Program-Specific Info / Q's Need advice on attending Midwestern, Brenau, or West Coast University. Thanks!

[jstuck]

Hi! I am wondering if anyone could offer me some advice or insight regarding choosing which OT program to attend. I interviewed and accepted a spot at Midwestern-IL. However, in the meantime I interviewed at Brenau and thought it went really well and just received an offer to interview at West Coast University-Los Angeles.

I am trying to decide if it is worth even interviewing at WCU since their program is very expensive, however so is Midwestern. I assume the cost of living in both areas will be relatively similar, although I will research this.

If anyone has any opinions, suggestions, or knowledge about these programs or advice of what you would do in my situation I will be incredibly grateful if you share!

Thank you!

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[emnOT13]

When did you interview at Brenau? For the Gainesville or Norcross campus? I can't speak for the other schools necessarily, but I interviewed at Brenau for the Gainesville campus. I also think the interview went well and I think it seems like a good program. If I were you I would try to consider cost of the program (Brenau is expensive), cost of living (Gainsville is cheap so it almost evens out), interest in the area, and most important, interest in the program. Have you been offered acceptance anywhere yet? I don't know when we will hear back from Brenau but it's making me so anxious! I was wait listed for an interview at Midwestern but they never got back in contact with me for an actual interview

 

[OTgirl29]

I'm literally in the same position with you. Been accepted into one school and have an interview at west coast (not till may). I'm torn on what to do because it always dreamed of living in California, but cost of living scares me and I thought I would move out there After grad school. But part of me would love to go to school there.

 

[jstuck]

When did you interview at Brenau? For the Gainesville or Norcross campus? I can't speak for the other schools necessarily, but I interviewed at Brenau for the Gainesville campus. I also think the interview went well and I think it seems like a good program. If I were you I would try to consider cost of the program (Brenau is expensive), cost of living (Gainsville is cheap so it almost evens out), interest in the area, and most important, interest in the program. Have you been offered acceptance anywhere yet? I don't know when we will hear back from Brenau but it's making me so anxious! I was wait listed for an interview at Midwestern but they never got back in contact with me for an actual interview

I interviewed for the Gainesville campus last Friday. I have been offered acceptance for Midwestern. Honestly Midwestern seemed superior in almost every category, so even if I do get accepted for Brenau I will probably elect not to attend. Out of the three schools in terms of tuition WCU is the lowest with total tuition being only $74,523 , Midwestern tuition is $103,00 and Brenau is around $80,000. Cost of living would be lowest in Gainsville highest in LA, although Chicago is also really expensive.....

 

[jstuck]

I'm literally in the same position with you. Been accepted into one school and have an interview at west coast (not till may). I'm torn on what to do because it always dreamed of living in California, but cost of living scares me and I thought I would move out there After grad school. But part of me would love to go to school there.

My interview is in May as well. I was thinking about asking to do a skype interview (I live in Ohio) but I feel like I am a lot more effective interviewing in person. I've been interested in living in California but like you mentioned the cost of living is crazy also I've heard the traffic is terrible. But I've never been to California so I may take this opportunity to check it out.

 

[Bokonomy]

I interviewed for the Gainesville campus last Friday. I have been offered acceptance for Midwestern. Honestly Midwestern seemed superior in almost every category, so even if I do get accepted for Brenau I will probably elect not to attend. Out of the three schools in terms of tuition WCU is the lowest with total tuition being only $74,523 , Midwestern tuition is $103,00 and Brenau is around $80,000. Cost of living would be lowest in Gainsville highest in LA, although Chicago is also really expensive.....

Are you ever considering academia? Generally for profit schools are a no if you want to do more schooling, but since it's not one of the big ones, maybe they won't know? And rankings don't matter much, but doesn't Brenau have the highest of the 3? I wonder why that is (I don't know myself). Of course, if academia doesn't matter to you...if you really want to live in Chicago or LA after, they'll probably give you more fieldwork opportunities there, which means more connections for jobs. And consider how much you're willing to pay back in loans after. Good luck!

 

[emnOT13]

I interviewed for the Gainesville campus last Friday. I have been offered acceptance for Midwestern. Honestly Midwestern seemed superior in almost every category, so even if I do get accepted for Brenau I will probably elect not to attend. Out of the three schools in terms of tuition WCU is the lowest with total tuition being only $74,523 , Midwestern tuition is $103,00 and Brenau is around $80,000. Cost of living would be lowest in Gainsville highest in LA, although Chicago is also really expensive.....

Congrats on being accepted! As far as tuition goes... OT is a career that is stable and pays well. You WILL be able to pay off your student debt. I don't know what your personal situation is, but I have no financial support from my family, so I will have to take out a student loan, and will have to live off of quite a bit of that money (if I even get in somewhere!). I've saved enough money to help me live pretty frugally for about the first year, but pretty much every student in grad school is in some sort of debt. Since all of the programs you are looking into are pricey, choose the one that has the program that interests you the most. What did you like about Midwestern that would make you want to choose that over Brenau of WCU? Think about some of those qualities and try to worry about the money after. I was looking at map of the average income of OTs around the country, and in most states, its between $70-$90,000, so if you do it right, for each of those schools you could have your debt paid off in a few years

 

[Hopeandfaith22]

I too interview at Brenau last Friday. The total tuition for the Gainesville day program comes out to $87,685. Expensive . I would go to the cheapest program with high exam passing rates.

