UCBSO '05 Interview Thread

[bobsacamenoh]

Hello everyone,

Feel free to share your feelings about the UCBSO interview today. What did you think of the school - professors, students, facilities, equipment, etc? Did your rating of the school (either high or low) change at the end of the day? How did you feel coming out of the interview with the faculty member and student? Can you see yourself living in Berkeley for 4 years?

I will try to share if I recover.

Thanks,

Bob

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[polkadot]

overall: very good; I was pleasantly surprised how smoothly the day went and with the opportunity to meet so many other applicants
professors: excellent; Dean Van Sluyters and Dean Levi both seemed very cool and like people from whom I could learn A LOT
students: excellent; it was nice to hear that current students come from very diverse backgrounds and have very different experiences, although I thought some were towing the party line a little too much (it seemed too rehearsed when no fewer than 3 told me that "UCB has so many pre-reqs because you don't have to take them over again")
interview: fair; it was the most uncomfortable of my 3 (SUNY, SCCO, UCB) but I can't really pinpoint why, maybe the additional stress I was feeling
essay: fair; I kinda had the "diarrhea of the pen" going on

My opinion of the school improved dramatically after yesterday; I realized what a rare opportunity (academically, professionally, culturally) it would be to be in the heart of the UCB campus. Just keeping my fingers and toes crossed for the next 3 weeks

Have you recovered yet, Bob?

- p.dot

 

[Ning]

Hi,

I too was impressed by how they managed to interview all 70 people in one day. I think there are pros and cons to that. The cons, it's more impersonal and intimidating (knowing who the competition is). The pros, you get a chance to meet everyone and socialize.
I visited San Fran and Berkeley last summer and fell in love with the state of Cali. I would love to study there for the next four years. I guess the one thing I would be most worried about is the fact that everyone that goes there is probably pretty competitive and smart...so it might be difficult to do well and somewhat stressful. But the school seems to prepare their students both academically and clinically. I really liked how you get to see patients a lot earlier than other schools.
Regarding the facilities, the best I've seen thus far is probably ICO. Although the neighborhood seems kinda sketchy, the inside is really nice and modern. I've heard that SCCO's clinic is also supposed to be awesome. But Berkeley's clinic is fine with me, doesn't have to be super glamorous. The school appears a little crammed and old, but the whole campus totally makes up for that. I wish it was like their business school
The professors and administrators seem to care about the students and came across as really cool individuals. The students that were currently attending Berkeley were nice too.
About the interview, I guess I wish I said more about myself. I suppose I was accustomed to several other panelists asking me more questions. Hopefully I said enough. I really hope to get in, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't. Tell me how everything goes for the other people who went for the interview

Ning-Ju

 

[Bravehrt]

(Warning: The following is a ridiculous overview of interview day at UCBSO in hopes of relieving any stress associated with the interview process.)
Just got done with the Berkeley interview, and my review of the school will be more intriguing, controversial, and sexy than any other review of optometry schools. Berkeley begins its selection process immediately. They schedule registration at 8am to screen for students who were easily seduced by their warm comfortable beds . My dedication however gets me to Minor Hall, the staging point of a 7 hour interview day. Registration begins in their eye clinic where interviewees congregate and chat with each other. My eyes scan the room… what for you ask? Maybe to check out the competition? To examine the optometric facility? Or to find the men’s restroom?
After using the restroom, all the interviewees and myself were escorted to the main lecture hall for an impressive presentation of Berkeley School of Optometry. Although I have yet to hear a school of Optometry say they rank #2 in comparison to any other school, Berkeley had exceptional evidence to back their claims. They had me at “hello” . Afterwards we were served breakfast and were given time to get to know the fellow interviewees. After the sexy photo shoot, it was time for the discussion session with the current optometry students. You had the opportunity to ask any question about optometry school…. “how’s the student life?” “how are the professors?” “Where’s the restroom?” (the orange juice had just kicked in) Afterwards was the interview session with a faculty member and optometry student. It was actually more like a conversation. My adventure continued afterwards with a tour of the facility and finally the essay portion.
Now, what distinguishes Berkeley School of Optometry from other interviews was the emphasis on food. After the interviews the interviewees were rewarded with sandwiches and chips. Both of which deserve their own food group. Overall the experience was quite nice. Berkeley had shown efforts toward refining their interview process and the result was a fairly pleasant experience.
However, will Bravehrt still have the same opinion after he receives a letter from Berkeley? Will he ever eat another sandwich on Berkeley’s campus? Tune in, three weeks from now…. TO BE CONT.

