Program-Specific Info / Q's St. Augustine's Flex/Weekend MOT program vs. traditional full time program

[ladybugnw]

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Hi all, I'm a newbie on the forum who is hoping for acceptance in a 2017 MOT program. There is no university near me that offers a program, so my husband is looking at relocating his job so I can attend school. We have 4 kids. ages 12-4. We have to move regardless, so now the question is where....?!!

I'm trying to decide if it is better to spend $80k+ and do a flex/weekend program at St. Augustine in 3 years vs $40k and do a 2.5 year full time program at a traditional university (undecided where yet, but have several contenders based on hubby's job). The full time program, we'd have to hire some help with the kids and I feel like I'd miss out on a lot, but I'm not sure if it is worth the extra $40k? Get it done quick and be done or take my time and enjoy the kids but spend more. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[occupationalguy]

Hey, Hope things are going well for you. Re your family issues, those are things you'd need to weigh the pros and cons of with your family. I can tell you that regarding the money difference between the part time vs full time program, you should do the math: price difference plus income due to having a job during this period. Also add in lost wages you could be earning at your first OT job (estimate that at 65k).

 

[slpOT]

Hey @ladybugnw , I'm a 2nd tri student at the USA Austin campus. There are many people in the new Fall 2016 class who have families - including single parents and kiddos on the way - so I don't think that it's necessary to compromise by doing the Flex program. I know that the MOT curriculum JUST changed (it became official today), and it will be 93 credits instead of 109. Remember, OT school isn't more than 3 years of your life; however, depending on which school(s) you get into & decide to attend, you'll be spending quite a while repaying back the loans to fund it. USA is a pretty expensive school in general (being private and for-profit), so I would honestly consider looking into applying for a normal trimester or semester rather than spending a lot more time and money just to avoid the cost of child care. That being said, it seems as though the vast majority of people in the Flex programs are in them due to previous commitments, like families or working full-time to help fund school, so your classmates would likely be in the same boat. It's all going to come down to what works best for you & your family, like @occupationalguy said. If you have any questions about USA in particular, let me know!

 

[BeOT]

Hey @ladybugnw , I'm a 2nd tri student at the USA Austin campus. There are many people in the new Fall 2016 class who have families - including single parents and kiddos on the way - so I don't think that it's necessary to compromise by doing the Flex program. I know that the MOT curriculum JUST changed (it became official today), and it will be 93 credits instead of 109. Remember, OT school isn't more than 3 years of your life; however, depending on which school(s) you get into & decide to attend, you'll be spending quite a while repaying back the loans to fund it. USA is a pretty expensive school in general (being private and for-profit), so I would honestly consider looking into applying for a normal trimester or semester rather than spending a lot more time and money just to avoid the cost of child care. That being said, it seems as though the vast majority of people in the Flex programs are in them due to previous commitments, like families or working full-time to help fund school, so your classmates would likely be in the same boat. It's all going to come down to what works best for you & your family, like @occupationalguy said. If you have any questions about USA in particular, let me know!

Hi, I have applied to the MOT program at the Austin campus for Summer 2017 and I was wondering if you can give me your opinion of the program/campus/faculty etc.? Is it more research based or clinical or a healthy mix? This is probably my top choice and I am hoping to get an interview. 🙂 Also, if you know anything about their pre-reqs that would be helpful. I haven't taken physics yet but I was wondering if it has to be physics or can it be some other science course (the website has a range of motion and movement classes). Again, any insight on any aspect of your experience is appreciated 🙂

Thanks!

 

[slpOT]

Hi, I have applied to the MOT program at the Austin campus for Summer 2017 and I was wondering if you can give me your opinion of the program/campus/faculty etc.? Is it more research based or clinical or a healthy mix? This is probably my top choice and I am hoping to get an interview. 🙂 Also, if you know anything about their pre-reqs that would be helpful. I haven't taken physics yet but I was wondering if it has to be physics or can it be some other science course (the website has a range of motion and movement classes). Again, any insight on any aspect of your experience is appreciated 🙂

Thanks!

