How much more will tuition have to rise before the students realize its not worth it?

[RadixLuminogen]

It seems as though the brighter students realize the return on investment just isn't as great as it was pretty much anytime in the past. Are we going to see a future of less bright professionals? What do you all think?

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[drumstix]

This always comes up and it's important to discuss. But I don't think any discussions here will have any real impact (at all) on anyone who's here because pretty much all pre-optometry people here are set on optometry in these forums. Sorry to say..

 

[jwilso88]

For me at least it is not about the money made or the cost of tuition, it is about choosing a career which I feel will be a good fit for me and I will enjoy. Just my two cents, I'm sure everyone has their own motivation.

 

[reesespieces]

Tuition is crazy across the board- whether undergraduate, graduate, or some type of professional school. It is a national problem, not just a problem with optometry. The tuition is going to keep on rising until the underlying problems are fixed.

That said, once you get out of optometry school, if you make the right decisions, you are going to be living a comfortable life. Your bank accounts are not going to be overflowing, but you will be able to live and raise a family, etc. I chose this career because I want to have a career in something that I am passionate about and can enjoy. Could I go get a master's degree and save a ton of money and possibly end up making more than I would make as an optometrist? Sure. But I wouldn't enjoy it as much and I don't want to spend 30+ years of my life in something that I don't feel is right for me.

 

[RadixLuminogen]

I think Optometry is a great profession and the further I go through my clinic years I'm loving it more and more. Patients are mostly respectful and you help to make their lives a bit better. Another great thing about it is more personal but I've always wanted to live in an area of lower population density and still be able to financially support myself and my future family comfortably.

 

[paasnaas]

I think everyone above made some excellent points. Tuition is on the rise and not just for optometry school, its happening for a lot of schools across the nation. And don't just let the rise of tuition be the deciding factor of not going into a particular profession. I'm not in this profession for the money at all, I'm in it because I don't really consider it work because it something that makes me really happy. You don't necessarily have to find something that you love to do (but that would be the most ideal case) but find something that you like or that interests you.

 

[RadixLuminogen]

I think everyone above made some excellent points. Tuition is on the rise and not just for optometry school, its happening for a lot of schools across the nation. And don't just let the rise of tuition be the deciding factor of not going into a particular profession. I'm not in this profession for the money at all, I'm in it because I don't really consider it work because it something that makes me really happy. You don't necessarily have to find something that you love to do (but that would be the most ideal case) but find something that you like or that interests you.

I agree, I think we'll see more people in this profession and other higher order professions that are more passionate about them rather than focused on making great money. Although from a capitalistic point of view, many bright students may go into other fields because of the higher reward.