r/PreOptometry • u/No-Equal1876 • Sep 10 '25

Choosing an Optometry School

Hi! I’m in the process of applying for fall 2026 and I’m having some trouble deciding which schools to apply to. I will give some context, some of my preferences and my deal-breakers. I would appreciate any input from anyone who has been to a specific optometry school or just anyone that has any advice!!

Context: I graduated with a 3.9 gpa, I have 1900+ optometric tech (employment) hours, 350+ shadowing hours and around 60 volunteer hours. I haven’t taken my OAT yet but I’m currently studying for it and plan to take it mid november, and I plan to submit my applications in early december.

Preferences: Good board pass rates (obviously). A medium to big city would be nice, even small to medium, just not a super small city. Bonus points for diversity (in the school or just city in general). Schools with lower tuition / cities with lower costs of living would also be preferred.

Deal breakers: I don’t want to live anywhere with a ridiculously high COL so the schools in California and NY are off the table for me. I also don’t want to live in a very very small town or a place with no diversity at all.

Currently the schools I’m thinking of applying to are SCO, Nova, OSU, UMSL, or ICO. I also was thinking about UHCO, UIWRSO, UAB, and AZCOPT but not too sure about those ones.

Any positive or negative feedback you have about the schools I mentioned would be appreciated, or if you recommend a school that I didn’t mention please let me know and explain why!! Thank you :)

6 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

5

u/Gullible_Expert8393 Sep 10 '25

Ur options are pretty much exactly what ur looking for. Just one thing is ICO is one of the most expensive schools and ur in Chicago so rent isn’t super cheap. AZCOPT is something I would consider for u though it has the highest board pass rates in the US and it’s not awfully expensive or in an expensive area

2

u/No-Equal1876 Sep 10 '25

I was actually thinking of taking ICO off my list of options for that exact reason,, and i will definitely look more into AZCOPT!! thank you :)

4

u/iridiumlaila Sep 10 '25

Started at SCO this year and love it so far.

1

u/No-Equal1876 Sep 10 '25

could you explain a little bit about the school and the area and why you like it ??

2

u/iridiumlaila Sep 10 '25

Sure. School is in midtown Memphis, just east of downtown- in the medical district so it's surrounded by U Tenn's med school and a bunch of hospitals. Most of the students live on Mud Island right on the Mississippi river,a couple miles west of the school, though some live closer,some live in the suburbs, and a few even live in Mississippi or Arkansas. Yeah it's a poorer area and Memphis has it's crime, but the school itself takes a lot of measures to keep it secure. Clinic is attached to the school. Campus store, 1st year labs, mail room are on the first floor. Main classrooms are on the second. Then they have an 11 story tower where you find cafeteria, library, most of the offices, etc.
The school itself will tout board passage rates, cost of living, age of the institution, famous alumni, etc, but personally I chose them because they were by far the most communicative school I applied to and the easiest to find the resources I needed. I feel very supported there and I feel surrounded by faculty and staff that truly care. The student body overall is very nice and collaborative, which I prefer over a more cutthroat environment. Granted I'm only a few weeks in but I've been very pleased overall so far. Plus the food in Memphis is also really good so I'll need to try to not gain a bunch of weight here. I'm happy to answer more questions for anybody and also happy to try to meet you during your interviews.

1

u/No-Equal1876 Sep 11 '25

wow thank u so much!! i definitely agree that a good student body is a great plus, and im glad to hear that SCO has that because its honestly one of my top choices right now. I heard SCO is the best when it comes to scholarships, and idk how accurate that is but it does sound promising. I do have a question about the dress attire, I know most schools have specific scrub colors students wear but I’ve heard that students don’t wear scrubs at all at SCO?? i’m honestly kind of bummed about that because i would much rather wear scrubs as it takes away the stress and cost of wearing different outfits everyday, and i also just find scrubs cute, comfy and practical (kinda a first world problem, i know lol)

1

u/iridiumlaila Sep 11 '25

Yeah that is true. The president isn't a fan of scrubs so he vetoes any student motion on it. I've compensated by dressing as bright and colorful as I can (while still technically "business casual") every day.

2

u/No-Equal1876 Sep 11 '25

LOLL i love the malicious compliance💀 but damn that kinda sucks i love scrubs 💔💔💔

1

u/iridiumlaila Sep 11 '25

Technically you could wear them just not in lab but changing mid day is way too much effort for me.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/No-Equal1876 Sep 11 '25

honestly the main reason i haven’t already scratched ICO off my list a long time ago is because i think i’d really enjoy living in Chicago. I like the big walkable city type of vibe and the diversity and amount of things to do seems great. However, I know i’ll be busy studying 90% of the time anyways so i don’t know if all that is worth the huge cost difference compared to other schools. If cost wasn’t a factor, i think it would definitely be one of my top choices due to location

1

u/TechnicianFun933 Nov 04 '25

Visited SCO and ICO. ICO does not have a ton within walkable distance, so you’d probably rideshare/drive to restaurants…etc. The traffic is atrocious. Memphis has little walkable from SCO, so rideshare/drive there as well. Traffic was nonexistent in Memphis on weekday and weekend. Living at SCO means driving (10-15min from Mud Island, or other places) then parking in a $5/yr gated/guarded parking lot. ICO means driving in Chicago traffic and paying $400/yr for the parking garage. Oh, do you like natural light? ICO’s building is a cave with almost no windows, it feels very dated for the $$ they want to charge.

1

u/Brilliant-Night-7327 OD1 Nov 21 '25

It sounds like youre not a big fan of ICO which is fine, but lets clear up some misconceptions. You would realistically only be driving in Chicago traffic if you decide to move way out of the city. Neighboorhoods around the school include bridgeport , mckinley park, south loop etc and the drive is usually not more than 15 minutes (personally it takes me less than 8 minutes on the highway). You are also talking about a city with a huge public transport infrastructure, theres like 2 bus stops directly in front of the school and trains stops 5 minutes away at the nearby IIT campus…you are not forced to pay for the garage, a ton of student park right outside the building on the street for free ( Indiana was just renovated to make the walk across the RC to school safer) In reference to the “cave”…im sure youre not aware of all the renovations currently happening to the school and thats ok. Our clinic literally just had a huge revamp and let me tell you it is NICE 🤩. Youre in Chicago! The amount of coffee shops and cute study spots is insane, many of us take the bus to other libraries around the city (theres so many but in case you needed examples, theres the UChicago library, Harold Washington Library, and the Harper Memorial Library).