Compare/contrast PUCO & SCCO

[somebODy else]

I never thought that I would 'get' to make a decision, but as fate has it, I've been accepted to PUCO and SCCO.

From what I've learned, both schools have comparable curricula with a substantial emphasis on early clinical experience. SCCO might have more diverse and active clinical experiences while Pacific may give more time to vision therapy. Can anyone elaborate/ add to these observations? Any comment on quarters(SCCO) vs. semesters(Pacific).

I'm from Grand Junction, Colorado, a relatively small place with a moderate pace of living. The thought of getting within 60 miles of L.A. scares me. Traffic, smog, crime, high cost of living(especially real estate) are all negatives for Fullerton/LA. But great climate, sun, cultural diversity seen great. Rain, rain, and more rain coupled by a very small town(too small?) atmosphere could be bad for Forest Grove.

SCCO students: What are the great things that you love about Fullerton & SCCO? Do you spend lots of time in traffic commuting to clinical or observation experiences? Could a small town guy really make it in Fullerton?

Pacific students: How many umbrellas to you own(honestly!)? How depressing is 30 continuous days of rain? What are the highlights of Pacific and Forest Grove?

Thanks for the input!

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[prettygreeneyes]

I never thought that I would 'get' to make a decision, but as fate has it, I've been accepted to PUCO and SCCO.

From what I've learned, both schools have comparable curricula with a substantial emphasis on early clinical experience. SCCO might have more diverse and active clinical experiences while Pacific may give more time to vision therapy. Can anyone elaborate/ add to these observations? Any comment on quarters(SCCO) vs. semesters(Pacific).

I'm from Grand Junction, Colorado, a relatively small place with a moderate pace of living. The thought of getting within 60 miles of L.A. scares me. Traffic, smog, crime, high cost of living(especially real estate) are all negatives for Fullerton/LA. But great climate, sun, cultural diversity seen great. Rain, rain, and more rain coupled by a very small town(too small?) atmosphere could be bad for Forest Grove.

SCCO students: What are the great things that you love about Fullerton & SCCO? Do you spend lots of time in traffic commuting to clinical or observation experiences? Could a small town guy really make it in Fullerton?

Pacific students: How many umbrellas to you own(honestly!)? How depressing is 30 continuous days of rain? What are the highlights of Pacific and Forest Grove?

Thanks for the input!

I don't have anything particularly useful to contribute to this thread other than I love Grand Junction! (I will be attending Pacific this fall provided I resolve my temporary lapse of sanity, and have no experience with SCCO!) I was born in Moab, UT and my extended family still lives there. Grand Juction was the "metropolis" that us Moabites would flee to for decent shopping and Sam's Club. (Patheticl, I know!) I can still remember those summer trips to Grand Junction... 100 degrees plus outside... couldn't wait to get those free samples and the air conditioning at Sam's Club!

 

[Subiedubie]

I'm not an optometry student at Pacific nor SCCO but I do live in Seattle and go to UW. Being from the Pacific Northwest I can honestly say that this past autumn was one of the most depressing seasons we have had in quite some time. I believe we had rainfall for around 37 days or so. A little shy of our record but depressing nonetheless.

It seems that both schools are very reputable so I would pick SCCO for the weather, and location. Just my 2 cents.

 

[iiiimonica]

I'm not an optometry student at Pacific nor SCCO but I do live in Seattle and go to UW. Being from the Pacific Northwest I can honestly say that this past autumn was one of the most depressing seasons we have had in quite some time. I believe we had rainfall for around 37 days or so. A little shy of our record but depressing nonetheless.

It seems that both schools are very reputable so I would pick SCCO for the weather, and location. Just my 2 cents.

I interviewed and was accepted to both (though I ended up picking a differnt school) Here is my list for why SCCO
1. Facilities, SCCO hands down, it is BEAUTIFUL, with lots of new equioment and gadgets. they are stand alone school (okay across from Cal Fullerton) so it has a more exclusive feel to it. Seeing both schools shocked me - PUCO is about as expensive as SCCO, but no where as nice
2. Location - SCCO hands down. I grew up in East LA and Fullerton is NOT like "LA" at all, it has a suburban feel to it (you will need a car) and is actually a quiet place 20 minutes from anything (LA inside joke), as for Forest Grove - I liked it, but there own students call it Forest Grave, not much to do and Portland is not so close

either school will be a good choice, but if it was my money I'd go with SCCO, Fullerton is pretty mellow - so don't be scared!

 

[Turquoise]

I go to Pacific. I'm also from Colorado, but I lived in Oregon for 3 years before starting school so I'm a little bit Oregonian too.

Yes, it rains a lot from about December to April. But when when you're in school it doesn't matter that much. Honestly, you're inside pretty much all daylight hours in the winter anyway, often in a dark practice room with no windows. 🙁 And other times it helps keep you on track because you might as well stay in and study instead of goof off outside in nice weather. I own one umbrella, it's in the car for when I get caught off-guard. (The big joke is that Oregonians don't use umbrellas, but whatever. I see them everywhere.) Some people are more bothered by the rain than others. I'm not really. As a Coloradoan, I actually still find rain kind of fun. 😉 And the summers here are day after day of sunny, perfect, not-too-hot weather that more than make up for the damp winters.

Oregon is fantastically beautiful, with both an ocean and snowy mountains w/i a 2 hour drive. There are a million things to do here from surfing to skiing to golf, all in the same day if you're inclined. Forest Grove does kind of suck, it's tiny and boring. (I have never heard the expressiion Forest Grave - ha!) But Portland is a great smallish city and it's only 35-45 minutes away. I actually commute a lot because my boyfriend lives in Portland. It's not a bad drive at all especially just to go there on weekends for fun.

