<p>I'm currently finishing up my Sophomore year. I've been taking various courses with an undeclared major and it's about that time where I make my decision. I decided to be a Radiologic Technologist, however, my school does not offer this program anymore. I would have to transfer to a CC to attain an Associates and Bachelors.</p>
<p>I just need some advice before making my final decision. Should I stay at my University and find a major to work with or transfer to a CC where this degree is offered?</p>
<p>I've never attended a CC before in my life. I don't look down on CC's becuase that's where some of the most successful people get their education from. I just want to know how is it like to attend a CC?</p>
<p>Also, it is noted on several websites that the job outlook for Radiologic Technologist will be growing steadily, but I'm really afraid of not being able to find a job out of school because I read on Indeed about how some people are jobless after attaining their rad tech degree and I would hate to be in that position. Does anyone have reliable information about this job?</p>
<p>Anyways, some insight would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>Well, if you are in California, the job market for rad techs is very good. </p>
<p>If you really want to be a rad tech, I would suggest that you talk to the CC that offers the program and find out what internships and job placement opportunities there are. </p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with going to a CC if that offers the career that you really want.</p>
<p>I think that the problem is that many folks go to for-profit schools to get health care degrees/certificates, which have horrible job placement records.</p>
<p>Admission to the rad tech program at our cc is quite competitive. I would recommend you call the cc and ask a few questions: </p>
<p>1- Are there prerequisite courses you need to take before beginning the program?
2- What is the application process, criteria and how many students apply?
3- How many students complete the program? (Don’t be shocked by a low completion rate. Even though it’s at a cc, rad tech, like nursing, is a challenging program.)
4- What percentage of students pass the registry on the first try? Within a year? (You MUST pass the registry to find work and most programs will have very good pass rates.)
5- What is the job placement rate? </p>
<p>It is not unusual for grading to require a 75% to pass the class and it’s not unusual that if a student fails one core class, he is out of the program. Find out what the provision is if that happens. (At our local cc, students wait a year and are allowed one more attempt at the class.)</p>
<p>There are 3 schools in my area that offer a bachelor’s in this. Students spend two years at the college doing prerequisites and gen eds. Then they do 2 years at a hospital school. Check out jrcert.org for accredited hosptal and cc programs. As stated above, you must be able to sit for the national registry exam in order to be employable. In terms of getting the job, it doesn’t matter if you have a certificate from a hospital program, an AA, or a BA. You need to pass the registry. </p>
<p>Admission at the local hospital school, which has a100% pass rate on the registry exam, is very competative, think 30% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Good luck to you. It’s a good career with good opportunities.</p>
<p>I’m not from CA, but our CC (Community College, right?) only offers an Associates Degree, which you generally get after 2 years. Why would you forgo a 4-year college degree program in favor of a 2 year Associates degree? Meanwhile, you should also talk to a few professors are your current school to find out why this major was dropped and what they recommend.</p>
<p>If you really, really want this kind of a job, I highly recommend you speak to someone who works in Radiologic Technologist. Someone would be flattered to help and guide you. Ask how they got started, what kind of degree, where they went to school. </p>
<p>One last bit of advice: you never know where your jobs will lead you. It’s best if you don’t get so specific in one area, as you might change your mind or new opportunities may arise. That’s why I’m suggesting you do your research now.</p>
<p>@crizello, I don’t live in CA, I live in FL. :/</p>
<p>@collegewego & ordinarylives, thanks for the suggestions! Looks like I def. have to go speak to several advisers before making the bold step to leave my uni to attend a CC. </p>
<p>@limabeans, I’m not forgoing a bachelors for an associates instead. In fact, I need to get my associates in this major before I can sign up for the bachelor program. Looks like the people that actually do well in this field are those that specializes in a certain area.</p>
<p>@GMT, that article is referring to radiologists. They’re actually doctors. They go through one hell of schooling for their degree and make hella money.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the input! Keep them coming, if there’s any more =D !</p>
<p>I’d also throw in the suggestion to job shadow. D1 started in this major with a goal of becoming a nuclear medicine tech (1 year beyond the BA). She had her first job shadow in the chest x-ray room at a regional hospital. She stopped by my office afterwards and said, “Mom, do you know what the tech does ALL Day? Chest x-rays!” She had better procedures for the next job shadows, but decided by midterm that the job didn’t have enough connection with patients.</p>
<p>If you haven’t done so, go see how rad techs spend their days. Make sure this is really what you want. As D discovered, research and being on the receiving end of many of these procedures (former upper level gymnast, injuries go with the territory), didn’t give her a good enough picture of what the job was like.</p>
<p>I still think it’s a great job for the right people.</p>
<p>There are 4 year colleges that offer bachelors degrees in various health science fields like RT, ultrasound technology, etc. Around here they are very nice paying job, staring around $60K if you work in a hospital. That is nothing to sneeze at really. I just did a quick search and there are 72 colleges around the country that offer this program as a BS degree. Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences is the only one in FL though. There are several in Louisiana, some in GA, TN, VA if you want to stay in that general region.</p>
<p>@ordinarylives, if I ever get the great opportunity to shadow, I’d never let that slip by! I really think it’s the right job for me as I’ve always wanted to go into the healthcare field, but I’ve never placed that much importance on the social aspect or the interaction with the patients when it came down to it. This may sound silly as I’m only 19 years old, but I feel like I’ve wasted so much time and money at @ current uni taking random courses and I feel kinda… rushed(?) at this point. I really feel like I don’t have time to ‘shop’ around diff. majors anymore, so hopefully this path would work out for me. For some reason, it just feels ‘right’ and I can’t say that about many things.</p>
<p>@collegemom, I definitely agree with you. 60k is def. not something to sneeze at! Honestly, if I could start off at 50k, I’d be THRILLED. One of the aspects that I like the most about this job is the ability to be able to go back to school and specialize in different modalities as I please. Job advancement is def. important to me. And also, Valencia College actually offers this program, and that’s where I plan on attending! Hopefully it all works out once I talk to several advisers.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input everyone. It’s really great to be able to get some advice from people that has more life experience than I will ever have!</p>