We are fully aware that direct admit will be an economic route to become a PT and S24 also got few direct admit offers. However, after visiting those direct admit schools, he does not feel too excited about school/campus/facilities but he does like the program. Those are mostly small to mid-size schools and don’t have a “university” feeling like Pitt or Rutgers. Quinnipiac does not even have a swimming pool that he needs to relax when he feels stressed out. Therefore, we are also considering options for mid to large 4 years university that he will enjoy and be well prepared for advance schooling in health career at the same time. He is lucky to get in all schools he applied so far. Still waiting for BU, U of Rochester and Case Western RD but we feel they may be too pricy even he gets in, so we narrow selection down to Rutgers, Pitt and Stony Brook for now. We have visited Rutgers NB (in state) and Pitt (out of state). We are scheduled to attend admit student day at Stony Brook later this month. S24 likes Pitt the best in term of city/campus, vibe and size. He feels Rutgers NB is a bit too spreading out and dislikes that he will have to bus to go to his classes. Hope to get more perspectives from different views for each school to help him make final decision.
Cost:
Rutgers 35K (no merit)
Stony Brook 39K after merits
Pitt 56K (no merit)
Distance from Home:
Rutgers NB - 30-40 minutes local driving
Stony Brook - 2.5hr driving/train ride
Pitt - 5.5hr driving/8 hr train ride
Size:
Rutgers - a bit bigger than he desires.
Pitt and Stony Brook have perfect size he wants.
PT Resources:
I think all 3 schools can offer good resources and opportunities. He already knew a PT professor at Rutgers from his summer job. I am not sure if it will get him any advantage but it’s something he can connect later if he wants to.
Direct admit he already received:
Quinnipiac (visited) 3+3/4+3 - COA 40K/year for undergrad with additional 30k merit toward DPT program, will take few AP credits as PT prerequisites and he is ok with the program. The only showstopper is no swimming pool on campus.
NYIT 3+3 - COA 40k/year
TCNJ+TJU 4+3 (visited) - in state, 35k/year for first 4 years and not sure of COA for DPT, TCNJ not taking any AP credit for PT prerequisites, and he does not like campus and dorm.
My daughter chose UDel, close to Rutgers after merit. She got into direct admit with Scranton and quinnapiac with merit but decided on not direct. They have a fantastic DPT program and she thought she’d want to stay (graduated in 3 years after 9 AP classes), but in spite of getting accepted, she wanted an urban camps (that was not Rutgers Newark). NYU was initially her first choice, but BU gave merit and she loves Boston. Just keep the GPA up, my daughter got into every program she applied to. It never occurred to me that she would want a change of scenery, but it made sense, especially since she was leaving her college friend group behind.
Thank you for your experience. Wish my son can be like your daughter and get in every school he applies when time comes. We do get a bit scared by all comments about how difficult to get accepted for PT schools after 4 years. He actually got accepted to UDel as well, but we have not heard about merit from them. Honestly, we do encourage him to have more traditional college experiences and explore before jumping into career of choice.
I don’t know your budget, but I would keep the expected cost of grad school in mind when choosing an undergrad university.
And for Stony Brook I would research how many students stay on campus for weekends. It used to have a “suitcase school” reputation but I don’t know if that is still the case.
We set undergrad budget of 50K max per year and it can be stretched if needed. For DPT, we can fully fund the tuition without issue.
SB is about 50% commuter as I last heard. My son can also come home as often as he wants since there is a train station nearby. He can use our commuter transit card to purchase train ticket. After pandemic, both of us working from home most of time so we have so much balance left in transit card. Or we can even meet him up in Queens whenever we go there for foods, dental appointment and haircut. But it will only work if he likes SB enough to replace Pitt in his final list.
My son is at RUNB he LOVES it. Not in that program though so I don’t know anything about that specific major. The school in general is just fantastic. We are pleased with every aspect of RU.
My son got accepted to SAS and SEBS at RU NB. How does yours like the normal day at RU NB? Does he need to bus between classes? My son had concert last month at Nicholas Hall and I am impressive with the facility. I also checked out student center when waiting for his rehearsal. It’s full of students studying hard there in Saturday afternoon.
Yes, he uses the busses. He likes them, it’s relaxing for him and he isn’t on them often or for very long. I can’t say enough great things about this school I have noticed a trend of NJ people who never attended making comments that are negative, BUT they never attended. I can only speak for my kids experience. RU (in his experience) is amazing. My kid is fantastically happy, challenged, doing well. The spirit for football games is contagious. The art museum is gorgeous. The campus is beautiful. We just love RU.
