I will say what everyone is afraid to say. SCCO is a better school than Western.
You want to go to Western because your friend might go there, or your interviewers were nice, or because you think you have a better shot at being a class officer because their students are lacking leadership skills? That's weak.
I can, and will, dismantle every single pro that has been said for Western. This will be fun.
Nice admissions staff.
They are a new school and desperately NEED good students. In fact, they're begging for them. They're hoping you are so blinded by how nice they are, you won't see all the ways their program SUCKS.
Don't be fooled by their song and dance-- Their program is weak.
Curriculum is laid out and looks impressive.
Of course they lay it out and talk a good game. They WANT things to look as legit as possible because THEY STILL ARE MAKING UP STUFF AS THEY GO. The fact is they haven't taught a single third year class or had a single student go on a rotation. Still impressed?
New equipment
You seriously think you'll be using brand new super-deluxe stuff when you graduate? PLEASE. You need to learn how to use equipment that is normal for the industry. Anybody who thinks their optometry office will look like Western's facilities is deluded. Does it make you feel better knowing that they have old stuff too you can work on? Which do you think Western students like working on: new whiz-bang stuff or older stuff? Don't be naive. You'll be spoiled by the new stuff and then will look like a fool when you start working with other optometrists because you can't handle the older stuff they have in their offices.
Western Graduate: "Sorry, Dr Optometro. I didn't see the corneal ulcer because the optics of this slit lamp aren't very good. The ones at Western are sweeeeet.."
Doctor: **SLAP** You suck. You are fired.
And when you graduate, do you assume that you will start a new practice COLD, building it COMPLETELY NEW from the ground up. That is CRAZY. You will likely be working for a corporation, another optometrist, or buy an established practice. Ask around. VERY FEW PEOPLE start up practices completely cold because they can't afford it. It would be a foolish decision to buy cutting/bleeding edge equipment, too, because you can do the same stuff with cheaper equipment. Sorry to crush your dreams of going on a $500k shopping spree for new optometry equipment when you graduate. But it had to be crushed.
Unique program, mission statement, core values, very ambitious program
All BS. Every school is trying to provide a great optometric program. Every school program is unique.
If they really like you, they ask you to join on the spot
If you base your optometry school decision on this, then you are a fool.
Neuro-rehabilitation/VT program focus
First, all the local optometrists who find a complex neuro-rehab pt will refer them to SCCO, NOT WESTERN. They trust SCCO's clinic more, likely graduated from SCCO, and it's only 20 mins down the street. So good luck getting a good clinical experience. All the interesting pts are driving down the street to SCCO.
Also, your education about neuro-rehabilitation/vt stuff will be better at SCCO. You want to be taught by a new faculty member who just typed up his powerpoint slides the night before? Or do you want to learn in a program that has DECADES of experience in providing an outstanding VT/neuro-rehab clinical education by professors who are leaders in their field using materials that have consistently had good results?
Humanism focus
Complete BS and irrelevent. Does Western even have ACTIVE student organizations like VOSH? How many trips have they organized? How active are they? Word on the street is that their administration actively discourages students from doing extracurricular activities because they want them to focus ONLY on boards. So sad. Such a one-sided education.
Between these two, I don't think you can go wrong in terms of the training you will get.
Wrong. Optometry school is not like undergrad. Everything is connected and builds on each other. You have to teach things in the right order to make sure students have the basic knowledge to understand the complicated stuff. Also, some topics could be taught in different classes. For example, do you teach contact lens induced pathologies in a contact lens course or ocular disease? That takes a lot of coordination and trial and error. Western is a new program that hasn't had time to work the kinks out.
And SCCO is well known for being a top clinical program. What is Western known for? They are known for taking bottom of the barrel applicants. Clearly, the training from SCCO is superior to Western.
Uniting multiple health professions focus / balanced view of health care profession / case studies
A waste of time. Even Western students say so. What will help you learn how to work with other health professions, A useless class where different disciplines get together and work on mini-project fluff? Or a rotation at a major VA hospital. SCCO has one of the largest rotation programs in the country. You can work at hospitals, eye disease clinics, VT only practices, low vision specialty centers, you name it. Where do Western students go for rotation? Oh, it's not set up yet.
Networking with other health care professionals and optometrists
The best way to do this is to work with them, like at a hospital, which you can do at SCCO. If you go to Western, you'll be able to say, "I have a friend who is a nurse! We took a class together!" You think this is going to open up tons of opportunities for you? PLEASE. If Western students spend THAT MUCH TIME with other disciplines, something is wrong with their program because there's too much stuff that is SPECIFIC to optometry to teach.
