General Admissions & OTCAS Is the going to NYU worth it? (MSOT)

[gyllatopa]

I was just accepted into the program a few weeks after I committed to another school. NYU has always been my dream school and the commute isn't terrible. I was looking at the tuition there and it is so much money. I was wondering if NYU really is worth it?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ot_mc10]

Hi! I am on the same boat as you and decided to go with the program that has the more affordable tuition. It was a really tough decision for me but ultimately, I had a friend that graduated from NYU for OT and said the expensive tuition was not worth it for her and that all programs are more or less the same curriculum. She stated that she felt like she was paying for the name of the school and the location and wished that she graduated with less debt. Hope this helps!

 

[OTish20]

I have been in a similar boat although I can't speak on NYU's program itself, my reasoning has been that there needs to be some sort of middle ground between reasonable tuition, quality of program, curriculum, how the professor's research aligns with my own interests/general prestige and connections of the professors, reputation, and fieldwork opportunities. I personally think it's extremely short-sighted to pick school based on tuition alone, as the experiences you have in the program matter very, very much. A lot of people say that it doesn't matter where you go to school, just go to the cheapest one and that the thing that matters most is the type of clinician you are, but where do you gain those clinical skills and experiences? At the school you go to lol and you can definitely have great experiences at more affordable & unknown schools, but I think school rankings have some credence to them.

Anyway, I don't know exactly what the tuition rates are at the schools you're interested in, and I don't think paying an too much more than 100k is reasonable solely because of average earning potential for OTs, but I think there are many factors to consider beyond just cost. Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps!

 

[prodigiousflame]

Okay I will make this clear because I don't want prospective students to have the wrong information. Unless a school has a poor reputation as in poorly prepares students and has a high failure rate of students passing the NBCOT, the school you go to DOES NOT MATTER in the field of OT. OT is not the equivalent of law and business school where the school ranking and connections you make within the program are essential. A person who goes to an extremely expensive OT school and a person who goes to an affordable OT school WILL GET THE SAME JOB AND MAKE THE SAME WAGES. You do not need "special connections" through professors to land a job in this field. The connections that helped me the most were the ones I made at work through coworkers and as I've repeated in other places on this forum--my school was barely accredited and we still had a wide variety of fieldwork placements including placements at highly regarded prestigious facilities.

A school's job is to help you pass the NBCOT and to have the general knowledge to be a competent OT. The real learning will happen on the job and as you continue to accumulate skills throughout your career through mentorship, bouncing ideas off of other coworkers, and continuing education. I've had friends land jobs in renowned medical facilities not because of the school they went to, but because of their work experience and passion for OT. Many people who've gone to expensive schools regret it when they've graduated and are making their monthly loan payments that chips away at chunk of their monthly income. Try to ask OT's who are working and paying their bills and making their student loan payments this question as they will have a different mindset and perspective than other students applying to schools. Base decisions off of reality and try to look past the image and prestige of a school because that won't determine your job or wages but it WILL determine how much debt you'll be in and the ripple effect on financial milestones and things you want to achieve in your life.

 

[Lizufin]

I agree with those who say that where you go does not matter. The school's purpose is to prepare you for the NBCOT. The school will have no influence on your ability to get jobs. I am currently an OT student and a COTA/L with seven years experience. The only thing that has mattered for me when job hunting is my license. Three months of fieldwork experience in a particular area won't give you an edge when applying for jobs. When employers are looking for experience, they measure that experience in years, and that is because you don't come out of school as a fully developed therapist. School provides you with a basic concept of OT upon which to build, but most of your learning is done on the job.

 

[OTish20]

I agree with those who say that where you go does not matter. The school's purpose is to prepare you for the NBCOT. The school will have no influence on your ability to get jobs. I am currently an OT student and a COTA/L with seven years experience. The only thing that has mattered for me when job hunting is my license. Three months of fieldwork experience in a particular area won't give you an edge when applying for jobs. When employers are looking for experience, they measure that experience in years, and that is because you don't come out of school as a fully developed therapist. School provides you with a basic concept of OT upon which to build, but most of your learning is done on the job.

This still really feels like one side of the picture. If someone plans to solely be a practitioner and never go back to school again to earn their PP-OTD or PhD, then this is probably true. If someone wishes to go further into academia, hold a leadership position in the AOTA, their state's OTA, or become a FAOTA, schooling may matter and it may be safer to not take a chance on that. You may build connections through coworkers and places after graduation, but you also network and build connections while you are in school. There are a few schools in my area and, for example, one is a brand new, tiny program with extremely limited fieldwork options and there may be some great placement locations but many students mentioned that they get placed far away in rural areas in settings they weren't particularly interested in. Another is the public school which has a strong, long-standing reputation in the community, and is one of the oldest programs in the state. This school provides fieldwork opportunities at some of the best health care facilities both in the state and the country. These will be places where you will network and build connections for future jobs as well.

Really, paying really more than 50-70k for your education doesn't seem too reasonable simply given the average salaries. This is why I mentioned finding a middle ground of quality and price. Someone may say they went to the #1 ranked school but it made no difference in them getting a job. Well...how do you know that? Even if you think that, that doesn't make it true. Everyone, including employers, have implicit biases of all sorts. Overall, it's a very personal choice and it's important to be appropriately informed before making a decision and make the best decision for you, personally and financially. Don't break the bank but don't compromise on the educational and professional experiences you may have at a given school. It's also important to take anecdotes from strangers on the internet with a grain of salt, though, as you have no idea where their biases may lie.