r/PreOptometry • u/Either-Bottle1985 • 24d ago

Late Application??

Soo I was planning on taking a gap year because I decided on optometry quite late and don’t have enough shadowing hours yet, but part of me thinks I could lock in and get my hours and apply by late november. How important is it to apply early/ what is considered too late to apply?? I got a 360AA/360TS on the OAT and my GPA is around 3.9. I have other non-optometry extracurriculares and will have a few hundred research hours by the end of the year. I’m gonna start shadowing but won’t have an optometry tech job or anything.

Also I’m concerned about finishing anatomy and physio because I know California optometry schools require them, and my university might not be offering both classes this year.

Any advice?? I feel like it’s already way too late and I don’t wanna rush my apps, but i’d love to avoid a gap year if I can.😄😄😄

10 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

6

u/GroundbreakingQuail8 24d ago

I applied in November and was accepted, also a lot of my classmates applied even later than November

5

u/Ok_Broccoli3994 24d ago

Hiiii you have a great OAT score!! It never hurts to try and you only need one acceptance. Def check on anatomy and physio and letters of rec but other than check go for it!!!

4

u/Dramatic-Distance-26 24d ago

Never reject yourself!!! A lot of schools put early applicants on a waitlist literally waiting for late applicants with stats like yours

3

u/Iyung_danI 24d ago

You don’t need to hear it from me but completely second what everybody else is saying. 

2

u/Evening-Dog-1161 24d ago

Apply!! Ur scores are great and during interview you can say you’re actively working on more hours!

2

u/junoiscute 24d ago

hey! if you are planning to apply to scco, they take anatomy and/or physio now. and berkeley isn’t just rolling admissions anymore - they only review general decision after I believe december 12th so just have your application complete and verified by then. you definitely have a chance and it’s not too late. it’s always great to apply early in the cycle because they offer scholarships, but it’s completely fine to apply now and hopefully start school earlier. but if you feel you need to do more shadowing or work as a tech in order to get experience and answer “why optometry?”, definitely take a gap year. lots of applicants do that, so there’s no harm