 

[amyOTpeds]

I think you should pick Midwestern. It has this unofficial relationship with Northwestern Medicine, and that means you are very likely to get amazing connections. When I volunteered at the Rehab Institute of Chicago ( which is the number 1 rehab hospital in the U.S and probably the world)...the volunteer coordinator told me about how so many students get placed at RIC for fieldwork....seriously its amazing there, and pretty much doing your fieldwork in northwestern/RIC means everyone will want you. Unfortunately, I didn't get in, but If I had it was definitely my first choice. That is why Illinois/metro-chicago area is actually the toughest state to get into school for OT. You should really take up the opportunity, and Midwestern is in Lisle, Illinois. You don't have to live in chicago city, which makes it much cheaper than expected.

 

[jstuck]

Congrats on being accepted! As far as tuition goes... OT is a career that is stable and pays well. You WILL be able to pay off your student debt. I don't know what your personal situation is, but I have no financial support from my family, so I will have to take out a student loan, and will have to live off of quite a bit of that money (if I even get in somewhere!). I've saved enough money to help me live pretty frugally for about the first year, but pretty much every student in grad school is in some sort of debt. Since all of the programs you are looking into are pricey, choose the one that has the program that interests you the most. What did you like about Midwestern that would make you want to choose that over Brenau of WCU? Think about some of those qualities and try to worry about the money after. I was looking at map of the average income of OTs around the country, and in most states, its between $70-$90,000, so if you do it right, for each of those schools you could have your debt paid off in a few years

What I like about Midwestern is I want to go into a more specialized area of OT and Chicago would offer the resources for me to achieve that. I felt the staff was more in line with my goals and they must have felt the same since I was told I was accepted an hour after the interview. It seemed like we shared the same mindset in regards to OT and how we could progress the profession. Also they have higher pass rates than Brenau. When talking to current students at Brenau they said roughly 10 people were kicked out because of low grades, I am not sure what the number for MW is but 10 seemed high to me. Also another big thing is at MW all the students in the medial professions interact with each other, whereas at Brenau student's said they only interact with other OT students and in their specific cohort there were no males and I think she said something like 80% of her cohort were married or engaged. Being a male I have no problems and fully expect to be in a cohort were the vast majority are female but it would be nice to have at least one other guy in the cohort. So the potential to network and the social aspect make MW appealing. But I have no idea what WCU is like so that is why I am debating interviewing there.

 

[jstuck]

I think you should pick Midwestern. It has this unofficial relationship with Northwestern Medicine, and that means you are very likely to get amazing connections. When I volunteered at the Rehab Institute of Chicago ( which is the number 1 rehab hospital in the U.S and probably the world)...the volunteer coordinator told me about how so many students get placed at RIC for fieldwork....seriously its amazing there, and pretty much doing your fieldwork in northwestern/RIC means everyone will want you. Unfortunately, I didn't get in, but If I had it was definitely my first choice. That is why Illinois/metro-chicago area is actually the toughest state to get into school for OT. You should really take up the opportunity, and Midwestern is in Lisle, Illinois. You don't have to live in chicago city, which makes it much cheaper than expected.

Thank you for your post, this is extremely useful information! That is very interesting about their unofficial relationship with Northwestern Medicine. I take it you discovered this just from your volunteer experience? Midwestern is located in Downers Grove which is about 20 minutes from the city.

 

[OT1738]

For those of you who were interviewed at Brenau University, what were your stats? Did any of you accept your acceptance?

 

[dobber]

I've heard great things about WCU. It is a newer program, received full accreditation last year I believe. LA is steep, and the program is expensive BUT the program director is the man.

Dr. Van Den Heever is awesome. He was the first male OT ever in South Africa if I recall correctly. The guy is a beast, one of the top OTs in the entire globe

 

[occupationalguy]

Where did you get a good feeling?
I hate to say it, but you really should heavily consider the cost of attendance, and cost of living. All those degrees will let you sit for the NBCOT, and you'll make the same salary regardless of which one you graduate from. If you have personal or family links to any location, no one can quantify what that means to you, you should do what is best for you. If you don't I'd say look at NBCOT pass rates (NOT RANKINGS) and look at total cost of attendance. Go with the cheapest, and highest pass rates.

I don't know the director of WCU, and I have nothing negative to say about their program. The only thing that makes me look skeptically a bit at them is the fact that they are a for profit university. These schools have been getting negative press as of late, and I think much of it is deserved from what I've read.

@emnOT13 I have posted a thread on salary statistics. I crunched numbers from the BLS reports, and put the charts on there. I wish that it were true that you will make 70-90k when you start as an OT. State statistics are not very helpful when trying to figure out what you'll make: rather, focus on the locality. The BLS reports show you that typical markets pay a starting clinician around 60k. You can expect a salary in the 15-20th percentile as a beginning clinician. OT median salaries in our country are at 75k.

 

[OT3]

Hey all!
To anyone who has applied for the Spring 2017 cohort at West Coast University, I was curious to know if any of you had heard back yet?

 

[OT549]

Hey all!
To anyone who has applied for the Spring 2017 cohort at West Coast University, I was curious to know if any of you had heard back yet?

Hey I applied for Spring 2017 at West Coast. I interviewed in early August. I believe they said they would let us know at the end of September. I haven't heard anything yet. Have you?

 

[OT3]

Hey I applied for Spring 2017 at West Coast. I interviewed in early August. I believe they said they would let us know at the end of September. I haven't heard anything yet. Have you?

I had my interview in early August too. I haven't heard back yet either