Here's my response to someone who wanted more info on NOVA:
So far I really like it here. It was my 2nd choice school after i interviewed with all the other schools. ICO was my first, which i eventually got into, but I already accepted NOVA so decided to attend here. I'm glad i did actually...though Chicago would've been cool, i'm more used to suburban life, and that's how NOVA is.
If i wanna do outdoorsy stuff, (golf, fishing, beach, paintball, etc.) I can. If i wanna go clubbing, or theater, i can too (miami and hardrock...a closeby casino w/ a buncha clubs). Social life is def. possible when u have time...
I think at every school, you'll find its hard to have a social life. You do, but very limited due to all the studying. We have 1 or 2 exams every monday, so weekends are pretty much dead. You can still go out, but gotta plan it ahead, according to test schedule (going out on easier test weekends).
Academic wise, I'd say NOVA is harder then my undergrad because we have so many classes at once. The tests seem easier, but you have to cram a lot of it. There's always tutors, and office hours, so if u need help, you can find it. We work on a "share your notes" kinda policy, so no actual note takers. So far though, this works out better b/c multiple students share their notes (via a joint email account for the class), so you can pick and choose.
The only thing that sucks here, is fail one class and u get kicked out. You get the chance to take a retake test (only for ppl who failed the course) to try to pass the class though. You're only allowed a few in your time at NOVA though. Work hard, and if you're not doing well, it's easy to seek help.
Finally: i was hesitant of NOVA at first b/c of a bunch of negative comments on SDN, but don't worry about them. True, Nova lost accredidation a while ago, but they've been given good marks by the accreditors ever since, and have recently been reviewed so should be good for the next few years (though i highly doubt there will be problems again). If you're worried about boards; 89% (1st time/part 1) 2 years ago, and last year 90% (1st time/part 1), 100% (1st time/part 3) ...so we're well above national average. That's all the stats I know, so not sure bout part 2 (which won't matter anyway since boards changed).
Tips: I'd say practice the general interview questions, and specifically the NOVA ones on this site. All the questions i got asked were on here in one form or another. Also it doesn't hurt to have opometry or leadership experience, so you can talk about issues, or your experience (leadership, and optometry wise).
