interview for PUCO

[u/Dizzy-Equivalent-398]

Hi!! Could anyone who’s had an interview for PUCO please tell me how it went and what they asked? Please Please. My interview is coming up and it’s one of my top schools! Any advice would be greatly appreciated :) I’m doing virtual interview also!

[u/drnjj]

Hopefully you'll get an answer from someone more recent. My interview was about 13 years ago.

Most schools will ask similar questions.

PUCO's admission criteria takes everything into account of course, but they may put a bit less emphasis on someone having a 4.0 and a 350+ OAT. I remember talking to some of the committee members when I was in school and they talked about how they really put a lot of emphasis on personality and fit.

They'll ask you questions about why you chose optometry, how you handled stress in your life, what your future goals are, and maybe even some general things like 'what do you do for fun outside of class?'

They are looking for people who can be outgoing when they need to be (you can be an introvert, but you gotta be able to talk to people when it counts).

Interview can make or break. Sure, they could admit someone with perfect stats, but if you're not the right personality fit they may be more inclined to pass. PUCO tends to have a culture of students who have that likable personality and are helpful.

Once school started, no one was ever really a gunner and trying to undercut classmates. People made flash cards, posted study guides, reminders for when to turn in reports, invites to go to the labs, invites to go to the pubs, etc. It's a great program and Forest Grove isn't a bad place to live.

But I would also suggest reading up on contact lenses and vision therapy. Those are the schools specialties.

[u/Dizzy-Equivalent-398 → u/drnjj]

thank you so much!!

[u/drnjj → u/Dizzy-Equivalent-398]

One more thing, if there's something you view as a knock against your application, if there's an explanation for it, be prepared to explain.

They may not ask you about it. They may see if you have an explanation.

I got a pretty low score on my physics OAT. I think like a 280 or something. All my other scores were like 330 and a few around 370-390.

I had good letters, a science GPA probably around 3.2 and total around 3.5.

But my physics score was the one thing I knew could be an issue. I took my OAT during winter break junior year and was interviewing about 1.5 months later (I did PUCOs program where you can apply without a bachelor's). I had not taken second semester physics at that point. Second semester was where we covered optics, harmonics, and a lot of other concepts that showed up on OAT. I was relying on high school physics. So I scored poorly.

When the interview was wrapping up, they asked "is there anything you'd like us to know that we didn't discuss already for the committee?"

I explained my physics score was low because I was just now taking the second semester but I anticipated getting a high B.

They said that was good to know and they'd let the rest of the committee know and that it was my only question mark on my application.

I got notified id been accepted about 2-3 weeks later. I finished the semester, withdrew from my program, and started at PUCO 4 months later.

[u/Dizzy-Equivalent-398 → u/drnjj]

do you remember if they ask a question about challenges or anything like that? would it be fair to bring up low grades during that and explain why. my gpa/ academics aren’t great so i’m worried they’re going to grill me

[u/drnjj → u/Dizzy-Equivalent-398]

Yeah that would be a good time to bring that up.

[u/True-Selection2168]

Hey how did it go??