Is School Prestige relevant for PT?

[rundrewrun]

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I recently got an invite for an interview at UM, which I guess ranks in the top 10 in USnews and top 15 in SmartClass. I have already been accepted to other programs some of which are cheaper with similar student outcomes and was curious if ranking is relevant in jump starting my career? Feed back as usual is always appreciated.

 

[CareerSwitcheroo]

The general consensus is no, "prestige" is not important to your future employers. People typically recommend choosing schools that cost the least and have the highest NPTE pass rates. Those are the two main things that will matter in the long run.

 

[tcpt]

I recently got an invite for an interview at UM, which I guess ranks in the top 10 in USnews and top 15 in SmartClass. I have already been accepted to other programs some of which are cheaper with similar student outcomes and was curious if ranking is relevant in jump starting my career? Feed back as usual is always appreciated.

No. USN&WR rankings don't benefit your career. What does benefit your career is graduating, passing the NPTE, and obtaining a license. In my opinion, rankings help schools solicit students but the methodology to decide the rankings is pretty poor. It is a blunt way to rank schools.
(my 2 cents)

 

[powerofthree]

Highly ranked schools are generally the ones that are putting out the most research not necessarily programs with the most successful students.

 

[scrawnyguy]

"All the health rankings are based solely on the results of peer assessment surveys sent to deans, other administrators and/or faculty at accredited degree programs or schools in each discipline. All schools surveyed in a discipline were sent the same number of surveys."

That's directly from the US News website. Their site also says that only 39% of programs responded to the surveys. Their medical school rankings (many of their other grad school rankings are based off similar criteria), on the other hand, is based on a slew of factors, including: peer assessment, assessment by residency directors, research activity, MCAT score, and GPA. Rankings for other disciplines also generally include career placement and salary data. The methodology isn't perfect, but it's obviously much better than the PT school methodology which merely comprises of a peer assessment score. I do happen to go to a top #10 school according to US News, but honestly the ranking didn't play even a small part in my decision to attend my respective program.

 

[ptisfun2]

Ask 10 people. You will get 10 differing opinions. Relevant for your ability to be an entry level practitioner? Then I agree with others who say probably not.