Trying to narrow down schools..help!!

[eyelover8]

So I have gotten into Indiana, SUNY, and NECO so far and have another interview with SCCO. NECO is my top choice right now. I am debating about going to the ICO and PCO interviews and am looking for advice if you've interviewed there already and can tell me the pros/cons.

thanks so much! I appreciate it!

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[csandova]

ICO is very nice, the clinic is very nice and they do a great job with recruitment and making you feel at home. At the end of the day I would pick the school where your cost of attendance will be the lowest, in combination with where you'll be happiest. I turned down ICO and NECO mostly because the cost of living in Chicago and Boston is very high. I have money saved up, but I knew I wouldn't be happy if I ended up spending all my savings and then using loan money for rent and other expenses.

 

[shannon804]

So I have gotten into Indiana, SUNY, and NECO so far and have another interview with SCCO. NECO is my top choice right now. I am debating about going to the ICO and PCO interviews and am looking for advice if you've interviewed there already and can tell me the pros/cons.

thanks so much! I appreciate it!

I wasn't sold on NECO because they clearly don't have enough room for their students ("overflow classroom"), their Boards Part 1 pass rates suck, and they're so expensive. Also, ODs can't even treat glaucoma in Massachusetts! I didn't think much of it at the time, but as a current student, not having to lug all your equipment around and waste time traveling to clinic is a HUGE plus.

I didn't interview at Indiana or SCCO. SUNY is nice because it's cheaper than the other schools and you can be confident you'll pass Boards. However, the administration is just dense and unresponsive about the simplest things. Also, it's not diverse at all-- surprising given that it's in NYC. The things you hear about some of the students being not-so-nice are true. There are nice ones, but if you're not ok with having some classmates straight out of Mean Girls, you won't be happy. You will also only get a 10-day winter break, so if you're from California, you will not get to see your friends and family for long. On the plus, having clinic in the same building is nice, and the faculty is generally helpful.

 

[happymango]

I didn't apply to Indiana but besides that, I applied and got into all the schools you listed. Here are my thoughts.

PCO:
Pros - Seemed to have organized system (unsure of Part 1 Board pass rates so don't know if that necessarily translates to results), modern Eye Center for clinical training, comfortable main facility, prepares you well to work (longest externship of all schools), pleasant atmosphere (my own subjective opinion), large class size (I saw that as a plus because I want to be sure to find at least some people I click with)
Cons - Not in the prettiest part of town, expensive

NECO:
Pros - Beautiful main facility, beautiful clinic, beautiful city that offers a plethora of fun things to do, I had a really good connection with my faculty interviewer (I'm sad that I won't be able to be his student!)
Cons - Cheating past, expensive, iffy board pass rates (not sure, should call)

SUNY:
Pros - Great reputation, always above average Part 1 Board pass rates
Cons - Supposedly cut throat and hard, building was relatively meh/not inspiring

SCCO:
Pros - Really tight knit community (or at least are really good at advertising that compared to other schools), organized (their interview day was pretty darn impressive), nice clinic
Cons - Felt like I was getting too much of a sell, Fullerton was relatively only okay (I felt like if I wanted to do something, I'd have to drive 30 minutes out of town) ... also, I'm from the east coast, so SCCO would have to have some big wow factor to get me to move across the country permanently

I'm also really interested in research so SUNY shined in that aspect. If you have any other questions, ask away.

 

[Eye4Eyes]

So I have gotten into Indiana, SUNY, and NECO so far and have another interview with SCCO. NECO is my top choice right now. I am debating about going to the ICO and PCO interviews and am looking for advice if you've interviewed there already and can tell me the pros/cons.

thanks so much! I appreciate it!

Hello! For me, I am sold on PCO despite being accepted into SUNY. It was mostly due to the pros of PCO outweighing the cons. I know that if I decided on SUNY vs. PCO, I may be overly stressed due to living a lot farther from school while having to take a rigorous course load. Plus, I didn't feel a strong connection with SUNY as I did with PCO. It may have been an off day when I went to SUNY, but I felt that some of the students weren't as happy as the students at PCO were (again, it could have been the day I went). Plus, PCO is the closest school to my home state so being able to come home when needed is important.

PCO:
For the pros: The early externship program, clinical problem solving (CPS) course, and very modern clinic just to name a few. A lot of people take the fact that the clinic is not in a pristine neighborhood. I find that to be an advantage of the school because it would allow more pathology to be seen. Plus, it is good that the clinic serves the patients in these underprivileged neighborhoods.
The con: the biggest for me is the cost of attending PCO. Luckily, my parents offered to help with living, and I do anticipate being very frugal within the next four years.