Tuition Question

[Donald66]

I am new to the world of PA and need some guidance........

 

I have a 16 year old who wants to be a PA.

 

He is looking for direct entry programs  { BS to Masters} so we just paid a visit to Quinnipiac.

 

We were quoted a total cost of 53k+ per year, however, the admissions counselor said that number will be greatly reduced based on university grants, my son's class rank, etc. etc.    (My wife & I are both employed, so need based scholarships are unlikely) 

 

The counselor stated that last year the PA program got 700 direct entry PA applicants, accepted 60, 25 finally enrolled. 

 

Based on the number of applicants, how much will they cut our costs?????

 

Also, we were told to select Nursing as a backup option.  Is this common?????

[cinntsp]

You should try posting this in the quinnipiac subforum.

 

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[JohnnyM2]

 

Also, we were told to select Nursing as a backup option. Is this common?????

That is horrible advice and really ignorant advice. Yes, have other options by all means but if you wanted to be a University professor, I don't imagine you would have kindergarten teacher as a backup option. A nurse might want to become a PA later in their career, sure, but nursing is not a backup option for PA school. As a back up, I would consider DO school perhaps.

 

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[FfIghter23]

Why not just encourage him/her to pursue medical school? Looking at the curriculum of Quinnipiac they are taking all the same undergrad classes of  MD/DO school with the except of physics. I would expect around $8,000-$10,000 of scholarships. The direct entry programs are moneymaker for the school because they know that you are locked in for $40,000 a year for 6 years. I went to a direct-entry school (as a transfer student for the graduate level portion) and they accepted around 15 high schoolers each year and by the end, only 2 in my class were left that actually finished the program. It is an extremely tough six years and the program expects the student to not take summers off as they have to work to gain medical experience. 

 

Honestly, unless you have that kind of cash laying around, there is no reason for you or your child to go into that much debt when you could just as easily go to a MD/DO school for the same cost if they are wanting to pursue a career in medicine. The PA profession was originally for students that had many years of working in the medical field already in the military or as a nurse, paramedic, or an MA. Students that are 16 or 18 years old may want to pursue a career in medicine, but it will be just as hard to go to PA school as going to med school. There is also a misconception that being a PA will afford you an easier lifestyle than a physician, but that is not the case and we normally have to work hours and shifts that the physicians don't want and we make less money for it.  There is just no way I would encourage a 16 year old to pursue PA over MD/DO school.