Also, not a SINGLE optometrist has graduated from Western, but a ton have graduated from other schools. No optometrist is impressed when you say you are a Western optometry student. There is no credibility with the program and the best a potential employer can do is LOOK PAST THE FACT that you went to Western. You want every single employer to think that of you when you are asking for a job?
You will meet more optometrists at SCCO. They will assume you are competent and had a great clinical skills. That will help your future much more.
They took all the best from other schools, combined them, and made them better
Are you on crack? Complete marketing BS. This is a lie.
New University Dean: "We are the best because we looked at all the existing universities and took all the good stuff from them and make them better."
Harvard Dean: **SLAP** Say rubbish like that and I'll slap you again.
I think their entire curriculum and vision is better than the two schools I've seen.
The better curriculum will produce better doctors. I ask ALL optometrists who are reading this: If you had a choice to hire a Western grad or SCCO grad and their interview, resume, and salary were pretty much similar, which one would you hire? SCCO wins every time. (Unless the optometrist has a vested interest in helping Western)
Western university is like Puerto Rico-- Even if you are awesome, doctors assume you had no choice but to go there and are a bottom of the barrel student.
The dean said that you'll get to work with special needs pts at Western
You can do that at SCCO. And will do it more often. How many Western students have seen these patients? ANYONE? ANYONE? I have at SCCO. These patients are usually seen by residents or faculty members because of their increased difficulty. You can work with the residents/faculty members to see them if you want.
If you had an autistic kid, where would you send them to? Western with its QUESTIONABLE clinical program? Or SCCO who is the local authority on vision care for special needs kids? Western, which accepts anybody and their mother? Or your likely alma mater, SCCO? This is why your clinical experience will be POOR at Western.
Extensive screening program / see first patient after 5 weeks
Screening is NOTHING. It's not doctoring. It's not complex decision making. It's asking someone to read a line and then writing it down. If you want to screen, you can do it TODAY by volunteering at a number of places. After 5 weeks, do you think you are really meeting your first patient? *BULL* You are watching another doctor do an exam, or you are screening.
Applicant: "I've already seen hundreds of patients."
Admissions team: "Really? How?"
Applicant: "I did vision screenings at the YMCA every weekend last year. HUNDREDS of them."
(awkward pause)
Admissions team: **SLAP** "That doesn't count. You're an idiot."
Furthermore, other schools get students in the clinic first year as well, but they don't advertise it. It's hilarious how Western makes this a selling point. That's how desperate they are.
You integrate EVERYTHING you learned from optometry school into your practice: low vision, eye exams, pediatrics
How many of these patients do you think you'll see at Western? How many of them will not be ho-hum boring patients that you don't learn from? Word on the street is that Western students are mostly WORKING ON EACH OTHER. (All healthy myopic 25 year olds) You will see many more patients at SCCO. And they'll be the hard ones that will push you to excellence. Again, SCCO's clinical program is SO MUCH BETTER than Western's.
I hate the LA area. Western's location is better.
Western's neighborhood is a crime ridden hole with no culture. Anybody who wants to live there is crazy. Look around, it's ghetto there. You said the Pomona school district and surrounding area is ghetto. What city is Western in? Pomona!
Yeah, you can drive to Disneyland or the beach from Western. You can do that to at SCCO but you'll get there 20 minutes faster. And you can probably get to LA faster from Western, but you hate LA, right?
And by the way, SCCO is not in LA. It's in the OC.
Western is getting better fast and will one day be better than SCCO
Another lie. What propaganda machine makes this up? That's a lot of talk with no substance. Western is behind in all aspects of the game when it comes to optometric education. (except equipment) As Western improves and makes changes, SCCO does the same. So don't plan on catching up anytime soon. Furthermore, your clinical education happens in the next 4 years. Which program do you want to go to?
Professionals are reaching out to Western graduates
More than SCCO graduates? PLEASE. Professionals want to hire the best optometrist they can, and you will be a better optometrist coming from SCCO because of their superior academic resources and clinical experience. The only people who don't care about this are companies that want to pay you minimally and work you to the ground.
They're doing international externships!
Wow! Western is so awesome! Wait, other schools are doing that too, including SCCO. Oh, wait, SCCO's rotation program is one of the best in the country? How does Western's compare? They don't have ANYTHING solid yet.