My opinion is if he has a direct admit option that is affordable that he can see himself being happy at, he needs to take it. I’m a PT, and I can’t emphasize enough how extremely difficult it is to be accepted to a graduate PT program. I would not want that stress for my child. Also, the undergrad degrees offered under the “pre PT” umbrella are usually difficult to employ majors such as allied health, health studies (which is what my useless BS is in), or kinesiology. Unless he wants to work in a gym, he will have to go to grad school. And if he doesn’t get in, well, as I said- take a direct admit option if it’s there. No brainer.
I agree. One thing to be aware of though is that direct admit programs will have standards. If they don’t meet those standards then a student may not be moved in to the DPT portion of the program. If they do meet the standards then they can forgo the stress and hassle of applying to DPT programs. It’s also important that they know that Physical Therapy is the career they want to pursue.
We went to Quinnipiac Academic Exploration Day and learned that they take about 95 freshman in the program and by the time they entered DPT, cohort is around 75-80. They did mention that’s due to interest change or transfer to different school but not weed out from the program. GPA requirement to advance to graduate level is 3.2 which I think it’s reasonable and achievable.
My son can see himself working as PT and has been shadowing/volunteering with PTs in Children’s Specialized Hospital. However, he also expressed the anxiety of decision making which I think it’s normal at this age. Although he thinks he likes and is capable of doing PT, he is not 100%sure if that’s the career he wants for lifetime. That’s why I think he may still need more time to explore and kind of hesitant to go with direct admit.
My friend’s son started wanting to be a PT and ended up finishing grad school at an athletic trainer, my daughter’s boyfriend (who she met at orientation) went to chiropractic school for 3 years after graduation instead of DPT.
Exactly what we concern about! I heard so many stories like that. Even a friend’s son got into 7 years medical program, he decided to withdraw after he passed interview and was about to enter medical school phase. It’s not because he is not capable to do it, but he doesn’t feel it’s what he wanted anymore. He graduated from specialized high school with focus on Allied Health, so he was actually exposed to medical field very early on and got into competitive 7 years program. However, it still happened that his interest changed and decided to withdraw.
Do you think school matters for pre-PT? Meaning certain program will prep student better than the other? I know Pitt’s Rehab Science major at SHRS has very good reputation to prep PT students. Rutgers also has pre-PT track which also provide 20 seats for early assurance to DPT after sophomore year. UDel’s DPT program is also top notch and I assume their undergrad program can also benefit from it.
I never saw it as a weed out situation just that since you are tied to whatever program/major they have available for direct entry students not meeting the requirements can limit your choices. I agree the a 3.25 gpa is acceptable. Many programs require above a 3.5 and higher to be considered for acceptance. I know of one student in a direct entry program that didn’t meet the standards. They were accepted the following year at a different program. For them it worked out. Direct entry is a good option for students who know they want to have a career in PT and have the money for the program both undergrad and the DPT portion. My D is a PT (graduated last year). She likes the field and is fortunate not to have much in the way of loans. The cost/salary ratio can be a challenge for those who have to borrow significant amounts of money. Good luck.
Congrats on these fabulous acceptances! I agree that all 3 schools will offer good opportunities and there is no wrong choice here.
As noted above- I would ask how many students remain on Stony Brook’s campus on the weekends. It happens to be an excellent school!
Pitt is one of my favorites, but of course it needs to be a good fit for your son. Pitt is also a very strong school.
Rutgers is also an outstanding school with plenty of local opportunities. If it is too big…that might be a reason to cross it off and narrow down the choices. My D is there for a graduate degree (not dpt) and loves it. It is a strong school with a lot to offer.
Honestly there is really no bad option. I would probably choose a direct admit school if he likes it and it is affordable, but of course I understand the reasons for not making that choice.
I work at a facility very similar to Children’s Specialized and our therapists have done their undergrad and grad programs at a variety of schools from big names to no names. We have OT’s who did all their schooling at Stockton which is definitely not a school anyone thinks could compete with Rutgers. All the therapists are on the same pay scale. All of the schools he got into can get him to PT school. Choose the one that he’ll be happiest at, where he thinks he can get the best GPA and fits comfortably in budget. It doesn’t hurt to make sure there’s other majors he’s interested in that he can access if he changes his mind.
A mom from Quinnipiac parent group told me that her daughter is also a swimmer and she swims at pool at Hamden high school which is about 15 minutes away from Quinnipiac. She said she will push her daughter to start a swim club next year.
