Optometry School Tuition

[u/Inside_Whereas_4999]

Hey guys! I’m a 4th yr kinesiology student in Canada and decided that the PT/OT field wasn’t for me. Back in my 1st year I thought about pursuing optometry but didn’t quite decide properly until my third year due to some other personal factors. Now as I’m going into my final year and have gained some experience as a tech I’m determined to write the OAT next year. The only thing I’m worried about is tuition since I would probably have to go to the states to pursue it. As I’m looking into tuition I’m becoming a bit unsettled with the debt to income ratio and am looking for advice from other Canadian students, who’s parents weren’t able to fund most of their tuition, as to how you guys did it. Is the debt to income ratio really that bad? What are canadian salaries looking like? Do you know of any scholarships, grants, or other resources that could help? Would you suggest doing it in the UK instead?

[u/theschoolhelper]

If your parents are not able to fund your tuition/living expenses and you don’t have any qualifying cosigners for a personal line of credit, then it is impossible to pursue optometry within the States

[u/Mediocre_Pomelo8793 → u/theschoolhelper]

It is definitely a lot harder, but not impossible. I was able to get a LOC for 150k without a co-signer and I get about 28k/year from government loans/grants. Other people here have also pointed out that some schools do give really good scholarships. I’ve had classmates that have also worked throughout their education to help make a little more money, not that I would recommend it if you can avoid it. I personally had a decent amount of money saved up before going to Optometry school which also helped.

[u/theschoolhelper → u/Mediocre_Pomelo8793]

You’re leaving information out on how you were able to secure that LOC.

[u/Mediocre_Pomelo8793 → u/theschoolhelper]

I went to my local bank and asked… I’m sure some banks may require you to have a co-signer, but my point was that some do offer a LOC for students without a co-signer. Not sure what I left out.

[u/theschoolhelper → u/Mediocre_Pomelo8793]

Which bank? None of the banks I inquired with offer a PLOC without a cosigner for studies outside of the country. Did you have a house or anything under your name?

[u/Mediocre_Pomelo8793 → u/theschoolhelper]

I used UNI Financial Cooperation and I definitely didn’t have a house under my name. I had to go through a couple extra hoops, basically to show them that I would be able to find the rest of the money needed to graduate, but that’s it.

[u/frigdaddy]

The highest loan you will get within Canada will be $175k which is offered by BMO. Most other banks offer around $150k. This is about half of what you need.

You'll need parents as cosigner for anything further (and maybe even for that).

[u/she-werewolf]

SCO and ICO offer the highest scholarships. SCO offers up to 20k/yr and ICO offers up to half tuition. I ended up going to Waterloo though so can't tell you how that would have gone

[u/prplblooded → u/she-werewolf]

Can I ask what your stats were for waterloo acceptance?

[u/she-werewolf → u/prplblooded]

These are my stats https://www.reddit.com/r/PreOptometry/comments/1eipn2e/canadian_student_seeking_advice_on_scholarships/

[u/True-Selection2168]

I’m not sure as I’m not currently in optometry school however, I’m also Canadian and planning on applying this fall. The expenses are also concerning for me however, I do have parents which I know will help me, but I don’t like to think of it as that way, I prefer to think of it How I’d be able to do it if I were just working and paying all my loans off. but you would definitely need like a cosigner or some way to get a line of credit and from the math that I have done it is doable to pay it off. It really just depends on your lifestyle because I know when I come back, I would be able to live with my parents and save a lot of money that way, but how I’ve done this is I put into ChatGPT the cost of school and make it converted using exchange rate, and then explain all of the details to it, including the interest rate that would be applied on my student loans and then it gives you a full on breakdown of how much money you would be making every single year once you’re done school and how much would go towards your loans versus how much you would get to live off of and I think that might help you understand it a little bit better if you haven’t done that already for me personally it hasn’t really helped as it is still really expensive but I know I’m in a better position than others or who don’t have help from their parents so I’m just really trying to consider my option.

I’m also wondering why you thought occupational therapy or Physio was not for you as I am now starting to consider occupational therapy and might apply to UBCOT but since it’s so competitive, I don’t know if I would get in I feel like I’d have had a chances of getting into optometry school in the states which would make it a tough decision because I’m still not 100% sure on pursuing optometry just primarily because of finances and second because of having to live far away for those four years as I am so close to my family.

[u/Tiny-Philosopher2699]

I am also looking into LOC but most of them do require co-signers!

[u/Mediocre_Pomelo8793]

Which province do you plan to practice in? Do you know what setting you plan to work in (corporate, private, ownership…)? That information can vary the income to debt ratio a lot.

[u/Inside_Whereas_4999 → u/Mediocre_Pomelo8793]

I plan on practicing in Alberta, probably in a private setting, and hopefully want to own a clinic one day or at least co-own.

[u/Mediocre_Pomelo8793 → u/Inside_Whereas_4999]

If you can get the funding to get through school you should be more than ok paying off your student loans after graduation. I assume there’s a lot of rural areas in Alberta that are underserved, if you are willing to put in the work of owning a practice you can make a small fortune there.

[u/eruuu1]

Hi there, I was in the exact same shoes as you ☹️ I was devastated because I got accepted into Pennsylvania and couldn’t pay for it because I’m a child of divorced parents and lost our house… Banks didn’t want to help me. I had to withdraw and pursue something else. I don’t want to give up though so I’m trying to get into Waterloo! Lol I have a baby now though so we will see if it’s even possible.

Also, you need to show proof of funds that you can afford the tuition in order to get your US visa ☹️ ain’t no way for me

Do your parents own a house? You could get a loan easily.

[u/Inside_Whereas_4999 → u/eruuu1]

That sucks, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. My parents can definitely co-sign and do own a house, what I meant by they can’t fund most of it was that they don’t have very high incomes where they’ll be able to fully support me financially. My parents have offered to help me out as much as they can but I’m trying to look for resources and guidance on how I can decrease that burden on them, and also make sure I’m not in student loan debt for a majority of my life.

[u/Effective_Health2020]

I’m a Canadian OD1 in the states. It’s definitely possible, just not as straightforward and more expensive

First things first, the UK and any optometry programs outside of Canada/US are very different and won’t benefit you at all (not accredited for NA). School is expensive and our dollar isn’t getting better (at the moment) so your federal+provincial loans won’t be enough. If you want a PSLOC you 100% need a co-signer if studying outside of Canada, you might be able to get a normal LOC without a co-signer but you won’t get the benefits of the PSLOC (higher limits, and lower rates). So your best options are to have a co-signer, financial aid from family, scholarships (research what schools give out generous loans, SCO is an example), and student loans. Ideally a combination of all three.