SCCO does their Interview Day in rounds, meaning that while you and your group are doing doing your main interviews, other groups during that day are doing something else and so on. I had 5 rounds--the main interview, a talk with Dr. Munroe, a talk with Eryn, a demonstration of the new VR equipment, and a campus tour. They got rid of the on-site essay a few years ago, so you don't have to worry about that. I believe the main interview is the only part of the day that's evaluative.
The main interview is with a member of the faculty at SCCO. Your interviewer has had access to your application for a few days prior to your interview, so they will know all about your experiences, your grades/test scores, your personal statement, etc. They do not have it open in front of them, however, during your interview. At that time, all they know about you is basically from what they remember about you from your application. The interview is very casual and as many people have described it, it feels very conversational. They'll ask you a question, you'll give your response, and they'll sometimes respond to what you said and give a bit of their experience as well. Depending on your interviewer, they may or may not be stoic during your interview, but don't let that affect the way you respond to their questions! Just be yourself and talk yourself up and you'll be fine! The "Interview Feedback" page is very helpful because it gives you a few questions that you can focus your preparation on. During my interview, they asked me to tell them about my experiences that got me interested in optometry and they did ask me to give them an example of an ethical situation I faced in the past and what I did in that situation. The entire interview lasted about 20 minutes.
The talk with Dr. Munroe is solely just to go over and outstanding prerequisites that you may have. She has a copy of your file on hand, but she won't ask you anything about it. She commented on how I used to work at an amusement park nearby and told me about her memories of it in the past, so that was sweet.
The talk with Eryn is for you to ask her any questions that you may still have about the program or about the admissions process. My time with her was cut short because they ran behind schedule on our day, but here's your chance to ask Eryn about pretty much anything. A previous student told me that although this part of the Interview Day and the part with Dr. Munroe aren't evaluative, they are ultimately the ones who decide whether to admit you or not, so I would still make an effort to be courteous and friendly (not saying that you won't be...)
SCCO recently purchased new VR equipment that is used to help students practice their skills in ophthalmoscopy. While the interview is a chance for you to show your best side to hopefully gain admission to SCCO, the opposite is also true. SCCO wants to show you that they are the best choice for you when it comes to optometry schools, so they want to show you that they have everything that you need to become the best clinician you can be, which includes top of the line technology that will make learning these skills much easier. A clinical professor will show you the VR equipment and will let some people try it out as well. It's pretty interesting so you might as well try it out.
The campus tour is just your usual campus tour. They have a student guide you around the Marshall B. Ketchum campus and they show you all of their labs and their facilities. Depending on when you interview, you get to see students practicing or meet some of them as they're walking to the labs. Pretty simple.
There will be a lot of downtime (especially during the rounds where your group is supposed to be meeting with Dr. Munroe or Eryn), so they'll have you seated in a waiting room of sorts. There will be a current SCCO student there who will answer any questions that you have about student life or about the school that you don't want to ask the admissions staff. It's very casual so don't be afraid to ask them about their life as a first or second year optometry student!
Following the rounds, they provide you with lunch, there's a student life panel, and then shuttle you over to the new Ketchum Health facility to give you a tour of that too. Besides that, there's not much else that happens. The whole day starts at 8am and ends at around 3 or 4pm, so be prepared for a pretty long day. Overall, I thought that SCCO's Interview Day was run pretty well, but they did have minor timing issues. I left with a better idea and opinion of the school than I did when I first applied (I'm from Orange County, so staying in Orange County wasn't the greatest idea to me lol) and I felt really content with how I did.
I interviewed Feb 2017 for admission Fall 2018 and I was admitted, so if you have any other questions, feel free to ask! 🙂
