need a second opinion on choosing which school to go for

[nyasian]

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Hi, sorry to bother you guys but I need a good advice/ second opinion

I applied for 8 optometry schools at the beginning of March and was granted an early admission at Inter American University of Puerto Rico (IAUPR), and 4 invitations for interview from Salus University, New England College of Optometry (NECO), Rosenberg College of Optometry (RCO), and Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) in mid-April. I basically was kinda relieved because I knew that I am at least guaranteed a seat at IAUPR. But I also want to go to all of the interviews (except RCO because it is too far) to see which school fits me the best. If any of you are attending one of the schools, would you please tell me if the school is good? Or if you were in my shoe, which one would you go for (pro/con)? The optometrist that I am shadowing is an alumni from ICO, and she told me that ICO just renovated the facility last year, so everything looks good now. She also told me that the clinic practice is not located on campus at Salus University, so you have to drive in those four years. I don't think I like that...... If any of you went to the interview at any one of the schools, do you mind telling me what kind of question would they ask you during the interview?

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[luckyfeet]

nyasian,what are your stats? and I would go with an accredited one and NOT go to puerto rico if you dont have too!

 

[optoapp2012]

Hi, sorry to bother you guys but I need a good advice/ second opinion

I applied for 8 optometry schools at the beginning of March and was granted an early admission at Inter American University of Puerto Rico (IAUPR), and 4 invitations for interview from Salus University, New England College of Optometry (NECO), Rosenberg College of Optometry (RCO), and Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) in mid-April. I basically was kinda relieved because I knew that I am at least guaranteed a seat at IAUPR. But I also want to go to all of the interviews (except RCO because it is too far) to see which school fits me the best. If any of you are attending one of the schools, would you please tell me if the school is good? Or if you were in my shoe, which one would you go for (pro/con)? The optometrist that I am shadowing is an alumni from ICO, and she told me that ICO just renovated the facility last year, so everything looks good now. She also told me that the clinic practice is not located on campus at Salus University, so you have to drive in those four years. I don't think I like that...... If any of you went to the interview at any one of the schools, do you mind telling me what kind of question would they ask you during the interview?

Thank you so much for your help!

I think you need to consider what it will be like when you're practicing someday. You will drive to work - so what's the big deal if you drive to clinic? You probably won't have the most cutting edge technology all the time or have pristine facilities...so that really shouldn't be your priority right now either. When I was first looking at schools, I was wowed by auto-phoropters and brand new renovations. But later I realized those things were ultimately silly and not really what's important in my education (let them be a bonus if that's where you decide to go). You need to think about the academic caliber of your peers - because that is the level the school will have to teach to. You need to think about the strengths of the individual programs - do they see lots of low vision patients? Sports medicine? Disease? All schools will have clinics for those (or something similar), but that doesn't mean that they get many patients there or see a breadth of cases. You need to figure out what interests you most and go for that. Laws differ by state in terms of scope of practice and are constantly under debate for change. That will affect what you learn in school and what you can apply afterward - some schools will teach beyond the current scope of practice. Ask all the OD's about the glaucoma training they had to pay for after being in the field for awhile when glaucoma treatment was okay'd for ODs. You also need to think about some of the other more superficial aspects - what is the weather like (this will affect your mood and the likelihood of you making it to class)? Do I like where I'll be living for the next 4 years? What's the size of the class? Big classes have perks, and small classes have perks. There are a million other things. But in all reality, how new the walls are should be at the bottom of your list.

 

[Greeni]

Also, it is pretty late in the game. if your plan is to attend in the fall of 2012, many schools already have wait lists. where you actually get in may influence your decision, it may not be your dream school.

 

[OATAcer]

If it was me, I would go to the school that I would want to enjoy living at. Your spending money on education/living, so might as well enjoy the state. Imagine being somewhere you find boring, completely unhealthy for you. To be the best, health comes first.

