Multiple Acceptances

When you are applying to PA school, you dream of having the problem of deciding between two or more acceptances. After considering the obvious questions of finances, living expenses, city life (or lack thereof), and proximity to family, if you still have several options on the table, here are some things to consider.

Things I didn't know I cared about until I didn't have them:

-How are the exercise facilities? I miss the days of free, endless college fitness classes and a huge gym that takes up a whole building. My little school has a "gym" the size of a small hotel's. But, they give us free access to an express gym downtown (still no free classes or pool though).

- Does your school have IT support? You have to use different computer programs and must maintain a functioning laptop. I'm used to a herd of computer nerds employed by the college just to fix my laptop problems. My PA school has absolutely no IT support. It sucks.

- Do they offer health insurance? I turned 26 while in PA school, and there was no student health insurance through my school. Luckily, healthcare.gov saved me tons of money, but it was not as easy and cheap as group insurance through school can be.

-Are there places to study? My school has ridiculously sad library hours. They are closed all day Saturday and are only open from 1-6pm on Sunday. During the week they close at 7pm. This really cramps my style when I count on reading textbooks on reserve. If you buy all your books and prefer coffee shops, this isn't a big deal.

-Will they allow you to do a rotation or two outside of their network? While you don't want to be required to find your own preceptors, many students in my program are setting up a rotation in their hometown. This is important because many students get hired at sites where they rotated- it's like an extended job interview.