Good luck people,
Bravehrt

 

[nobodyknows]

Hey, Bravehrt. I bet you were in group 2 huh? So was I!!

 

[yakult_22@yahoo]

hey bravehrt. Nice to hear that your interview was so pleasant.

How was your trip to Pier 39? I hope the day was nice for you

 

[polkadot]

Hey, Bravehrt. I bet you were in group 2 huh? So was I!!

Let's hear it for group 2

 

[al-majhul]

Let's hear it for group 2

Feel free to share your feelings about the UCBSO interview today. What did you think of the school - professors, students, facilities, equipment, etc? Did your rating of the school (either high or low) change at the end of the day? How did you feel coming out of the interview with the faculty member and student? Can you see yourself living in Berkeley for 4 years?

YAY! I was a group 2'er too! I'm beginning to notice a trend here Maybe all the group 2'ers show that quality of enough interest in Optometry (seeing as they're on this forum) to be accepted to all their schools I hope

Anywho, regarding the interview -- it went smooth as silk. The essay was almost fun. I wrote on "Freedom of Expression." I wrote so much my hand hurt afterwards; but I could have kept writing after time was called. I like to express myself

The professors: the one who did my interview was really nice and I asked her, if she was in my position, deciding on schools, would she go back to Berkeley -- she gave a definite yes. So that was encouraging. Dean Levi seems really laid back, hopefully that same feeling is propagated to the rest of the faculty.

The students: all were very nice -- and I got to meet Rosanna, our humble, regular, current-OD-student poster to our little forum here! so that was cool. All the other students also seemed as satisfied with their UCBSO experience -- they told me how chill it was during first year, but second year they really had to step up and study hard. Although, like polkdaot, I did feel like some of it was rehearsed.

The facilities/equipment: not as new and clean as some of the other schools I've been to, but that's really only a minor detail. I just wish the clinic was as big as the ones in Memphis or Chicago. Although, they do say at UCBSO that they see 80,000 patients a year -- whereas the aforementioned schools see in the range of 60-70,000. More is definitely better than flashy.

Rating at end of the day: definitely higher. I don't know if it's the excitement of being at UCB or the way in which the faculty portrayed it, but I definitely felt better about the school from an exterior sense.

After the interview: my interview went by REALLY quick. It was a very comfortable conversation -- I never felt they were challenging me, but only trying to get a better idea of whether or not who I was on paper, was me in person. They seemed to respond positiviely to all my answers, which was great. Like I said, it went by really quick, and we had about 15 minutes to spare just to chit-chat.

I can definitely see myself living at Berkeley for 4 years.

Now for the negatives....

At times, I did feel as though Dr. Van Sluyter was making claims regarding Berkeley without any sort of support. He repeated on numerous occasions, for example, that Berkeley was the #1 school of optometry -- but he didn't cite any sort of study...which group did that ranking? The reason I'm concerned is because a friend of mine was reading to me a study that was just released in January, in the Journal of Association of Schools of Optometry, and Berkeley is actually ranking rather low -- somewhere around 13th overall -- amongst all schools. They looked at 30 or so different categories, Berkeley ranked consistently low in each of them except 'Pre-Clinical Education.' I asked him to send me the literature so I could review it myself...it should be on its way in the mail, but I wanted to know if anyone else had information on this and what their thoughts are? I'm trying to be objective, but this is basically the ONE big thing that's upsetting me from going to Berkeley.

YOUR THOUGHTS??
________________________________________
- al-majhul

 

[yakult_22@yahoo]

al-majhul,

That article you spoke of sounds very intersting. I tried searching for it online but could not get to the article regarding school rankings. Can you provide more information about the rankings? ie/ who's first, what the rankings are based on, etc...

Thanks!

 

[al-majhul]

al-majhul,

That article you spoke of sounds very intersting. I tried searching for it online but could not get to the article regarding school rankings. Can you provide more information about the rankings? ie/ who's first, what the rankings are based on, etc...

Thanks!

Sorry, should have mentioned that I scoured the internet looking for it myself; as I'm sure you are aware, opted.org is the home website of the Association of School and Colleges of Optometry, and I checked their site first -- they don't have January's issue archived yet, so little to no chance that it would be anywhere else on the net yet. In any case, I'll try posting some info when I get the copy my friend sent me. It's usually made available though to current OD students -- he's over at SCO and their school gave them a copy, seeing as SCO did incredibly well in the study, they pointed out that article to them. I've already been accepted to SCO, so this is making my decision (if I were to get accepted to UCBSO) that much more difficult.

