Anybody attending SCO?

[Bob_Barker27]

I am going to be applying to SCO, and I was hoping I could get a insider's perspective on the school. How are the professors? Do they have nice facilities? Were you able to get any scholarships? What's Memphis like? Any other information would be appreciated as well.

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[meb302]

I am going to be applying to SCO, and I was hoping I could get a insider's perspective on the school. How are the professors? Do they have nice facilities? Were you able to get any scholarships? What's Memphis like? Any other information would be appreciated as well.

Hey Bob,

I had an interview at SCO back in October. I heard the professors are very good. What impressed me about SCO (as with most people) was their facilities. The labs and classrooms were all amazing, filled with the latest technologies and were very organized. The eye clinic was even more impressive. I wasn't too thrilled with Memphis itself, but I'm going to spend my three day MLK weekend looking around a little more. SCO is one of two schools I am still debating on attending next fall... You couldn't go wrong by choosing SCO. A great school. Hope this helps.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

Hey Bob,

I had an interview at SCO back in October. I heard the professors are very good. What impressed me about SCO (as with most people) was their facilities. The labs and classrooms were all amazing, filled with the latest technologies and were very organized. The eye clinic was even more impressive. I wasn't too thrilled with Memphis itself, but I'm going to spend my three day MLK weekend looking around a little more. SCO is one of two schools I am still debating on attending next fall... You couldn't go wrong by choosing SCO. A great school. Hope this helps.

Thanks, meb

Does SCO offer students in your state in state tuition? I'm in South Carolina, and the only schools I can get in state tuition at are SCO and UAB. UAB seems impossible to get into because they take 40 students, and 20 of those seats are reserved for Alabama students, so SCO seems like my only realistic option if I want to minimize my debt.

 

[VikoOlya]

Thanks, meb

Does SCO offer students in your state in state tuition? I'm in South Carolina, and the only schools I can get in state tuition at are SCO and UAB. UAB seems impossible to get into because they take 40 students, and 20 of those seats are reserved for Alabama students, so SCO seems like my only realistic option if I want to minimize my debt.

Bob

Suny also offers in state tuition to out of state residents after the first year

 

[chemgirlie]

Hey Bob,

I had an interview at SCO back in October. I heard the professors are very good. What impressed me about SCO (as with most people) was their facilities. The labs and classrooms were all amazing, filled with the latest technologies and were very organized. The eye clinic was even more impressive. I wasn't too thrilled with Memphis itself, but I'm going to spend my three day MLK weekend looking around a little more. SCO is one of two schools I am still debating on attending next fall... You couldn't go wrong by choosing SCO. A great school. Hope this helps.

Let me just say that the first time I visited SCO, for their open house, I too was scared to death of Memphis! But when I went for my interview I decided to take a couple of days and really look around the city and the suburbs. Cordova is only about 20 minutes away from the school and it is a nice suburban area with lots of places to eat, theaters, and all that. It is a very nice area, and where I am going to live...Definitely go visit Cordova and Germantown before you decide that you don't want to go to SCO just based on that area of Memphis. Like many schools, SCO is in downtown, so of course it's a little scary...you don't have to live right next to the school.

By the way meb302, when was your interview? You sound a lot like this guy who I went on my interview with

 

[CarolinaKid21]

I am going to be applying to SCO, and I was hoping I could get a insider's perspective on the school. How are the professors? Do they have nice facilities? Were you able to get any scholarships? What's Memphis like? Any other information would be appreciated as well.

I interviewed at SCO this past October. The openness of the faculty coupled with the impressive Eye Institute made my decision of where to attend Optometry school easy. The facilities all seemed very organized with all the latest technology. SCO offers in state tuition for students who are residents of specific states. SCO also awards 30 endowed scholarships to students in each entering class. I don’t think the downtown area is as bad as some think and the school is far enough away from those unpleasant areas for it to be a non-issue.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

I interviewed at SCO this past October. The openness of the faculty coupled with the impressive Eye Institute made my decision of where to attend Optometry school easy. The facilities all seemed very organized with all the latest technology. SCO offers in state tuition for students who are residents of specific states. SCO also awards 30 endowed scholarships to students in each entering class. I don’t think the downtown area is as bad as some think and the school is far enough away from those unpleasant areas for it to be a non-issue.