The lack of a sizable patient base and the limited exposure we get to disease before graduating is probably the biggest disadvantage to the Pacific program. But the groundwork education is the best in the country and our board scores and pass rate are the highest of any school. And yeah, VT is all the rage here if that's your thing.

Pacific will be getting a new optometry building and moving the program to Hillsboro, Oregon in a couple years. So choosing Fullerton because of how nice the building is... well I think that's a poor reason in the first place, but the new health sciences site makes it an irrelevant reason too. My class won't be using the new building, but I guess yours would. Also our procedures and dispensing labs all have brand new equipment as of this year. The university also has a brand new library.

I know nothing about SCCO as it wasn't a school I applied to. I did just hear recently that the classes there have been about 80/20 women/men. I thought that was interesting, if it's true. Pacific is more like 50/50.


Good luck with your decision. Both are good schools and in the end you'll probably be happy with either choice.

 

[stompy]

I didn't know Oregon is the school with the highest board scores and pass rate...I guess you learn something new everyday.

 

[prettygreeneyes]

Kinda strange... both schools I interviewed at said they had the highest board passage rates (ICO and Pacific). But, I hear everyone else on the forum post that their school has the highest. Hmmm...

 

[xmattODx]

Kinda strange... both schools I interviewed at said they had the highest board passage rates (ICO and Pacific). But, I hear everyone else on the forum post that their school has the highest. Hmmm...

How many people make it through four years of school and end up not being able to pass boards? My bet, not many. Most schools would have a similiar passage rate at the end of a cohorts four years at school. First time pass rate of part I may be slightly different between schools but your passage is more dependent on the effort you put in than your school.

 

[Turquoise]

Kinda strange... both schools I interviewed at said they had the highest board passage rates (ICO and Pacific). But, I hear everyone else on the forum post that their school has the highest. Hmmm...

Well I guess that isn't surprising. I don't know if anyone can prove it. Our faculty keep reminding us of the "fact" everytime a boards discussion comes up in class though. I'd be curious to see the stats all in one spot and see what's really true. Our (PUCO) first time pass rate is about 93-95% of the students while the national average is in the 70 percentile somewhere, so they tell me anyway. Also the single highest score last year came from one of our students.

 

[somebODy else]

The lack of a sizable patient base and the limited exposure we get to disease before graduating is probably the biggest disadvantage to the Pacific program. . . . .

. . . . And yeah, VT is all the rage here if that's your thing.


I know nothing about SCCO as it wasn't a school I applied to. I did just hear recently that the classes there have been about 80/20 women/men. I thought that was interesting, if it's true. Pacific is more like 50/50.


QUOTE]


Thanks for the input!

Can the limited exposure in Forest Grove be counteracted with choice of externships in the fourth year? How much of your clinical time is dedicated to the Forest Grove clinic?


This next one may bee worth a new thread . . . Vision Therapy. My brother recently had his 7 y.o. son to see a VT specialist, and his perception of the process was not particularly complimentary. He felt that it was a little 'fringy' and maybe just plain Quackish. That said, he's not an OD, and really has no scientific basis on which to rest his opinion. Is there significant room for skepticism within this field of optometry? Behavioral studies seem to have less controlled circumstances, and end up having a greater latitude of interpretation or a looser relationship of cause and effect. Any (informed) opinions?

Finally, the more balanced gender ratio at Pacific is nice.

 

[xmattODx]

Is there significant room for skepticism within this field of optometry? Behavioral studies seem to have less controlled circumstances, and end up having a greater latitude of interpretation or a looser relationship of cause and effect. Any (informed) opinions?

Do some reading: http://www.oep.org/forthe.htm

 

[OD2B07]

I would reccommend living close to the school if you went to scco. I moved here and was terrified of the traffic but I am fine now and enjoy all Southern California has to offer. I figured I would never live here otherwise so why not. I think I wouldn't like it as much if I had to commute all the time though, i can walk to school in under 10 min. You spend countless hours practicing in the preclinic labs and studying so you don't really want to live too far away. Yes the rent is expensive. My apt first year was a 2 bed 2 bath with out air for 1400 a month. So a roommate is a must. The school does own some condos that they rent out at a lower price, there's a waiting list though. I looked at PCO and just felt that i couldn't stand 4 years in one building, plus I felt the admissions lady was really snooty. SCCO just felt more right for me. I liked their campus and the new clinic they have is amazing and uncompairable. Believe me you will not be lacking in vision therapy experience if you come here. Infact I've always heard that other schools don't teach it. I know pco does but not that heavily. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[chester]

Do some reading: http://www.oep.org/forthe.htm

This video clip is only about 3 minutes long, and it's about Vision Therapy.
http://www.webmd.com/content/pages/25/113572.htm

I also attend Pacific, and had to decide between SCCO and Pacific. The rain helps you study, it's probably safer at night here (compared to Fullerton), and rent is around $300 to $450 per month depending on what kind of living arrangements you have. If I remember correctly, an appartment very close to SCCO was ~$600/month.

Also, consider your classmates. Since you're from Colorado, I'm guessing that you enjoy outdoor stuff...like skiing, camping, hiking, etc. Those hobbes are shared by myself and many other of my classmates. I think that's important. SCCO gets a lot of students from SoCal, and generally enjoy the city life, maybe more so than you enjoy the city.

You'll cherish your free time. So, make sure you know what's fun to do!