How long till you hear from ICO?

[Jay12]

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Hi,

Just a quick question for the people whom got accepted to ICO....how long after your interview did you get your acceptance? And was it through a phone call, formal letter, email, etc....?

Thanks.

 

[Bright Eyes]

I interviewed on Oct 12...and got a formal letter via snail-mail on Nov 5. They told me on my interview day that the next time the committee would meet was Nov 1. Good luck to you!

 

[JackCM]

I interviewed on October 15th and received a phone call on October 29th saying that I had been accepted. I received a letter a few days later.

 

[MegaSis]

I found out about 2 weeks after my interview as well.

 

[artiSUN]

I found out about 4 weeks after my interview 😛 just at the 3 week mark, I called and was told they were just getting to reviewing the past few weeks of interviews and mine was in there. So after about another week, I finally got a letter 🙂

 

[ICU07]

Would any of you mind sharing your stats? I have an interview at ICO in 2 weeks but not too sure if I am a strong enough applicant for ICO. I know I should be positive but its hard. Any imput?

 

[artiSUN]

science GPA was ~3.5 or 3.6, I forget. OAT TS 370

The stats got me the interview, but I think it was my experience that impressed them. I've worked at a private practice for nearly 2 years dealing w/ insurance, pre-testing, filing, patient education, lense cutting, etc. Pretty much everything minus the actual exam. I volunteer at the Braille Institute and work with low vision/blind students as well. They also want you to be able to convey a realistic picture of optometry, understand that it's not all perfect relations (especially w/ MDs), that it is constantly growing and expanding in scope, etc. They want to know that you've really researched the various aspects, the downsides, the upsides, and the future of this profession and know why it's what you want to do over any other options you might have taken. Knowing and conveying all of this during the interview lets them see that you have done your homework. Your stats only give them an idea of whether you'd be academically competitive and as long as your stats aren't questionably low, you'll be fine. Applicants who've made it into the school have gotten in doing less than I have or more than I have, so just take this as material you can look up and learn about to give yourself more things to say during the interview. good luck!

 

[Jay12]

artisun, I see that you only posted your TS OAT scores. I also observed that on the ICO website, only showing the TS scores for the entering class last year. Is that because ICO shows greater significance for your TS scores over your AA scores?

 

[JackCM]

GPA 3.41, TS 330, AA 340. I think the interview is definitely more important once you get one! Mine was mostly conversational, we talked for a while just about how I made my decision for Optometry, he seemed most interested in that I had researched the field and looked at other options, which I had.

 

[artiSUN]

I'd say there's more a focus on on science, but my AA was also 370. I forget the acronym for that one all the time so I just don't enter it. But I'd say you should get ATLEAST a 300 or higher in each section, preferably higher to be safe. I think your science curriculum has greater relevance and you just need to have competent skills in reading comp and math as both definitely supplement the rest of your science education. But again, stats will only get you so far (in most cases, the interview) and the rest relies on your experiences and the effort you put into learning about the profession. I know SCCO looks at your stats to decide on whether you get an interview. After that, it's pretty much all on the interview as it's closed file. ICO is open file and they made comments on my stats, but most of the conversation focused on my experience and knowledge of the field.

I don't know whether ICO or any other school really focuses more on TS or AA, it's just my guess that TS is probably more important, but make sure both are pretty good.

 

[JackCM]

Just to be clear, it depends on who your interviewer is. Even though it's open file at ICO, my interviewer didn't read my file before so it was essentially closed file.

 

[Ibabiejae]

Im not sure if they have met in between our interview dates, Jay, but the admissions staff informed me that the admission committee will be meeting on December 13th for sure, with letters going out on the 14th. Hope this helps 🙂

 

[eyecare510]

hey guys!
i just got an interview invitation from ICO!
i just wanted to know what kind of questions i should prepare for?????
thanks so much!

 

[JackCM]

My ICO interview was a very informal interview. I wasn't really asked anything about my file and it was more of a conversation -- nothing you could really prepare for. I don't know if my experience was normal or out of the ordinary, though.

 

[Sweetmeet112]

you have nothing to be stressed about...it is such a laid back expereince...i know my interviewer was younger and just graduated a few years ago, so talking to her was really easy for me. She did ask me questions like why not MD and why optometry? She also asked like my future career goals? Alot of questions on my extracurriculars and work experience...but my interview lasted like 70 mins and it felt like a conversation. I know that I had written down a slew of questions to ask though, and during the interview I opened up my notebook and asked all of the questions! They really want you to have questions about ICO in general!

But gluck to you 🙂