Sunday, October 12, 2008

Grad school hunting

There are basically four schools and two degrees that I'm interested in. A master's degree (aka nurse practitioner license) and a PhD (aka license to do lots of research and teach). So I narrowed down my list of schools by finding ones that would a)be in places I'm willing to live b)have some way for me to work on both degrees at the same time and c)help me pay for those degrees. The list ended up being University of Rochester, Boston College, University of Pennsylvania, and OHSU. OHSU is sort of an honorable mention for reasons I'll explain later. Let's go through the pros and cons of each:

1. University of Rochester
Pros: I'm already here. MS/PhD dual degree program. Fully paid tuition for said program. Associated with a really high quality teaching hospital.
Cons: Staying in Rochester for 5 more years.

2. Boston College
Pros: 4 year MS/PhD program. Boston looks cool.
Cons: Boston's expensive. Not sure about the funding for this one. Reputation of not liking people from outside the area. Jesuit school, which may or may not matter.

3. University of Pennsylvania
Pros: Ivy league. Associated with nationally recognized hospital. Fully funded for PhD portion of program, plus $20K stipend. Philadelphia looks cool.
Cons: Have to fund the Master's degree myself (only one year). Moving to a new city.

4. OHSU
Pros: Portland! Faculty with my exact research interests. Associated with really good hospital. But mostly, Portland!
Cons: No dual degree program. No Adult Nurse Practitioner program (only Family). Bureaucracy.

So, based on this list Penn and UR are looking pretty good. But then I have to take into account what I actually want to do, which changes frequently. Right now I'm kinda liking the idea of bedside nursing, which I give up if I get my NP. But, I could still do if I just got my PhD. In which case, OHSU jumps to the top of the list. So, I think my plan right now is to apply for all of these things and then decide based on what I want to do when the decision has to be made. Usually there's an option to defer admission for a year, or start out part-time, which I could do while working a full-time job as an RN. Although I'm open to any suggestions for alternatives or additions to this plan.

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