tninaud

@PhDinPublicHealthHopeful Bloomington is fantastic. The campus is beautiful; the town is quaint. I'm from Indiana and I think I always took Midwestern hospitality for granted. I've lived in the South for a couple years, and people here are certainly friendly, but folks from the Midwest are the same way. Bloomington is very diverse, and for a small Southern Indiana town, cosmopolitan. There are so many great restaurants, bars, music venues, theater performances, etc. And being a small Southern Indiana town, the cost of living is low, too. I highly recommend that you visit the campus soon to get a feel for it. As far as winters go, the best I can tell you is that it's anybody's guess. Personally, I think the snow before Christmas is lovely (walking through campus during a snow you feel like you are in Godric's Hallow). After Christmas, cold weather will last into early March. I will say that I've grown accustomed to the mild winters in Tennessee, but an Indiana winter truly isn't that bad. The beautiful summer and fall make enduring a somewhat long winter worth it. I'll also add that being a major research university, the faculty is incredible. Make the trip! You won't regret it.

I'm leaning the same way--in the direction of the school that provides the most funding, I mean. Sure, it'd be nice to have an NU or Vandy diploma on the wall, but at what cost? And are the job opportunities for students coming out of those programs that much better? So much so that they're worth the stomach-churning debt? I'd like to believe that an NU or VU degree certainly couldn't hurt job prospects, but it seems that a field like audiology doesn't give much weight to "prestige." I'm speculating, of course. I could be entirely wrong. I'm beginning to preach, but something must be done about the cost of professional degrees, beginning with the consumer--the people willing to pay, or rather, borrow. Caveat emptor, people. As I said in the last post, I might be able to justify six-figure loans if I were attending med school, and maybe law or business, depending. To each his own, though. If you are comfortable with that heavy load, god bless you for your strength. If anyone has attended or is attending a private school like NU or VU I'd like to hear why you made the decision, especially if you matriculated without funding. Do you believe the employment outcomes justify the expense?

I'm in the same boat. I've applied to four schools--two private (Northwestern and Vandy) and two public (IU and UTenn). Still waiting to hear from Vandy and IU. I'd love to attend NU, but the cost of attendance, even with the funding, is overwhelming, and I'm not yet convinced that taking on that much debt is worth it. Friends of mine in medicine and law seem not to have a problem accruing six-figure debt loads, but, at least in the case of medicine, salaries are capable of paying that back. I went to IU for undergrad and I'm from the Bloomington area. I can't say enough good things about Bloomington and IU. I foolishly graduated early--how I regret not doing a victory lap! The cost of attendance would be very affordable, and I've been doing some research about funding. IU offers many internal fellowships for doctoral students. From what I've been able to find, it offers more than NU. I've ruled UTK out due to the lack of funding and the price tag on their instate tuition, for which I would qualify as I've live in TN for the past two years. One thing that has become important in my increasingly lengthy pro/con list is employment outcomes. I have a somewhat clear idea about where I'd like to work--good hospital or VA--and I'm not sure if those opportunities would be harder to attain if I attended IU. The AuD program is housed in Bloomington, not on the medical campus in Indianapolis. Maybe it's best to put all the names of the schools into a hat and draw one (?) I realize I've been no help. I'd be curious to hear what factors are most important to you. Cost and employment are two biggies for me. Rank comes into play as a secondary factoring stemming from my two primary concerns. The private schools have a higher rank and a higher price tag because they are private. Maybe the employment opportunities are better for students graduating from those programs? Some enlightenment on employment outcomes would be helpful.