egrace Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Alright, I know multiple people have probably asked this but since each situation is unique, I have decided to post. Basically, I have 2 acceptances to PA school which I am thrilled about! Up until a week ago, I had only one acceptance so was planning accordingly, but now that I have 2 offers, I am struggling with which one to pick. The first program is at a private university, has a small class size, and looks like an amazing program. I would be in its 3rd class so there are not PANCE scores to go off of yet, though with the way this program is run and the feedback I've received from current students, I do not think this will be an issue. It is not located in a medical center, but offers clinical rotations throughout the state. It also sets you up to get a job in an area that typically pays better for PA jobs! The interview process here was fantastic and I loved speaking the the faculty! Basically, the only downside of this program for me is that it is expensive! The second program is a well-known program that has had some accreditation issues but seems to be working them out. I felt like the interview process was hectic and I have had emails sent to me in error (Told I was declined when I had just accepted my position). All of these could just be due to the PA program's change in leadership and other changes being implemented but it did not leave me with a great feeling. The program is located in a medical center and the students interact quite a bit with the medical students. It also provides some unique opportunities to volunteer at a clinic that are not available everywhere. Overall, I like this program less than the first; however, it is roughly 30k cheaper and I'm having a hard time justifying spending more on my education than I have to because I already have previous undergrad and grad loans! I honestly feel like most people will save money, but at what point does the quality of education Receive change that? (or does it ever) Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thatgirlonabike Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 You will find two schools of thought on here. One that says cheaper is always better and the others that say follow your heart. I'm of the follow your heart contingency. 30K in the grand scheme of life isn't that much more. You might be able to offset some of it if housing and COL is better at the school you like. You will only get to go to PA school once. Pick the one you like. Go with what your heart is telling you and where you think you will be happiest. There will probably some miserable moments in the next two years so you want to be somewhere that you really want to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooks23 Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Agree with the "two schools of thought," comment. Ultimately, you should pick the school that is the best fit for you. You don't want to have regrets down the road when you aren't meshing well with your cohort, policies, and/or faculty. Of course you can argue that you should just save money and go to the cheaper school. This does carry some weight because once you graduate, as long as you have the PA-C, few will ever care what program you attended in terms of job seeking. Still, you want to be happy where you study. School is stressful enough in an ideal educational setting. You don't want to make any additional sacrifices that are unnecessary. Just my two cents. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Normally I would say go with the cheaper program however in this case the cheaper program has shown some red flags and I think you should heed those warnings. If they can't even put their best foot forward when they are trying to draw students, what makes you think they will once students are there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anachronist Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 30k is not worth the "accreditation issues." That would be a huge red flag for me. When you start a program you are placing your day-to-day life in their hands, a lack of organization can be a huge burden on you, and worrying about accreditation on top of that is not good. You're also "in it for the long haul." Transfering is not an option, and leaving that program and applying all over again would be a nightmare scenario. Even if it was 100% justified, it would likely not be looked at favorably by admissions committees the second time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbum Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Yeah, I'm pretty firmly in the "go cheap" camp on these questions, but your experience with school #2 at this point would have me avoiding it at any price. 80k for a quality education is really expensive, but worth it. 50k for a lousy education is a horrible waste of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funinthesun Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 I recently graduated from a school similar to the "second program". I was the first cohort. I can tell you if I was accepted to a better school I would take it unfortunately this school was the only one that took me but you go where you can. The process was a mess. I was constantly stress about getting the proper education because everything was so crazy. I was part of the fortunate few souls that had amazing clinical rotations which helped a lot. The staff did care about our education but was always disorganized. Example: we were taught hematology for three semester while OB/GYN for 2 weeks due to miscommunication between the professors. We didn't even learn half of what our third cohort got in our didactic year. I can honestly say the reason why most of our classmates passed the PANCE was because we would have regular sessions after class to educate ourselves via youtube and PANCE PREP PEARLS and forced the school to pay for kaplan 3 months before we graduated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doppio_Espresso Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 I am currently in PA school now. Advice I will tell you have been advices I have read and received when I was in your shoes. And, I did not really realize how valuable they are until ACTUALLY going through PA school myself. The big one I would say now is the curriculum. I know it's really difficult to understand it at the moment (I know I didn't), but really try to understand which curriculum will best fit your learning/study style. I would also look into the amount of breaks in between sessions. Trust me, you would want to have AT LEAST 2 weeks in between session. Cost, faculty, how you felt during the interview, etc. etc. are secondary. Just choose the one that you know will give you the best PA education for you. Feel free to DM me if you have other questions as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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