Ohio State University (OSU Optometry)- PROS/CONS

[optomize]

I dont see much about OSU on SDN....Does anyone have any info about OSU? What are the pros/cons? Any major negatives?

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[optomize]

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[koonsaar]

Do you have any specific questions? It’s one of the top programs in the country and the entering class stats and board scores reflect that. It’s a relatively small class size, and they’re building an entirely new optometry building which will be done by the time you enter clinic. And they have the best college football team out of any University with an Optometry program so Saturdays during football season are a lot of fun. Plus there’s plenty to do in the city of Columbus when you need a break from studying.

 

[optomize]

Do you have any specific questions? It’s one of the top programs in the country and the entering class stats and board scores reflect that. It’s a relatively small class size, and they’re building an entirely new optometry building which will be done by the time you enter clinic. And they have the best college football team out of any University with an Optometry program so Saturdays during football season are a lot of fun. Plus there’s plenty to do in the city of Columbus when you need a break from studying.

Hi! Thank you so much for responding to me!! Do you think there any major negatives of OSU? Also...is it difficult to get into/finish the OD/MS program? What does your schedule look like??

 

[koonsaar]

I just finished up my first semester, so I’m speaking from a combination of experience and what I’ve heard from students and professors. For me the biggest “negative” is the cost for being an out of state student. You can get in-state tuition after the first year, and most everyone does, but it is a bit of a process (must get an Ohio liscence, reimbursing your parents if you’re on their health insurance plan/ phone bill, can’t leave the state of Ohio for too many days out of the year etc.) But the financial aid office does a great job of explaining everything you need to do, and for saving $21,000 it’s definitely worth the hassle. As far as the OD/MS program, I believe they said that they have yet to turn anyone away from the program who wanted to do it. There is a research program called the T35 which is during the summer after your first year, and you get paid through a grant to collect research/data for your masters project. The T35 program is competitive, as there are only 6 slots I believe. Pretty much everyone who does the T35 goes on to get their OD/MS. But you can still do the OD/MS program without doing the T35. As far as schedules it really varies day to day and week to week. Some days were class 8 to 5 with an hour for lunch, other days when we didn’t have lab we would have class in the morning and the afternoon off. Nothing before 8 or after 5 and nothing on the weekends (occasionally there were optional review sessions at 7 am, and we had I think 2 required events in the evening for the semester). This semester looks like class 8 to 12, labs in the afternoon two days a week and afternoon clinic one day every other week. On weeks when there’s no tests you will have free time to do whatever you want and there’s plenty of clubs within the Optometry program as well as tons of activities going on throughout the actual university. On weeks that you have tests, the amount of free time you have depends on how you study and your ability for time management.

 

[Blessed1212]

I just finished up my first semester, so I’m speaking from a combination of experience and what I’ve heard from students and professors. For me the biggest “negative” is the cost for being an out of state student. You can get in-state tuition after the first year, and most everyone does, but it is a bit of a process (must get an Ohio liscence, reimbursing your parents if you’re on their health insurance plan/ phone bill, can’t leave the state of Ohio for too many days out of the year etc.) But the financial aid office does a great job of explaining everything you need to do, and for saving $21,000 it’s definitely worth the hassle. As far as the OD/MS program, I believe they said that they have yet to turn anyone away from the program who wanted to do it. There is a research program called the T35 which is during the summer after your first year, and you get paid through a grant to collect research/data for your masters project. The T35 program is competitive, as there are only 6 slots I believe. Pretty much everyone who does the T35 goes on to get their OD/MS. But you can still do the OD/MS program without doing the T35. As far as schedules it really varies day to day and week to week. Some days were class 8 to 5 with an hour for lunch, other days when we didn’t have lab we would have class in the morning and the afternoon off. Nothing before 8 or after 5 and nothing on the weekends (occasionally there were optional review sessions at 7 am, and we had I think 2 required events in the evening for the semester). This semester looks like class 8 to 12, labs in the afternoon two days a week and afternoon clinic one day every other week. On weeks when there’s no tests you will have free time to do whatever you want and there’s plenty of clubs within the Optometry program as well as tons of activities going on throughout the actual university. On weeks that you have tests, the amount of free time you have depends on how you study and your ability for time management.