 

[Kristene9]

When I interviewed at UAB the students there told me that that they had received a copy of the rankings as well. They said that Berkley was #1 and they were number 3 but couldn't remember who was 2.... I thought that was kind of weird. I thought 2 was New England but I have also heard it was UHCO. I would like to know what there basing the rankings off of too.

 

[al-majhul]

When I interviewed at UAB the students there told me that that they had received a copy of the rankings as well. They said that Berkley was #1 and they were number 3 but couldn't remember who was 2.... I thought that was kind of weird. I thought 2 was New England but I have also heard it was UHCO. I would like to know what there basing the rankings off of too.

That's kinda funny, because I THOUGHT my friend told me that Alabama was ranked either #1 or #2; then it was something like NECO or SUNY, and then SCO. MAybe I'm getting those a little confused, but I definitely recall that Berkeley was unusually (in my mind) rather low (like 13th). In any case, are you sure that the rankings they were citing came from JASCO? Or if it wasn't, do you know what it was so I can look into that as well?? The more info the better. Thanks!

 

[Ning]

Hey,

Anyone here that was in group 3?? But regarding the ranking system, I haven't heard anything about it. It sure would be interesting though! One of the ODs I shadowed wanted to create an optometry school ranking for his thesis, but he never did. He said there was too much to take into account.
It's true that during the interview, they kept pushing that they were #1...which could annoy some people. It was also funny how they kept mentioning school XXXO.

Ning-Ju

 

[r_salis]

It was also funny how they kept mentioning school XXXO.

Which school was that?

 

[yakult_22@yahoo]

Which school was that?

SCCO
Southern California College of Optometry

 

[purplehaze98]

Group 4'er here!! just wanted to let ya'll know that there aren't just group 2'ers in this forum...but then again my group only consisted of 7 people, I think it was because they wanted a small amount of people interviewing first so that the interviewers had more time to review the files of other applicants.
I thought the interview process went well, students were helpful answering questions, and I can't really say much for the actual interview. It was more of me talking and keeping the conversation running so that I wouldn't have to be sitting in any awkward silence. Also, they were saying that over half of the interviewers would get accepted, but I don't really believe that because there was about 70 of us there but they have already accepted 30 other students through phone interviews. If I don't get in, I think I'll be hoping that I'm on the top of the waitlist and calling in every other day to see if any spots open up. Goodluck everyone!

 

[hoosier1]

Does anyone know if the article on the rankings of optometry schools can be found on the internet? Thanks.

 

[lnguyen]

Last year Berkeley had a waitlist of 15 applicants. And of those 15 only 7 people made it into the class. It seems like most people who get admitted into UCBSO end up attending.

 

[Rosanna]

I wanted to add something really quick. There were more than 15 people on the wait-list last year. Someone had e-mailed me last year after the interview telling me that Dr. VS said that he was around #25. As far as I know he did not make the class (or else there is a first year from NC here that I'm not aware of). I'm guessing this is a new thing that they started where they tell applicants which number they are on the wait list. I was never told, but was finally admitted in July.

Thirty spots have been reserved for pre-applicants. There were about 70 interviewees on Sunday, so there will be about 50% or more accepted. I believe the deposit is only $100 so there may be people who have been preaccepted that may turn down their seat later.

The admission office is pretty much not taking any phone calls or any appointments. I believe you receive a recording when you call in now (asking you to wait patiently to receive a letter) and I've never had luck at any time when e-mailing them. If you are wait-listed, your best option is to probably send in some snail mail about your interest, final GPA, diploma, etc. I'm not sure if that helps but it's what I did. Plus, Alberto is leaving his position in March and I'm not sure if they found someone for his position.

I hope you all had a good time and thanks for the comments (both positive and negative). I'll make sure that someone reviews them (without your names or alias) to see if there are any changes that can be made.

- Rosanna

PS: Hello to all the lurkers who introduce yourselves to me. I know you’re reading this

 

[bobsacamenoh]

OK, I think I’ve finally recovered.

Note: Just to keep me entertained and sane while I wait for the decision letter, I will not be breaking up the remainder of this post into paragraphs – nothing personal.

