Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Physical Therapists
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Touro College, College of Staten Island, Stony Brook, and Mercy College.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Touro College, Mercy College, College of Staten Island, and Columbia.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider Daemen.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider NYIT, Long Island University Brooklyn, NYIT - Old Westbury, and Mercy College.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider The Graduate Center, Mercy College, Sage College, and SUNY Upstate.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Columbia, NYU, Ithaca, and NYIT - Old Westbury.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of New York Medical College, Clarkson, Ithaca, and SUNY Downstate.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Columbia, NYU, Stony Brook, and Ithaca.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Columbia, Hunter College, NYU, and Stony Brook.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at SUNY Downstate, SUNY Upstate, The Graduate Center, and Ithaca.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Columbia University • New York, NY
Studying Physical Therapy (completion in 2003)
• 5/6/2011
"There are so many reasons. So much support was given. Also, there was plenty of opportunity to learn."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Definitely. They have the best program for my career. I believe anyone can be happy there. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | They were rated top ten among physical therapy schools. There are great teachers from all over the world. |
| Program Quality | 10 | My school offered many different opportunities that allowed us to be successful. I interned and volunteered, and the school made this possible. |
| How Difficult | 10 | It was very hard. There were so many medical and math classes. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The program had online classes as well as classroom hours. Also, many field hours are required. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | There were classes offered day and night and also on weekends. That way, we can work and go to school. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | It has the best library I have ever been to. Also, there are computer labs all over the place. |
| Social Life | 10 | School spirit is very high. This is readily apparent at sporting events and on the school's Facebook page. |
| Placement Services | 10 | They helped place us in jobs before graduating. That way, everyone was guaranteed a job. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | The school has a really strong alumni program. We still talk to each other and stay in touch. |
Utica College • New Hartford, NY
Studying Physical Therapy (completion in 2009)
• 7/28/2011
"I think it was a good school, definitely worth it. I would recommend it!"
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It was in a good area and in a medium sized city. The teachers and staff were all very good. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | PT was a big "money maker" for Utica College. And since it's one of the only doctorate programs, it was regarded very highly. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The school was small and had a good program. However, I did not feel completely prepared with to treat patients. |
| Instruction | 7 | Again, the college did not prepare me for the treatment of a patient, as it mostly focused on evaluation. Also, it focused on the licensure test a lot and almost taught to that test. |
| How Difficult | 5 | I did not feel that it was that hard, as I didn't have to study a lot. My classmates would most likely disagree, though. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I think it was a mix. There were a lot of papers and a lot of research to do. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 1 | The school was very small, so there was hardly any options. Most classes were only offered at one time. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | There was a newly renovated PT building. The library was great. There's a brand new anatomy lab as well. |
| Social Life | 6 | I was only there for graduate school, so this is difficult for me to rate. I did not participate in my of the social activities. |
| Placement Services | 5 | The program's main focus was to pass licensure. I think that with PT, once you get licensed you can find a job anywhere, so the school did not have to focus on job placement so much. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | There are very little alumni events. And I do not think many alumni attend, if any. |
Columbia University • New York, NY
Studying Physical Therapy (completion in 2011)
• 10/22/2011
"I went there to get the best education. However, I wonder if it was worth it to pay all that money."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | It depends on what your goals are. This school may be for the professionally ambitious. Also, if I were in a good financial situation I would be more inclined to endorse it. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | I know there are clinical affiliations in New York that will only take Columbia and NYU students. An individual from Rusk even told me he prefers Columbia students. However, I think at times this reputation may be overstated. |
| Program Quality | 4 | I felt school was a time when people just told you constantly how stupid you were. I also had a hard time sitting in class for about 40 hours per week. I did appreciate some of the opportunities opened to me by my school. |
| Instruction | 6 | My professors were all very knowledgeable in their subject areas. Such a lecture heavy program was not the best for my learning style, though. |
| How Difficult | 7 | It is hard to be in a classroom 30-40 hours a week then be expected to study another 20 hrs per week at least. In order to do this, sleep, physical fitness, social life, or other things must be sacrificed. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | As aforementioned we spent lots of hours in the classroom. Also, I heard how NYU's program was different and more hands on than ours. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 2 | When you have class as many hours a week as we did it is difficult to have much flexibility. Unfortunately, we also had group projects to coordinate, which consumed even more of our time. Professors sometime allowed exceptions to miss class. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The facilities were tight and not always the prettiest. However, we had the rare opportunity of being able to see some unique aspects of PT through all of the NY Presbyterian connections and faculty connections. |
| Social Life | 7 | People do like to party to work out their stress. After a while you tend to hang out mostly with your inner circle. Also, there are a lot more women then men. It is also in New York City so there is always something to do. |
| Placement Services | 6 | I frequently get e-mails with job opportunities forwarded to me. I appreciate this, but I think I could find these job offers just as easily if I did a quick google search. I also do not know if the school could really do anything more in this department. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | Alumni always seem to be active in returning to school as TAs or providing other services to the school. In the clinical affiliations, alumni often extend themselves to take and help Columbia students. |
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