thisusername7733
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Hello fellow pre-optometrists,
I am conflicted between WesternU and AZCOPT. I know that AZCOPT has higher board score rates and that has been consistent over the years. WesternU only just climbed in board score rates and even with that, their rates are not as high as AZCOPT's, but they are also not alarmingly low anymore. I am wondering if this is something to factor into my decision and if so how heavily? Some of my family members are telling me to seriously take this into account, and others are saying that as long as their board score rates are not drastically low anymore, it really depends on the student - so as long as I prepare well for the boards I'll be fine. I just want to see what everyone on here thinks too. Another big thing is that WesternU is much closer to home than AZCOPT is to me and that is a big factor for me. Price-wise, they are both around the same price, with the exception of living expenses so that is not a huge difference for me.
I am in the process of formulating questions I would like to ask both schools in order to make an informed decision. I am curious to see what the dropout rates and failure policies are like. I have a cousin attending a different optometry school and the school she attends makes you repeat the entire year if you fail a class. She let me know that other programs usually don't make you repeat the whole year, just the class over the summer, and while I don't anticipate failing any classes, the fail rate, fail policy, and drop-out rate are all things I would like to know for both schools. Are there any other things that you would suggest I ask about when considering both programs?
WesternU was my top choice from the beginning, but I never thought I would get in, especially as the cycle progressed and I was still waiting on a decision. I had gotten an acceptance to AZCOPT about a month or two before WesternU and was excited about it with the assumption that I would not get into WesternU, so now I am just trying to get some input. After touring with AZCOPT, I liked it; unfortunately, I have to wait before I can tour WesternU (because of current COVID restrictions) but I am planning on doing so because I think that will be very telling. I do feel that AZCOPT has been more communicative and their willingness to have me tour was nice, but WesternU has also been okay with communicating, just not as well as AZCOPT.
My reasons for liking AZCOPT are that their board scores rates have been consistently high, I enjoyed the tour I took, it is still relatively close to home but certainly not as close as WesternU, and I appreciate how communicative and direct the admissions team has been with me. My reasons for liking WesternU are that their board score rates have climbed recently so I am not sure if it is too much of a concern, it is much closer to home which is important to me and plays a large factor, and it also seems to have that element of concern for students' education. I also haven't toured WesternU yet so I'm not sure how much I will like or dislike it after that. It is disappointing that I won't be able to tour for a little while still.
If anyone wants to weigh in or if there are any current WesternU or AZCOPT students reading this, please let me know what you think! I just want to know what the better program is because, while I would like to be close to home at WesternU, if AZCOPT is a significantly better program, I would want to be there. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I am excited to hear what everyone has to say.
I am conflicted between WesternU and AZCOPT. I know that AZCOPT has higher board score rates and that has been consistent over the years. WesternU only just climbed in board score rates and even with that, their rates are not as high as AZCOPT's, but they are also not alarmingly low anymore. I am wondering if this is something to factor into my decision and if so how heavily? Some of my family members are telling me to seriously take this into account, and others are saying that as long as their board score rates are not drastically low anymore, it really depends on the student - so as long as I prepare well for the boards I'll be fine. I just want to see what everyone on here thinks too. Another big thing is that WesternU is much closer to home than AZCOPT is to me and that is a big factor for me. Price-wise, they are both around the same price, with the exception of living expenses so that is not a huge difference for me.
I am in the process of formulating questions I would like to ask both schools in order to make an informed decision. I am curious to see what the dropout rates and failure policies are like. I have a cousin attending a different optometry school and the school she attends makes you repeat the entire year if you fail a class. She let me know that other programs usually don't make you repeat the whole year, just the class over the summer, and while I don't anticipate failing any classes, the fail rate, fail policy, and drop-out rate are all things I would like to know for both schools. Are there any other things that you would suggest I ask about when considering both programs?
WesternU was my top choice from the beginning, but I never thought I would get in, especially as the cycle progressed and I was still waiting on a decision. I had gotten an acceptance to AZCOPT about a month or two before WesternU and was excited about it with the assumption that I would not get into WesternU, so now I am just trying to get some input. After touring with AZCOPT, I liked it; unfortunately, I have to wait before I can tour WesternU (because of current COVID restrictions) but I am planning on doing so because I think that will be very telling. I do feel that AZCOPT has been more communicative and their willingness to have me tour was nice, but WesternU has also been okay with communicating, just not as well as AZCOPT.
My reasons for liking AZCOPT are that their board scores rates have been consistently high, I enjoyed the tour I took, it is still relatively close to home but certainly not as close as WesternU, and I appreciate how communicative and direct the admissions team has been with me. My reasons for liking WesternU are that their board score rates have climbed recently so I am not sure if it is too much of a concern, it is much closer to home which is important to me and plays a large factor, and it also seems to have that element of concern for students' education. I also haven't toured WesternU yet so I'm not sure how much I will like or dislike it after that. It is disappointing that I won't be able to tour for a little while still.
If anyone wants to weigh in or if there are any current WesternU or AZCOPT students reading this, please let me know what you think! I just want to know what the better program is because, while I would like to be close to home at WesternU, if AZCOPT is a significantly better program, I would want to be there. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I am excited to hear what everyone has to say.