So overall, I do enjoy being here!
The Pros: The campus is nice and new, and if you're someone who likes to study on campus, the library's a good spot, and you can reserve bigger group study rooms with whiteboards. I'd say that about 8/10 main professors that I've interacted with have been awesome and are easy to approach and ask for help. I can't speak much about the program because you'll on the new curriculum, but I have a feeling that it'll be to your benefit. I think that everything that I've experienced so far is very clinical and is for you to use in practice, but there will be a few classes specifically about research and how to properly utilize it. Anatomy (as of now) is a difficult, cut & dry class that's more like the rigor of med school, so I think the university's goal is to have PTs & OTs with a strong background. The new curriculum seems like it'll focus on more OT-related anatomy.
The Cons: They're pretty few.... It can be inconvenient to abide by the dress code policy when you have to change for labs/wet lab/lecture 3 times in one day, but not awful. The school's expensive enough where you'd think they'd be sure to keep the TP & paper towels stocked in the bathrooms (you can put in an online request, and it's a petty complaint, but still a little annoying). Probably my biggest complaint is that the faculty requires you to schedule an appt ahead of time, and before you go in to the part of the building where their offices are, you have to call them on this campus phone to make sure it's still a good time - it just seems to distance them from you and to make sure that they have time to grade papers & schedule appointments. Also, the parking on campus is getting preeeeeetty tight; because it's technically part of a neighborhood community, they've already reached their max allowance for laying pavement and can't expand the parking lot. There is, however, parallel parking along the street, and it's really easy to carpool with classmates anyways.

I'm not so sure about the preqs for physics - I took 2 physics classes and a biomechanics class for undergrad, so I think I was covered either way. The physics that's going to be relevant to us will be about mechanics (forces, levers, etc) so I would suggest calling the campus (any one of them) and have the course descriptions ready to ask which class/es option would be best.

 

[BeOT]

So overall, I do enjoy being here!
The Pros: The campus is nice and new, and if you're someone who likes to study on campus, the library's a good spot, and you can reserve bigger group study rooms with whiteboards. I'd say that about 8/10 main professors that I've interacted with have been awesome and are easy to approach and ask for help. I can't speak much about the program because you'll on the new curriculum, but I have a feeling that it'll be to your benefit. I think that everything that I've experienced so far is very clinical and is for you to use in practice, but there will be a few classes specifically about research and how to properly utilize it. Anatomy (as of now) is a difficult, cut & dry class that's more like the rigor of med school, so I think the university's goal is to have PTs & OTs with a strong background. The new curriculum seems like it'll focus on more OT-related anatomy.
The Cons: They're pretty few.... It can be inconvenient to abide by the dress code policy when you have to change for labs/wet lab/lecture 3 times in one day, but not awful. The school's expensive enough where you'd think they'd be sure to keep the TP & paper towels stocked in the bathrooms (you can put in an online request, and it's a petty complaint, but still a little annoying). Probably my biggest complaint is that the faculty requires you to schedule an appt ahead of time, and before you go in to the part of the building where their offices are, you have to call them on this campus phone to make sure it's still a good time - it just seems to distance them from you and to make sure that they have time to grade papers & schedule appointments. Also, the parking on campus is getting preeeeeetty tight; because it's technically part of a neighborhood community, they've already reached their max allowance for laying pavement and can't expand the parking lot. There is, however, parallel parking along the street, and it's really easy to carpool with classmates anyways.

I'm not so sure about the preqs for physics - I took 2 physics classes and a biomechanics class for undergrad, so I think I was covered either way. The physics that's going to be relevant to us will be about mechanics (forces, levers, etc) so I would suggest calling the campus (any one of them) and have the course descriptions ready to ask which class/es option would be best.

Thanks for all this information! I just interviewed there last week and overall got a pretty good feeling about the place. There were so many people at my interview though and I almost felt like I was just a "number" at the interview (there were upwards of 30 OT applicants) so hopefully I said something memorable lol. If you have any other thoughts on the program feel free to share. Still making my decision on where I should ultimately go (if I'm offered acceptance). 🙂

 

[slpOT]

Thanks for all this information! I just interviewed there last week and overall got a pretty good feeling about the place. There were so many people at my interview though and I almost felt like I was just a "number" at the interview (there were upwards of 30 OT applicants) so hopefully I said something memorable lol. If you have any other thoughts on the program feel free to share. Still making my decision on where I should ultimately go (if I'm offered acceptance). 🙂

I wouldn't worry about the "being a number feeling" - I remember going to my first interview with 80 people at Chatham. Hopefully you hear good news from who you want!

 

[Pbot!]

Hello all,

I am thinking about applying to Flex OTD program at San Marcos. Could my one provide the logistics as it would help me to know if I can work full time. And also take care of my baby’s.