ICO vs PCO

[optometry717]

Hi!

I got accepted into BOTH ICO vs PCO and I am having a tough time deciding which one I should go to! Any help from current students would be awesome!

I know both school are good in their own way but I wanted to know how you decided between the two.

ICO
-well established network of alumni
-know many graduates from there
-good clinical experience
-friendly community

PCO
-get to see all types of cases and become very prepared
-know graduates from there
-close to family
-clinic is really nice

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[SalusPCO2020]

Hi! I had to make the same exact decision last year, but I am officially in my First year at PCO and am loving it! The biggest thing for me was just how I felt at both campuses. PCO is beautiful and is located just right outside of the city. It is interdisciplinary because we are part of Salus University with other graduate degrees (PA, SLP, OT, PT etc) which made me really appreciate healthcare as a team. Traditionally, we are exposed to the clinic as early as our first week, but when I started, COVID protocols established other ways for us to be involved. So hopefully, when you start, the pandemic is hopefully resolved (fingers crossed). I'm originally from Chicago so it was definitely a difficult decision to make, but I am loving my decision and have no regrets. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions!

 

[preopt2019]

did you decide where you will go??

 

[UTpremed97]

Hi! I had to make the same exact decision last year, but I am officially in my First year at PCO and am loving it! The biggest thing for me was just how I felt at both campuses. PCO is beautiful and is located just right outside of the city. It is interdisciplinary because we are part of Salus University with other graduate degrees (PA, SLP, OT, PT etc) which made me really appreciate healthcare as a team. Traditionally, we are exposed to the clinic as early as our first week, but when I started, COVID protocols established other ways for us to be involved. So hopefully, when you start, the pandemic is hopefully resolved (fingers crossed). I'm originally from Chicago so it was definitely a difficult decision to make, but I am loving my decision and have no regrets. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions!

Hi! Was your interview a MMI type interview?

 

[eyedoc2024]

Hi, I had the same decision to make, I was between those two schools and I chose ICO and I'm two years into the program now. I've really enjoyed being so close to the city because of the program intensity so it's easy to take a break, definitely don't underestimate this. I really enjoyed Salus when I interviewed but I think the driving forces for me to chose ICO was the housing option to live in the residence center for the first year and the clinic being directly connected to the school and living in an area with people that really need healthcare. I think I would have loved either school but ICO was the best choice for me.