So this is the big question to ask! I have recently wrote my blog about this question on figuring this out.
I had to make a difficult choice as well with what school I went to. The school I was in LOVE with gave me no financial aid, so it was straight up 120k for the entire program. I actually ended up going to my alma mater, who ended up being nationally ranked as a program as well...and I paid 80k for the whole thing. You need to decide what your priorities are, and being happier in one environment vs. the other is not a dealbreaker.
Prioritize first what you are looking for in a school:
1. passing RATE : if you see below <95%... I would think about whether the other factors are worth it. A school should want their students to pass because ultimately it will look bad on their program. They need to prioritize on you if you end up struggling so they will give you the right resources.
2. type of curriculum and structure you learn best with
3. access to research if you're interested in this (doing research with a professor or how prioritized this is vs none at all) : if you are looking to do research, many programs offer tag-alongs onto a professors research to eventually present at APTA CSM (PT conference). I was interested initially and ended up not doing research with my professor anymore because I preferred doing an independent case study. My case report was eventually accepted to the PT conference (national) and I got to present by myself
. There are ways to do things on your own!
4. access to things because you're in a city vs. suburbs is not a huge deal. You don't need access to things, once you have your degree you may need to make some leeway to get into hospitals you want to work but what you can do is ask where clinicals are usually placed. The other thing you could do is during your school semester breaks, reach out to places that you see yourself working at and start making connections like that. That is ultimately what I ended up doing because once you have your degree you are marketable anywhere.
5. I did not love how my curriculum was structured. I had to do self study 95% of the time because my brain did not work the way they were teaching it. In the end, you just need an accredited school with a fair passing rate. The rest of it is really up to you whether you will have the tools and put it all together yourself. Some people think the school matters a lot... but i feel like whether I went to a more expensive school i dreamed of vs. where I ended up going, I will be stuck in a library either way. You make your way up and you make yourself pass. I know it's not a great answer but all these little things that you look at are so small when in the end it is the degree you need.
6. Making your choice based on how happy you'll be is not a strong basis. When you're out in the "adult world", you're out in the adult world alone. You are the one responsible for your debts and income. Make the adult decision on what is financially best for your future so you don't end up with a huge pile of stress/debt over your shoulders when you graduate. I was about to choose my "happy place" because I always wanted to live in a city....but I didn't. And sometimes, the money is really not worth it. I would have been more stressed if I had 140k+ more debt in my life and basically I would be enslaved to this debt for my working career. Not a nice feeling.
This is a big decision to choose but ultimately it is 3 years of your life you are investing in a place. Hope this insight helped!
