Program-Specific Info / Q's VCU vs Colorado State

[NJchick]

Hi y'all! So I've been following some posts on this forum for awhile, but was too nervous to post while waiting to hear back from schools. Now I'm excited to say I've gotten into 2 of my top choices, VCU and Colorado State. However, I'm really having trouble deciding between them, and was wondering if anyone had insight towards either.

Tuition would probably be similar for both, as I would be out of state for both schools; I am from NJ but do not want to stay in state. However, I believe that for Colorado state they will give you in state tuition for your second year, something I'm not sure VCU does.

I know that on paper, CSU is a better program, but it is much further and I need to take 2 classes this summer (brain and behavior and medical terminology) before attending CSU. At VCU I am good to go.

In any case, I'd love to hear from some of you as I really am conflicted right now! Thanks so much and hope everyone else has been getting good news as well!!

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[BLS614]

I can't give much insight on CSU, but I am deciding between VCU and Thomas Jefferson so I've done a good amount of research on VCU.

In terms of the schools, VCU seems to be incredibly organized and put together and I do get the impression that they care a lot about their students. This seems kind of silly, but I was looking at VCU's occupational therapy facebook page and compared it to TJ's. VCU's is updated all the time, usually daily, and has lot of pictures of students, encouraging posts about finals, etc (much more so than TJ). I really liked that. I also get the sense that VCU attracts a pretty well-rounded student body. They place less emphasis on overall GPA than other schools and weigh your life experiences more than others do I think. I'm an older student (27), so I am definitely attracted to the fact that there may be more students like myself who aren't right out of undergrad and have done a variety of things before coming to OT. I think it will be a good learning experience to meet more career-switchers. (I do think the majority of the class is younger than 25, but it's my impression that the number of older-than-25 students is a bit higher at VCU than TJ for instance).

I also know someone who went to VCU and just graduated (in December) and felt like they really prepared her for her level 2 fieldwork placement, her boards, and now her job. The school definitely has a very good reputation in the state of Virginia, and if you care about rankings at all, they are ranked significantly higher than other schools in the state. I don't know how much pull VCU has outside the state though. It is a top school for OT so I assume you can leave the state with a degree from VCU and still be good to go. The school as a whole also has a very good reputation in the healthcare field in general and has several well-ranked programs.

The area around the school isn't too bad. My sister goes to the pharmacy school close by and hasn't had any issue with crime, but there are definitely other parts of Richmond that might be more desirable to live in. Many students live in The Fan, a neighborhood closer to the undergrad campus that is historical and quite pretty. There are a good number of restaurants and little shops in Richmond and it seems like there is decent amount to do to keep you busy. If you haven't lived in a city before, I think Richmond is a good transition since it's definitely smaller, but it is a real city with an urban environment. My friend who went there used to live in DC and prefers Richmond, because it's exciting enough to prevent boredom without the chaos (and expense) of a big city. My viewpoint may be skewed because I've been living in DC the past several years, but Richmond is very affordable.

I plan on going to one of the new student receptions coming up so if I get any useful information, I will definitely share. Good luck in your search! I don't think you can go wrong with either school. It's awesome that you get such great choices!

 

[ExceptionalSea]

@BLS614 i just wrote in another forum how i was impressed with my interactions with VCU during the admissions process. i used it as an example to highlight that for me personally (since i wasn't able to visit any of the programs i applied to), i judged programs by how organized they were in their admissions process and how responsive they were to applicants. although i am going to another school, you really back up what i had to say about schools admissions processes perhaps being a reflection of how well organized their program is.

 

[CurlyHairedGirl]

How do you feel about class sizes? Because I have lived in both states, I've looked at both programs over the long years I've been debating a career change, but didn't apply to either one (couldn't get the required Pediatric shadowing for VCU, figured I wouldn't get into CSU). I got the impression that VCU had larger class sizes than CSU.

 

[NJchick]

How do you feel about class sizes? Because I have lived in both states, I've looked at both programs over the long years I've been debating a career change, but didn't apply to either one (couldn't get the required Pediatric shadowing for VCU, figured I wouldn't get into CSU). I got the impression that VCU had larger class sizes than CSU.

I'm not entirely sure, I think that CSU divides their class of 50 into 2 blocks, with 25 students in each block (so basically 25 students per class), I could be mistaken though. I know VCU has a class of about 42 or so, but it seems like they'd have to divide a class of 42 as well?

 

[CurlyHairedGirl]

When I visited VCU a couple years ago, they said that they use a cohort model and most of their classes have the full group of students in there. For lab classes they split up the students. I'm basing the small class size at CSU based on something I briefly read on their website. I talked with another OT school that had a class size of 50 and doesn't split up their classes. Instead they spend half the class period with the teacher lecturing, and half working in teams for projects. My previous experience with group projects has been extremely varied, so its not something I would want to do all the time.

 

[futureotter]

I completely agree that my correspondence with VCU has been excellent. I have a friend who is in her second year now and she told me she picked VCU because she felt like she was at home when she went to go visit, and that the faculty were just incredibly warm. All of my correspondence with Diane Simons in particular has been absolutely wonderful. I really feel like I'm having a warm conversation in my emails back and forth with her, and that's rare! I'm deciding between VCU and TJU right now too, and I completely agree with the points @BLS614 made about VCU.

 

[csustudent17]

CSU class sizes vary, Typically we are split into 3 or 4 "blocks" at the beginning of each semester. Some of the classes have ~20 students max per class but our labs are much smaller with around 12 people per lab. As far as the professors and administration they are always available for help. I remember when I was applying I was on the phone with CSU multiple times and even planned a visit last minute that they were more than happy to help me with. I was very pleased at how willing to work with the students they are. I was standing up in a wedding the weekend before classes started and was able to complete my orientation early so that I would be able to make the wedding.

 

[brighton421]

Where did you all decide to go?

Can you give me feedback on where I might stand? VCU is my top choice as it is a great school and it is in-state. I am also considering CSU - I love that area and my sister currently lives in Fort Collins. I am also applying to Temple, Ohio State, Towson, JMU, and Howard.

Here is my background.
Bachelor of Science Psychology; Bachelor of Science Human Development
Undergraduate GPA: 3.62
Last 90 hours: 3.95
Pre-req GPA: 4.0

GRE: Verbal Reasoning: 155; Quantitative: 156; AW: 4.5

OT Observation:
8 Hours in a Pediatric Outpatient Hospital Setting
40 Hours in an Adult Acute Inpatient Hospital Setting
90 Hours at a Private Pediatric Facility (included Handwriting camps, constraint camps, and social groups)
48 Hours in a SNF/Rehab center

-360 hours as a Crisis Hotline Volunteer
-Member of a service sorority - held leadership 2 years
-Member of other organizations and held leadership positions including my university's Undergraduate Honor System and music ensembles.
-Served as a teaching assistant
-2 years of research experience (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th author on posters at Virginia and National conferences)

I don't want to keep listing things, but what is listed above is what I think helps me stand out. When I want to print my OTCAS, the PDF was 22 pages long, 8 being the extracurriculars, research, volunteer work, etc.

I am applying to VCU early-decision and I hope I get in because it is a great school and inexpensive. I am holding off on applying to Temple and decided against early admission at Towson because I would have to indicate my intention to attend 2 weeks after notification. If anyone could give me a good idea of where I stand, that would be great.