Do you know if they accept students with a lower gpa but higher oat?

 

[Purkinja]

Do you have any specific questions? It’s one of the top programs in the country and the entering class stats and board scores reflect that. It’s a relatively small class size, and they’re building an entirely new optometry building which will be done by the time you enter clinic. And they have the best college football team out of any University with an Optometry program so Saturdays during football season are a lot of fun. Plus there’s plenty to do in the city of Columbus when you need a break from studying.

Cough,cough

OSU has a great OD program HOWEVER, until UAB School of Optometry defects from the UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA system OSU hardly fields the best team of OD programs!

 

[OcularMigraine]

I just interviewed at OSU recently and the process for getting state residency was a huge con for me. Otherwise, I really loved the school and location. Is the school worth it and the extra money for out of state? For me, it would cost $50,000 more for me to attend the school compared to the other schools I've been accepted to.

 

[anonnnnnnnnn123]

I just finished up my first semester, so I’m speaking from a combination of experience and what I’ve heard from students and professors. For me the biggest “negative” is the cost for being an out of state student. You can get in-state tuition after the first year, and most everyone does, but it is a bit of a process (must get an Ohio liscence, reimbursing your parents if you’re on their health insurance plan/ phone bill, can’t leave the state of Ohio for too many days out of the year etc.) But the financial aid office does a great job of explaining everything you need to do, and for saving $21,000 it’s definitely worth the hassle. As far as the OD/MS program, I believe they said that they have yet to turn anyone away from the program who wanted to do it. There is a research program called the T35 which is during the summer after your first year, and you get paid through a grant to collect research/data for your masters project. The T35 program is competitive, as there are only 6 slots I believe. Pretty much everyone who does the T35 goes on to get their OD/MS. But you can still do the OD/MS program without doing the T35. As far as schedules it really varies day to day and week to week. Some days were class 8 to 5 with an hour for lunch, other days when we didn’t have lab we would have class in the morning and the afternoon off. Nothing before 8 or after 5 and nothing on the weekends (occasionally there were optional review sessions at 7 am, and we had I think 2 required events in the evening for the semester). This semester looks like class 8 to 12, labs in the afternoon two days a week and afternoon clinic one day every other week. On weeks when there’s no tests you will have free time to do whatever you want and there’s plenty of clubs within the Optometry program as well as tons of activities going on throughout the actual university. On weeks that you have tests, the amount of free time you have depends on how you study and your ability for time management.

Hi, I know it's been a while since you've posted this but I'm curious about getting in-state tuition. Do you know if other schools do this as well, and if it's possible for an international student to get in-state tuition? Thanks!

 

[koonsaar]

Cough,cough

OSU has a great OD program HOWEVER, until UAB School of Optometry defects from the UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA system OSU hardly fields the best team of OD programs!

Still debatable, but I’d say Ohio State is still 42-35% better at football than Alabama.

 

[koonsaar]

Hi, I know it's been a while since you've posted this but I'm curious about getting in-state tuition. Do you know if other schools do this as well, and if it's possible for an international student to get in-state tuition? Thanks!

I’m not too sure about other schools, but Ohio State was the only one that I remember from the schools that I was planning on applying to. Since there were no schools in my state every school was either out-of-state tuition or a private school.

As of a couple years ago when I started, international students weren’t able to get the in-state tuition but you could email the financial aid office to get a definitive answer.

As far as the process goes for obtaining in-state tutition, it was kind of a pain/annoyance. But to save $21,000 dollars a year for the last 3 years it’s definitely worth the added budgeting and paperwork.

 

[AcademicEyes]

Hi, I know it's been a while since you've posted this but I'm curious about getting in-state tuition. Do you know if other schools do this as well, and if it's possible for an international student to get in-state tuition? Thanks!

Other public state schools probably do this (e.g., Berkeley does), but only for U.S. citizens. "After the first year of the program, non-resident U.S. citizens and permanent residents may apply to become in-state residents. This will reduce your fees by removing the non-resident supplemental tuition in the subsequent semesters."