Anyone here go to SCO.... I wanted to hear the pros/cons about the school... I've heard a lot of people complain about the city... how does it compare to Philadelphia? Is the community diverse... do you feel isolated?
I have some of the same questions for ICO pros/cons etc...
I really enjoyed my time at PCO, the curriculum is great, and it's close to Philly and NYC.... The tuition is more than SCO but isn't quality of life important during studies... I've heard too many negative things about the quality of life in Memphis...
Would really appreciate feedback!
I definitely agree that quality of life is important during your time. But at the same time, remember that most of the day every day of the week, you will be in lab and you won't need massive amounts of things to do in the cities in order to be entertained.
I recently interviewed at SCO and have a few friends that attend there - so that's where my perspective is. I really didn't like Memphis, but it's a much smaller city than where I am moving from, so that was what killed it for me. It's very expensive to fly in/out of Memphis as well, so visiting family or friends could be harder. The cheapest airport is likely Little Rock, which is about a 2 hour drive away.
The cons of Memphis - crime is a big issue. One girl told me 6 of the students in her class had had their houses/apartments broken into this last year alone (and they all lived on Mud Island, which is where most students live because it's a nice area pretty close to campus). You don't walk alone at night. The school is in downtown Memphis too. Your car should be secure while on campus, because they are constantly patrolling the lots and all of the parking is insanely close to campus (the "far lot" is across the street). Your patient base is about 85% English speaking, about 10% Spanish speaking, and the remaining 5% a mix of other languages. It's predominately African American. So it really depends on what kind of diversity you mean. As a city, it has high populations of both Caucasian and African American, but much fewer of other ethnicities. It's a very religiously conservative area as well (Bible Belt). I'm not a religious person, so it wasn't appealing to me when basically everyone I met told me it was all in God's hands and they would pray for me. So that's another thing to keep in mind - could be a pro or a con depending on your perspective. When I was there and went to the zoo, I overheard some kind of naive comments several times with respect to race and science (specifically, evolution).
The pros of Memphis - Tennessee is a cool state when it comes to wilderness, so camping and fall colors are a definite plus. Memphis has some excellent BBQ and lots of restaurants to try out. There is a good bar scene on Beale St (spelling?). They also have a once a month Trolley Tour to try to bring some cultural life in - the trolley takes you between different art venues and local shops, and there is wine and other drinks for free at each place. The SCO students seem to have a lot of apartment parties too - so they definitely have a vibrant social life among the group. Mud Island has a really cool park that runs along the river bank, so there is plenty of area to go running or play sports. There are also artsy sections of the town with some local flavor to them.
Okay with all that said, it's probably been over 15 years since I have been to Philly, so I really couldn't help you compare the two! I know crime can be an issue in Philly too (as it is in any big city, really). I think you're closer to a lot more options in terms of what to do from Philly, although again...the question is how much time you will really have to take advantage of that. Plus, it's really only for the first 3 years, since you can spend most of your externship time wherever you want in the country.
Good luck in deciding between your options!!
