My story is pretty rough but I am looking for any honest opinions/realistic advice so here I go! I am ready for any comments so don't fluff it up. If you would prefer to message me privately as well, I don't mind.
I was recently dismissed from optometry school after my 1st year there (academic reasons). I did appeal but unfortunately the outcome still turned out unfavorable. After going through this 1st year, I learned what I'm capable of and will continue to seek doing something in the healthcare field since I genuinely enjoyed the high-leveled science courses during my 1st year. I really did enjoy learning about optometry since I invested a lot of time during my undergraduate years to learning about the profession through shadowing and volunteering. I have always been open-minded with my career choices so I am also open to other areas of healthcare but optometry was always my #1 choice. My other career choices that I would have also liked to pursue were dentistry/dental hygienist or being a science teacher.
My parents have suggested to me that I should reapply to optometry school again but I honestly feel like the financial burdens I will encounter in the future after graduating will be too much for me to handle. My loans are already hefty after leaving (private school, out of state plus I owe ~18k from undergrad) and I can only imagine what another 250k more will do to that amount. The tuition to income ratio doesn't look too well. I'm not sure how to proceed next and I'm still pretty young (under 25 yrs old). Would it be financially feasible to reapply and go through it again or would I be better off moving on?
I was recently dismissed from optometry school after my 1st year there (academic reasons). I did appeal but unfortunately the outcome still turned out unfavorable. After going through this 1st year, I learned what I'm capable of and will continue to seek doing something in the healthcare field since I genuinely enjoyed the high-leveled science courses during my 1st year. I really did enjoy learning about optometry since I invested a lot of time during my undergraduate years to learning about the profession through shadowing and volunteering. I have always been open-minded with my career choices so I am also open to other areas of healthcare but optometry was always my #1 choice. My other career choices that I would have also liked to pursue were dentistry/dental hygienist or being a science teacher.
My parents have suggested to me that I should reapply to optometry school again but I honestly feel like the financial burdens I will encounter in the future after graduating will be too much for me to handle. My loans are already hefty after leaving (private school, out of state plus I owe ~18k from undergrad) and I can only imagine what another 250k more will do to that amount. The tuition to income ratio doesn't look too well. I'm not sure how to proceed next and I'm still pretty young (under 25 yrs old). Would it be financially feasible to reapply and go through it again or would I be better off moving on?
Last edited: