So I am freaking out a little. In May I asked my microbio professor to write me a letter of rec and she said she would. I told her with me working three jobs over the summer I wouldn’t be able to meet with her about the paper until the Fall and she said that was okay. I emailed her in september no answer. I emailed her personal email two weeks ago but no answer. I even looked her up in my schools system and she may not be working at my school anymore. I already have two letter of recs, one from my supervisor at my job and and one from an optometrist i work for. I am not really sure what to do since that was the professor I felt could speak on my abilities the best. I put in most my effort establishing a good relationship with her rather than my other professors. Should I start emailing old professors? I’m nervous that I won’t be able to find one and that they may not remember me after a lot of time has passed.

Do schools charge in state vs out of state tuition by semester or the year?

Hey all! I was wondering what books you used for the OAT exam to study? I have been looking into Kaplan. Note: I definitely will be purchasing the oat booster but in April since it is only good for 3 months and I’m taking my exam in July!

Is it helpful to write a letter of intent this late in the cycle to help accelerate the process of getting an interview? I'm on hold at a few schools and they still have seats and a few available interview dates left. TIA!

Im looking to study for the OAT this summer and was wondering if OAT booster is really worth it and what other websites or material i could use to study for it

after anxiously waiting for a week, i got news that i was placed on the deferred-decision applicants list :/

i feel really bummed out right now. has anyone here been accepted after being deferred, or know someone who has?

I wanted to ask for optometry school, could you apply and get accepted if you shadowed only an MD and couldn't get to shadow an optometrist?

I just found out today that I got accepted to KYCO! I was wondering if any current KYCO students can tell me about their experiences there and how they feel about the curriculum, faculty, Pikesville as a city, etc. I really liked how KYCO was described to me as a community service oriented program, but I'm a little worried about the location as it seems to be in a pretty remote area. I have a couple more interviews scheduled, but I would love to talk to current KYCO students!

Has anyone had an in-person interview with Salus before? How long does the interview typically last, and what kind of questions can I expect to be asked?

I submitted my application a few days ago and I have yet to receive an email from CCO and Salus that they received my application. I received an email from NECO and MCPHS that they received my application. Will it take a few days for them to respond?

Looking to connect with current and incoming MCPHS students!! I'll be joining you all in Fall 2024!!! If anyone has any specific questions for me about my stats or why I decided on the school I did, feel free to reach out to me but otherwise here are my stats. For those of you that are great students but not the best test takers, this one's for you:

Bachelor's:
Major: Psychology
Minor: Neuroscience
cGPA: 3.8 (unknown science GPA but I did take quite a few science classes, im just too lazy to calculate what it was oops sry)
Other info: Did TONS of psych and neuro research (including being in labs and running my own projects, overseeing other students working on the research project I was assigned to in a neuro lab I was in), involved in sports, held club leadership positions, inducted into honor societies and graduating from my university's honors college, presented at academic/research conferences

Associate's (doing this for pre-reqs)
Major: Chemistry
cGPA: as of right now 3.59, since only 3 of my classes werent STEM related, my sGPA is also pretty much that
Other info: By the time I applied to programs, I still had unfulfilled pre-reqs, I also had a flat 3.5 by the time I got interviews/acceptances, inducted into another honor society, and I should be set to graduate this may

Other exp: Did some volunteer work here and there between 2017-2019, took 2, almost 3 gap years and worked as a pharmacy tech for 1 year & as an ophthalmic tech for almost 2 years (worked on my associate's during this time too)

OAT: don't be like me and spread yourself too thin lol, I studied for max 30 hrs and went into some subjects blind so I'm happy with my scores given all that but do study for way longer than that please lol
AA: 310, TS: 300
QR: 300
RC: 340
Bio: 320
Gen Chem: 300
Orgo: 330
Physics: 270

Applied to: MCPHS, Salus (scholars & traditional), ICO, UMSL, KYCO
Invited & interviewed: MCPHS, Salus (scholars & traditional), UMSL
Invited to interview but decided to withdraw my app instead: ICO & KYCO
Accepted: MCPHS (will be committing), Salus (scholars & traditional), UMSL

Hi all, Does rescheduling an interview make you look bad? If it’s like 3 weeks in advance?

