UAB vs SCO

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GoDawgs2007

GoDawgs2007

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So... i have been trying for a while now to decide which school to go to, SCO or UAB. I feel like both are great schools but they are really different and I like them both a lot for different reasons. Both would be fairly cheap and semi-close to home. Does anyone have any opinions about this?? Anything is welcome!! THANKS!
 
My optometrist went to SCO, but when I asked him which school he would recommend to me, he said UAB because it's a fantastic school (supposedly, I haven't done a whole lot of research on it). However, SCO is my first choice because the out of state tuition/fees for UAB are extremely high. I visited a couple months ago (SCO) and I absolutely loved it. I'm not a huge fan of the location but I loved the school and all of the people I talked to while I was there were really friendly.
 
so, aside from the cost, has anyone heard anything really negative about either school??
 
Long ago, back in the day, I had to make the same decision you did. I chose to go to UAB over SCO for several reasons.
1. UABSO is part of a MUCH larger university and has the resources that come along with it. That is to say because UAB has a medical school, dental school and optometry school as well as allied health professions we have a big medical library, cadaver lab for anatomy. We also have a great gym, intramural sports etc.

2. At UAB we take our basic sciences with the dental students, and the professors tend to be experts in their particular subject area, that is to say pathology is taught by several pathologists, histology by cellular biologists, etc..etc…

3. UAB has a much smaller class size, which means with only 40 students in a class you will get lots of 1 on 1 time in your clinical training, and it also means that there are likely more patients per student to go around in clinic. SCO would have to have 3 times as many patients in their clinic to have as many patients per student as we have.

4. I liked Birmingham much better than Memphis. (personal preference)

After going to school here for a while now, I feel I was right in the decision I made. UAB does have its problems sometimes, but I don't think these are not issues that you would not see at other institutions, including SCO as well. Overall school has been much tougher that I had anticipated, but it is doable. Now I have to get back to cramming for finals.

Good luck in your choice… I am sure whatever your choice is it will be the right one.

BTW we have lots of UGA folks here... GO DAWGS!!!
 
haha, thank you so much for your input!!
 
I too was accepted to UAB and SCO. My experiences at the 2 schools were very different. It is true that both are good schools. But, there were some things that really made a big difference to me. I really liked the fact that SCO was able to tell me good things about SCO. In contrast, when I was at UAB they kept pointing out things they thought were bad about other schools but couldn't tell me what was better about UAB. They also led me to believe that I was getting a contract seat, then told me they gave it to someone else from my home state that interview day because my husband and I could change residency easier than the unmarried student. Well that student is in my class at SCO. So, we compared notes. It turns out that they told him that they gave me the contract seat. Since I don't want to be the one to tell you only bad things about the other place, let me tell you good things about SCO.

The faculty and staff at SCO are very friendly and helpful. They want to see you become a successful OD. I personally felt a comfort and warmth at SCO that I didn't feel at any other school. I know that others may see it as beneficial to share basic science courses with other professional students. But, I actually didn't like that. At SCO it is all about optometry. The focus is on our profession, not on any others. While some people think that a class size of 40 gives you more 1 on 1 time with profs than a class of 120, I disagree. I have never had a problem getting help or instruction from any of my professors or clinical instructors. I know 120 may sound like a large class size, but it really isn't as big as you think. In clinic we are assigned 4 students per 1 doctor when seeing patients. However, all clinical faculty are there to help and you can always ask questions of other staff doctors. I've never had someone refuse to help or even act bothered by my asking them questions. Being located in Memphis is actually a good thing. This is the 17th largest city in the country. That means lots of people coming through the clinic and lots of diversity in what you will see while you are here. You can also look at board passage rates! My class' passage rate on Part 1 of NBEO was 98% this past August. So, obviously, they are doing something right here.

I have really enjoyed my time at SCO. You need to pick the school that you feel the most comfortable at. Every school has positives and negatives. That is just reality. Everyone is going to look for different things when picking a school. It is an important decision to make. But, just remember, you are the one that has to be there for 4 years, not someone else. I wish you the best of luck in your decision making process. I hope this helps you some.
 
goSCO said:
I too was accepted to UAB and SCO. My experiences at the 2 schools were very different. It is true that both are good schools. But, there were some things that really made a big difference to me. I really liked the fact that SCO was able to tell me good things about SCO. In contrast, when I was at UAB they kept pointing out things they thought were bad about other schools but couldn't tell me what was better about UAB. They also led me to believe that I was getting a contract seat, then told me they gave it to someone else from my home state that interview day because my husband and I could change residency easier than the unmarried student. Well that student is in my class at SCO. So, we compared notes. It turns out that they told him that they gave me the contract seat. Since I don't want to be the one to tell you only bad things about the other place, let me tell you good things about SCO.

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I am quite surprised to hear that people at UAB told you bad things about other schools. I cannot imagine that that would be a routine thing. I have given many tours to interviewees, and we never mention other schools, unless we are asked about them. It would be very hard for us to tell anybody about any other school seeing as the only school we have gone to is UAB. Money is a big issue, as there are a very limited number of contract seats ( a number which seems to be shrinking ever more due to budget constraints).
 
GoDawgs2007 said:
So... i have been trying for a while now to decide which school to go to, SCO or UAB. I feel like both are great schools but they are really different and I like them both a lot for different reasons. Both would be fairly cheap and semi-close to home. Does anyone have any opinions about this?? Anything is welcome!! THANKS!
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Choose the school with the cheapest tuition and living expenses. 🙂
 
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