Private vs. Public Optometry school

[jtenb7]

Can someone please tell me the difference between attending private or public? Are there benefits or disadvantages to either one? Thanks

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[scotis322]

I would say the biggest difference is cost. Regardless of where you're coming from, you'll be paying the same as everyone else...just like undergraduate. Also, if you are out-of-state attending a public school, usually you can file for in-state tuition after the first year of optometry school. I know that is an option for Berkeley and SUNY. The facilities at a private school may look at fancier since that's part of what you're paying for, but that doesn't necessarily make the program better than a public program with less than perfect looking facilities. Hope that helps.

 

[JMU07]

Yeah, SCO is private and I know they won't let you apply for in-state (regional) tuition after living there for a year. You have to live in one of those states before you apply in order to be considered for a seat with regional tuition. I'm not sure about the others though.

 

[hoosier1]

public schools are generally less costly 🙂

 

[Rumplestiltazepam]

Private schools also do not care if you are in state or not, they just care if you are a good applicant and if you will give them their money. State schools have an obligation to educate citizens of that state for most part.

 

[Eye-Spy]

Private schools sometimes (not always) have a more diverse patient population because they are not on big university campuses. So students at a private school may see more pathologies and less 20somethings with just an Rx change.
Public schools are cheaper for those who would qualify for in state tuition. And in the end this may be worth it because even if the patient base is not as diverse in the end everyone is learning the same stuff anyway.

 

[Tortugabebe]

Private schools sometimes (not always) have a more diverse patient population because they are not on big university campuses. So students at a private school may see more pathologies and less 20somethings with just an Rx change.
Public schools are cheaper for those who would qualify for in state tuition. And in the end this may be worth it because even if the patient base is not as diverse in the end everyone is learning the same stuff anyway.

I agree that private schools do not always have more diverse patient populations. It all depends on where the school is located. Indiana University is in Bloomington, which is a college town, and you would expect more of the patients to be students. Ohio State is in Columbus (a rather large city), and I know their patient populations are very diverse. Pacific University on the other hand is private, and in a small town...They do not have the clinical reputation that they would like because of the fact that the patient load is not that high, and the patient diversity is less than a school in a large city. My point: Public vs. private has nothing to do with it. It's location, location, location.