I'm sure if you gotten in you would have gone lol.
no, lol, i know it might sound bitter, and at first i was, when i got my letter saying i was put on hold and after talking to guiherme albieri about it, (still on the hold list) i was bitter but then i really thought about SUNY by itself just as school, with out all the glamour of NYC, and after seeing what berkeley had to offer, and thinking about SCO, SUNY just wasn't a good fit and is a horrible school FOR ME. i was about to make a terrible mistake of picking a school based on the city and not the school.
DISCLAIMER: this isn't a SUNY bashing. SUNY is a wonderful school. discussions of best opt schools in the country? SUNY comes up. it does have a large clinic, THE largest in the country, from what I know. the in state tuition can't be beat, even if you pay that out of state the first year.. (unless you're non-US, then...) their board pass rates are among the best. the school is located in the heart of manhattan. the students are juggling (or willing to juggle) both optometry school and one of the tougher cities in the world, simultaneously. that says a lot about the caliber of the students. they're confident and capable.
And I think your opinion is not logically sound. If production of competent optometrists is solely determined on the selection process then what are the 4 years for?
it's not SOLELY determined, but i feel it's plays a big part. it's a crucial initial step.
how they treated their interviewees:
horrible, i felt. and obviously i wasn't the only one that got that impression. maybe i was also unlucky in my tour guide. she was...informative for the most part, that was about it. it was just a job for her. there was no eagerness or excitement in her. there wasn't any conviction in her voice/demeanor the whole time during the tour.
it was just like, meh...i go here, this is where...that is where...we have this....
she's a tour guide for interviewees. a student ambassador, really, for SUNY. even if she herself does love the school, she shouldn't have been a tour guide if she isn't able to express a genuine fondness of and belief in the school. AND the school shouldn't have allowed her to be a tour guide, if she isn't able to portray the school in the best light.
yeah...they're keeping it real, and not "misleading or tricking" us with a over the top tour, but...put a little effort into it. it's a bit presumptuous to think that by showing the school on a bad or mediocre day is enough to win over students.
what they felt were important to tell and learn from the interviewees:
as I said before, they didn't really pry at my other qualities, besides my academic aptitude and that 20 minute essay. leadership, strengths, weaknesses, values, experiences, hobbies, etc. i'm not a wonderful, amazing, smart, charismatic, honorable role model, but if i was, or had ANY of those traits, would they know? what about my peers? do they have any of those qualities? (FOR THE RECORD, during the tour, a number of students came up and talked to us, even joining in on the tour. during our lunch, they even came over and talked with us some more. they were absolutely great)
how the administration worked:
the financial aid meeting was...pointless. if anything they should have omitted from the interview day. it was amazingly curt, even though there was just me and another interviewee. it did not reassure me at all about financial aid. berkeley's was a very brief 15 minutes, with about 20 of us, but it was still incredibly informative. SCO's was quite long, with 4 people, but still, both of them did their job, they were extremely comforting and encouraging as we look to take on this expensive 4 year graduate school endeavor.
the letter in the mail was obnoxiously ambiguous. "unable to make a commitment to my candidacy." yes/no? i had to call to find out what it meant. and my attempts to get in touch with the director of admission was...a bit of a pain. took about 4 days...called to find his email, emailed him, he gave me his number, i called, left a message, no return call, called again, got his receptionist, left another message. and finally got a return call. and still that call left me...with this...uncertainty.
they didn't take the time to really deal with me as an interviewee, in all of these aspects, and i can't imagine 4 years being around that environment. it's just a ton of little things that i find important. all these little cracks, and in my head, my education will crumble at SUNY. it just doesn't work for me.
