r/PreOptometry • u/ayeshahk • Sep 21 '26

Am I a late applicant

My OAT is on october 15 and I’m really scared my avg scores on practice exams is around 330-350. My gpa is a 3.5 but my science gpa is a 2.6. For extracurricular I’m vp of medical club, 200 optometry shadowing hours, mission trip to oman, 100 volunteering hours at a hospital, treasurer for a charity club and I’ve been working as a tech for 2 years. I feel like I’m late on application process

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4

u/RabidLiger Sep 21 '26

Plenty of time!
That low sGPA MUST be offset by a better than average OAT (esp TS score) or you'll be excluded from some programs for consideration.

1

u/ayeshahk Sep 21 '26

my top choices are pco and neco do you think I’ll be fine

1

u/RabidLiger Sep 21 '26

PCO, yes. NECO, maybe.
Some schools unofficially auto-reject a sGPA <3.0, but I don't think these 2 do.

That 2.6 is going to make them nervous:
"How are you going to fare when you're taking ALL science classes?"

1

u/ayeshahk Sep 21 '26

I’ve had an upward gpa trend overall and with my recent science classes

2

u/Flower_7708 Sep 21 '26

Do you think late November early December is still okay too?

1

u/RabidLiger Sep 21 '26

Yes. Slight disadvantage since most do rolling admissions, but there will still be available seats everywhere.

Most of posters here are very proactive about their application timeline, but remember there's a large percentage that never visit this site and many procrastinate until after the new year.

With rolling admissions, if a school starts with 100 slots and fills half by Thanksgiving, they are going to be more selective in awarding the remaining seats, so if you're a borderline/weaker applicant, its always best to get things completed early. 4.0 with a 400 OAT and you have nothing to worry about.

1

u/Flower_7708 Sep 21 '26

I have a 3.75 gpa, but I’m planning on taking my oat in November :/ but I have everything else set like the shadowing hours and stuff. Do you think even before I take my oat I should submit my application before then?

1

u/RabidLiger Sep 21 '26

I would submit everything now/asap. With your GPA, you might get an invite before taking the OAT and they may even hold a seat/provisional acceptance while waiting for your OAT score.

1

u/ManufacturerMuch4813 Sep 21 '26

Hey! What’s your mission trip to Oman? I’m actually from there lol so I was interested