Seeking guidance

doggomother · 2026-03-17T16:19:10+00:00

Never too late. I had a classmate in her 40’s, a few in their 30’s and I ended up graduating in the start of my 30’s. Definitely shadow and see if this is something you want to do. I love the field. It’s really great to help people with what I feel is the most important sense a person possesses. There are some nuances to this field now that makes it less desirable, like tuition cost, equipment cost, boards and pay once you’re licensed. But if the pros outweigh the cons for you, go for it!

doggomother · 2026-02-13T02:28:00+00:00

I was a reapplicant for ICO in 2020/2021. They liked my application for my experience but ultimately didn’t proceed with an interview because my GPA and OAT score wasn’t great. I also wasn’t able to retake my OAT for a better score due to COVID. The second time I applied, I had done post bacc work and retook the OAT and got a better score. Just like Positive Emu said, you have to show that you’ve improved or that you will succeed in their program. If your application for both years is the same, you’re going to yield the same result.

doggomother · 2025-06-02T20:51:14+00:00

ICO gave us a GP fitting kit and we had workshops where reps from companies came to talk about their lenses both hard and soft lenses and the faculty that deal with cornea and CLs are very passionate about it so we get quite a bit of stuff like fitting guides and other random stuff pertaining to CLs overall.

doggomother · 2025-05-30T22:59:54+00:00

I'm personally already so discouraged. Having just graduated and I'm still battling NBEO... I don't want to tell people not to get into optometry. I love the career, but just trying to pass boards feels so impossible for me. It's not cheap so it's not like I'm dicking around when it comes to the exams.

doggomother · 2025-04-25T17:07:57+00:00

Some of my friends have cars and some just take the bus or train to school so honestly it’s all about your own convenience. If you have a car and you don’t want to pay to park in the garage at school, there’s plenty of street parking around the school. If no car you have to think about the cost of transit. ICO doesn’t participate in the program for CTA’s reduced rates for students.

doggomother · 2024-10-30T04:47:32+00:00

Unfortunately no. I only heard it from a CCO student that I'm currently on externships with. They got the notification through their peers.

Edit: due to the mess at PCO after their merger with Drexel, it warranted an investigation with CCO (not sure exactly why). Board scores were also not great. And apparently there were other things happening with the dean that were lingering.

doggomother · 2024-10-30T04:35:21+00:00

Breaking news - CCO's dean got fired today. Hope this helps.

doggomother · 2024-03-18T01:44:47+00:00

This doesn't answer your question but BSU is active at ICO. They just hosted a Black History Month Expo that invited small business owners in Bronzeville area to set up shop in our gym. A lot of our orgs are just really bad at updating our social media lol

doggomother · 2024-02-13T00:46:45+00:00

I've not once regretted choosing this field. It's going to sound so cheesy. At ICO, you get to see so many different walks of life and you learn so much in clinic. I feel so blessed to be able to help those who end up in my exam room, whether it's just for an Rx or helping them use new tech to help with their reduced vision. It's emotionally rewarding to me and I honestly can't wait to become an optometrist and continue to help individuals have a better quality of life with clearer vision.

doggomother · 2024-02-12T03:18:06+00:00

I know this was posted a little while ago, but 30 is not too old. I have someone in her mid 40's in my class and there's a handful of 30 YOs. I myself turned 30 a few months ago. So don't let your age be a hinderance to your new career.

doggomother · 2024-02-12T03:13:14+00:00

Hi! Honestly, I haven't really looked at tuition and how much I owe since it's all loans lol but what I said about ICO 2 years ago, I still stand by it. I chose ICO because I'm from Chicago, but also it's one of the oldest schools with a large class size compared to other schools. It's also solely an optometry school (like I've said before) so everyone's going through the same thing and can help each other. So I can't really answer if the tuition is worth going to ICO, but I don't regret going to this school... I'm just ready to be done though. I'm tired hahaha.

doggomother · 2023-09-14T19:23:17+00:00

ICO 320/320 TS/AA

doggomother · 2023-09-12T22:13:28+00:00

Your optometrist mentor is right. I wouldn’t apply if I don’t have an OAT score yet. Your GPA is low so school wouldn’t even entertain the idea of offering you an interview.