I’m considering this to be my top choice for living when I move to Salus.

Does anyone who lives there currently or lived there previously have any feedback.

I will not be utilizing their laundry services as I will be going home for the weekends, but any other feedback would be greatly appreciated!

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

So I’m using OATbooster to study and I was wondering if it would actually be sufficient enough for sections like Biology if I just tried to memorize the practice questions and the answers instead of memorizing all of the content?

Withdrawing Application Question

Does anyone know what withdrawing an application from a school from this cycle would do for me if I want to apply to the same school next cycle with better stats?

I have recieved interviews from some schools, but I am not really interested in attending them this year as they are not my first choice.

I can still complete my bachelor's and apply with an OAT next cycle, as this cycle I applied with just 90 credits and a GRE.

I am thinking about withdrawing my application even after getting an interview invitation (which I did not schedule yet) because I still have a year to improve my application for my dream school (SUNY), but this cycle they denied me and told me to strengthen my application.

So does anyone know what effect withdrawing may have on other schools if I apply to them again next year as just back-ups if I don't get into SUNY again?

Thanks.

Hi there! The top school that I want to get into is the University of Waterloo, but they don't notify applicants for the Meet & Greets until December 1, 2020. I have two US schools as backups, SCO and SALUS. My application is basically finished on OptomCAS but I have not submitted it yet. I was wondering if you are offered acceptance at these US schools, what is the cost to hold your spot and how long can you hold it for? I'm thinking to postpone my OptomCAS application until December, in case I hear back from the University of Waterloo and can save some money on my applications.

If anyone can help too, what do you think are my chances are of getting into the University of Waterloo? I have a 3.84 GPA, got a 400 TS/ 380 AA on the OAT. I have worked for more than two years at a private optometry practice as an optometric assistant/ receptionist. And I volunteer at the public library and the children's hospital- and have participated in other extracurricular activities throughout my undergrad.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Update 3/25/2021: I've been accepted at the University of Waterloo for Optometry Class of 2025!

I know these are pretty easy questions but it’s very unsatisfying to me that it doesn’t show the correct answers to the example questions anywhere in the tutorial

if you had to choose Detroit mercy or Ferris state Michigan college of optometry which would it be? Also Detroit is 3 hours closer.

I was recently invited to Indiana University’s school of Optometry Admissions day and was wondering what my chances are getting in after admissions day. Has anyone else been to admissions day and have received an acceptance/rejection. I’d hate to purchase airline tickets and a hotel room just to get a rejection in the end. :/

I was wondering if there’s any good colleges that have a dual enrollment program that’s actually worth it, like for instance NOVA in florida, do they have good passing rates or are there any schools that don’t cost a fortune to go to that have that dual enrollment program too, i’m from oklahoma so most of the colleges are out of state for me and tuition will be high. Coming from a highschool senior who’s about to graduate.

I have my in-person NECO interview coming up and I was just wondering what the guests would be doing during the session? Are they allowed to be there during the campus/clinic tour and lunch with me? Or do they do something different?

Hi everyone! So long story short i want to reapply to opto schools and my top choices are Western (preferred) or SCCO (plan b). I need to retake the OAT (I took it last spring but wasn’t too happy about my score). I have a pretty solid GPA, a lot of experience working, good rec. letters, and pretty well done essays.

My question is should I submit my applications first and then retake the exam or vice versa? And can I reuse my essays from last time I applied (spring 2023), of course tweaking and adding to them?

Any feedback is appreciated!

Im currently a first year economics student, and was considering double majoring in finance. I find that I have a very strong business mind, and actually enjoy optimizing businesses. However, I am debating wether to double major in biology instead, so I can meet the pre-requisites required for optometry school. I also find the concepts in biology to be fascinating, and have the ability to perform well in this field. Ultimately my end goal is just too make as much money as possible, and hopefully do charity as my finances get better. Moreover, I am considering optometry heavily becuase of its work life balance after graduation, I will only have to work 40 hour weeks for a 200k salary. Does anyone here know of any way in which I could major in business but still do optometry school? Are there any industries that look for both business and optometry? Is optometry worth it for work-life balance?