uhco, umsl or Nova which one is better?

[glh8082]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I got accepted to all three schools, and I just cant seem to narrow it down to one. I really like UMSL, but i dont know if UHCO is the better school. Can someone just give me some advice?

 

[PreOptMegs]

Of course I am going to say UMSL. I am in for next year. They have wonderful faculty and staff and they have a small class size and their clinical prep is one of the best.

 

[rkl_OD2be]

I applied to UMSL and SCO. It is somewhat ironic that I put 85% of my effort into my SCO application/interview, while my UMSL application/interview was something more of "going through the motions" so that I could say I applied to more than one school.

I decided to attend UMSL over SCO (in spite of the total cost of UMSL being quite a bit higher over the four years). Here are my reasons.

Class size. I got my undergraduate degree from Washburn University in Topeka, KS. I had Calculus I in a class of 18 people from the chairman of the mathematics department. There were 12 people in my Physics I & II classes. I know from past experience that I do much better when I'm not a "face in a crowd". The class size at UMSL is 44. To my knowledge, the only school with a smaller class size is Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma with 26.

Part I Board passage rate: While the passage rate at UMSL is not as high as SCO, it is still substantially above the national average. Also, 1/44 not passing is a higher %-age than 1/120 not passing, etc.

Dr. Bennett & Dr. Davis: I have keratoconus. Dr. Davis has done extensive research on keratoconus, and is an expert in the field. Dr. Bennett, likewise, with his knowledge with contact lenses, also impressed me. Since I already know a fair amount about keratoconus and variousl contact lenses, I was attracted to UMSL.

Dr. Brown: While the staff at SCO was quite friendly, they don't compare to the great "student advocate" and resource that Dr. Brown is. Dr. Brown always responds to all my inquiries within one business day, and is genuinely interested in helping all students succeed.

When I was accepted to UMSL, I received an email from Dr. Bennett that was time-stamped between 11:00pm and midnight Friday night, and Dr. Brown followed-up with an email that was time-stamped between 5:00am and 6:00am the next Saturday morning! I did not see that level of commitment or devotion from SCO.

Geography: My family lives in Kansas City, and my wife grew up in Topeka. St. Louis is only 200 miles away from Kansas City, and 270 miles from Topeka. All other schools are substantially farther away. Since I'll be moving with our family (myself, wife & 2 children), it was important for me to stay "closer to home".

These are the main reasons I decided to attend UMSL instead of SCO.

 

[Ryan_eyeball]

I applied to UMSL and SCO. It is somewhat ironic that I put 85% of my effort into my SCO application/interview, while my UMSL application/interview was something more of "going through the motions" so that I could say I applied to more than one school.

I decided to attend UMSL over SCO (in spite of the total cost of UMSL being quite a bit higher over the four years). Here are my reasons.

Class size. I got my undergraduate degree from Washburn University in Topeka, KS. I had Calculus I in a class of 18 people from the chairman of the mathematics department. There were 12 people in my Physics I & II classes. I know from past experience that I do much better when I'm not a "face in a crowd". The class size at UMSL is 44. To my knowledge, the only school with a smaller class size is Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma with 26.

Part I Board passage rate: While the passage rate at UMSL is not as high as SCO, it is still substantially above the national average. Also, 1/44 not passing is a higher %-age than 1/120 not passing, etc.

Dr. Bennett & Dr. Davis: I have keratoconus. Dr. Davis has done extensive research on keratoconus, and is an expert in the field. Dr. Bennett, likewise, with his knowledge with contact lenses, also impressed me. Since I already know a fair amount about keratoconus and variousl contact lenses, I was attracted to UMSL.

Dr. Brown: While the staff at SCO was quite friendly, they don't compare to the great "student advocate" and resource that Dr. Brown is. Dr. Brown always responds to all my inquiries within one business day, and is genuinely interested in helping all students succeed.

When I was accepted to UMSL, I received an email from Dr. Bennett that was time-stamped between 11:00pm and midnight Friday night, and Dr. Brown followed-up with an email that was time-stamped between 5:00am and 6:00am the next Saturday morning! I did not see that level of commitment or devotion from SCO.

Geography: My family lives in Kansas City, and my wife grew up in Topeka. St. Louis is only 200 miles away from Kansas City, and 270 miles from Topeka. All other schools are substantially farther away. Since I'll be moving with our family (myself, wife & 2 children), it was important for me to stay "closer to home".

These are the main reasons I decided to attend UMSL instead of SCO.

I'm a 4th year at Umsl and I think you have picked out a lot of good aspects of the school. Dr. Bennett is by far the best RGP CL guy that I've ever met, and I've worked with a lot of dr's. Dr. Brown is a very good handling and working with students. I agree she always responds to questions very quickly and accurately.

My class size was one of the smallest they have ever had in 36, and I think only 34 will graduate because of two students failing classes. The board percentage pass rates have been going up every year. I think part one this past year for the third year class for part one was almost 90%.

Good luck