Hi all,
I was hoping to get some opinions on ICO from either current students or anyone who has visited there or heard of anything. Specific pros and cons about: the school, program, class size, city, living in residence, finding a place to live, cost of living, safety around the school area and in the city of Chicago.
Anything would be helpful, thanks!
School and program have all the resources and curriculum you need to be a top notch optometrist and pass boards. That's what you come for, and ICO certainly delivers.
Class size, probably 160ish. Largest class size out of all the other optometry schools, but honestly it never feels like a "big school", not like any undergrad out there. But the big size gets you lots of advantages. Huge alumni network. Diverse classmates. A lot of opportunities to do things that are difficult to do unless you have enough help.
City, Chicago. Look it up. Haha.
Living in the RC is not bad. I'm assuming you are asking these questions because you already interviewed, in which case you've probably seen the RC. Great way to go your first year, just to get acclimated to the school and be in closer contact with schoolmates.
Otherwise, finding a place for yourself to live in Chicago is like most big cities I guess. The whole population of the city as a rule is pretty transient, so quite a few options for housing. Public transportation in Chicago is the way to go most of the time.
Cost of living, budget 500-800 for rent each month and go from there.
Safety around school, not bad, just remember you're in a big city and don't do anything dumb and you're most of the way there.
