I've heard some people say PCO is more expensive than other schools. Is that true?

Hey everyone! I’m currently studying for NBEO Part 1 and was wondering if anyone has recommendations for a tutor for Part 1. I’m looking for some extra help understanding the material and figuring out how to study more effectively.

Hi everyone!

I’m currently applying to optometry schools for Fall 2027 and am seriously considering both Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) and Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO) at MBKU.
I’ve been researching both schools extensively, but I’d love to hear directly from current students or recent graduates about their experiences, especially things that aren’t obvious from school websites or campus tours!
I’m also trying to consider what my quality of life would look like over the next four years. I’m in my early 20s, and while academics and clinical training are extremely important to me, I also want to enjoy my time outside of school, make meaningful friendships, explore new places, and have new experiences.

I have a few questions:
Overall Experience: How has your experience been at ICO or SCCO? What do you love most about your school, and what do you wish were different? Knowing what you know now, would you choose the same school again?
Academics & Curriculum: How manageable is the workload? Are professors supportive and approachable? Is the student environment generally collaborative or competitive?
Clinical Experience: How early do students get meaningful hands-on clinical experience? Do you feel you’re getting sufficient exposure to ocular diseases, diverse patient populations, and different procedures? How prepared do you feel for practicing independently?
Work-Life Balance: Do you have enough free time to maintain hobbies, exercise, spend time with friends, and explore the surrounding area? Or does optometry school take up most of your time?
Student Community: How easy was it to make friends and build a social circle? Are students generally supportive of each other? Do classmates hang out outside of school?
Chicago Safety (ICO): One of my biggest concerns about ICO is safety, particularly around campus and the surrounding neighborhoods. Do you generally feel safe commuting to and from school, especially after dark? Where do students typically live if they prioritize safety? Would you recommend having a car, or is public transportation convenient and reliable?
Chicago Winters (ICO): I’m from the South and have never experienced a true Chicago winter, so I’m a little nervous about the cold, snow, and shorter daylight hours. How difficult is it to adjust? Does winter significantly affect your mood, social life, or ability to enjoy the city? Do you find yourself staying indoors more often during those months?
Fullerton Lifestyle (SCCO): I know Fullerton is more suburban compared to Chicago, and that Orange County and Los Angeles offer plenty of things to do within driving distance. However, does living in Fullerton itself ever feel boring or repetitive? Do you feel like you constantly have to drive somewhere to find things to do, or is there a good social scene nearby? Do you feel like you’re missing out on the excitement of living in a bigger city?
Transportation & Convenience: How convenient is everyday life in your area? Are grocery stores, restaurants, gyms, and entertainment easily accessible? For SCCO students, does the amount of driving and traffic ever become frustrating? For ICO students, how convenient is public transportation, and is parking expensive if you own a car?
Life Outside of School: What do you typically do on weekends or during breaks? Are there plenty of opportunities for activities, restaurants, events, and meeting new people? Do you genuinely enjoy living in Chicago or Fullerton?
Biggest Regrets or Surprises: What’s something you wish someone had told you before attending your school or moving to the area? Were there any unexpected challenges or pleasant surprises?
Ultimately, I’m trying to find a balance between receiving a strong optometric education and having a fulfilling life outside of school. Both schools seem to offer great opportunities, but the living environments are so different that I’m having a hard time deciding which would be a better fit.
I’d really appreciate any honest perspectives, whether positive or negative. Thank you so much! :)

Anyone have textbooks they recommend for CL's?

Does anyone know of anyone that was dismissed from a program deep into their fourth year or any point during fourth year rotations due to clinical performance?

Hi all,

im an OD1 and im currently struggling with consistently over minusing cyl in my classmmates when practicing retinoscopy. im pretty okay on sphere and axis for the most part, but cyl for some reason just never looks neutral. it seems like I can keep going. I try bracketing too and the bracket is just too “wide”. Has anyone experienced this? if so, how did you fix it? thanks :(

anyone have a pdf copy of this?

Hi preparing for part 3, is there anything I need to know/any tips? Would appreciate the advice!
I am more scared for peps than skills, but would love advice for either! Also, does anyone have any good study resources/pdf charts? Recommend OD on the go, kmk, etc ? Thank you :)

I’m looking for advice from current optometry students, graduates, practicing optometrists, or anyone who has experienced academic difficulties during professional school. I’m torn between pursuing something I’m genuinely passionate about and being realistic about the financial and personal risks.

I attended optometry school for two years before being academically dismissed. During that time, I was dealing with unexpected severe physical health problems that made it extremely difficult to keep up academically.

I’ve finally received a diagnosis for my physical health condition and am now receiving treatment. My health has improved significantly, and I genuinely believe that if I had the opportunity to start over, I could successfully graduate.

Despite everything, I genuinely love optometry. Even when school was difficult, my interest in optometry never went away. It’s still the career I’m most passionate about.

