USC - Is it really worth the money??

[DPT415]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I understand that USC is the top ranked program in the country, but is it really worth all the money?? Will it open more doors for me or will going to a school like UOP land me the same job/pay??

Also, I did not get a chance to visit the school yet... Does anyone want to share their experiences?? How's the area, student body, other PT students, the professors, etc etc???

 

[trace26]

I'm interested to hear experiences of USC as well, thanks!

 

[dny22]

.

 

[truthseeker]

IMHO, No PT school is worth that debt load. You can learn the same stuff in almost any school. I hire PTs and the USC diploma means nothing to me. Sorry, its just not worth that much money.

The only way its going to change is if people start saying "hell no" and going somewhere else. USC will figure it out and lower their tuition.

It is a cash cow for the school with everyone able to get student loans. That easy access, I think, will change.

 

[oschrndz]

I visited their campus back in September. The location is not attractive. The PT department is not in the main campus. It is in a totally different area of Los Angeles from where the USC main campus is (PT dept is near the LA County Hospital, railroad tracks and freeway). It actually doesn't look like a "University" campus at all, looks more like an office building. The class size is large with 90+ students. I got to see the cadaver room, lecture halls and modalities room, which all are very large and students are lectured through a screen. I don't have any stats on the student to teacher ratio but shoot, if you are paying a ridiculously high tuition you better get the attention you need.
I did get to talk to a few students there and they love the program but the reality about paying back the student loans after they graduate hasn't hit them yet. Right now they are just happy they got into USC and that is all.

 

[FLsurferDPT]

.

 

[lee9786]

I wonder how many applicants USC got for their 93 seats. My guess its way too many considering the price. I find it interesting that USC only recommends observation hours. It looks like they're only interested in your money so I'd look elsewhere.

 

[mshake]

I don't think it's worth it. The fact that they don't require volunteer hours or interviews is sort of ridiculous. You could end up having a bunch of people with zero or difficult personalities as classmates. UCSF/SFSU also gets 30+ fresh cadavers every year and has an amazing lab but doesn't cost nearly as much (not yet at least, but with these budget cuts who knows). I'm biased though since that's where I'm headed.

 

[MuscleHead]

something tells me that if they were a different name and not ranked top 5 in the country (which is apparently a bs ranking anyway), they would have no shot at pulling off that price tag. so i think the cost is based off nothing.

you should really only pay more for a school if it translates into more money, which unfortunately it wont in pt. in law school for example, going to the best school possible will likely yield the best starting salary. doesnt seem to be the case in pt.

dont waste your money.

I don't think it's worth it. The fact that they don't require volunteer hours or interviews is sort of ridiculous. You could end up having a bunch of people with zero or difficult personalities as classmates. UCSF/SFSU also gets 30+ fresh cadavers every year and has an amazing lab but doesn't cost nearly as much (not yet at least, but with these budget cuts who knows). I'm biased though since that's where I'm headed.

 

[Veritas Invicta]

This is how the U.S. News and World Report Rank PT schools in the United States. Here is the link to the methodology:

http://www.usnews.com/articles/educ...s/2009/04/22/health-rankings-methodology.html

If you read this, you'll notice that only 33%, less than half of the physical therapy programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education responded to survey issued by U.S News and World Report.

I wonder how reliable this ranking system is. Hmmmm

 

[ptstudenttobe]

I don't think it's justifiable to pay that much money for a pt education. In the end, each student, DPT or MPT will take the exact same test to get their license. Why pay pay more for an education for the exact same license? I applied and and was accepted to USC and upon consideration of its many offers, I simply couldn't imagine having to pay 130k+ for graduate school in a profession hoping to make ~65k+.

I understand that whole Trojan family concept, but the need for physical therapists are on the rise nation wide, so it shouldn't be difficult finding a job. Yes, they may have to do their own job hunting on their own rather than have the school do it for them, but that's not too bad of a task.

Rankings pretty much don't mean too much since it's based on the school self assessment of their program. Yes, you will have better facilities, and access to various resources, but I don't find it extremely worth paying the hefty price tag. I say go to the cheaper route with the other private schools and even the CSUs. In the end you don't want to be paying off a huge debt when you can be using that money to reward yourself from graduating buying that car you always wanted or even to take a trip you've wanted to do.

 

[EastSide]

IMHO, No PT school is worth that debt load. You can learn the same stuff in almost any school. I hire PTs and the USC diploma means nothing to me. Sorry, its just not worth that much money.

The only way its going to change is if people start saying "hell no" and going somewhere else. USC will figure it out and lower their tuition.

It is a cash cow for the school with everyone able to get student loans. That easy access, I think, will change.

It's almost Theft...
To demand that much money..
It's unbelievable that students will accrue 170K (+200K with interest).
Can't imagine paying that off with PT salary ... yikes

 

[ptbusiness]

Curriculum is the same for all PT schools. No one cares which school you graduate from. You will probably have about as much knowledge as students from other schools. The area around USC is mostly ghetto. Lots of homeless people and not very safe walking at night. It might be ok on campus, not sure. But I would go there if it were the only school I got accepted to.