What’s the best optometry school?
Theres no “best” optometry school; like any graduate program, optometry schools can be judged on a variety of criteria. Perhaps the most important for prospective students is a school’s NBEO pass rate: the percentage of students who pass the optometry board exams each year. In 2019, the national NBEO pass rate was 92.3%, and the majority of optometry schools don’t stray very far from that rate in their individual averages.
While pass rates are crucial, you must also judge your prospective programs on factors like:
And even factors like the date the optometry program was founded, whether or not the school offers residency programs, and where the program is.
There are 23 accredited optometry schools in the United States. Use our calculator to find which might be best for you based on your criteria, and then read the program details, like the average GPA, OAT scores, and more!
How much does the schooling cost to become an optometrist?
Optometry school can be quite expensive. The average tuition in the United States for in-state residents was $36,000 per year. This does not include equipment fees and other costs, which can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. That said, optometry school tuition ranges greatly between programs, from $27,000 per year to nearly $70,000 per year.
This is why optometry student debt is so high: average student loan debt among optometrists is $134,199! That said, optometrists can also expect high salaries even in their first years out of optometry school, hastening their ability to pay off student loans.
How long is optometry school?
Optometry school generally takes four years to complete. However, some schools offer combined undergraduate and optometry degrees, either in agreement with other universities or at their home university. These 3+4 programs allow students to complete their undergraduate degrees in three years before entering optometry school.
Some optometry schools also offer accelerated degree programs, which are 36-month intensive programs. These programs are currently offered by New England College of Optometry and Salus University.
What is Optometry?
Optometry is a branch of medical care that includes examining the eyes and visual frameworks for deformities or anomalies.
Essentially, an optometrist is any health care worker involved with eye care, from post-graduate training to medical practitioners with a doctoral degree.
Optometrists are trained to examine the eye and its problems and provide appropriate treatment.
The most common conditions optometrists deal with are ocular disease, neuro-optometry, and eye therapy.
Generally speaking, an optometry degree lasts 4 years and, in order to become an eye doctor, students need to study between 7 and 8 years depending on the course.
Are Optometry Schools Competitive?
A common question most students have before joining a school is to know whether optometry schools are competitive or not.
Also, it is important to consider that students need to study a total of 4 years at an optometry school.
But are optometry schools worth it? Absolutely. According to a report by USA Today, the unemployment rate for optometrists in 2019 was 01%. This doesn’t only mean that all optometrists have a job but also that the demand is continuously growing.
For this reason, choosing optometry as a career path is a great choice that we can only recommend.
Simply put, optometry schools can be very competitive and sometimes require lots of semester hours as well as a higher-than-average GPA. That being said, let’s explore this point a little more here below.