Then, I would pick the school that you feel has what your looking for - Alumni, clerkships, clinic, etc. The rest is on YOU to get out of optometry school.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[nyasian]

nyasian,what are your stats? and I would go with an accredited one and NOT go to puerto rico if you dont have too!

my stats are not that good

TS: 300
AV: 310
GPA: 3.3
Science GPA: 3.0

And IAUPR is accedited

 

[nyasian]

I think you need to consider what it will be like when you're practicing someday. You will drive to work - so what's the big deal if you drive to clinic? You probably won't have the most cutting edge technology all the time or have pristine facilities...so that really shouldn't be your priority right now either. When I was first looking at schools, I was wowed by auto-phoropters and brand new renovations. But later I realized those things were ultimately silly and not really what's important in my education (let them be a bonus if that's where you decide to go). You need to think about the academic caliber of your peers - because that is the level the school will have to teach to. You need to think about the strengths of the individual programs - do they see lots of low vision patients? Sports medicine? Disease? All schools will have clinics for those (or something similar), but that doesn't mean that they get many patients there or see a breadth of cases. You need to figure out what interests you most and go for that. Laws differ by state in terms of scope of practice and are constantly under debate for change. That will affect what you learn in school and what you can apply afterward - some schools will teach beyond the current scope of practice. Ask all the OD's about the glaucoma training they had to pay for after being in the field for awhile when glaucoma treatment was okay'd for ODs. You also need to think about some of the other more superficial aspects - what is the weather like (this will affect your mood and the likelihood of you making it to class)? Do I like where I'll be living for the next 4 years? What's the size of the class? Big classes have perks, and small classes have perks. There are a million other things. But in all reality, how new the walls are should be at the bottom of your list.

Thank you so much for pointing out all of these I really had no clue of what to consider to pick a school when I knew that I have the option You words make me rethink of everything Thank you

 

[nyasian]

Also, it is pretty late in the game. if your plan is to attend in the fall of 2012, many schools already have wait lists. where you actually get in may influence your decision, it may not be your dream school.

I know it's pretty late for this year's cycle. I was so surprised with the invitations to interview and the early admission. I do know that given a chance to interview does not mean that I will get into the school. Since it is really late, may be the schools just interview us as the "back ups" in case the chosen ones decide to reject the schools.
I honestly don't mind attending to any of these schools, but I just want to know which school is better, in case some of them take me into the program.

 

[nyasian]

If it was me, I would go to the school that I would want to enjoy living at. Your spending money on education/living, so might as well enjoy the state. Imagine being somewhere you find boring, completely unhealthy for you. To be the best, health comes first.

Then, I would pick the school that you feel has what your looking for - Alumni, clerkships, clinic, etc. The rest is on YOU to get out of optometry school.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

The thing is that I haven't been to any of these schools (since I haven't been to any of the interviews), and I don't know how the living/study environments are, but I totally agree with you: HEALTH comes first!!🙂

 

[OATAcer]

The thing is that I haven't been to any of these schools (since I haven't been to any of the interviews), and I don't know how the living/study environments are, but I totally agree with you: HEALTH comes first!!🙂

Okay. Well, Chicago and Boston are east coast style. Texas is west coast, the cops where cowboy hats. Puerto Rico is vacation spot and can be distracting because of the women/culture. Cheapest as far as living conditions is Texas.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[The Muffin Man]

You are applying to all of these optometry schools so that you can become an optometrist. You have your foot in the door at one school....say yes and send in the deposit. If your heart is set on another school that you have an interview scheduled..then keep it, go to the interview and wait for the result. Even if the deposit is non-refundable you will at least go to a school that you want. Second....do not worry about driving to clinic. The clinics at PCO and ICO are in the worst neighborhoods of their respective cities; with patients that have a host of medical and ocular problems. You will see things at these clinics that many students at other schools read about in textbooks. These schools will teach you. You are investing your money over the next 4 yrs into an optometric education....do not pick a place because of the lifestyle you may want in a particular place. The fact of the matter is that optometry school isn't a party....it's a lot of hard work. You are going to spend the first 2 yrs of that education in a library. The 3rd yr is spent in clinic and the library and the 4th yr is spent in clinic and externships. Its a lot of work but worth it in the end. You want to be an optometrist...one school right now is giving you the opportunity to move towards that goal. Do what your heart says.