I was pleasantly surprised by UCBSO. I thought that I would just be going so that I wouldn’t feel bad about paying the application fee. Now, however, I am thinking that if I am fortunate enough to get in that it will be a tough decision between UCBSO and SUNY (again, if I get in – heh). The professors were more down to earth than I had expected. Even though the professors at SUNY were friendly too, I unexpectedly have to rate them higher on my "snooty" scale – haha. The Berkeley professors certainly had no trouble praising their school, but IMO they were good about not giving off that arrogant vibe. The students that I came across were some of the friendliest people I’ve met in a professional situation (that may be just my perception, though, as I have been in the work world for about half a year now where the majority of my fellow co-workers are working at a job that they did not "choose"). They were really helpful during the Q&A portion of the event and it was comforting to hear stories similar to mine with regards to choosing a career. I actually came across the famous Rosanna, but I never got around to actually meeting her. I did hear her talking to a group of candidates and she sounded as helpful as she is on this board. As for the interview, I came out of it thinking that I did really well. It was probably one of the best conversations I’ve had in a while. I took Rosanna’s advice and I stretched it out as long as I could, but it was sort of unconscious. I think it had to do with my interviewers being on the younger side of the spectrum as opposed to my previous interview with more "distinguished" faculty members. It was such a relief to talk about optometry because the whole conflict-of-interest thing prevents me from even mentioning it at work. When I began thinking about the interview later on this week, though, some doubt started to creep into my mind. It seemed like too much of a conversation to me instead of an interview. Also, I am wondering if having such a young OD as my interviewer puts me at a disadvantage when it comes to voting to determine my fate. I have to admit that the facilities turned me off a bit. I am sure that it would not inhibit the learning experience…much, but I wouldn’t mind it if they updated a few things here and there. Maybe add a little more color - haha – I don’t know. It’s not that big of a deal. Like another poster pointed out, the rest of the campus offsets the relatively old looking O-school. The only real con I can think about Berkeley right now is that it is just way too close to where I live right now. I like the Bay Area, but I would really like to get away for a while. I guess I’ll find out in a couple of weeks if this is something that I have to worry about. Anyone else want to move away from the Bay?

 

[heretic]

Last year Berkeley had a waitlist of 15 applicants. And of those 15 only 7 people made it into the class. It seems like most people who get admitted into UCBSO end up attending.

Just to give current applicants a ballpark estimate. I started #9 on the waitlist after interview day and ended up #2 by the end of August. Don't get discouraged if nothing happens for awhile, the list moves pretty quickly in July.

 

[Rosanna]

So here is the story so far:

Admissions committee met early this week and has already selected 22 candidates to give out acceptances. They will be selecting a total of 35 or so (depending on how many people who were preaccepted will be coming for sure). Next week, they will be meeting again to give out about 15 wait list spots.

So decisions should have gone out already or will be coming out very very soon. Good luck!

- Rosanna

 

[lnguyen]

I called UCBSO's student affairs office today to inquire about decision letters and the woman told me they are aiming to send letters out early next week. According to her, no letters have gone out yet.

 

[polkadot]

wouldn't you want a school that trains health care professionals to be picky?

Anyone else getting an ulcer waiting?

 

[Rosanna]

I am so anti UC Berkeley for the fact that they are very picky. I checked out the 2004 student profile, and u really need to have high GPA as well as high OAT score. really bad school

ppa93-

The GPA and OAT scores that are posted are averages. The lowest GPA admitted (pre-requisite courses only) was 2.88 for the entering class of 2004. The lowest Academic Average OAT score was a 300. Comparing entering overall AVG GPA (on opted.org), Berkeley’s 3.50 average doesn’t seem too out of reach when all the schools GPAs’ are around a 3.36 ± 0.15. The AA and TS AVG on the chart are higher than other schools. However, I was admitted with a 350 TS score, AA score of 330 and GPA of 3.2, all of which were below the AVERAGE (appears to be below your scores also).

I’m sorry to hear that you are so anti-Berkeley just based on those numbers alone. Perhaps I could place more value to your argument if you have just visited the school, talked to someone (faculty, clinic professor, students) at the school or even interviewed here. From your post, the impression I got was that you just looked at the scores alone to form a judgement. We are not just about numbers. Since you were looking for other “fobs” in optometry school from your other posts, it’s too bad that you don’t consider applying to Berkeley since our classes are 60-70% Asians. Most of us are born in the US like myself (“ABC” as you may call it, but I'm 1/2 Burmese also), but we have a fairly large population of Asian students not born in the US.

- Rosanna

 

[bobsacamenoh]

Now that some people have reported receiving acceptance letters, can those that have not received any notification yet (myself included) assume that they are either on the waitlist or have been rejected? Or could it possibly be that they are not finished selecting students for acceptance and it works like this: they send out acceptances to the "top-tier" students first, then the "lower-tier" students second, and then finally send letters to those on the waitlist/rejected? If it does work like this, then I can still hold on to a little hope. If not, I guess that's fine too.

