Optometry schools ranking

[ppa93]

Does anyone know about the rank of Optometry schools?

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[al-majhul]

Does anyone know about the rank of Optometry schools?

This question is not easily answered. According to the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO), from www.opted.org:

"ASCO advises students against relying on any rankings of the schools in making their decisions. There are numerous factors that enter into a successful match between a student and an optometry school: the size of the school, its location and reduced costs of some schools based on contracts with certain states. ASCO recommends that applicants review the merits of the school(s) or college(s) they might wish to attend and determine which institution will best meet their individual needs. ASCO strongly advises students, if possible, to visit schools in which they have a particular interest."

Now, from what I've heard, the reason there is no real official ranking is because there are so few schools. Naturally, some schools excel better than others in certain areas. Berkeley claims to be number 1 -- at interview day they did anyway -- but they did not really cite any study or say what they were number 1 in. I think other schools may make similar claims, but without any real study to follow it up.

Now, I had mentioned in a previous post that the same group that said one should not rely on rankings (ASCO), had also published in their last journal their own decade(plus)-long analysis of all the schools and how they performed in each of thirty-some-odd areas of consideration. They then tallied the scores to form a sort of unofficial ranking. I don't have a copy of this journal -- perhaps someone else on this board does -- but I've sent away for a copy from a friend. The study should be in the January 2005 (winter) issue of the Journal of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry. I'll post whatever information I can as soon as I receive a copy. Well, I hope that helps. Take care and good luck...

 

[Leroy]

I just took a look at that article ASCO article today and it is not really a ranking - more of just a tally. Its written by a couple students from Pacific, and they calculated the % time spent on each subject (eg. vision science, basic biomedical, etc.) out of the entire curriculum. It is based on the material printed in each school's calendar. There's nothing in the article that's new, or can't be found on any school's website; its just organized in easy-to-read table format.

 

[al-majhul]

I just took a look at that article ASCO article today and it is not really a ranking - more of just a tally. Its written by a couple students from Pacific, and they calculated the % time spent on each subject (eg. vision science, basic biomedical, etc.) out of the entire curriculum. It is based on the material printed in each school's calendar. There's nothing in the article that's new, or can't be found on any school's website; its just organized in easy-to-read table format.

Thanks Leroy for the clarification -- I had no idea it was written by students at Pacific. Does it mention what their sources were for the data from as far back as 1991?

 

[Leroy]

Thanks Leroy for the clarification -- I had no idea it was written by students at Pacific. Does it mention what their sources were for the data from as far back as 1991?

A similar curriculum comparison was published in 1992 (same journal), and they looked at the way optometric education has changed since then (it is now more clinical, less didactic).

 

[stevec]

I would weigh how well students do on the national boards and beyond that I think its a personal decision. Some schools also REQUIRE students to pass the national boards in order to graduate, so of course they're going to have higher passage rates. The studets are scared to death! I wouldn't pay any attention to published "rankings" whatsoever.

 

[UABopt]

Does anyone know about the rank of Optometry schools?

The last "formal ranking" (if that is what you want to call it) of optometry schools that I know of was listed in Gourman Report: Undergraduate Programs and Professional Programs in American and International Universities, but that was last published in 1997. I would consider it out of date, and tend to question Gourman's methodology. I dug it up in the library once. It literally just contains lists of rankings. There was no text other than that to speak of.