MCPHS

[sunshine daisy]

Hi,

I am currently going through the application process for Optometry school and just recently interviewed at MCPHS. I have looked all over this forum for opinions from current MCPHS optometry students and haven't found much success.

I was hoping a current MCPHS student would stumble upon this post and give some insight into their daily experience as a student there. Do you enjoy the time you have spent there? Do you love or regret your decision? How are your professors? Also, do you feel you gain enough clinical experience?

Thank you in advance!

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[ODstudent2019]

I am currently in my 3rd year here at MCP. I'm originally from the midwest, so this is a little bit of a change for me moving to Boston area. But this change has also been very rewarding. Like any other OD program there are difficulties such as class work, exams, studying, etc. But this is also a dream come true. This is the field that I was to be involved in no matter what difficulties may come my way. You truly learn something new each day and I have enjoyed my time here. I have learned a lot and made some amazing friendships with people from all over the US and Canada. The only thing that made MCP stand out for me was how they treated me like a person not just statistics of my grades on paper. I am not the greatest test taker, so my scores are average student but I pride myself on being outgoing and personable. I felt like this program was a good match for me because it has helped shape me into a well rounded person, with great knowledge and great bedside manner. MCP is also great at getting you clinic experience early. We have now been in clinic for a little over a year now and even went to schools and did screenings on kids our first year. So I feel like you gain ample amounts of clinical experience! They are great at not only getting you in early but also giving you such a diverse patient bases. Starting the summer of 2nd year you start rotating through health centers. I don't remember the last time I did a full exam in English. All our offsides are primarily non English speaking low income population. So the exposure is great. Overall, if I was sitting in your position applying to school and got accepted at MCP I would make the same decision. This program has given me a well rounded and rewarding education and experience.

 

[sunshine daisy]

I am currently in my 3rd year here at MCP. I'm originally from the midwest, so this is a little bit of a change for me moving to Boston area. But this change has also been very rewarding. Like any other OD program there are difficulties such as class work, exams, studying, etc. But this is also a dream come true. This is the field that I was to be involved in no matter what difficulties may come my way. You truly learn something new each day and I have enjoyed my time here. I have learned a lot and made some amazing friendships with people from all over the US and Canada. The only thing that made MCP stand out for me was how they treated me like a person not just statistics of my grades on paper. I am not the greatest test taker, so my scores are average student but I pride myself on being outgoing and personable. I felt like this program was a good match for me because it has helped shape me into a well rounded person, with great knowledge and great bedside manner. MCP is also great at getting you clinic experience early. We have now been in clinic for a little over a year now and even went to schools and did screenings on kids our first year. So I feel like you gain ample amounts of clinical experience! They are great at not only getting you in early but also giving you such a diverse patient bases. Starting the summer of 2nd year you start rotating through health centers. I don't remember the last time I did a full exam in English. All our offsides are primarily non English speaking low income population. So the exposure is great. Overall, if I was sitting in your position applying to school and got accepted at MCP I would make the same decision. This program has given me a well rounded and rewarding education and experience.

Thank you so much for your response, it really helped! I had the same feeling (about being a person and not a number) when I interviewed there, so I'm glad to hear you feel the same way. I have visited/interviewed at 4 other schools, and I believe MCPHS is the best fit for me. I recieved my acceptance letter the other day and probably will be submitting my deposit there soon! Thank you again for taking the time to answer my post

 

[sunshine daisy]

Hi! I'm not a MCPHS optom student but have been working in optometry for 4 years now and am close with a few doctors and students who have been involved with this school. I've lived in Massachusetts my entire life and currently live in Boston. I grew up a town away from Worcester and went to my undergrad in Worcester as well. There are many colleges in this city. Massachusetts is an amazing state for education. Worcester itself is a mixed bag however.

1. First off, I can tell you that MCPHS is not in the Boston area. It is in Worcester, MA which is central Massachusetts. It takes me a 50 mile drive (~1 hour on the Mass pike...1.5 hours with bad rush hour traffic) to get from Boston to Worcester/MCPHS. This probably doesn't matter much to you but if you are thinking it will be like Boston area it might effect your opinion.
2. The car insurance is insanely high in Worcester and I would not recommend taking a car here if you can possibly avoid that. If you are taking a car I would highly recommend looking into quotes and including that in your cost analysis because it can add up. I can't tell you how many times my boyfriend, my friends and myself have had our cars scratched up or broken into just by parking our cars around Worcester. My boyfriend and I alone have had our cars broken into 3 times and we didn't even have anything to steal in the cars. To put things in perspective my car insurance is $100 CHEAPER PER MONTH IN BOSTON compared to Worcester! I have a clean record. I've never had to worry about my car in Boston like how I did in Worcester.
3. Depending where you are from, Worcester might be a higher crime area than you are used to. It is a city environment but more of an industrial vibe type of city. It's not ritzy and touristy like Boston or NYC. There are many people on welfare and section 8 housing. There are also a couple of gangs off of the Park Ave area. (I do not mean to come across as shaming, I happen to be related to someone who is severely struggling and lives in this area..it is very heartbreaking). I lived in Worcester during my undergrad and also briefly after graduating. My apartment was only 2 blocks away from MCPHS and would regularly run into drug deals when I left for work in the mornings. There was a person who overdosed from heroin on the front steps of my apartment complex 2 weeks after I had signed my lease...as you can probably tell I did not feel safe on that specific street although there are some really nice apartment areas if you research carefully.
4. From what I know MCPHS was having accreditation issues and is facing ongoing evaluation.I don't know the exact reasons why. I have a friend who went here for optom and she mentioned they had been shifting around the curriculum a lot. I suspect this is due to common new school struggles.
The AOA has an accreditation list online where it reads:
"The Accreditation Council on Optometric Education has awarded the professional optometric degree programs below one of the following accreditation classifications:
Accredited: a classification granted to a program that generally meets the standards for accreditation.
Accredited with Conditions: A classification granted to a program with major deficiencies or weaknesses with reference to the standards of accreditation. This classification indicates that the educational effectiveness of the program is in jeopardy. Currently, one program is Accredited with Conditions."
MCPHS is currently listed on there as accredited with conditions. Their next visit is 2018. Hopefully things go well...but yikes.
5. The equipment is all state of the art and brand new. The campus is beautifully constructed. I took a tour here last year and was very impressed. They seem very current with the latest and greatest. The staff and teachers were also extremely nice.
6. Because of the area I'm sure students gain a great clinical perspective and are exposed to a ton. The clinic that they have running at the school is well established at this point in the game. The optical shop they have is very modern. They offer free frames and lenses to the students I believe once a year? (not sure if this is common with other schools)
7. There are a lot of schools in this area which is pretty nice although might be tempting for those who are partiers. WPI, Clarke, MCPHS, Becker, Worcester State are some of the main colleges in Worcester.

I am just trying to be honest here from all angles so I hope this helps you in some way. I am currently looking into NECO in Boston or traveling out of state for school.

I appreciate your opinion, thank you!

 

[optomgirl96]

Wow this post is really helpful! thanks so much.

I was wondering if anyone here can tell me how the interview process was at MCPHS? what kind of questions did they ask? what were the stress levels of the interview. I too, do not have great numbers so I hope they don't ask too much about grades. Do they ask about things from your application?

Any help is so greatly appreciated!