I visited the three schools you mentioned and heres what I thought of each. Since most schools curricula are about the same, I will focus on the non-academic stuff. Also, I will be away from my family at any of the three schools, so being close to my family was not a factor for me.
I have nothing against any of the schools or the people who attend there, these are just my opinions from what I gathered during my interviews.
Nova:
I really liked the location, the facilities, and their use of technology. Their most attractive thing is their multidisciplinary program. I really liked the idea of going to school with people from other health professions, and seeing different people all the time. To me this is an advantage over schools that are optometry only, and you have to be around the same people all the time. I also liked the people being interviewed that day, and the students I met. Everybody seemed to have an interesting background, not just an academic one. On the negative side, the school didnt seem to have enough substance. It is relatively expensive, and it didnt seem to offer enough quality. Due to the high tuition, and the high cost of living, probably at I would get in more debt that I would like at Nova. The financial aid officer told us that we should expect to borrow around 150K.
SCO
Even though I didnt have time to visit the nice part of town, Memphis was alright. I was a little concerned about my safety because I was driving around at night without knowing if I was in a bad area or not 😀 . One of the positives of the school is that they have programs to help students manage debt, and they have a good placement program. Also, the cost for the summer semesters is included in the tuition for the school year, whereas the other schools charge you extra for the summer semesters. Overall, the school impressed me negatively. Most people speak highly of it, but it didnt seem that impressive to me. The clinic was very nice, but the old part of the school was pretty generic. The classrooms seemed old and outdated, while the labs were basic too. They gave us the impression that they cheap out on stuff in order to keep tuition low. Probably the biggest turn off was when they told us that their placement program was exclusive to SCO students. I found it odd that in a time when optometrists are criticizing OMDs for being exclusive, a school would limit other OD students from learning about job opportunities (even though SCO students can get information about job opportunities from other schools such as Nova and Pacific). I had lunch at the school, and met a couple of 4th years; when I asked them what they thought about the school, they reinforced my impression of the school, they answered its not too bad.
UHCO
I was close to canceling my UHCO interview. I thought that this school wouldnt offer me anything that the other two schools had already offered me, but I decided to go anyway. I was surprised when I got there. They have a great clinic, and have access to a wide range of patients. Out of the three schools, this was the only one to have a low-vision clinic. I was expecting to have to write an essay at my interview, but there was not one.
Even though this was the most expensive school I was applying to (because I am from out of state), it was the one that appealed the most to me, and the one that showed the most quality. I really liked that it was part of a large university, and the recreation center across the street was very nice too.
After I visited the schools, it seemed to me that I had to make a decision between the nice school (Nova), the good school (UH), and the cheap school (SCO). Right now I am 90% sure that I am going to Houston. They will also let me pay instate tuition, which makes it more attractive.
What made you pick SCO over the other two schools?