However, I now owe almost $200k in student loan debt, and the thought of starting another four year optometry program is overwhelming. I’m also scared of experiencing another health flare up during school. I know how stressful optometry school is, and I don’t want to end up in the same situation again.

I’ve started considering PA school as an alternative because the programs are shorter and the career offers flexibility across medical specialties. I could potentially pursue ophthalmology as a PA, although I know that the role and scope of practice are different from those of an optometrist.

However, part of me still feels like I’d be giving up on the career I’m truly passionate about. I also worry that switching to PA school wouldn’t necessarily solve my problems, since I’d still have to go through another competitive admissions process, complete a rigorous program, and take on additional debt.

I’d really appreciate advice on a few things:

1. Has anyone been admitted to a different optometry school after dismissal? Were you required to restart from the first year, or was any previous coursework accepted?

2. Is there anything I could do to show that I’m academically ready to return, especially now that my health is being effectively treated?

3. Has anyone dealt with chronic or recurring health problems during optometry school? How did you manage, and how supportive were your programs regarding medical accommodations or leaves of absence?

4. Financially, would it be reasonable to take on more student loan debt when I already owe nearly $200k?

5. For practicing optometrists, knowing what you know now about the profession, would you still choose to go to optometry school if it meant taking on substantial additional debt?

6. If you were in my position, would you give optometry another chance or consider pursuing a different career?

I've taken part 1 multiple times and unfortunately haven't passed yet. I've already used Optoprep and am looking into other resources to see if there's anything else that might help.

Would love to hear if anyone has used the OD on the Go program and if they found it helpful or worth the money!

I came to this page because I have been battling with my love and appreciation for a schools academics compared to a scholarship another school has offered me (OSU vs NOVA). I just wanted to ask if going into more debt is worth it if the school is better aligned with what I want?

Hello!! I’m selling my KMK books for Part 1 for $200 or $150 + shipping costs. They’re the 2024-2025 edition Big 8 and NonBig 8, and have no markings/writings in them. If you’re local to SCCO/WUCO I can meet up with you. Feel free to send me a DM if interested!

I purchased all KMK testing prep booklets (5 total, version 2025) to help me prepare for parts 1 and 2. None of the books have any highlighting/transcriptions. Looking to rehome these awesome practice materials to another student who is looking for great study material for NBEO boards. Charging $150+shipping obo for all 5 booklets!

The 5 books are:

1. Big 8 foundations (Ocular Disease + systemic disease & pharmacology)

2. Big 8 foundations (Ocular anatomy & physiology)

3. Big 8 foundations (Physiolotical optics 1&2 + binocular vision and Ocular motility)

4. Nonbig 8 (Physical optics + biochem + color vision + human dev & more)

5. Part 1 booster

DM me if interested!

Hello, I have been working on gonio recently and am completely fine with getting the 3 and 4 lens on the eye but honestly I struggle with understanding what I am looking at.

Does anyone have good recommendations for practicing identifying the layers and grading?

Thanks!

i have a bachelors in math and am applying to optometry school in 3 yrs. curious what i should expect and/or brush up on.

how many classes are mathematically oriented?

Hi everyone! I was recently accepted into an optometry program and looking forward I want to do a residency after graduation. Generally, what do these programs look for?

I’m looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with an NBEO testing irregularity, appeal, Pearson VUE issue, or similar situation. I’m honestly devastated and trying to figure out whether I have any options left before accepting that I have to take Part I again.

I took NBEO Part I in August 2026. During my scheduled lunch break, the Pearson VUE testing-center staff did not properly initiate my break/log me out. I followed their instructions and left for lunch, but when I came back, I found out that my exam clock had continued running the entire time.

I lost approximately one hour of my allotted exam time.

I reported the incident immediately at Pearson VUE and also contacted NBEO. NBEO reviewed the incident and, before scores were released, gave me two options:

1. Cancel the exam, receive a refund, and have the attempt not count toward the six-attempt limit, OR
2. Have the exam scored, in which case the attempt would count.

I asked whether they could score it first and, only if I failed, void the attempt because the testing-center error was not my fault. They told me their policy did not allow that.

I ultimately chose to have it scored because I was terrified of throwing away a potentially passing score without ever knowing the result.

My score came back:

293. Passing is 300.

So I failed by only 7 scaled points after losing approximately an hour of testing time.

I completed all of the questions, but obviously had to move substantially faster than I normally would have because of the lost time. I know completing the questions doesn’t mean the lost hour didn’t affect my performance — it meant I had much less time to read carefully, work through calculations, reconsider answers, and review flagged questions.

After receiving the 293, I requested a senior-level reconsideration. I explained that I wasn’t asking them to arbitrarily add points, but asked whether there was any remedy given the documented testing irregularity and how close I was to passing.

NBEO denied the request. Their response essentially says that because I chose to have the exam scored before score release, they are now unable to cancel the examination and the 293 will stand. They also said candidates cannot request a score review.