 

[purplehaze98]

I am in the same boat as bobsacamenoh, if anyone knows if UCBSO has sent out all acceptance letters or if they are still in the process it would be much appreciated, my hope of getting accepted is dwindling by the day. Thanks.

 

[polkadot]

I wouldn't worry at all yet. All I got (and I'm assuming the same for the others) was a non-descript e-mail from "gradadm" that I was accepted for "OD in Optometry" and would be getting a letter soon. And I think their mailing process is weird. I got my interview invitation about a week after Bob S. and live in the bay area too.

Hopefully, the email was real. I'll let you all know when I get an actual letter.

- Dot.

 

[al-majhul]

I wouldn't worry at all yet. All I got (and I'm assuming the same for the others) was a non-descript e-mail from "gradadm" that I was accepted for "OD in Optometry" and would be getting a letter soon. And I think their mailing process is weird. I got my interview invitation about a week after Bob S. and live in the bay area too.

Hopefully, the email was real. I'll let you all know when I get an actual letter.

- Dot.

I got the same thing as polkadot. Very non-descript; very impersonal. Plus I think that Rosanna mentioned that they were only sending out 20-some-odd acceptances first and more to follow? Or am I mistaken?

 

[lnguyen]

I got the same thing as polkadot. Very non-descript; very impersonal. Plus I think that Rosanna mentioned that they were only sending out 20-some-odd acceptances first and more to follow? Or am I mistaken?

Me too. I just received an e-mail no hard copy yet and I called the Student Affairs Office at UCBSO to confirm that it was legit. If you are waitlisted notifications do not even go out until 1 1/2 months after the interview date (according to some applicants who were waitlisted last year).

 

[Rosanna]

Hello:

In reference to financial aid, Dr. VS said that although the initial deadline for filing the FAFSA was March 2 the filing period remains open. If you are admitted, you will have plenty of time to file the forms and there will ample loan funds available to meet your needs. So, again, we’re unsure why the Graduate Office sent out those e-mail for financial aid or university reasons because there is no need to notify admittees informally through e-mail so you can start the financial aid process.

Thanks again for those who sent those e-mails to me. I’ll be in contact with you all.

- Rosanna

 

[ppa93]

ppa93-

The GPA and OAT scores that are posted are averages. The lowest GPA admitted (pre-requisite courses only) was 2.88 for the entering class of 2004. The lowest Academic Average OAT score was a 300. Comparing entering overall AVG GPA (on opted.org), Berkeley’s 3.50 average doesn’t seem too out of reach when all the schools GPAs’ are around a 3.36 ± 0.15. The AA and TS AVG on the chart are higher than other schools. However, I was admitted with a 350 TS score, AA score of 330 and GPA of 3.2, all of which were below the AVERAGE (appears to be below your scores also).

I’m sorry to hear that you are so anti-Berkeley just based on those numbers alone. Perhaps I could place more value to your argument if you have just visited the school, talked to someone (faculty, clinic professor, students) at the school or even interviewed here. From your post, the impression I got was that you just looked at the scores alone to form a judgement. We are not just about numbers. Since you were looking for other “fobs” in optometry school from your other posts, it’s too bad that you don’t consider applying to Berkeley since our classes are 60-70% Asians. Most of us are born in the US like myself (“ABC” as you may call it, but I'm 1/2 Burmese also), but we have a fairly large population of Asian students not born in the US.

- Rosanna

wow I am shocked. I think I have a chance of getting into Berkeley according to you. Do you have to write an essay during the interview? Thanks for the explanations.

 

[ppa93]

ppa93-

The GPA and OAT scores that are posted are averages. The lowest GPA admitted (pre-requisite courses only) was 2.88 for the entering class of 2004. The lowest Academic Average OAT score was a 300. Comparing entering overall AVG GPA (on opted.org), Berkeley’s 3.50 average doesn’t seem too out of reach when all the schools GPAs’ are around a 3.36 ± 0.15. The AA and TS AVG on the chart are higher than other schools. However, I was admitted with a 350 TS score, AA score of 330 and GPA of 3.2, all of which were below the AVERAGE (appears to be below your scores also).

I’m sorry to hear that you are so anti-Berkeley just based on those numbers alone. Perhaps I could place more value to your argument if you have just visited the school, talked to someone (faculty, clinic professor, students) at the school or even interviewed here. From your post, the impression I got was that you just looked at the scores alone to form a judgement. We are not just about numbers. Since you were looking for other “fobs” in optometry school from your other posts, it’s too bad that you don’t consider applying to Berkeley since our classes are 60-70% Asians. Most of us are born in the US like myself (“ABC” as you may call it, but I'm 1/2 Burmese also), but we have a fairly large population of Asian students not born in the US.