An optometrist friend of mine is in the process of hiring doctors for her practice. She could care less which school the dr graduated from
I've have MANY doctors tell me that they would NEVER hire a Western graduate because they don't trust the program. The general sentiment is that all of Western's talk of neuro-rehabilitation is BULL because there isn't a market for neuro-rehab specialized optometrists to get jobs in. Many doctors are pissed because they see Western as a pipeline to provide Walmarts and Lenscrafter with cheap labor.
Of course, they will deny this in front of Western students. Do you want doctors to secretly have these prejudices against you when you start looking for jobs?
Cons
Accreditation
This is just another unnecessary risk. What happens if suddenly they can't get accredited? You are SCREWED. Even if there is only a 5% chance this will happen, it could. Also, accreditation does not equal quality.
Cost
Western is more expensive, especially when you consider SCCO's scholarships. You will pay more at Western for an inferior education.
Employment b/c of poor alumni base
This is a big deal. Western Optometry has ZERO graduates. Most optometrists will trust the program they came from. How many optometrists in CA that graduated from Berkeley, SCCO or another school will hire a Western student over a grad from their school? VERY FEW. (Unless they can pay them a lot less.) Don't delude yourself.
The first thing doctors want in a hire is someone who they trust is COMPETENT. SCCO's clinical reputation is awesome. Western hasn't graduated a single student, which means nobody knows about the quality of their clinical program. All signs point to Western's clinical program being PISS POOR because all the complicated referrals are going down the street to SCCO. So Western students don't get to see them.
And for all the people who are saying that personality goes a long way, that's only telling one side of the story. Personality goes a long way ASSUMING that the candidates are similar in other ways. Doctors will not hire incompetent people no matter how charming they are. If you graduate from Western, you will almost certainly be a company drone for Lenscrafters or Wallmart.
Clinial quality b/c of poor alumni base and reputation of clinic
What school did most optometrists in the area from graduate from? SCCO. So what school will they refer their difficult/complex patients to? SCCO. If you had a complex/difficult patient and had the choice of referring them to a well established school known for the quality of their clinical program OR a new school that is doing everything for the first time, where would you send your patient to? SCCO. 99% of optometrists won't risk losing their patient by sending them to an inferior clinic. Especially when a better one is 20 minutes down the street.
Clinical quality because of patient count
SCCO's clinic is busy. You will see MANY more patients at SCCO.
One person only saw 3 people in SCCO's waiting room? Did they get a tour of the clinic? The different WINGS of each department? SCCO has 40+ exam rooms with tons of specialized equipment. You think we only had 3 people in the clinic? PLEASE.
SCCO tries to schedule patients to arrive at about the same time. So if you come at 8:00, you'll see a full waiting room. If you come at 8:20, you may see a straggler or two filling out forms because they were late to their 8:00 appointment. I WISH Western would publish how many patients go through their clinic. But they won't, because that will make their school look WEAK.
If you go to Western, all of your exams will be team efforts where you have multiple people in the exam room. That sounds nice if you're not confident in your skills, but not doing full exams on your own will hurt you in the long run.
Academic Reputation
Again, going to Western is like going to Puerto Rico. People will think you went to an inferior program because you couldn't get into a better one. Do you want to have that reputation when you are starting your career? Look at this objectively: Even here, people are laughing at you because you seem to prefer Western over SCCO. Some people think you are joking. Not a single person here supports going to Western over SCCO.
Student Life/Leadership
SCCO has a very active student body that does lots of stuff. Their clubs are established, have traditions, and know how to do things. And there are a lot of clubs, so if you want to be a leader, you can. How about Western? How active are they?
Also, don't assume that Western and SCCO students or faculty members are working together. They came to a sports tournament once. I've never seen a single Western student since.
Wannabe Rapper: "Yeah, me an Snoop Dogg hang out all the time. We listen to records and rap together.
Snoop Dogg: **SLAP** YOU DON'T KNOW ME!
What's the final word? EVERYTHING Western says is so great about their program is questionable. They've fooled tons of people. But I expose them now, here.
Don't be fooled. Listen to everybody here. You will be a better doctor if you go to SCCO. You miss your friend? Drive 20 minutes and visit them. You want to be a leader? Join one of the MANY clubs we have at SCCO.
Your want to be a big fish in a small pond? Well, go to Western.
good luck future colleague!!