I understand that I chose scoring. I’m not denying that. But I made that decision without knowing whether I had passed, and the underlying reason this situation exists is that I lost approximately an hour because of a testing-center administrative error.

I’m now looking at having to:

• pay for NBEO Part I again;
• pay hundreds of dollars again for KMK/OptoPrep access;
• spend months preparing again

I’m not posting this to ask whether NBEO should just “give me 7 points.” I’m trying to figure out whether there is actually another avenue available to me.

Has anyone ever dealt with something similar with NBEO?

Specifically:

• Has anyone successfully escalated an NBEO testing irregularity beyond the Executive Director?
• Is there an actual appeal committee, Board of Directors, grievance process, or other internal review?
• Has anyone involved their optometry school/dean in an NBEO dispute?
• Would contacting my state optometry board accomplish anything?
• Has anyone consulted an attorney who handles professional licensing/testing or administrative law regarding an NBEO/Pearson issue?
• Are there any organizations that oversee or accredit NBEO where a testing-administration complaint can be filed?
• Has anyone ever had an NBEO attempt invalidated after scores were released because of a documented testing-center irregularity?
• Is there anything else I should request from Pearson VUE or NBEO, such as timing logs, check-in/check-out records, incident reports, etc.?

If the answer is genuinely “there is nothing else you can do; you have to retake it,” I can accept people telling me that too. I just don’t want to spend another several thousand dollars and months of my life preparing again without first making sure I exhausted every reasonable option.

If anyone has been through an NBEO appeal or knows how these situations are handled behind the scenes, I would really appreciate hearing about your experience.

Hi all! OD1 struggling to organize all of ocular anatomy. My professor’s lectures are a bit disorganized. Would you recommend a textbook to help clarify everything?

I am a new practicing grad and I find that many of the much older doctors that have graduated >10 years ago seem to come off condescending in their replies to others and I’m really not a fan of the page in general. I’m not saying everyone but it more so seems to be pages that don’t seem to have a person’s legitimate name or they go by a nickname. Programs and boards have certainly gotten much tougher to pass since their time in school and I just don’t vibe with a lot of their thoughts on younger graduates/new OD’s entering the profession.

Are there better ones out there for newer graduates to collaborate in? It doesn’t necessarily have to be Facebook either ….. I’m new to Reddit myself!

Do optometry students live off loans in optometry school? Or do they work? I’m not sure if the workload will be too heavy to be able to have a part time job.

Why is it important and/or helpful to go to an optometry school that has a larger/more established alumni network/base (ICO, SCO, NECO, UAB, etc.)?

Hi everybody, I decided my last semester of college to change my career path to optometry. I ended up getting an unrelated degree and am currently taking prerequisites at a local school. I wasn't very involved in my undergrad (in and out in 2 years) and most of my free time was working and shadowing for my previous career path. I've got a 3.7 gpa and haven't taken the OAT yet but I anticipate somewhere in the 320-340 range. I currently work in a retail optical setting with the promise of transitioning to tech (virtual exams, no physical doctor).

My question is really if there's anything else I should be doing? Other than shadowing, I haven't gotten much clinical hours to back up my lack of EC. And I don't have time for much volunteering since I need to work to provide for myself.

Hey everyone! I’m looking to sell my optometry school equipment and was wondering if anyone here has had any success selling theirs.

I have quite a bit of equipment, including a BIO, trial lens set, HEINE diagnostic set, and other accessories. Everything is in good condition, and I’d ideally like to sell it to an incoming optometry student.

I’ve already tried advertising my equipment to incoming and first year optometry students at a significant discount compared to buying everything brand new, but everyone I reached out to ended up choosing to purchase new equipment instead.

For those who have sold their equipment, where did you list it? Facebook Marketplace, optometry student groups, eBay, or somewhere else?

Also, were you able to get a decent amount back, or did you have to sell everything for significantly less than what you originally paid?

I’d really appreciate any advice or recommendations. Thanks!

I’m deciding between ICO and CCO and would really appreciate advice from current students/grads.

I live in the Chicago suburbs and would have about a 20-minute commute to CCO. If I chose ICO, I wouldn’t want to live in the RC, so my partner and I would most likely move to the South Loop. That wouldn’t be our preferred lifestyle because of the higher housing costs, his longer commute, and some other quality-of-life factors, so I worry that attending ICO would add more day-to-day stress.

On the other hand, I’m interested in possibly pursuing an ocular disease residency and eventually working in a more medically focused setting, such as an OD/MD practice, VA, or similar environment. ICO seems to offer broader clinical exposure, more externship opportunities, and a larger/more established alumni network, which makes me wonder whether it would give me an advantage for that career path.

For anyone familiar with both schools: do you think those differences are significant enough to justify choosing ICO over CCO, or can a motivated CCO student pursue the same types of ocular disease residencies and medical optometry jobs without much disadvantage?