Marquette vs. Duquesne vs. Ithaca BS/DPT?

College Search & Selection
1

D16 was admitted freshmen direct entry BS/DPT programs. All are 6 year programs with very similar graduation rates and 1st time pass rates and course requirements. We do not qualify for any financial aid. We will not be taking out any loans to pay for education. Which would you choose?

Marquette (BS: Biomedical Science)
Merit $15,200
TUITION/R&B per year (after merit) $35,300 (undergrad) $40,000 (grad) = **$221,200/b

Duquesne: (BS: Biology & Health Science)
Merit $12,000 + $3000 R&B
TUITION/R&B (after merit) $37,000, $60,000 (grad) = **$268,000/b

Ithaca: (BS Clinical Health Science)
Merit $10,000
TUITION/R&B (after merit ) $45,000, $46,000 (grad) = **$271,000/b

D16: was also accepted at Pitt (No money), Purdue (No money) and Drexel ($15K). These would all be traditional 4 year programs and then applying for graduate school.

2

Does you D have a preference? Dos any school have better job placement rates? Looks like all options are affordable and that they will all give her the education she needs.

3

@happy1 no " real " preference, except she sort of prefers a city. 6 months job placement is 100% for all 3. She would probably have picked Pitt if it were direct entry, she cannot justify traditional 4 year route at this point Pitt would have been OOS and cost more just for undergrad than most BS/DPT for complete program. Thank you for responding. Your comment hit the nail on the head…they are all affordable and they will all give her what she needs…

4

Some subjective differences :
Marquette will be the most strongly Catholic. Sporty - jocky. Very cold/snowy/windy. Lots of spirit. In a city but not quite Chicago/twincities, more like Syracuse.
Duquesne: more compact campus, very lively city (but she must go to the Pitt campus area, as Duquesne is in a suburbanish area ofbthe city, sort of on a bluff aside, very pretty but not in the thick Of things), slightly fewer students than at Marquette, relatively better weather
Ithaca : super lively college town, very pretty campus and surroundings, possibility to take one class or two over at cornell (not sure if pt students can though), in-between the other two when it comes to weather, less sporty than Marquette, more artsy, less commuter than Duquesne.

5

@MYOSI634 - Thank you. She has not done a campus visit at Ithaca, although we have been on campus several years ago. She did not like Ohio U or Wooster (similar size college towns) so I am guessing Ithaca would be similar IHO. I like that Ithaca is not religious, Duquesne because it is closer to extended family in Ohio (we are in TX) and Marquette because it is the cheapest (but also a good fit academically). She plays LAX so sporty is ok and she wants to minor in Music so artsy is ok too.

Honestly when she makes pros/cons lists they all come out equal. But when I look back on the my post I think it is becoming clearer. Thanks everyone sometimes you just need to “talk it out”. She is generally pretty good about making her own decisions but this one seems to have her stumped.

6

At this point my best advice is that once a decision is made that you never look back. Order a hoodie online, throw out the stuff from the other schools etc. She has great choices so congratulations to all.

7

Ithaca’s much bigger than Wooster though, if you add Ithaca college’s and Cornell’s students. Or at least it 'feels’much bigger.
But yes unlike Marquette and Duquesne it’s not a big city.

8

Hello. My daughter also is deciding between Ithaca DPT and U of Delaware- but that would just be an undergraduate degree and she feels she should only consider the 6 year program. Ithaca is a beautiful campus - she likes it very much but had in her mind that she really wanted more of a rah-rah school. Even with this feeling, she is leaning towards Ithaca.

9

@rosie2girls - Yes - that is the first hurdle the direct entry path vs. the traditional path. We visited U of Delaware last summer, I think we were on campus maybe 10 minutes before D16 said “Nope, this is not for me!”. Ithaca is a well respected program, we had visited campus back when she was in middle school on a trip to visit relative in Rochester, Ithaca definitely fit my vision of college. My D16 made her decision a few days ago and we have paid her deposits…she picked Marquette. Good Luck to you and your D as you make the decision.

10

Can you detail the decision process and what criteria “won the cup” for Marquette?

11

I live in pittsburgh and Duquesne is actually closer to downtown pittsburgh than pitt is… Pitt is in Oakland which is still close but not right next to the city where Duquesne is…

12

@MYOS1634 - How she decided…after she got over the hurdle of direct entry vs. traditional route (which was really just a decision of practicality). She says that she went by (in order):

Academic Rigor - she looked at the SAT/ACT/GPA statistics of incoming students, graduation rates, first time pass rates (Common Data set stuff) trying to determine the academic rigor and if it seemed to be at a level at which she would be able to succeed, not too hard and not too easy and GPA requirements

Cost - Marquette was one of the most affordable with the highest stats and they really seemed to stress getting done in 6 years (She had acceptances for BS/DPT programs at Marquette, Ithaca, Duquesne, Seton Hall, Quinnipiac and U of Sciences).

Program Curriculum - DPT cohort size (Marquette was about 60-65, Duquesne projected around 80-85, Ithaca projected around 100), ability to access/register for classes (early access to the gross anatomy lab, junior year), “real” courses not “fluff”, # of clinical hours and clinical locations (700 to choose from at Marquette), ability to specialize etc.

Rank/Reputation - Marquette being the highest ranked direct entry program DPT (#12) and well ranked overall (Although that DPT - USNWR rank is a bit bogus IMO you can read up on how they determined that ranking…) Throughout the whole process she has asked current working PT’s about what they thought of the programs she was applying to and most seemed to have a good opinion about Marquette. What everyone else thought about where she should go to school.

Environment - Location/size (city/medium), dorms, extra curricular/clubs (it was important to her that there was a Women’s LAX club), study abroad opportunities (some of the programs make it very difficult to fit in time to study abroad), access to campus (airfare from home), diversity (Marquette, although not particularly diverse in general, was the most diverse of the 3 programs she had narrowed down)

Things I wish she had taken into deeper consideration: weather, religion (we are not catholic), proximity to family (maternal family in Akron/Cleveland, Ohio and paternal family in Rochester, NY).

Hope that helps someone!

13

T’es, it’s very useful, thank you !