had PCO interview on Feb 7, Tues but still no decision made

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Hi, I had an interview last Tuesday February 7th at PCO.
I was expecting to hear from them last Friday for the acceptance but didn't.
Will I hear from them Monday, like today? Or this coming Friday?
How come people are hearing from PCO like the next day or within a week?
Does anyone know if committee had a meeting after my interview on Tuesday?

i interviewed on feb 8 and i just heard back this morning, you will probably hear back soon too

I recall they did say 2 weeks. Just be patient

but i don't understand how jdom29 got accepted first when I interviewed one day earlier than him...I am so worried Im gonna cry..

Originally Posted by jdom29

i interviewed on feb 8 and i just heard back this morning, you will probably hear back soon too

What time EST did you hear back jdom29?

i am a girl lol, i heard back between 10am-11am EST. don't worry, if not this school, there will be another school. just keep your head up!

Originally Posted by zaizian

What time EST did you hear back jdom29?

if you are that worried, you could always call PCO and ask if a decision has been made regarding your application.

Originally Posted by jdom29

if you are that worried, you could always call PCO and ask if a decision has been made regarding your application.

actually they still haven't reviewed my file. I don't want to call because i don't want to sound too desperate and turn the committee off. Im not interested in going to other school...

well if they haven't reviewed it yet, then there's really nothing to worry about. just keep your head up. im sure everything will work itself out.

i just got accepted! woot ! Thanks everyone for the reply

congrats man if you dont mind me asking what did your stats look like. I want to go to PCO and also and im just trying to get a feel of what peoples stats are when they get in. I know i can look at the averages but id like to see real people.

Thanks and Congrats

Originally Posted by zaizian

i just got accepted! woot ! Thanks everyone for the reply

Excited for you!

Originally Posted by Pulse0021

congrats man if you dont mind me asking what did your stats look like. I want to go to PCO and also and im just trying to get a feel of what peoples stats are when they get in. I know i can look at the averages but id like to see real people.

Thanks and Congrats

Hello,
o man I am so relieved... I was worried so much because I was putting eggs in one basket. I applied to 5 schools but none of them replied yet or I didn't fill out supplemental application. I just wanted to go to PCO.

now that I am stress free, (or time to start happy worrying about finance, etc) I will try to help everyone out on the forum.

My understanding is that PCO accepts people even with low GPAs (from GPA2.5-), if you are passionate and have good understanding of the optometry field. That is why I applied:

my GPA: 2.78 (fall grade this year: A, B+, etc)
yes my undergrad GPA is low because I have C in some upper year courses that are known to be difficult. Also I come from a very prestigious school known for difficult curriculum. I actually can say my undergrad had heavy workload/course compared to other schools because I took a couple of other courses at other universities. Note that PCO gives extra point if you come from good/prestigious school, so you are at advantange even if your GPA is slightly at lower end.

OAT: TS330 AA320 (well above average but may not be good enough for other schools like Berkeley)

extracurricul: preoptometry club treasurer, dance club assistant at school, 3+ years working at a private practice doing EVERY possible duties imaginable, job shadow at 3 diff private practice, job shadowed ophthalmologist (even oberved him doing cataract surgery right beside him) and at his office but also worked for him, went to library and skimmed through optometry books (i did this to write optomcas essay but also for my leisure - and wrote about this in optomcas activity section), nonprofit organiazation cofounder.

interview: just show that you really care about optometry and prepare how to answer basic questions well. questions are all in sdn survey section for pco. use your hands to express your passion. i had so much to say and I was the longest in the room interviewing compared to other interviewees

Hope that was helpful. Feel free to ask or pm if you need more help

Originally Posted by optoapp2012

Excited for you!

Thanks! Time for me to contribute and help out other forum fellows

What school did you go to?

i had the same stats, applied in aug. didnt get in!

Originally Posted by vandal

What school did you go to?

Sorry I don't want to reveal my undergrad institution because there aren't many Canadians at PCO... But since I am Canadian, you can pretty much guess a few institutions that are prestigious and major.

