--so hopefully some grant money can be used in my graduate work. With my debtload, though, I told myself I pretty much have to get a fulltime job--no more schooling for me.. So all my interests that were stewing in the back of my mind (as someone interested in emotional and physical disabilities, Pharmacy and Physical Therapy were two of my interests) seemed and still seem impossible with the 79000 undergrad debt, especially since these require prereqs I haven't taken.
I currently am taking advantage of free schooling as a grad assistant to receive my special education endorsement which is something I like but I haven't had the same drive as I used to have.. I get a small stipend a month so it's extremely hard to keep up on even paying off interest on these loans.
I plan to observe some physical therapists over winter break. On a more pragmatic note, I'm curious about the financial viability of this. Is this unusual to have close to 80000 before entering into PT school? I hope to take all prereqs at a community college nearby so the cost wont be as much to get prereqs done. The schools I'm considering for PT are NIU, UIC, UW Madison, and Marquette.
My undergrad GPA was 3.84 or so. I'm fully confident that I will rock the prereqs, even if I don't take them at community college. I love science and I love physiology (physics and calculus will be the hardest parts for me). I did okay on the GRE though I definitely could do better; I got Verbal - 165 (95th percentile), Quantitative - 155 (61st percentile), Writing - 4.0 (54th percentile) (I hadn't taken a math class since high school, so I know I could do better!).
Does this sound viable? Should I just focus on special education work and get a full-time job and re-look at PT in the future? Or should I get on these prereqs and observations and start on it? I don't want to start on it and just set myself up for failure :-/ It'd be awfully disappointing to learn the job market is saturated or it just simply costs too much to be reasonable...
Honesty would be appreciated. Don't be too mean though