- Rosanna

You are right. More than half of the class are asians. I couldnt believe myself. Thanks for the info

 

[Ning]

Hi,

Yup, you do have to write an essay but they give you 5 or so questions to choose from.

Ning-Ju

 

[al-majhul]

Hi,

Yup, you do have to write an essay but they give you 5 or so questions to choose from.

Ning-Ju

...and they make it a point to emphasize that the contents of the essay really doesn't matter; they just want to make sure that you can write a coherent, well-structured essay.

 

[ppa93]

...and they make it a point to emphasize that the contents of the essay really doesn't matter; they just want to make sure that you can write a coherent, well-structured essay.

what is the time limit for the essay?

 

[Rosanna]

what is the time limit for the essay?

You get 45 minutes for the essay. It is something that is put in your file and will not be read by the professor and student who are interviewing you. It may be read by the admissions committee later on. And it does state in the instructions that it has minimal weight on whether you get accepted or not.

- Rosanna

 

[lnguyen]

Hello everyone



...In reference to financial aid, he said that although the initial deadline for filing the FAFSA was March 2 the filing period remains open. If you are admitted, you will have plenty of time to file the forms and there will ample loan funds available to meet your needs. So, again, we’re unsure why the Graduate Office sent out those e-mail for financial aid or university reasons because there is no need to notify admittees informally through e-mail so you can start the financial aid process...


- Rosanna

When I was applying as an undergrad to berkeley I got a call from a staff at the Financial aid office. She did not say I was accepted, but she wanted to make sure I filled out my FAFSA. About a month later I received my acceptance letter.

 

[al-majhul]

Hey everyone,

I just got my hands on a copy of that journal I've been talking about. I'll tell you what it says about Berkeley...

So basically, it looks at twenty different categories. It looked at how many total clock hours each school gives students in each of those categories. They include: Clinical Experience (CE) separated by year; Basic Biomedical (BB); Ocular Disease (OD); Ocular Anatomy and Physiology (OA); Optical Science (OS); Visual Science (VS); Binocular Vision, Perception, and Pediatrics (VT); Pre-Clinical (PC); Low Vision/Gerontology (LV); Pharmacology (Rx); Contact Lens (CL); Scientific Thought (ST); Practice Management (PM); Public Health and Epidemiology (PH); Environmental/Occupational/Sports (EO); Psychological Issues and Behavioral Disorders (PS); Other (O); Totals (T.); Total Clinical (TC); Total Didactic (TD). (Let me know if you'd like a clarification of any of those categories).

Note that Pennsylvania's school (PCO) was excluded from the study because it would have been too difficult to incorporate their data as it was. (PCO used a unique and incomparable modular curriculum structure). It's also important to note that the data represented in the tables of tallies is taken from the 2001-2002 course catalogs of each school listed, so take this information with a grain of salt; I believe Dr. Van Sluyters mentioned that UCB had changed it's curriculum considerably in recent years. So I'm not so sure how well this data can be used as a comparison for the last two years.

In any case, here's what (I feel) is important from the data (I hope my table doesn't get all messed up with the HTML. If it does, copy and paste it to WordPad and make it font "Courier New" and text size "9" to read it better. That may or may not work, unforunately vBulletin doesn't support tabs very well. I've also uploaded graphic formats with better representations of the tables.):

Cat. | UCB | High & School | Low & School | Mean
==========================================================
BB | 115 | 566 - UAB | 115 - UCB | 307
OD | 154 | 225 - NEWENCO | 90 - IAUPR | 175
OA | 73 | 159 - PUCO | 72 - NOVA | 110
OS | 251 | 363 - IU | 140 - UAB | 244
VS | 95 | 318 - PUCO | 95 - UCB | 110
VT | 172 | 368 - UH | 96 - IU | 192
PC | 481 | 481 - UCB | 211 - UH | 326
LV | 45 | 108 - OSU | 0 - IAUPR | 53
Rx | 115 | 143 - IU & SCO | 70 - NEWENCO | 111
CL | 94 | 157 - IAUPR & | 92 - SCO | 126
| | NSUCO | |
ST | 90 | 250 - ICO | 0 - MCO, NOVA, | 42
| | | OSU, UAB|
| | | UH, UMSL |
PM | 10 | 90 - UH & NSUCO| 10 - UCB | 53
PH | 10 | 90 - NOVA | 10 - UCB | 43
EO | 8 | 46 - OSU | 0 - IAUPR, ICO, | 18
| | | IU, SUNY |
PS | 0 | 38 - UMSL | 0 - IAUPR, IU, | 9
| | |NSUCO, OSU, |
| | |SCCO, UAB, |
| | |UCB, UH, NOVA |
O | 64 | 105 - UH | 5 - UAB | 41
CE1 | 0 | 37 - PUCO | 0 - all others | 5
| | |except NSUCO |
| | |& SCCO |
CE2 | 0 | 296 - UAB | 0 - IAUPR, ICO, | 66
| | |UCB, UMSL, |
| | |OSU |
CE3 | 554 | 780 - UH | 80 - NOVA | 440
CE4 | 1214 | 2184 - NEWENCO | 922 - NSUCO | 1567
T. | 3543 | 4642 - UH | 3405 - UMSL | 4154
TC | 1768 | 2554 - NEWENCO | 1479 - UMSL | 2077
TD | 1775 | 2484 - NOVA | 1728 - MCO | 2077

