PCO vs. NECO

[I2C]

Hi guys/gals,
I would like your help from those of you who are attending PCO or NECO. I am having trouble choosing between the 2. Here's my take on why the struggle. I like the city Boston, it's a safe city and geared more towards college kids. I like PCO because of its 1/2 yr clinic experience. However, along with that PCO also pack in a huge workload ( I am not saying that it's easier to NECO) with WEEKLY EXAMS, which I don't know if I could deal with cause I heard undergrad is nothing like grad school and I've only been exposed to the midterm and finals week. So I don't know if I could deal with constant exams. So if you're at PCO and can tell me how it is and if there is a high rate of dropout that would be great. On the other side, I don't really like the suburb atmosphere of PCO it looks so run down, even if I want to find a place to study outside of the school itself and my room, there really isn't anything around. So should I choose NECO since there's only a midterm and finals week and if you are attending NECO do you think its a good thing to learn everything and take it in 1 big test? Thanks.

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[I2C]

oh I meant 1 1/2 year of clinic experience...sorry there is a typo above.

 

[qwopty99]

NECO = Northeastern

or

NECO = New England (= NEWENCO)

?

 

[jefguth]

NECO = Northeastern

or

NECO = New England (= NEWENCO)

?

NECO = New England College of Optometry, NEWENCO acronym was dropped about two years ago.

 

[Opii]

Pco > Pco > Pco > ICO > Neco

 

[JeffChou]

NECO = Northeastern

or

NECO = New England (= NEWENCO)

?

NECO = Newenco = New England College of Optometry

NSUOK = NSU (OK) = Northeastern State University (Oklahoma).

and while I'm at it...

NOVA = Nova Southeastern University (but not often as NSU)

SUNY = SUNY SCO = SUNY State College of Optometry

SCO = Southern College of Optometry (Memphis, Tennessee)

SCCO = Southern California College of Optometry

PCO = Pennsylvania College of Optometry

Pacific U = PU = Pacific University, College of Optometry

MCO = Michigan College of Optometry (at Ferris State University)

UMSL = University of Missouri, St. Louis

UAB = University of Alabama at Birmingham

UCB = UC Berkeley = University of California, Berkeley

IU = Indiana University

ICO = Illinois College of Optometry

IAUPR = Inter American University of Puerto Rico

UHCO = University of Houston College of Optometry

OSU = Ohio State University

Yeah, I do seem to have too much time.

 

[ML1983]

Hi guys/gals,
I would like your help from those of you who are attending PCO or NECO. I am having trouble choosing between the 2. Here's my take on why the struggle. I like the city Boston, it's a safe city and geared more towards college kids. I like PCO because of its 1/2 yr clinic experience. However, along with that PCO also pack in a huge workload ( I am not saying that it's easier to NECO) with WEEKLY EXAMS, which I don't know if I could deal with cause I heard undergrad is nothing like grad school and I've only been exposed to the midterm and finals week. So I don't know if I could deal with constant exams. So if you're at PCO and can tell me how it is and if there is a high rate of dropout that would be great. On the other side, I don't really like the suburb atmosphere of PCO it looks so run down, even if I want to find a place to study outside of the school itself and my room, there really isn't anything around. So should I choose NECO since there's only a midterm and finals week and if you are attending NECO do you think its a good thing to learn everything and take it in 1 big test? Thanks.

PCO is awesome. ASk the other first yrs on this board. CDN_Twin and LV2Ride and HITMAN and many others. We all love it here

Also, the area around PCO doesn't look run down. The campus is in a SAFE area. Your car won't get broken into, and you can feel safe walking around (though everyone drives here). However, the clinic is in a sketchy area but than again, thats where all the pathology is. Have you been to ICO's area before? That's a bit scarier. At PCO we don't have constant exams. There's times where we have a 2 week "rest" in a way. I mean we constanly have quizzes, labs and other tiny assignments but thats normal. Our exam schedule is decent, we have the exams within 2 weeks.

 

[Spearmint1]

why are you guys bothering to compare schools? just choose one and go to it. Just because one school suits one person doesn't mean it suits another.

 

[LV2RIDE]

I second that!!!!!! PCO is a great school.

The school is actually in a nice area, and yes the clinic is in a rougher area, but as ML said that is where you will get the true experience/education and test of your knowledge due to the variety of things you will see.

There are other places to go and study but it takes a little while to get to know the area before you know where they are. Just ask those ahead of you and they will let you know where to go. If you were only here for an interview you probably only got to see a very limited view of the area. Any big old city is going to have it's run down areas, but also some very nice areas too.

The schedule is really not that bad, not saying it is easy and I don't want it to be. If this was easy there would be way more people doing it. Yes you have to study as I should be right now, but that is why we are here....to study and learn to become doctors. You learn to take advantage of your free time and when we get a chance we do PARTY.

I don't have anything to say about NECO b/c I have never seen their school. I have been to Boston and it is a cool city.

PCO is a great choice though and I definitely don't regret it at all

I don't care where you go to school...... just thought I would give some additional insight to the PCO area so others can make a educated decision.

 

[I2C]

Thank you ML1983 and LV2RIDE for your informative info about PCO. Yeah I was only there for 1 day for the interview so I didn't get to see the area around PCO. Now I am happy now to make my final decision with PCO. I wasn't sure and wanted someone who has been there done that to give me a review to confirm my decision.

 

[Sabrina Ahmed]

Hey everyone,
I have the same dilemma. Both schools are good- my only concern is that there is only one clinic in PCO whereas in NECO, they're affiliated w/ 50 or so clinics. I really want the most diverse patient population....Would love some suggestions! Thanks!!

 

[anchan]

PCO has a great 4th year clinical program which is 6 months longer than what most schools have to offer (18 vs 12 mo) and that will more than enable you to gain the experience with a diverse clinical population.

While it's true that NECO has a large network of care centers in affiliation.....how many of those centers are you going to rotate through at your time there? at most you may experience 6 of those in the Boston area and then go on your 4th year rotations. Sure that's a nice bonus but if that's only thing keeping you from choosing PCO, don't let it stop you.

 

[hfpepperbean47]

why are you guys bothering to compare schools? just choose one and go to it. Just because one school suits one person doesn't mean it suits another.

Why do you bother commenting when it doesn't matter?

 

[hfpepperbean47]

Sorry, Spearmint...just being an ass