Need help choosing between George Washington University and University of Washington!

[leba23]

Hey everyone, I’m in a little bit of a predicament here. I got accepted into the University of Washington physical therapy school program in February and the program is in my home state which gives me in state tuition and a short commute which is nice. However... I recently got off the wait list for George Washington university in DC and have been accepted there with 30K total in scholarships (15k each for the first 2 years). So UW is the cheaper option by about 50K but GWU has an exceptional 100% first time pass rate for the licensure exam where UW is around 90. ALSO my girlfriend lives in DC and we’ve been doing a long distance relationship so this is a huge (maybe life changing) decision for the both of us. There would probably be a lot more self growth moving out to the east coast with my girlfriend but it’s going to be hard leaving behind family and friends in Washington. GWU seems like the slightly better program from everything I’ve heard. Please give me some advice below sorry for the rant 🙂

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[JMarcusDPT]

A 90% pass rate is still pretty good, so don't worry about that too much. Cost is a huge factor, of course. I was long-distance with my now-husband for part of PT school, so I know how hard that can be. Start looking at other factors -- class size, ability to choose or set up your own clinicals (maybe you can go back to Washington even if you go to school at GWU), cost of living, where you think you'd want to live post-grad, etc. Good luck!

 

[prePTprep]

50k debt is a big factor... are you able to live at home if you stayed at UW? It's not just tuition but other living costs such as housing, cost of living etc. That debt will affect so many other choices down the road (when purchase a car, house etc... that debt to income ratio would factor into my choice).

You can always travel to another state during your clinicals too if you want the "out of state" experience. It'll be for shorter periods, but it'll let you get a taste of what it's like to live somewhere else.