I’m not sure exactly where to post this so I thought I’d start here. D2 is a junior working towards completing the prerequisites for applying to DPT programs and plans to apply next fall. Do most students visit programs before applying to them? What types of things should a student be considering beyond price? Do these programs consider interest in their program when reviewing applicants? It seems to me that most accredited DPT programs will have similar coursework and clinical requirements. It also seems that outcomes are similar so I am curious if visiting has any advantages over the information one can get online.
I think this varies by field. I don’t know about DPT programs; for PhD programs, it’s pretty common for students to visit before they enroll (and some programs have interview and visitation weekends explicitly for this purpose). I personally wouldn’t visit before applying; I’d save visiting until she’s been accepted to some places and is trying to narrow down her choices. (The exception is if she’s close to a few programs and it wouldn’t cost much to visit.)
DPT programs are professional programs, so considerations are a little different, but here’s what I’d think about price:
-Some programs may have strengths or specialties in certain areas, even if the base coursework is the same. If she’s interested in athletic rehabilitation, or aquatic rehab, or working with military members or with children, or something like that - maybe some programs of interest have strengths in those areas or special access to those populations.
-Outcomes may be similar, but that’s important to check. What’s the pass rate for any licensing exams that are required? What do graduation rates look like? What do placement/employment rates look like, and where do students end up? She may have to call or email the schools directly for this information.
-There are quality of life considerations, too. She’ll be in this program for 3 straight years; that isn’t a terribly long time, but it is a chunk of her life. What about location, cost of living, etc.? It’s also sometimes easier to land a job in the place your grad school is, because you make connections; if any of the programs are in a place she’d like to live in the future, that could be a minor consideration.
I don’t think programs consider interest the same way they do in undergrad, so you don’t need to visit to signal interest like you would with some undergrad colleges.
Thank you for your response. Cost is obviously a factor. We are in a state with several public universities that offer DPT programs so that is helpful. She has been doing a fair amount of shadowing and has a very general idea of the areas she would like and those that might not be as interesting to her. I’ll let her know about asking about specialties. Outcomes are usually published but I don’t think I’ve ever seen statistics concerning the percentage of students who drop out of a program. They normally give placement rates but not where students are finding positions.
“It’s also sometimes easier to land a job in the place your grad school is, because you make connections; if any of the programs are in a place she’d like to live in the future, that could be a minor consideration.”
This is something I haven’t considered and I’m not sure she has either. I’ll pass this onto her.
I think dropout rate is less of an issue in professional doctoral programs than academic/research-based doctoral programs, but it still may be worth asking. As for the where students are finding positions, that’s something you can ask career services directly. They’ll have that information even if they don’t publish it publicly. Personally, I would say it’s a red flag if they can’t even give anecdotal tales of where some students have ended up after graduating.