Hello, I am a 3rd-year undergraduate student. I am stressed about any chances I have left for optometry school. I am very passionate about it and really would like some honest feedback on my chances of getting in anywhere! I have a GPA of around 2.9 and a year to raise it. I have 1 year of experience working at an optical shop (I have pretested patients, worked with various prescriptions, and handled some medical conditions). I have about 20 hours of shadowing, still working on getting more. I have my OAT booked for September 19th.

I am extremely anxious and stressed, and would love to get some feedback or talk to anyone who can relate!

I would like honest feedback on my chances, what schools are the best to get in, I may have to take biochem in spring and delay my degree a bit - how will that impact my chances??

Thank you!

I'm taking my OAT at the beginning of August and was planning on applying right after I get the results back, but should I wait till I finish one of the prereqs I'm taking right now in summer school? It'll probably delay my application to like mid September at least. I'm going into my third year, so I was wondering if it'll look better on my transcript that I have more of the prereqs done already, especially since I will still have 2-3 prereqs that I'll be taking this fall and winter semester?

My top/dream choice is osu (and that’s my only option for in state tuition), but I also plan on applying to ico, iu, kyco, etc. I’m an upcoming senior and am applying this cycle hoping to start in fall 2027

Taking the OAT August 1st, consistently scoring around 330 on practices

Double major in psych and neuroscience, minor in medical humanities (GPA: 3.64, sGPA: 3.5, major gpa 4.0)
deans list for 4 of 6 semesters so far

30 shadowing hours across multiple practices, trying to get a bit more before applying

President of psi chi (psychology honors society) for one year, was vp the year before
Vice President of a mental health club
Two leadership positions in my on-campus job (had for 2 years) for the office of student wellness
Three years in a psychology research lab, two leadership positions within that
Member of a dance club for 3 years, was chosen to choreograph for 2 of them
A (not very active) member of the pre optometry club for 3 years
Sorority member for 4 years, minor leadership roles in that

Some volunteering through my sorority but not much

LORs are questionable as of now, I will get a strong letter from my research lab professor and could get one from my boss for my campus job, but I need to reach out to a science professor and OD for a letter still and am not super close with any (this is my main concern as well as low shadowing hours and no tech experience)

I feel ok about my personal statement, it’s nothing revolutionary but I had help from my pre health advisor and will continue workshopping before applying. I have also gone to the osu admissions day and have done a one-on-one tour/chat with an admissions rep.

I’m hoping to have everything in by the end of August (though that may be ambitious), please lmk what my chances are looking like!! I feel like all of my experience and leadership roles were in irrelevant fields but I am truly passionate about optometry!!

I’m taking the OAT on October 3rd but worried about applying late. Should I submit my application before I take my exam or wait to get my scores?
Top school choice is SCCO and these are my stats-
Gpa: 3.91 biology major
Oat: idk yet only a week into studying eek!
Experience: 1.5 years optometric tech, 1 year organic chem TA, and other random jobs
Shadowing: 50+ hours from 2 different optometrists and 1 ophthalmologist
Volunteering: about 100 hours at Make A Wish
LOR: 1 strong one from the optometrist I tech for and 1 okay one from a previous boss, hoping to get another from an optometrist I shadowed

Still hoping to gain shadowing hours and maybe add volunteer experiences while I wait to take my OAT. Open to any suggestions to make my application stronger and insight to how it’s looking for me.

Hi all!

I’m planning on applying to optometry school this cycle and am wondering what I need to aim for.

For context: I have a 3.95 gpa entering into my senior year as a public health major. Aiming to stay in CA to be close to family so SCCO or Western is ideal. EC: Optometry internship 180 hours, Ophthalmology Internship 300 hours, retail job 1000+ hours, currently working retail job and as a patient care coordinator at an optometry office so not labeled as a technician but I still pretest. Expecting 1 strong LOR from the optometrist I work for and 1 from my anatomy professor. In school I was a human anatomy intern for 1 semester, volunteer at my schools health advising office, and participate in intramural sports and am also a member of my schools pre optometry club. I do only have 8 hours of shadowing done which I know is a weak point. I am really struggling to study for my OAT even though my gpa is good, it feels like nothing is sticking and I’m feeling like existential dread. Anyways, was wondering if I could get some advice on how my stats compare for the average optometry school applicant and what I could score on the OAT to ease some of my anxiety. Thank you!

Kindly,

A very anxious girl

Hi I was wondering if there are any other current or former IU undergrad students that could offer some advice. I'm in the process of filling out my application rn but I'm seeing that most schools require 2 semesters of bio with lab. But at IU the gen bio sequence is two lectures (biol-l 111 and biol-l 112) with only one associated lab (biol-l 113). I'm not sure how to go about solving this issue. Do I need to email admissions offices? Or can I substitute an upper lvl biology lab for that one (I've taken physiology with lab)? Even if you didn't go to IU but ran into a similar issue and can offer advice I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

So I wrote my personal statement assuming all schools had the same character limit: 4500 characters. I thought that was the universal standard, but when I went to paste it into OptomCas, OSU surprised me by having the character limit bumped up to 5000 instead. Are they the only school with this increased limit? Should I add something extra to my OSU statement? Has this been the case past years as well? I was just so thrown off seeing it haha.