Was the interview tough? Do you know if SCO cares about applicants having a whole lot of extracurricular and charity type of work? I got my undergrad in mechanical engineering, and I didn't have much time to participate in clubs that required me to be somewhere at a specific time. If they want examples of leadership, I am probably screwed.

 

[meb302]

Let me just say that the first time I visited SCO, for their open house, I too was scared to death of Memphis! But when I went for my interview I decided to take a couple of days and really look around the city and the suburbs. Cordova is only about 20 minutes away from the school and it is a nice suburban area with lots of places to eat, theaters, and all that. It is a very nice area, and where I am going to live...Definitely go visit Cordova and Germantown before you decide that you don't want to go to SCO just based on that area of Memphis. Like many schools, SCO is in downtown, so of course it's a little scary...you don't have to live right next to the school.

By the way meb302, when was your interview? You sound a lot like this guy who I went on my interview with

Hey chemgirle,

I interviewed on October 22nd, a Friday. I believe my time was around noon? Let me know!

 

[over minus]

I am going to be applying to SCO, and I was hoping I could get a insider's perspective on the school. How are the professors? Do they have nice facilities? Were you able to get any scholarships? What's Memphis like? Any other information would be appreciated as well.

I am a 4th year at SCO. I hope this helps:

Overall, the professors are good. There were a handfull that I really, really liked, and a handfull that I really, really disliked. The rest I thought were pretty good. SCO has very nice facilities, especially the new clinic. No I didn't get any scholarships. I think the clinical and educational experience is great here.

Some of your other questions could be answered if you go back to a thread from 4/2004 (see page 16). Some issues there relate to attrition. Some of my friends have had to either repeat a year or years or were dismissed altogether. If I were in your situation, I would read that post.

 

[stevec]

I am going to SCO!

GPA: 3.42
OAT: 340 actually it might have been 360 ...I'd have to check on that

I am a resident of South Carolina and graduate of Clemson University with a BS in Biological Sciences. I got accepted with contract seats at UAB and SCO. These were the only schools that I applied to. It was a really tough decision, but I decided to go to SCO. I don't think someone can really go wrong with either school. I liked the atmosphere at SCO, the larger size, the faculty, and the facilities. The clinic at SCO is top notch. I think some of UAB's stats are a bit inflated just because their class is so small, and they can be more selective. Academically , they did not seem as good as they try to make themselves out to be, although I don't think it is a bad school by any means. I just thought they over did the "we're the best" kind of attitude a bit. UAB's new clinic was nice, but it was practically deserted while I was there. I was told that they lost some patients during the renovation. In contrast SCO's clinic was humming. Very Busy. I think its just sort of a personal decision between these two schools. I got a bit of a bad vibe from Memphis from my visit too, but Memphis is a big city. You have to take into account the better parts as well. I'm sure Birmingham has its bad areas as well.

To answer the question about extracurriculars and such I really don't know (my reply is probably too late anyways...but for future reference). I was in engineering for 2 years at Clemson. I started out in general and moved to chemical engineering my second year. My grades were not too good those first 2 years, and I did not have much time for extracurriculars either. During that time I was somewhat involved with my church and one christian group on campus my freshman year. That is it. After switching to biology, my workload dropped drastically and I took up karate, sertoma club (a service organization), and got more involved with my church.

 

[bigred]

I applied to SCO and I decided that I was not going to attend the school when they said I could be escorted to my car by a security guard at night. I have also talked to students at my undergraduate school from Memphis and the popular opinion is "you don't want to live or even stop at at store within 15 minutes of the school." I also read the post about the weeding out professors so I asked about it during my interview. The interviewer seemed offended and then said she had the same opinion at first and changed her opinion as (I am paraphasing a jumbled 3 minutes of excuses) he failed less student and got in his groove. She then attempted to look down at me and say this is a graduate medical program and it is tough. I did notice that Memphis had a lot of good looking people even my blind file interviewer was attractive. So if you are looking for a future spouse, that has more than personality, SCO is a great choice.