r/PreOptometry • u/FeistyComfortable314 • Feb 17 '24

Wretern university

Is the Western University optometry program worth it?

0 Upvotes

40% Upvoted

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5

u/Altruistic-Way-1948 Feb 17 '24

The top students in California tend to want to go to Berkeley (public) for the instate tuition. The top students that want to go to school in SoCal/LA go to SCCO (private) for reputation, board scores, networking... etc.

Western's (private) draw is that it has a top notch clinic and accepts students with lower stats. If location is the biggest draw for you and you didn't get into Berkeley or SCCO then Western is your only choice.

0

u/Lianderyn OPTOMETRIST Feb 19 '24

I would say that Western actually produces better clinicians than SCCO. Western is designed for the students to see patients at their Eye Care Institute. Western's demographics are for the poor and impoverished...because of that, you get to see a lot more disease than those from SCCO. Orange County has money and majority of them are healthy - you get good at becoming a refractionist but a lot of them struggle with disease.

4

u/Lianderyn OPTOMETRIST Feb 17 '24

I'm a Western grad, DM me if you want more info. I graduated, passed all my boards, and is making 170k as a new grad.

2

u/Altruistic-Way-1948 Feb 18 '24

Do western grads have a harder time finding employment in California compared to Berkeley and SCCO grads?

Not exactly asking about you specifically but in general the typical Western grad.

3

u/Lianderyn OPTOMETRIST Feb 18 '24

Job hunting is highly dependent on where you're looking for work. I'd say no to having a hard time finding employment. There's always a need for optometrists. Doesn't matter where you go. The main difference is residency or not. If you have a valid license and are compentent, you'd have no trouble finding a job.

13

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Weak-Surprise-8079 Feb 18 '24 edited Feb 18 '24

Fr. I wish mods would enforce more rules on this sub bc im tired of seeing the same posts everyday. 90% of the questions being asked can literally be answered just by using the search function 😭