Originally Posted by optohopeful123

i had the same stats, applied in aug. didnt get in!

write an extra essay for the committee with details of what you did to improve your stats and show your passion. I am sure optomcas essay was too short for you to talk about all this ( because I did).

you actually sent in an additional essay?

For all of those applying to Optometry school:

Don't worry. If you have a heart beat, the ablility to get loans, have taken some science classes and are not a deaf/mute, you'll get it.

There are more school seats than there are people applying now. In fact, you can probably bargain your tuition down if you try.

I imagine the curriculum will be dumbed down a bit for the 2.5ers to be able to get by and pay next semesters tuition.

You're all much too stressed.

Haha, and the boards are getting tougher so if you are one of the one in five or whatever it is that does not pass the boards, you better have fun practicing in Puerto Rico or elsewhere. Or end up only being able to teach basic lab skills and get paid only 70k a year or whatever it is (if you'll get lucky to get that spot). Just because you have below a 3.0 and you get in doesn't guarantee you'll become an OD Better save your money than waste your time.

Originally Posted by optohopeful123

you actually sent in an additional essay?

i was writing an additional essay because I wasn't hearing back from the interview. Then I got accepted so no, I didn't send it in. But PCO recommends any supplementary materials that may enhance your stats. Also PCO likes additional essay, according to their counsilor.

Originally Posted by zaizian

Hello,
o man I am so relieved... I was worried so much because I was putting eggs in one basket. I applied to 5 schools but none of them replied yet or I didn't fill out supplemental application. I just wanted to go to PCO.

now that I am stress free, (or time to start happy worrying about finance, etc) I will try to help everyone out on the forum.

My understanding is that PCO accepts people even with low GPAs (from GPA2.5-), if you are passionate and have good understanding of the optometry field. That is why I applied:

my GPA: 2.78 (fall grade this year: A, B+, etc)
yes my undergrad GPA is low because I have C in some upper year courses that are known to be difficult. Also I come from a very prestigious school known for difficult curriculum. I actually can say my undergrad had heavy workload/course compared to other schools because I took a couple of other courses at other universities. Note that PCO gives extra point if you come from good/prestigious school, so you are at advantange even if your GPA is slightly at lower end.

OAT: TS330 AA320 (well above average but may not be good enough for other schools like Berkeley)

extracurricul: preoptometry club treasurer, dance club assistant at school, 3+ years working at a private practice doing EVERY possible duties imaginable, job shadow at 3 diff private practice, job shadowed ophthalmologist (even oberved him doing cataract surgery right beside him) and at his office but also worked for him, went to library and skimmed through optometry books (i did this to write optomcas essay but also for my leisure - and wrote about this in optomcas activity section), nonprofit organiazation cofounder.

interview: just show that you really care about optometry and prepare how to answer basic questions well. questions are all in sdn survey section for pco. use your hands to express your passion. i had so much to say and I was the longest in the room interviewing compared to other interviewees

Hope that was helpful. Feel free to ask or pm if you need more help

2.78??? Wow PCO, way to have incredibly low standards. They probably just favored you because you're from Canada and you pay higher tuition and show "diversity"...this makes me feel like Jason K is right about the declining field

Originally Posted by janedoe88

2.78??? Wow PCO, way to have incredibly low standards. They probably just favored you because you're from Canada and you pay higher tuition and show "diversity"...this makes me feel like Jason K is right about the declining field

actually no. We all pay same tuition. and PCO has been accepting students with low stats from LONG time ago.

Originally Posted by zaizian

and PCO has been accepting students with low stats from LONG time ago.

you say that like it's a good thing.

Originally Posted by janedoe88

you say that like it's a good thing.

To be honest, yes, it may not sound like a good thing. But from my situation, I believe I do deserve being accepted as a low GPA applicant. I am a hard worker, and I focused my life mostly on studying from very young. I took a lot difficult courses (quite notorious among students too) in my undergrad because I stupidly decided to be enrolled in a difficult major. My school has 3 different levels of majors, and I chose to take the highest level - the most difficult. My electives were also difficult to because I took them out of interest. The class average was obvious at C. The class average for the tests, also at C.

