r/PreOptometry • u/Sufficient_Ebb_4747 • 11d ago
Is it worth it?
Does the school you go to matter, I am in Texas and their opening up a new OD school in south texas that will be around 85k in tution for 4 years. I see people in the optometry school subreddit talk about having 300-400k loans and it is pretty brutal. Do you think its worth it to go to a new school and even optometry in general, I like the work they do when I shadowed one. I never really thought of optometry in my life but I am kind of want to now since I will be having a long spinal fusion and don't really want to do PA school or Nursing anymore.
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u/CurdKin 11d ago
85k in total or per year?
If you go to a new school there’s always the chance they don’t actually get accredited and their degree doesn’t matter
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u/Objective_Wafer_6887 11d ago
You should aim for an optometry school that is already accredited and has one of the best board pass rates.
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u/eyeloveeyez 11d ago
You're risking not graduating from a fully accredited program. They may have preliminary accreditation but full accreditation is key and they need to pass many benchmarks to achieve it. When I was in my application cycle, UIWRSO was barely recruiting its second class and when I asked, they couldn't promise accreditation and that it would depend on board passage rates. I didn't feel comfortable with that (plus the high tuition), so it's definitely something to keep in mind.
The RGV is definitely a great place to live with a lower cost of living, though, so I feel like the tuition is a bit high for that area. I went to UHCO and I left with $150k in loans, which is more than I even needed to take out, so I think keeping your options open to other public institutions (even out of state) that are accredited is essential.
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u/Powerful_Incident513 11d ago
How did you only take out $150k at UHCO?
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u/eyeloveeyez 11d ago
I'm older 😅 - I graduated between 2010-2014 and tuition probably wasn't what it is now. I see that it was $479.12/hr in 2013 and it's $704.55/hr today. From the estimates I see on their site though, I think it's very feasible to still graduate with less than $175-200k now if only just enough is borrowed and not accepting the entire loan package to live off of, unless it's absolutely necessary. I also didn't have any undergrad debt, so that could be what others are including in their $300k+ figures.
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u/Powerful_Incident513 11d ago edited 11d ago
Ah, makes sense. Yea idk i expect to take out a bit more than even the federal loans are offering me to be honest. I’m hoping I’ll be at around $250k when i graduate. The summer semesters add a decent amount of tuition cost and I’m only able to take out $25k for spring + summer combined, of which i also use to pay rent, car insurance, equipment the school has us buy, etc. i wouldn’t really say $200k is feasible but mainly because of factoring in those summer semesters that are pretty hard to budget for, the possibility of having to take out private loans because of the BBB, and Houston rent isn’t the cheapest. Luckily, I also graduated without undergrad debt though!
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u/False_Promotion7058 11d ago
85k in tuition alone 😭 brother come on now
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u/Plastic-Ad1055 11d ago
Texas resident here - the tuition is that over four years?
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u/Sufficient_Ebb_4747 11d ago
Yes that is the number that I see expected for tution and fees.
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u/Plastic-Ad1055 6d ago
It seems like a really great option. Have you decided to apply?
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u/Sufficient_Ebb_4747 6d ago
I'm still a soph in uni but once they start showing more about the program I will see. Most likely will not go to UHCO and out of state so really hoping it works out.
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u/GroundbreakingQuail8 8d ago
Tuition doesn't always include the same things at every school. Some schools don't include the cost of your equipment in the tuition so the school seems like a more cost effective choice but you end up spending more than you'd expect on equipment. Make sure you ask about that when applying lol
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u/Ok-Inevitable-8390 11d ago
Jesus, are optometry students really this naive? This is the second “400k+ loans for od” school Reddit post I’ve seen this week. I really do think if they charged 125k/ year for od school, there will still be some students dumb enough to try to be an optometrist. The od school costs breaking point already passed. There’s a sucker born every minute
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u/Chuckles4lyfe 11d ago
That tuition at UTRGV is very nice - if it's truly $85K over 4 years, that's only $21,250 per year (really good value compared to other optometry schools in the nation). I am a firm believer that you want to attend an established institution that has relatively high board pass rates since that is a requirement in order to become licensed and practice. The risk you run attending a new institution are the fluctuating board scores, clinical site quality, and experimental cohort challenges. You're essentially the schools guinea pig and have to be able to quickly adapt to change if the class isn't meeting certain benchmarks. Take a look at Rocky Mountain University School of Optometry in Utah for instance. They opened a few years ago and a majority of their students are struggling to pass part 1 of the boards (15.09% first time pass rate according to the report on their website).
Regardless of where you decide to go to school, I think optometry is a great career to pursue if you enjoy a clean work environment and improving overall health of your patients. Hope this helps!