This second table gives a bit more comparative info. It includes the total clock hours in each category as a percentage of the total clock hours in Berkeley's curriculum (%UCB-C). The next column shows Berkeley's "rank" (out of 16) against other schools within each category based on total number of clock hours (RTCH); ranks in the next column are also Berkeley's, but this time based on each category's percentage of total clock hours (RPCH).

Cat. |%UCB-C| RTCH | RPCH |
=============================
BB | 3.2% | 16 | 15 |
OD | 4.4% | 13 | 6* |
OA | 2.0% | 15 | 14 |
OS | 7.1% | 6 | 6 |
VS | 2.7% | 16 | 16 |
VT | 4.8% | 9 | 6 |
PC | 13.6% | 1 | 1 |
LV | 1.3% | 9* | 7** |
Rx | 3.2% | 8 | 4 |
CL | 2.6% | 15 | 9** |
ST | 2.5% | 2 | 2 |
PM | 0.3% | 16 | 16 |
PH | 0.3% | 16 | 16 |
EO | 0.2% | 12 | 12 |
PS | 0.0% | 15 | 15~ |
O | 1.8% | 3 | 2 |
CE1 | 0.0% | 4~~ | 4~~ |
CE2 | 0.0% | 12^ | 10^ |
CE3 | 15.6% | 5 | 3 |
CE4 | 34.3% | 13 | 12 |
T. | 100% | 15 | N/A |
TC | 49.9% | 14 | 8 |
TD | 50.1% | 15 | 9 |

* = tied with one other school
** = tied with two other schools
^ = tied with four other schools
~ = tied with eight other schools
~~ = tied with twelve other schools

The article continues by taking each of the categories they mentioned and placing it into one of four models ('Medical,' 'Optometric,' 'Clinical,' and 'Other'). Medical Model includes: Basic Biomedical, Ocular Disease, Ocular Anatomy, Pharmacology. Optometric Model includes: Optical Science, Vision Science, Vision Therapy, Low Vision, Environmental/Occupational, and Contact Lens. Clinical Model includes total clinical experience. Other includes: Pre-Clinical, Scientific Thinking, Practice Management, Public Health, and Other. The following table gives Berkeley's 2001-2002 rank again in terms of total clock hours (RTCH), and then in percentage of clock hours (RPCH). (Puerto Rico was not included in this because it was not analyzed for this information in 1998).

Cat. | RTCH | RPCH |
===============================
Medical | 15 | 15
Optometric | 15 | 11
Clinic | 13 | 7
Other | 1 | 1


All data was gathered from the article "A Curriculum Comparison of U.S. Optometry Schools: Looking Back Over the Decade," by Dr. Heavin Maier, O.D., Alex Smith, B.S., and Dr. Bradley Coffey, O.D., F.A.A.O. It was featured in the Winter 2005 issue of "Optometric Education: The Journal of the Association of Schools an Colleges of Optometry" (Vol. 30, No. 2).

One point that the article mentions is that UCB's low numbers in the BB category may be accounted for because of the more stringent pre-requisites that the school has. This was also mentioned and addressed by Dr. Van Sluyter, I believe, on interview day. Other thing I found interesting to note was the fact that Berkeley does indeed have the most balanced curriculum when you put clinical exposure against didactic. (49.9% to 50.1%, respectively; that's closer to 50-50 than any other school). However, in that vein, the one thing that concerns me is that the total overall clock hours of Berkeley's is somewhat below average to begin with (3,543 hours compared to an average of 4,154).