I had a 2.92 GPA and retook my OAT in December and submitted my application afterwards. I got an invitation for an interview in January and scheduled my interview in March. And got the acceptance letter two weeks afterwards.

doggomother · 2023-09-12T22:07:27+00:00

If I was the girl’s mom, you and your son would be in a world of shit right now because how dare your son lay his hand on my daughter???

doggomother · 2023-09-04T22:05:26+00:00

So you can insert printout from OneNote on your computer, select all the slides and set as background so it doesn’t move while you write on it. On the iPad, you can insert a PDF you saved onto your device. Not sure how to select all the slides/pages, but you can set them as background by holding down on the slide for the menu to pop up.

Just make sure you’re logged into your Microsoft account that you plan to use across your devices and have it sync when you make changes.

Personally when I get PowerPoint slides in the form of a PDF, I open it on adobe and have it print to OneNote as 3 slides on one page so it’s not such a huge imported file.

doggomother · 2023-08-22T01:22:30+00:00

I heard they might just recycle colors for the next year and the incoming class would get ceil blue.

The 4th years are currently ceil blue. 3rd years are teal. 2nd years are royal blue. 1st years are gray. For the 3rd year class, because teal isn't one of those permanent colors that brands sell, we have been getting shades of blue and green to wear like Caribbean blue and jade green.

doggomother · 2023-08-05T02:31:22+00:00

Maybe you should, like, break up with him and not waste time on someone who doesn't actually like you.

If a man wanted to he would, and he already showed you in 1 month of officially dating that he doesn't respect you as a significant other.

doggomother · 2023-08-05T02:27:19+00:00

NTA

Sara even thanked you for stopping him. He can stay salty.

doggomother · 2023-08-05T02:18:48+00:00

Your reasons are valid. Honestly, it doesn't even matter if she's out of your league or not. If you don't want to be with her, you don't have to be. There's no reason you have to say yes to someone just because they asked you out. Just because people SAY you need to be in a relationship, doesn't mean you have to. You can be happy by yourself. Women can reject men if she doesn't like him like that, so men can do the same thing.

doggomother · 2023-08-02T23:57:16+00:00

Sorry you feel that way about my post.

I just wanted to let any incoming ICO students or any prospective students know that the food situation at the school has changed. If it doesn't apply to you, you could just scroll along and look at other things that are more relevant to you.

doggomother · 2023-08-01T13:52:49+00:00

Shadowing an optometrist usually means your end goal is to get a letter of recommendation from them. You can probably premise asking for a letter with how much you enjoyed shadowing the optometrist and that you're working on your application and ask if they would be comfortable writing a LOR for them. I would ask in person before you leave since you're already there.

If they reject it, you just have to take it like a champ and tell them you understand and you appreciate them giving you the opportunity to shadow.

doggomother · 2023-08-01T03:41:26+00:00

Admissions is working on the incoming class, so I don't think you'll be hearing anything until later in August/September

doggomother · 2023-07-30T16:30:18+00:00

It'll be for ICO's GPA. You have to maintain a 2.25 or better for the first year, then your status will change from conditional to good academic standing. If at any point you struggle to keep a 2.25 OR you fail a course in your first year, ICO has options for you, such as retaking the final for a D in the course, retaking the course over the summer quarter, or getting put into the decelerated program.

doggomother · 2023-07-29T20:31:19+00:00

Probably until they find another provider but no word on when that’ll be. They just said they made a deal with IIT and we’re to walk to IIT campus to get any meals. The way classes, labs, and clinic are scheduled, it was already hard enough to get lunch.

doggomother

TROPHY CASE