I go to Northeastern State in Oklahoma and I have very little to complain about.
Pro's:
1. Small class sizes. Since we only have 28 in each class, professors actually know you on a first name basis and there's a real family atmosphere. The faculty and staff tell us at orientation of 1st year that they've already done their "weeding out", and that it's their goal to get all 28 through the program and successfully into practice.
2. Top-notch Clinical experience. With the combination of our small class sizes, about 55,000 patients seen each year in our various clinics (many of whom are unhealthy native americans = lots of pathology), and Oklahoma having the widest scope of practice in the country, I am told that our clinical experience is unmatched by any other optometry program. We start school screenings and observation in clinic during our 2nd semester. And our 3rd/4th years are very good about talking us through each exam (most exam rooms have teaching tubes we can look through during slit-lamp), and many of them even offer to let us do various chair skills we've learned in lab (VA's, cover tests, visual fields, EOM's, pupils). We officially start seeing patients 2nd semester of our second year (just one a week at first, increasing to more as we become more comfortable).
3. Low cost of living. While Tahlequah isn't everybody's cup of tea, the cost of living here is crazy cheap. Some examples: Many students live in the apartments literally across the street from the school, 1BR/1BA options for $399/mo, or 2BR/1BA options for $499/mo. I chose a newer duplex less than a mile from the school with 2BR/2BA for $600/mo that I split with a fellow classmate. Many married students buy houses/trailers at very affordable prices as well, then sell them 4th year.
4. Challenging but very manageable class load. While I've studied more than I ever did in undergrad, I never feel overwhelmed. Also, the way the curriculum is set up a lot of our classes have topics that line up and go hand in hand. The professors are excellent and also pretty good about moving tests around so that we don't ever get swamped on any specific day or week. I don't know of anybody failing any classes, and I think most students end up with A's and B's if they put in the work.
5. Very cheap in-state tuition and one of the cheaper out-of-state tuitions. If you're an Oklahoma resident, coming here for about $14,000/yr is kind of a no-brainer. But out of state is still competitive with all other optometry programs (about $28,000/yr 1st and 4th year, about $35,000/yr 2nd and 3rd year).
6. We have a Chic-fil-A on campus, walking distance from the optometry school. Yes, you heard correctly.
Con's:
1. No big city perks. As far as culture, fancy restaurants and an abundance of things to do, Tahlequah is no NYC. But we are just a short drive from lake Tenkiller and a couple rivers, if the outdoors are more your thing. The night life is also fairly lacking, there's a few decent hangouts but apparently smoking in bars is legal in OK, so I'm not a big fan of that. This can be looked as a pro too I guess though (less distractions from school). And if you don't mind driving about an hour, Tulsa and Fayetteville have quite a bit to do.
2. Tahlequah is not for everybody. I mean it's no Memphis, but there's areas and certain locals that are suspect to say the least. And I'm pretty sure most of the "people of Walmart" are at the Tahlequah Walmart, lol. To be honest, I get a lot of free entertainment so I guess this would almost be a plus for me.
All in all, NSUOCO is awesome and I couldn't be happier with my decision to come here.
