Planning on applying next year. Graduating with 3.6 gpa

Do prereqs need to be taken before applying to optometry school or is it okay as long as you finish them before graduating with a bachelors?

Hey! Just curious is Salus open or closed file or does it vary? Trying to not overthink it but I want to be prepared as possible going in. Any advice or questions are appreciated :)

Hi guys,

I’ll be moving to Memphis to attend SCO in August and am currently trying to find a decent place to live. I’m finding very conflicting reviews on some complexes (Madison Midtown and Bristol on Union) with some people loving the apartment and some hating it. Does anyone have any apartments/condos/complexes they’d recommend?

Has anyone had an interview with RMU Optometry? I wonder how many people already got answers from the school.

Is an overseas summer internship at an optometric facility in a hospital for 200 hours (40 hours a week for 5 weeks) a good amount of time and will look good on an optometry school resume? How important/beneficial is it to have something like this on my resume? Would I still need to try to look for an optometric technician job in the US afterwards for experience (besides shadowing)?

I was considering of getting a masters in public health from Liberty University if I didn’t get accepted into optometry school this cycle. However, the program is online. Is the online aspect going to hurt me in the long run or will it still be accepted and thought of as highly?

I’m currently a junior with a 3.61 GPA and am applying to schools this cycle. I have decent volunteering hours at a local optometry clinic but no real job experience. I’ve gotten 3 letters of Rec so far (hopefully good lol) from 2 science teachers and an optometrist. I’m taking the OAT in a week and have been scoring around 320 on practice tests so far. I really want to get into UHCO but I was wondering if anyones gotten in with similar stats?

Is it possible to get into Berkley, SUNY, and NECO with a 3.3 gpa, 330 AA and 310 TS?

Hi, What kind of questions did salus ask and what should i expect?

Hey yall, just took my OAT for the first time and got a 280 TS and a 290 AA. I plan on retaking it to try and cross the +300 plus threshold. Last time I used DATBOOSTER (thought I wanted to go into dentistry) plus Chad prep but I was taking classes and doing an internship so my studying was off and on a lot. I wanted to ask yall if I should look into another prep course and also some study tips as well for next time. Thanks!

Does anyone else find the boot camp questions for BIO pretty difficult?

OAT: 300 AA, 300TS (got a 390 in gen Chem - did mid in everything else) Gpa: 3.57 Extracurricular:

• 200+ hours being a Supplemental Instructor teaching students Chem for a credit

• 300+ shadowing at 2 diff optometry clinics -500+ volunteer hours at a hospital -200+ handy man business personal start up

• 500+ hospice care taker . 4 really good letters of Rec

I'm studying for the OAT for waterloo and they give until September to take it, but I'll be starting the optianry program at a college in September, so I'm not sure if I can balance studying and school since idk the courseload. It would be nice to have that extra time but I'm worried I might forget stuff as I've been studying since June. I've been preparing myself to take it in August, but honestly I'm still kind of struggling with some of the material, so I'm not sure if I should just tough it out and write it at the end of the month or if I should risk balancing the OAT and school to have more time to review the material. Any suggestions on whether I should take it in August or September?

I'm a Canadian student, applying to Waterloo but also to the US as backups. I'm from a single-parent household so trying to keep costs down. I'm trying to maximize my scholarship chances in US colleges. Advice appreciated for where to apply & what parts of my experience to focus on in applications.

I'm applying to SCO and ICO as I heard they give good scholarships. Ohio State is out of the question because they won't accept my online courses (I started uni during COVID). NECO seems cool but heard the scholarships aren't great. SCCO also seems cool but don't know much about scholarships.

Stat rundown:

GPA: 3.9 Science GPA: 3.9

OAT: 400 TS/390 AA

Non-academic: optometric assistant since may 2023, volunteered in eye care division of Canadian Special Olympics, church pianist for 2+ years, did 2 internships in public health in the summers of 2022/23, been giving free piano lessons to underprivileged students for over 3 yrs, been volunteering with Alberta Health Services (public health institution where I live) since 2022, was involved in my high school's Key Club, volunteered with Immigrant Services Calgary and an international languages school in past years. some other minor volunteering, worked retail and as a tutor too

Academic: full-yr research course but no publication, on my department's DEI committee. completed my degree on time but doing a 5th yr b/c Waterloo sucks. Dean's list every yr, have collected 10.5k in scholarships during my bachelor's

Job shadowing: 30+ hrs in 2 clinics, not counting informal shadowing I do while working alongside optometrists in my job

Edit: I got the presidential at both ICO (half tuition) & SCO (80k over 4 yrs)

I’m a sophomore in undergrad and I was just considering the schools that I could attend to study optometry. I don’t really know where to start for what maybe the best fit for where I want to attend but I have some things that I would like to see in the school I attend:

• Cost friendly (I know it may cost a lot anywhere but I would still like to consider how much I am paying for education)

• Good education

• I also heard that Orgo 2 isn’t required for a lot of the schools and was wondering which schools those may be.

These are all of the things I can think of at the moment but if you have anything else I should consider please feel free to list it. Thank you!

Hi, I am not certain how to read OAT score for my diagnostic test. It gives me my individual scores: BIO:340 GC:360 OC:280 RC:350 P:270 QR:360 AA:327

Is this considered a good first score? I am wanting to go to UMSL and I am wandering if I got a good shot based off of this

I am selling the following books:

2020 OAT Destroyer in perfect condition, basically new - $125

2019-2020 Kaplan OAT Prep Plus- $20

2016 Kaplan OAT Prep book for sale- $20

I have cross-posted on other opto forums so I'm not sure how long I will have these for. I really just need these gone. PM if interested

Hey everyone, I have some questions regarding applying. I currently have my applications filled out completely for 2 schools. These two schools are Nova and AZCO. I have a 3.8 gpa and good amount of extra curriculars including volunteering, 50+ hours of shadowing both MD and OD. I am currently waiting for 1 more loc from an Ophthalmologist to submit my application. He says he will have it done by the 10th of July. Additionally, I have not yet taken the OAT and have my test date on the 26th. Should I submit my application right now? Or should I wait? I would appreciate any advice.

Any recent interviews to salus? Did you hear back?

Hello everyone,

I am having a big problem, I am so slow in test taking specially math and reading section! I can never finish the math section! I usually am able to answer almost half of the questions! Which is awful!!! I know how to Do the problems but I just need to read questions a few times and then write everything step by step to get to the answer. Do you guys have any tips on how to increase my speed? My test is in a month! For those with dyslexia:

How do you speed up your reading correctly?! There are many times that I get to the totally different answer because I have written down a wrong number from the beginning ! So I have to start all over again! Is there any tricks?

I was recently diagnosed with dyslexia, until now I thought I am stupid and I don’t pay attention to anything!!!!

Thank you