I got accepted into Drexel’s BS/MHS program, as well as Thomas Jefferson+Philadelphia University East Fall’s Health/Sciences Pre-PA program. I am having trouble deciding on which would be the better option.
Drexel’s program is accelerated, and also guarentees an interview, and does not require to take the PA exam, however it does not guarentee a seat into the professional phase, you still have to compete with other students from Drexel and also other programs (please correct me if i have wrong on this). they would not give me a clear answer when I asked on average how many students they accept into the professional phase every year, and if they have any seats reserved for Drexel students.
jefferson, on the other hand, is a 4+2 program, and only guarentees an interview, Their professional program is relatively new, and so they currently have no students in their professional phase from the 4+2 program, so they gave me a rough estimate of 5 seats? jefferson is a smaller school with smaller class sizes, and also very popular for PA, so I would have many more PA friends and peers around me, whereas Drexel is a big school with many other majors. Jefferson’s program would also be less cutthroat during the undergraduate phase comparatively
for me, Drexel is $6,000 more expensive every year than Jefferson, being around $46,000 a year, and Jefferson $40,000, however drexel does have co-op, and is 5 1/4 while jefferson is 6 years, and prof phase is most likely more expensive, but this goes for both schools.
Both campuses and schools are very nice, so it all comes down to the money and the programs, and I have trouble figuring out whether Drexel is worth the expense and stress, as if you drop below the GPA requirement, you get kicked out. If I do get kicked out, i would proceed with a 4+2 program, and will therefore end up paying an unnecesary extra 6 grand, but if i go to jefferson and have alot of trouble getting into a PA school, then is Drexel the better option?
basically, any advice on how competitve drexel’s pa program is and whether it is worth the stress and pressure i would have on me all 3 years until i get into the prof phase, from both the money and the competitiveness of the program.
please help haha