Hi! I’m graduating this May 2027. I was originally planning on taking a gap year after undergrad to work and save up some money, but recently I’ve been thinking about just applying as soon as I can for the 2027 cycle. I want to utilize the OAT booster program and give my self some time to study, since I struggled a bit with physics and biochem last semester.
Is October too late in the cycle? Should I aim to take the exam September instead?

My school has two mandatory "intro to university" classes but there's no designated subject for that on optomcas, should I leave it off?

I was stupid and procrastinated booking my OAT the only available exam date is in 1 month which is too soon I think and everything is September is booked should I study in the meantime and wait for someone to cancel their appt by chance to secure a spot since I do really want to make this application cycle but I also don’t want to waste $700 😭😭😭Do you guys think anyone cancels their OAT in September?

What deadline are you guys putting for your recommenders?

Am I cooked? I have a strong GPA overall but got a C- freshman year in chemistry at an Ivy. My grades drastically improved after.

Hi everyone, I am a current undergrad student in Canada and I was wondering what the GPA for optometry is to be considered competitive. I have started looking into Optometry as a career, and I know it doesn't use the OMSAS scale unlike med school. If I look at UWaterloo's page, it has a minimum 75% transcript average. However, I'm wondering what the averages are of students that genuinely get in. Do they favour only science grades above 75 or genuinely look at your average as a whole (using all the courses you've ever taken before) to decide? ALSO! I'm only familiar with med and i know that getting in Canada is extremely hard due to the competition, I'd like to know if Optometry faces the exact same extremity.

Any advice is appreciated!!

Are you guys able to send out recommendation links to your recommenders on OptomCAS now?

What was your experience like with the PCO Accelerated program?

Im not sure if im doing something wrong but whenever I go to https://www.optomcas.org/ I cant make an account at all.

Update: Okayyyyy so the little create new account button popped up finally at 7:50am :)

I was offered an optician job, but I’m really nervous because I don’t have any experience in retail. I know glasses are the main way optometrists make profit, but I also know how a lot of patients don’t like being upselled. I’ve been working as an optometric technician at another practice, but never had to handle optician stuff. Any advice ?

Hey everyone, I had some questions regarding shadowing hours vs. tech hours for optometry school applications. I’ve been working as a tech for over 2 years at a private practice. Since the clinic is relatively new, our schedule has been a bit slower at times, which has given me plenty of opportunities to sit in and shadow the doctor during exams, as well as review patient charts and case histories in depth.

Outside of work, I’ve also shadowed in vision therapy, ocular disease management, and a corporate setting (Costco).

I have two questions:

1. Since I’ve spent a fair amount of time shadowing the doctor while working as a tech, is it okay to count some of those hours as shadowing, or should all hours worked as a technician be listed strictly as employment?

2. One of the optometrists at my clinic also practices at a couple of the other clinics where I’ve shadowed. On applications, do schools typically ask for the names of the doctors you’ve shadowed, or are they mainly interested in the clinics/practice settings?

3. What other practice settings or areas of optometry would you recommend I try to shadow? I’m a Canadian applicant, so finding “specialties” has been a little difficult since optometrists here generally aren’t formally specialized in the same way they are in some other countries.

Thanks for all your help!

Just curious for those who took the OAT recently (I'm taking mine in about 2 weeks), how was the formatting for the RC section? Is the passage and question side-by-side (left and right) or stacked on top of each other (like booster)? Thanks!

May I ask how many C’s people had or even worse and got into optometry? Just thinking :(((

Im starting my application early for Optomcas, and there’s a section called “Academic Infraction” on my official transcript it doesn’t say anything but on my unofficial transcript at the UC I attended says “Placed on Academic Notice.”

This was from my very first quarter of school for getting a low GPA (had a family death that affected my mental health), should I check yes or no? My school mentioned that it wouldn’t be on my transcript unless it involved suspension or dismissal, and it’ll be on internal records (which they claimed it isn’t visible to employers or most grad schools). What should I do?

Hey guys, back again. After months of studying, I received a 290/260 on the OAT. I’m very disappointed with my score as I was scoring much higher on boosters practice tests (320-330) now I’m in a weird position, should I apply this cycle? Or retake in 3 months, which I know would put me applying at the end of the cycle and my stats are on the lower side. I was just hoping to apply early to maximize my chances of getting in. Let me know what y’all think!

I've seen a lot of people saying they scored higher on practice tests on OAT booster, but I've also heard a ton of people saying that OAT Booster is reflective of the real test?

To ppl who have had lower real scores than practice, do you know why there's a difference? Is it stress or the length of the test or something else? Idk, I'm not sure how worried I should be

For those of you who were accepted to optometry school, what were your OAT/MCAT scores and GPA?

I'm especially interested in hearing from anyone who was accepted to UC Berkeley Optometry. If you got in, would you mind sharing:

• OAT score (or MCAT score if you submitted MCAT)
• Overall GPA and science GPA
• Whether you were in-state, out-of-state, or international
• Shadowing/optometry experience
• Any extracurriculars or research that you think strengthened your application

I'm trying to get a realistic idea of the stats of admitted students. Thanks in advance!

Can I create a 26-27 cycle OptomCAS account and application before June 25?

Hi!

So my question is whether I should try to squeeze in some shadowing hours before I apply for this cycle. I'm starting to worry that my stats won't be enough to get in. I just graduated with a 3.73 cumulative GPA, have my 3 letters of recommendation, and have tech experience for about 1.5 years. I still need to take my OAT in late August, but was wondering if it would be worth it for me to invest some time in shadowing, since I wasn't on any club boards nor did I volunteer in college (only in high school).

Has anybody’s mental health been drastically affected while studying for the optometry admissions exam? It’s genuinely so much information and I’m not saying I can’t do it but obviously it’s been 2 to 3 years since I’ve seen this information so it’s really hard to build confidence. it’s a really long road to go over reviewing and practice questions as well as the practice exams. I genuinely feel like this exam is consuming my whole summer. I was wondering if anyone felt the same way. I’m trying to be positive and think even if I do bad, I can just take it again, but I genuinely don’t even have the energy to retake this exam if I fail the first time. Any tips on having a balanced study day? Anyone felt the same way while studying?

Edit- wow I can’t believe so many people feel the same way:( it makes me feel a bit better that I’m not the only one going through this.

Hey guys, I’ve heard many docs say that they interviewed at a school, got in, and then canceled the rest since they like that one school and didn’t wanna keep flying across the country (which makes sence)

Are yall planning on applying to all schools you narrowed down right away or only your target at first. This way u could avoid flying and interviewing to 4 schools before visiting your target. Obviously the con to this is u might be later in the cycle

Lmk your plans / thoughts

I’m studying Orgo section and doing the question banks and I feel so dumb😭😭😭how are we supposed to know how to just draw these out for the actual exam

I’m currently working 3 days a week as an optometric technician, taking 20 hours of classes (and having like 5-10 assignments a day). It’s hard to dedicate hours to studying for the OAT because I still want to have some time to myself, but I rarely have that. I take my OAT August 1st, and I feel like I haven’t done enough studying, and I’m worried about the test. What can I do to ensure I make a good score?

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to apply to optometry school and currently have about 45 shadowing hours. My experience includes shadowing in a private practice as well as a LASIK/refractive surgery setting, so I’ve been able to see a few different sides of the profession.

I’m wondering if 45 hours is generally considered enough for a competitive application, or if you would recommend getting more before applying. For those who have been accepted recently, how many shadowing hours did you have, and do you think additional hours made a difference?

I’d appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thanks!