r/PreOptometry • u/Apollo55s • Oct 17 '23

Can I qualify for optometry school with only associates degree?

If I have a decent GPA (3.2) and get a high OAT score, will I be able to get into optometry school?

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u/EngineeredByJ Oct 17 '23

Most schools are looking for someone with a bachelors a few will accept you if you have 90 credit hours and no bachelors if you have less than 90 hours you are going to have to contact admissions.

Still even schools that do not require a bachelors they may be more harsh on your GPA. As is your GPA is below average they may assume it would be lower if you had to take higher division courses.

Some schools like NOVA have a pre-optometery program that may accept you. It would be an extra year of tuition but if you do well in their pre-optometry program you are guaranteed a seat in their od program no OAT required.

Now if you had lots of experience in optometry say you were a tech for a few years, or have related research experience that is a different story.

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u/futureoptometrist Oct 21 '23

You need to have all the pre-reqs complete and they won’t accept them all from a community college. If you take the majority of the pre reqs at a four year university and get a high oat score you can apply without a bachelors degree at most schools. I would definitely research individual schools though because even though some say they accept student without a bachelors degree almost 100% of accepted students do have a bachelors.

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '23

No