It admits around 120 students each year. 278 in-state students applied for the 2003 year, and 88 of them were accepted. 258 out-of-state students applied, with only 32 being accepted. The average GPA for these incoming students was 3.33 and the average OAT score was 325. UHCO tuition rates run $10,844 for in-state and $20,284 for out-of-state. Based on admissions from 2003, UHCO tends to like students from Texas. 74 out of the 123 in-state students that applied for the 2003 year were admitted, while only 24 out of the 101 out-of-state students were accepted. Incoming UHCO students had an average GPA of 3.31 and an average OAT score of 318.
Out of these three schools, SCO is the only one that does not require a B.A. of its students, but does strongly suggest one. The general educational requirements for each of these schools include: One year of biology, general chemistry, general physics, and one semester English and mathematics. SCCO requires its students to have completed one semester of calculus, organic chemistry, microbiology, and statistics, along with two semesters of psychology. SCO mandatory courses include: one semester of calculus, organic chemistry, microbiology, statistics, psychology, and biochemistry. UHCO requires one semester of calculus, organic chemistry, microbiology, statistics, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and psychology to be taken by incoming students.
Another factor that a perspective optometry student must consider is the coursework and clinic schedule each school follows. SCCO's schedule has students attending school in the Fall, Winter, and Spring of each year, with only one summer required during the student's third year. Optometry students attending SCCO start clinical work at the start of their third year. By the time they are in their fourth year, they have no lecture classes and must perform 53.5 credits of clinical work. At SCO, students also attend school in the Fall, Winter, and Spring terms, with a Summer term at the start of their fourth year.
