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Hello, everyone. I have a problem, and any advice would be very much appreciated.
I am currently attending school for a DPT program in Central Upstate NY. When I applied, I was told that they offered clinical experiences all over the country, with numerous options for settings. In actuality, there were only 40 placements available to the 33 of us students, mostly in rural NY and Pennsylvania. We are required to do one acute setting, one rehab, and two outpatient orthopedic. I was fortunate enough to get an acute setting despite drawing a number that was towards the middle of the lottery, but I will have to travel to the middle of nowhere with no financial assistance or support from my program. I was also dismayed to find that, once I had accepted my position, that tuition alone was $10,000 higher than previously advertised. I had chosen this school because I had believed that it was going to be significantly cheaper than my other best options, but now it is only cheaper by $5,000 total. I also do not feel close to my classmates, despite my best efforts to make friends. We get along fine, but have fundamentally different interests. They are primarily interested in sports and weightlifting, and I enjoy physical activity as well, but also am interested in theater and reading. Anything outside of sports doesn't seem to be an interest to anyone, and I am constantly being told that being "artsy" does not belong here. They are also mostly much younger than me, some as much as five years younger (I'm only 25), and primarily socialize via binge-drinking, which hasn't really appealed to me since back in undergrad. The city in which we live is dull, and tiny, and far more expensive to live in than a small city in this area deserves to be.
But here's the thing: University of Washington contacted me to offer me a spot for the upcoming school year. My current program began in June, and UW begins in September, so I could conceivably leave my current program and still begin at UW, this year, on schedule. There is a good chance that I would lose the tuition I have given for this semester, and we would have to move cross-country after having just moved here. However, depending on a few conditions, I think it might be worth it.
If you are a current UW student, or have gone through a similar situation, could you help me by answering the following?
1. Clinical experiences: I know UW requires an out-of-town placement, as well as a rural, but I've heard you can get both of those fulfilled with one placement. Is this true? Laura at UW also told me that the average availability of clinical sites to students is 100 sites for 45 students (many more choices than my current 40 for 33 students), and said that most of the options are on the West Coast. Let's say I pull a bad number in the lottery for all three clinical picks. Are there many clinical sites in Seattle proper, or at least within an hour's drive of the city? Or, still assuming a scenario where I keep getting bad lottery numbers, am I going to end up traveling several hours away for all my clinicals and having to spend a ton of money because I'll be maintaining a lease in Seattle and also having to find temporary housing in my clinical settings, because those will be my only options for fulfilling the acute, rehab, and OP requirements? Because at my current program, with my current lottery number picks, that is my scenario: I will most likely have to travel at least three hours away for all of my clinicals, and it's unlikely that I will get the chance to practice pediatrics or women's health, which I am interested in. Is UW pretty involved in helping you find the right placement for you?
2. School Reputation: The school I'm at seems like it provides a perfectly fine education, and it has a good reputation within the region. Its NPTE first-time pass rate is just as good as UW. Grads don't seem to have a problem getting hired, and 5 of 33 went on to residencies last year. Most of the programs for clinicals have DPTs working there that graduated from my program. However, this is my concern: I want to live on the West Coast, or the western side of the country, after graduation. Will anyone hire me over there if they have never heard of my program? Do UW students have a harder time finding work on the West Coast because it is more populous, or rather, do they have an EASIER time because of UW's reputation? Are students likely to get hired from clinicals? Laura can't provide me with the list of clinical experiences, so does anyone know of any that are available? Am I more likely to get into a residency program or get a job on the western side of the country if I went to UW? Again, I understand that the education is comparable, and that good students can come from bad schools and bad ones from good schools, but I can't help but suspect that name recognition and familiarity with the program would make a difference to potential employers.
3. Do students at UW struggle to find support? Here, it seems like the faculty are TOO involved, pushing people into clinical sites that they say they're not interested in and telling us that they know what's best for us. They keep telling me that I'll like geriatrics, even though I was a home health aid and I already know that I don't want to do geriatrics. Since UW is a bigger school, do you feel as though you are "on your own?"
4. Finally, what are the students at UW like? Are they more "well-rounded," or at least might want to go see an independent film with me or go to a local foods festival rather than go pound some Miller Lites at a noisy sports bar? I would guess so based on the social climate out there, but I haven't met anyone from the program, so I wouldn't know.
I know this is a super-long post, but this is such a huge decision for me and I feel as though I have no guidance. If I knew a little more from the UW side of things, it would be a huge help to me. Thanks.
