Financial Aid?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

eb520

Full Member
5+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2018
Messages
45
Reaction score
16
Which schools are known for giving out a lot of financial aid in the form of scholarships and grants? I'm paying for optometry school by myself and I'm worried about having to take out too much in loans... Any advice?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Berkeley gives each student in good academic standing ~5-6K per year, and you can get an additional reduction in tuition of about $6K your last year for going to clinics outside the Bay Area. Living there is expensive though so if you don’t find a reasonably priced living situation then you end up paying more anyway.

I would pick the school with the cheapest tuition/living expenses.
 
If you use all the data posted to ASCO, the best two schools based on oldest program, highest ultimate NBEO pass rate, lowest total expenses (tuition/equipment/fees/cost of living) is SCO and MCO. With Berkeley, even though most get in-state after first year, cost of living in the Bay Area kills the deal. UCB and UHCO are the two most expensive schools amongst all opto schools.

Based on this, I have no idea why any out-of-staters would go to UCB or UHCO, if they chould choose SCO or MCO. SCO costs an estimated $109k less than UHCO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top