Like Rosanna, I've interviewed at all three schools.
Newenco was very posh and Boston was quite lovely. It's a very academic oriented town with a high student population. (Party) IT'S SWEET, but you pay a price. You can't live near the school without paying a pretty penny. So, you have to take the subway to school about 20-30 min for a decent price.
Newenco is focusing on the research aspect of optometry, rather than the clinical. It's great if you want to research. It's number one among private optometry schools!! The pass rate on the first part of the boards is above average, but not by that much. I'm not sure what that means, they were quite vague when I asked for an exact number.
SUNY is in the center of one of the most famous areas of the world.....also one of the most expensive. How would you like to share a room for $1300? OUCH! So, most of the students commute 30 min on the subway from queens, (or so I was told). They're trying to buy some living space by the college and use it as "dorms", but that idea hasn't come into effect as of yet.
SUNY has one of the highest average OAT scores for accepted students. It was at a 333 last year, only behind Ohio and Berkeley. Dr. Johnston told me that their pass rate on the first part of the boards has never gone below 94%, which is extremely impressive. Also, they offer you resident tuition after your first year which lowers your bills SIGNIFICANTLY. For you East Coasters, the weather might not be a problem, but MAN I went in February and I was freezing. FREEZING. Literally. Boston was freezing too though. I don't know how you guys do it. It's a good school though with a good repuation and a good clinic. I mean, can you get any more diverse than New York City???
On to SCCO. Southern California... .....warm all year. Of course the East Coast people like to say that they have seasons. And yes, I would like to have a white Christmas for once in my life, but I suppose I should talk about the school now. Yes, you'll need a car. I mean there are apartments in the area within walking distance, but groceries, shopping and entertainment are too far to walk. You can take a bus. No one really does, but I guess you can bum a ride!! Make friends quickly. It's also near Disney Land!!!!
They offer a wonderful clinical education and have first part board passing rates in the 90% range, except the past 2 years where they dropped to around 86%. I asked them about this and they said something about the whole national average dropping. I don't know if that's true, but that's what they told me. When a lot of school reps come to California, they all say SCCO is a great school (which is kinda weird b/c they should be promoting their own schools). Did I mention it's by Disney Land??
Like everyone else said already, choose the school you can see yourself at for at least THREE YEARS. You met students from these schools...can you picture them as your colleages?? Think about if a commute will take away from your sleep or study time (30-40 min each way could be huge especially with an 8:00AM midterm). Ask yourself where you want to practice. You'll be making connections and building relationships in the city where your school is. Are you single and looking for a drastic change, or are you in a long term relationship?? Do you want to pay the out of state fee?? Build a pros and cons list (I actually did this) and see which school wins out. MOST OF ALL, don't let what other people say influence you. Go where you want to go!!! Not where your parents, your friends, or people on the SDN want you to go. Follow your heart and I'm sure you'll make a wonderful choice!!!
Check out the stats of different schools at this webpage!!
http://www.opted.org/info_profile2.cfm
...
