ICO v NECO

[Member09101989]

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Hello,

I am having troubles deciding on where to go for optometry school beginning Fall 2013. I have been accepted to ICO and NECO however, I am having troubles deciding on where to go. What are your guys thoughts on either school? Advantages and disadvantages?

When I was looking into the schools and weighing my options I found that NECO is more expensive overall but their clinical starts a little earlier than ICO's. When I was looking into ICO I found that the school was recently renovated which was awesome.

Please share your thoughts of either school. Thanks

 

[happymango]

I didn't apply to ICO but did interview at NECO so here are my thoughts:

Pros
- Boston is beautiful: it's not too city and not too suburban, either. There seems to be a lot to do.
- Has both an MS/OD and PhD/OD program. They also said amongst all optometry schools, they lead in number of research presentations at conferences. I am interested in research so this stuck out.
- The academic building was very nice. I can definitely see myself in there day in and day out.
- The people. The students seem genuinely happy (though I don't know if that's a ruse of selection - when I asked what the tour guide liked least about NECO, he gave me a half baked, potentially dishonest answer). I really enjoyed my faculty interviewer, as well. NECO doesn't curve and boasts a familial environment. Though, I do believe they say that priority in externships is based on GPA ranking so I don't know how accurate this family description is.

Cons
- It is expensive, one of THE most expensive optometry schools. Also, Boston is one of the most expensive towns to live in - ~$1200/month on average, I believe, was the price of rent. WOW. Students come out, on average, they said with ~$160,000 in debt.
- The cheating scandal. Although their NBEO 1st part pass rates seem to be average-ish now, the recent past is not so easily forgotten. My optometrist told me to not go there for that reason - I'm not saying I'm making my decision based on one person's opinion but it's something to mull over. I really wanted to ask about this on the interview day but thought it might not be kosher. Darn!

Honestly, I don't really care that much about clinical exposure. I think for the most part, wherever you go, you will come out qualified if YOU put the work in. Picking an optometry school, I believe, is more about the details that are unique to you (e.g.: Do you need a good research program? Can you survive in the city? Are you okay with paying off debt until you're so-and-so years old? What kind of weather do you like?).

Also, when did you interview? I'm waiting to hear back from NECO.

 

[Member09101989]

Thanks soo much for the response! Its given me something to think about especially the cheating scandal. I didn't even know about it until I asked my optometrist too. I'm still really undecided about where I see myself in which school.

I interviewed on Nov 2 and they got back to me on Nov 5. When did you interview?

 

[csandova]

I heard something about optometrists not being able to treat glaucoma in the state of Massachusetts? Don't quote me though because I'm pretty sure I read it on SDN, I never actually looked it up myself. Anyway I would look into this and see if its true, then look into NECO and see if they still teach about glaucoma (regardless of whether they can practice it by law or not).

 

[happymango]

Oh that was fast! I interviewed on Nov. 16 and hadn't heard anything by Nov. 13. I've been out of town so maybe I have some mail waiting for me!

 

[Loptometriste]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure all the schools teach you everything you need to know so you can practice anywhere in U.S. So, in clinic you might not be able to actually do something, but you still learn how to do it.

 

[OpticalBlackOut]

Looking back, early clinical exposure is so overrated.
The only reason schools do it is to say "our school lets you see more patients!"

The truth is, if you're in there as a first year or early second year, all you will be doing is shadowing and maybe some pre-testing (usually lensometry). It's glorified technician work that you can do at anytime, and that early "clinical" experience doesn't do anything until you've learned how to refract and taken some Ocular Disease courses.