Those so called "normal" courses I took, as well as a few prerequisites I took in other insitution, I have obtained A in them. So this proves that I am capable handling science courses.

The upper level courses that were difficult, I also obtained B+, A. So this also proves that I can handle science courses.

And I can confidently say "my school, my program is much harder" because I took courses at other insitution and at other programs, and they were much lighter in terms of workload and amount of material, and level of difficulty. I spent signifincantly less time studying, and I was able to pull off A.

The handouts from PCO specifically said, they evaluate applicants academic index based on which school you went, what majors you were in, what courses you took, etc. So you see, PCO must have considered these factors.

No offense to Americans but Canadian education system is known to be more challenging than American system. So the admission councilors (not only from PCO but also from others-NECO, SUNY) said that if you are Canadian, they will consider this factor even if Canadians have lower GPA.

Also I did really well on interview. I talked about the lessons I learnt at my work experience at a private office for 3 years. I talked about my principles of patient-doctor , staff-patient, doctor-staff relations . I talked about duties invovled in private office. All the information that people wouldn't know unless they worked at the office for a LONG time. My interviewer was really impressed with my insights and level of knowledge in optometry and she constantly agreed and was amazed with my thoughts.

So you see, PCO does look at all aspects of applicant's stats, and really tries to get an overall view of whether he/she is a promising candidate. So if you did bad in courses because you slacked or because you can't handle them, then those applicants should not be applying. If you have good reasons for low GPA, then admissions will know and will understand you.

Originally Posted by zaizian

To be honest, yes, it may not sound like a good thing. But from my situation, I believe I do deserve being accepted as a low GPA applicant. I am a hard worker, and I focused my life mostly on studying from very young. I took a lot difficult courses (quite notorious among students too) in my undergrad because I stupidly decided to be enrolled in a difficult major. My school has 3 different levels of majors, and I chose to take the highest level - the most difficult. My electives were also difficult to because I took them out of interest. The class average was obvious at C. The class average for the tests, also at C.

Those so called "normal" courses I took, as well as a few prerequisites I took in other insitution, I have obtained A in them. So this proves that I am capable handling science courses.

The upper level courses that were difficult, I also obtained B+, A. So this also proves that I can handle science courses.

And I can confidently say "my school, my program is much harder" because I took courses at other insitution and at other programs, and they were much lighter in terms of workload and amount of material, and level of difficulty. I spent signifincantly less time studying, and I was able to pull off A.

The handouts from PCO specifically said, they evaluate applicants academic index based on which school you went, what majors you were in, what courses you took, etc. So you see, PCO must have considered these factors.

No offense to Americans but Canadian education system is known to be more challenging than American system. So the admission councilors (not only from PCO but also from others-NECO, SUNY) said that if you are Canadian, they will consider this factor even if Canadians have lower GPA.

Also I did really well on interview. I talked about the lessons I learnt at my work experience at a private office for 3 years. I talked about my principles of patient-doctor , staff-patient, doctor-staff relations . I talked about duties invovled in private office. All the information that people wouldn't know unless they worked at the office for a LONG time. My interviewer was really impressed with my insights and level of knowledge in optometry and she constantly agreed and was amazed with my thoughts.

So you see, PCO does look at all aspects of applicant's stats, and really tries to get an overall view of whether he/she is a promising candidate. So if you did bad in courses because you slacked or because you can't handle them, then those applicants should not be applying. If you have good reasons for low GPA, then admissions will know and will understand you.

you can't blame your poor gpa on the fact that the courses at your institution are difficult compared to other institutions. optometry school's curriculum isn't exactly going to "easy".

Originally Posted by opto1989

you can't blame your poor gpa on the fact that the courses at your institution are difficult compared to other institutions. optometry school's curriculum isn't exactly going to "easy".

im not blaming. I stated what I felt. And also, I did better in upper years so eventually I learnt how to do well in difficult courses.