Once again, bear in mind that these are mostly all data from 2001 and the numbers are likely to have changed quite a bit. For example (and I didn't include this in the data here for lack of time and space), but Berkeley went from a rank of 4 in the Optometric Model by total clock hours in 1991/1992, to a rank of 8 in 1995/1996, to a rank of 15 in 2001/2002. This may have changed in 2004/2005 and may likely change again next year. Hope this served to help rather than confuse.

 

[polkadot]

WOW

Thanks for posting that info, although it may take me many passes to understand it. I got kinda tired of scrolling between the chart and the acronym key above it, but it's interesting to see a metric comparison of schools.

Oh, btw folks, I got my hardcopy letter today!
Good luck to those of you still waiting.

-polkadot.

 

[alkers]

I've been glued to this thread since Feb. 21st. Finally it seems like the letters have been sent!

... I'm sooo nervous.

 

[Ning]

Hi,

At this point, I'm not sure whether they're sending out all the letters: acceptance, rejection, and waitlist. I think Rosanna said that people on the waitlist wouldn't get their letters until a month later. I'm assuming that they've sent out the acceptances at least. What about the rejections? I dont' think I made it since I didn't get an email like the rest of you

Ning-Ju

 

[bobsacamenoh]

Are there any lurkers out there that received the acceptance email? It would be nice if we could tally how many have been sent out. So far I think I count 3. Come and join us!

 

[purplehaze98]

Are there any lurkers out there that received the acceptance email? It would be nice if we could tally how many have been sent out. So far I think I count 3. Come and join us!

Even though i never recieved the initial email, I just recieved a hard copy acceptance letter in the mail, I'm so excited! Berkeley here I come!

 

[bobsacamenoh]

=4 acceptances (after interview)

Even though i never recieved the initial email, I just recieved a hard copy acceptance letter in the mail, I'm so excited! Berkeley here I come!

 

[Rosanna]

Not everyone who is accepted received an e-mail notification. So I would say not to worry if you didn’t receive that e-mail from the Graduate Office (not from the SAO which is an official US mail).

Yes, wait-list notifications will take a while to come out probably. Again, I was notified close to 3 weeks after my interview date that I was wait-listed (my two friends who were rejected were notified about 1.5 weeks after the interview date, and my classmates who were given acceptances told me that they received their notices less than a week after). So, the waiting time is going to be a little bit longer this year.

Also to the people who are attending UCBSO: Anyone looking for a roommate? I have a friend/coworker that was pre-accepted and she’s looking for someone to move in with.

Apartment hunting is a pain here, so try in advance to get a place secured. There are some other little things also to be aware of – if you want to drive to school, the parking office will only sell you a parking permit if you live 2 miles away from the school (have to show them a PG&E bill). However, there was ways around that if you need to know.

- Rosanna

 

[alkers]

I got my acceptance letter today!

I never got an email... because they have an incorrect address for me on my file (on initial application I screwed up, and when I tried to fix it with them, I guess they never did it... oh well). So I can't say that I didn't receive an email and did receive a hard-copy acceptance... I have no way of knowing if they tried to send an email to the wrong address...

Anyways... good luck to all of you still waiting for letters.

 

[bobsacamenoh]

I called the admissions office today and asked about the status of my application. The woman said that everyone would know their fate at the end of the month. I asked if it was right to assume that if we have not yet received an acceptance letter that we would not be receiving one and should expect a waitlist/rejection letter some time in the next couple of weeks. She kind of dodged the question and said, "like I said, you'll know by the end of the month." She said they were still in the "process," but she never confimed whether or not all the acceptances have been sent out. I don't know if that was really helpful or not. I'm just bored at work and wanted to post something. Good luck to everyone still waiting for a response.

 

[lnguyen]

I called the admissions office today and asked about the status of my application. The woman said that everyone would know their fate at the end of the month. I asked if it was right to assume that if we have not yet received an acceptance letter that we would not be receiving one and should expect a waitlist/rejection letter some time in the next couple of weeks. She kind of dodged the question and said, "like I said, you'll know by the end of the month." She said they were still in the "process," but she never confimed whether or not all the acceptances have been sent out. I don't know if that was really helpful or not. I'm just bored at work and wanted to post something. Good luck to everyone still waiting for a response.

I received the e-mail notification, but have yet to receive the official letter. I called SAO and the woman told me I should be getting it late this week or early next week. Apparently they are still "in the process". So good luck to everybody who is still playing the waiting game.

 

[al-majhul]

I received the e-mail notification, but have yet to receive the official letter. I called SAO and the woman told me I should be getting it late this week or early next week. Apparently they are still "in the process". So good luck to everybody who is still playing the waiting game.

Just thought I'd add that I received my hard-copy in the mail two days ago.