Paying for optometry school

[Breezy23]

I am currently in the process of applying to NECO and MCPHS (application is done, taking the OATs August 23 and waiting on LORs) for fall 2015. I am very overwhelmed about how I am going to pay for optometry school. The financial aid departments at both schools were very little help, basically saying that there are few scholarships but they are very competitive and most students just take out loans. I realize I'll definitely have to take out loans but I don't want $200,000 in loans when I graduate! I have looked for scholarships online, but most seem to be for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students. Does anybody have any advice about scholarships to apply for or any other way of paying for optometry school? Thanks!

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[EyEnStein 07]

The easiest thing to do is go to a state school where you will get instate tuition. Schools like SUNY and Berkeley come to mind. For example, if you were an instate student in NY and went to suny, your debt would be closer to 100k. Scholarships are tough, and for the most part competitive. Its really tough to get scholarships (unless they are incentive based scholarships) unless you start attending classes and get really high grades. Each school (should) have a dedicated page to scholarships and their eligibility requirements. They probably range from 500-2000 though from what I've seen. Not much, but definitely something. You'll just have to be ok with the fact that you will have debt. But this would pretty much go for any profession, especially in the doctoral level with the exception of a PhD.

 

[Breezy23]

The easiest thing to do is go to a state school where you will get instate tuition. Schools like SUNY and Berkeley come to mind. For example, if you were an instate student in NY and went to suny, your debt would be closer to 100k. Scholarships are tough, and for the most part competitive. Its really tough to get scholarships (unless they are incentive based scholarships) unless you start attending classes and get really high grades. Each school (should) have a dedicated page to scholarships and their eligibility requirements. They probably range from 500-2000 though from what I've seen. Not much, but definitely something. You'll just have to be ok with the fact that you will have debt. But this would pretty much go for any profession, especially in the doctoral level with the exception of a PhD.

Thanks for the response! I would love to go to a school where I can pay in state tuition, but sadly I live in MA where both schools have one tuition cost for both in state and out of state.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Thanks for the response! I would love to go to a school where I can pay in state tuition, but sadly I live in MA where both schools have one tuition cost for both in state and out of state.

If you went to an OD school in MA, would you still be living at home or would you live closer to school / rent? I would still look into state schools. You might have to pay the first year tuition out of state, but usually you can adjust your residency status after 1 year and start getting the instate tuition rate. Best of luck!