Hi everyone!
I have been accepted to almost all of the programs and colleges I have applied to which was definitely unexpected and I’m extremely overwhelmed as to where I should go. I know I want to work in the medical field as either a PA or a DO. Please do not tell me to aim for becoming an MD as I do have my own personal reasons why I chose DO.
Anyway, out of all the programs I have applied and been accepted into, I am stuck between 2: NYIT Old Westbury for their 3+4 BS/DO Program and Hofstra University for their Direct Entry 3+2 PA Program. I also applied to and interviewed at Wager College for their 2+3 PA Program and it went extremely well and while I am not going to be cocky about it, I feel there is a good chance I will be accepted.
Each school has their own pro’s and con’s for me.
At NYIT, I feel it will be difficult to make friends and it will be hard to succeed. I could be wrong, but I believe they accept more student into the undergraduate portion and weed out the class and only accept a few for the medical portion. I am uncomfortable with the fact that they are kind of hoping people fail so that they can dismiss them from the program, and that the people in my classes are the people trying to beat me for a seat. This does not mean at all that I plan to not work as hard in college as I am currently, it’s just there is no guarantee you will be accepted into the medical school and that if your grades or MCAT are not excellent because the work-load is so accelerated, you may not be accepted anywhere. HOWEVER, I really enjoy the fact that if I was to make it through the program and into medical school, I would not have to pay an extra year tuition. While money isn’t a huge deal-breaker for my parents and I, that is a big savings. I think it is also a great opportunity to get to know the faculty during the undergraduate portion because it is all on the same campus. To get “face-time” with them and to establish a relationship with them early could be exponentially beneficial.
At Hofstra, I feel there is not as much pressure put on us to be dismissed from the program. They have said once you are accepted, they will go to great lengths to make sure you are happy and doing well. There is a family friend atmosphere between the students and professors and I think that would make it easier to do well and get any extra help you need. From what I know, they do not weed-out students as long as your gpa is above the minimum which is also nice to know. The only down side which isn’t that big of a deal is that there is only one year of clinical rotations.
At Wagner, it’s pretty much the same vibe as Hofstra, except the campus and class size is a lot smaller. The main difference in my opinion is that at Wagner, there are 2 years of rotations- the first being the mandatory ones and the second being electives in which you choose and would likely specialize in. The down side here for me is that I would be unable to commute and would have to live on campus. Yes, I am weird and wanted to commute to college… Also, I have not been accepted yet which is also very important to keep in mind. I am very cautious about saying I will go to (X) if I have not been accepted there yet.
So, if anyone is still reading this and wants to relay their opinion, I would be very thankful.
If anyone has additional information about any of the programs or attends/graduated from one, it would be especially nice to hear from you. Just throwing this out there as well, this is just what I believe is correct about each school. If something is wrong, let me know.
Have a nice week people and good luck to everyone else in similar situations! :)>-