Well this all makes me feel much more secure about my 3.2! i was almost about to give up on optometry

WOW! i cant believe zaizian got in with a 2.72. (but congratulations!)
I am from Canada and have a 3.2 with a 290AA, 300TS(i only studied for a week)

i interviewed at PCO in October and my application was put "on hold" cause I was asked to retake the OAT and is still on hold since I am waiting for this semester to end so I can take the OAT again. I have close to 1000 hours of volunteer at various organizations/hospitals and 100 hours of shadowing. And my interviews went very well at both schools.

"No offense to Americans but Canadian education system is known to be more challenging than American system" couldn't of said it better myself!
I have been told by many admission committees that most "normal Canadian" Universities are considered IVY league in the US.

OAT > school you went to and your GPA

Originally Posted by 0bumblebee0

WOW! i cant believe zaizian got in with a 2.72. (but congratulations!)
I am from Canada and have a 3.2 with a 290AA, 300TS(i only studied for a week)

i interviewed at PCO in October and my application was put "on hold" cause I was asked to retake the OAT and is still on hold since I am waiting for this semester to end so I can take the OAT again. I have close to 1000 hours of volunteer at various organizations/hospitals and 100 hours of shadowing. And my interviews went very well at both schools.

"No offense to Americans but Canadian education system is known to be more challenging than American system" couldn't of said it better myself!
I have been told by many admission committees that most "normal Canadian" Universities are considered IVY league in the US.

"Ivy League" refers to an athletic conference, not a level of academic status. It just happens that several Ivy League schools are also very good schools. Many non-Ivy League schools are ranked higher academically than some Ivy League schools. The rigor of the academic system is highly dependent on the school you're talking about - all universities vary a great deal. And each program within a school has it's own level of challenge and reputation. I'm sure that's the same in Canada. For that reason, lots of grad programs rank undergraduate institutions on their level of rigor and take that into account when evaluating applicants. Don't knock our system!

I'll have to agree though, college is a bit of a joke in the USA.

Originally Posted by Shnurek

I'll have to agree though, college is a bit of a joke in the USA.

At my large state school, students were actually pissed that the average exam score for the first bio mid term was 74% (the second was 69%).

Students seem like they think they're entitled to get good grades. It's really pathetic and confusing to me.

Originally Posted by Shnurek

I'll have to agree though, college is a bit of a joke in the USA.

Wow. Way to generalize the entire higher education system. Just because some schools have grade inflation or easier reputations do not mean they all do.

College is basically the new high school. I'm sure some people in their elderly years now can remember when high school was actually high education. Its almost required for you to have a college degree to get any decent office job nowadays. Standards are going up which is good but at the same time more and more people are getting graduate training so its no longer as special if you have it. MD graduates for example are extending and sub-specializing their training more and more with increased residency times and extensive fellowships.

Originally Posted by Shnurek

College is basically the new high school. I'm sure some people in their elderly years now can remember when high school was actually high education. Its almost required for you to have a college degree to get any decent office job nowadays. Standards are going up which is good but at the same time more and more people are getting graduate training so its no longer as special if you have it. MD graduates for example are extending and sub-specializing their training more and more with increased residency times and extensive fellowships.

Yea but that's because they can...not because they have to to find a job. There's a high demand for general practitioners. There ARE more people going to college, but that makes sense with the fact that we are getting more urban and less rural - not as many families are farming, for example. That means the jobs that are available require more education (not to belittle the farmers - that's a different kind of education). Plus if you read Mills and similar philosophers, an education with a liberal arts background gives rise to a more conscientious and tolerant population...I won't complain about that! It's also alarming to think how common it was years ago for people to graduate high school and finish their education...no science classes beyond the high school level, no math like statistics, a complete lack of extensive writing and literature skills. I think it's wonderful (but expensive) that we're moving toward lots more higher education. Full disclosure...I might be partial, because I used to be a teacher

Originally Posted by optoapp2012

There's a high demand for general practitioners.

Unfortunately the demand is higher than the reimbursements. That's why almost everybody in an American MD program says, "I'm studying my butt off so I don't get stuck with Family Practice."