I am in my 2nd year at UMSL and it's also the only place I applied. I think Megs came for the 3+4 program (?), but I didn't know I wanted to do optometry when I started undergrad, and I still put all my eggs in one basket.
I'm not positive what the pass rate for NBEO parts II and III, but I imagine it's quite good because the national average is quite good. From what I gather (correct me if I'm wrong), part I is what gets people, and our average was well above the national average this last year (now the pressure is on my class to keep an upward trend going!
)
Anyway, as far as housing, I would agree with most of the suggestions already given. As far as living on campus, that's not something you want to do if you're married, at least as far as I'm concerned. It's definitely geared toward unmarried students. They have little bedrooms with room for a twin bed, etc. Plus, I think rent is per person, not per unit.
Here are some areas I would look at: Florissant, Maryland Heights, University City (some areas are pricey, but there are some very reasonable apartments), Olivette, Hazelwood, St. Charles, St. Peters. You can look at some places in Bridgeton and Ferguson, but some of those areas can be kind of sketchy.
Areas that are close but I would avoid: St. Ann, St. John, anything that begins with "Bel"...
I live in an area kind of between Maryland Heights and Overland...it's safe, it's cheap (relatively speaking--I pay $495 for a 1-br apartment; 2-br units in this complex are $570 or something now)...it's not a shiny place to live, but it's pretty centrally located, which is nice.
If I had it to do again, I'd live here:
French Quarter in Hazelwood
Hope this helps.
