SCCO Admissions advisers get many questions in email inquiries every day. The majority of these questions can be answered by the following articles/videos listed here in thisconcise one page master list of all the most trafficked resources in a PDF download.   Use this link to access the PDF version with hyperlinks

What follows is a brief description of what main questions/concerns are addressed:

How to Become a Competitive Applicant for SCCO’s Program 

This article describes all we look for when evaluating applicants for competitiveness.  It will dispel common assumptions about what we do indeed look for when evaluating the strengh of an appication.  Most commonly, applicants believe that GPA is the most important aspect of a competitive profile. This is not so!  Also, it discusses in detail in the more granular aspects of an application as contained under the Experience taba—cheif among these are shadowing experiene, work experience, and community service.

Timeline Strategy for Applying with Rolling Admissions

SCCO has a long admissions cycle that runs from July 1 through April 1.  It seems like a big window, and most applicants are tempted to take their time to “Hit submit.” Not so! When you consider that SCCO uses rolling admissions, there are definite advantages to applying early in the cycle.  I can’t make this point any more strongly: the best chance for success with the SCCO’s rolling admissions process is to apply early.  Applicants come up with all kinds of excuses for what they think are valid reasons to delay submitting their applications.  This article will dispel these false assumptions.  If I don’t make the point adequately in this article/video, I’ll say it here again: APPLY EARLY! 

All the Articles About Studying for the OAT

This cache of information about how successful OAT test-takers conquered the OAT is a treasure!  Every time we get an incoming student who did well on the OAT, I pester them until he or she writes a how-I-did-it article for the Blog.  I ask them to be as specific as possible and with as much advice and resource-listing as possible. Find your own OAT strategy in this treasure trove of concise information. 

What SCCO Has to Offer in an Optometric Education

No matter which optometry school you are applying to, this article can serve as a shopping list as to what you should be looking for in an optometric education.  It is a PPT video presentation that discusses in depth the features and benefits of what the Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University has to offer its optometry students in its interprofessional educational model. 

FAQs

Concise, well-organized, comprehensive answers to almost all the questions we get about the admissions process and MORE! Each FAQ listing has a description about what you’ll learn by reading the answer. 

Shadowing? Try the Informational Interview 

COVID has definitely eliminated the more common shadowing experience opportunity. This article offers an alternate to traditional shadowing, and in my opinion, it’s even a better alternative to traditional shadowing. You can list an Informational Interview as a shadowing experience in your OptomCAS application. 

Your OptomCAS Application Through Its Stages

Here’s a flow chart styled map so that you can follow the process and understand the timeline of the multiple steps your application will go through when being processed by both OptomCAS and SCCO.  Be forewarned that after you “Hit Submit,”  it takes OptomCAS at least 3 weeks to get your application verified and released to the various schools for processing. This information will help you understand potential delays and ways to maxmize given the process steps. 

SCCO’s Virtual Admissions Workshop 

An annual event typically help in-person on our campus, here it is in this never-before recorded version. With its various presentations, it is arranged in separate segments so you can pick and choose.  Learn about all aspects of the admissions process from completing your application to the interview process. There is a panel presentation by current SCCO students. It will get you ready to become a successful applicant to our program. 

This is only a fraction of the information you will learn when you go through the Blog. Don’t forget the listing in on the right side of the home page, “Top Posts and Pages,” where the most-trafficked articles earn their places on the leader board. 

Start Here

See at a glance all the resources available and where to find them in this essential master nativation menu and site map.

As always, if you have any questions, direct them to SCCO Admissions at odadmissions@ketchum.edu