I am currently attending school for a DPT program in Central Upstate NY. When I applied, I was told that they offered clinical experiences all over the country, with numerous options for settings. In actuality, there were only 40 placements available to the 33 of us students, mostly in rural NY and Pennsylvania. We are required to do one acute setting, one rehab, and two outpatient orthopedic. I was fortunate enough to get an acute setting despite drawing a number that was towards the middle of the lottery, but I will have to travel to the middle of nowhere with no financial assistance or support from my program. I was also dismayed to find that, once I had accepted my position, that tuition alone was $10,000 higher than previously advertised. I had chosen this school because I had believed that it was going to be significantly cheaper than my other best options, but now it is only cheaper by $5,000 total. I also do not feel close to my classmates, despite my best efforts to make friends. We get along fine, but have fundamentally different interests. They are primarily interested in sports and weightlifting, and I enjoy physical activity as well, but also am interested in theater and reading. Anything outside of sports doesn't seem to be an interest to anyone, and I am constantly being told that being "artsy" does not belong here. They are also mostly much younger than me, some as much as five years younger (I'm only 25), and primarily socialize via binge-drinking, which hasn't really appealed to me since back in undergrad. The city in which we live is dull, and tiny, and far more expensive to live in than a small city in this area deserves to be.
But here's the thing: University of Washington contacted me to offer me a spot for the upcoming school year. My current program began in June, and UW begins in September, so I could conceivably leave my current program and still begin at UW, this year, on schedule. There is a good chance that I would lose the tuition I have given for this semester, and we would have to move cross-country after having just moved here. However, depending on a few conditions, I think it might be worth it.
If you are a current UW student, or have gone through a similar situation, could you help me by answering the following?
1. Clinical experiences: I know UW requires an out-of-town placement, as well as a rural, but I've heard you can get both of those fulfilled with one placement. Is this true? Laura at UW also told me that the average availability of clinical sites to students is 100 sites for 45 students (many more choices than my current 40 for 33 students), and said that most of the options are on the West Coast. Let's say I pull a bad number in the lottery for all three clinical picks. Are there many clinical sites in Seattle proper, or at least within an hour's drive of the city? Or, still assuming a scenario where I keep getting bad lottery numbers, am I going to end up traveling several hours away for all my clinicals and having to spend a ton of money because I'll be maintaining a lease in Seattle and also having to find temporary housing in my clinical settings, because those will be my only options for fulfilling the acute, rehab, and OP requirements? Because at my current program, with my current lottery number picks, that is my scenario: I will most likely have to travel at least three hours away for all of my clinicals, and it's unlikely that I will get the chance to practice pediatrics or women's health, which I am interested in. Is UW pretty involved in helping you find the right placement for you?
2. School Reputation: The school I'm at seems like it provides a perfectly fine education, and it has a good reputation within the region. Its NPTE first-time pass rate is just as good as UW. Grads don't seem to have a problem getting hired, and 5 of 33 went on to residencies last year. Most of the programs for clinicals have DPTs working there that graduated from my program. However, this is my concern: I want to live on the West Coast, or the western side of the country, after graduation. Will anyone hire me over there if they have never heard of my program? Do UW students have a harder time finding work on the West Coast because it is more populous, or rather, do they have an EASIER time because of UW's reputation? Are students likely to get hired from clinicals? Laura can't provide me with the list of clinical experiences, so does anyone know of any that are available? Am I more likely to get into a residency program or get a job on the western side of the country if I went to UW? Again, I understand that the education is comparable, and that good students can come from bad schools and bad ones from good schools, but I can't help but suspect that name recognition and familiarity with the program would make a difference to potential employers.
3. Do students at UW struggle to find support? Here, it seems like the faculty are TOO involved, pushing people into clinical sites that they say they're not interested in and telling us that they know what's best for us. They keep telling me that I'll like geriatrics, even though I was a home health aid and I already know that I don't want to do geriatrics. Since UW is a bigger school, do you feel as though you are "on your own?"
4. Finally, what are the students at UW like? Are they more "well-rounded," or at least might want to go see an independent film with me or go to a local foods festival rather than go pound some Miller Lites at a noisy sports bar? I would guess so based on the social climate out there, but I haven't met anyone from the program, so I wouldn't know.
I know this is a super-long post, but this is such a huge decision for me and I feel as though I have no guidance. If I knew a little more from the UW side of things, it would be a huge help to me. Thanks.