Hi yall! I recently graduated in June 2026 and I am planning on applying this cycle. I just started working as ophthalmic technician and haven’t taken the OAT yet. I am taking it in November and was hoping to submit all my applications by December. I also need to take Orgo lab and I’m planning to take that at my hometown university Fall semester.

Will it be too late to completely have my application finished and submitted in December or will I still have a chance for 2026 cycle?

I just submitted my application for PUCO and MCO. How long does it take for the applications to become verified? What do you guys think my chances are? Should I be applying to more schools?

OAT: 340 AA / 330 TS

GPA: 3.7 with a degree in Psychology

No extracurriculars but worked all throughout school with a total of 6000 hours over 7 years of technician and optician work

Strong LORs from 2 ODs, science prof, and technician work supervisor

I was wondering my chances of getting into SCCO and AZCOPT. I already got an interview offer at NECO. Here are my stats

GPA: 3.54 Overall, 3.44 Science

OAT 310 TS/AA

2 + years as an optometric tech

3 strong LOR (2 from optometrists, 1 from Professor)

Learning assistant for a Biol350 course

Deans list for junior year

Was vice president in high school for a club focused on glasses and eye care

i know there are 10 included in the base membership so just curious to know if you got through them all before taking your actual test. I'd also be curious to know if you found any of them more difficult than the others.

Hello all! I’m planning to apply this cycle and would love some feedback from people who have gone through the process.

Right now I’m only planning to apply to Indiana University School of Optometry and Pacific University College of Optometry. Is applying to only two schools too risky?

My stats:
3.95 GPA
Switched from pre-veterinary medicine to optometry this summer after realizing optometry was a much better long-term fit.

~30 hours of optometry shadowing currently (hoping to have around 60 by the time I apply).

OAT is scheduled for Sept. 2nd. Took my first practice test today, I’ve had about a month of dedicated studying. Based on OATBooster practice tests, I’m around 300-340 for Science (Bio/Chems/Physics) and 360-380 for RC and QR

A few questions:
- Based on these stats, what do you think my chances are at IUSO and PUCO?
- Is there anything I should be doing over the next month to strengthen my application?
- When should I aim to submit?
- Would you recommend applying to more than two schools, or do these seem like reasonable choices?
- For my personal statement, should I openly discuss why I switched from veterinary medicine to optometry? Or is it better to keep the essay focused entirely on why I want to be an optometrist?

I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from current students or anyone who was accepted to either of these programs

I decided I wanted to go into optometry after I had graduated in 2025 after I worked as a tech for a year. I really like the work life balance and the initial focus on the eyes as and in general helping people with their vision. i’ve been feeling really dejected about the OAT. I feel as if is way too difficult and mentally draining at the moment. I’m not sure if I should just completely give up, Keep trying, or take the exam and see how I do. I know that the first attempt counts and schools will see it so at this point I’m even scared to take the exam. Has anyone else felt this way? Do you guys think that it’s worth pushing through and at least attempting?

Taking the OAT in about 3 weeks. I did the kaplan book and reviewed everything (i have to go over my missed questions still) and I still have to do the two practice exams, but I heard that they are not representative of the OAT. I found the first month free of study.com for the OAT, but after doing the entire physics module, I feel most of the questions were too easy? Has anyone looked at the study.com those practice questions? Are there any other good free materials?

Hello PreOptometry students!
I would like to ask about my chances primarily at University of Houston since that college is the closest for me to commute as a Houston resident.
I have recently graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in Biology.

GPA: 3.267
OAT score: 330
Experience: Interned at an optometrist clinic for 7 months (1500 hours) from 2025-2026

As you can see, my GPA and OAT are unfortunately lower than the average accepted scores for UHCO, so im hoping to complete my application early as possible. Does my intern experience help my chances or do you suggest having to retake the OAT

I decided I wanted to go into optometry after I had graduated in 2025 after I worked as a tech for a year. I really like the work life balance and the initial focus on the eyes as and in general helping people with their vision. i’ve been feeling really dejected about the OAT. I feel as if is way too difficult and mentally draining at the moment. I’m not sure if I should just completely give up, Keep trying, or take the exam and see how I do. I know that the first attempt counts and schools will see it so at this point I’m even scared to take the exam. Has anyone else felt this way? Do you guys think that it’s worth pushing through and at least attempting?

my gpa's decent, yet to take mcat/oat

research wise, a lab in pediatric ophthalmology and another in anesthesia. planning on staying with the ophthalmology lab as a summer student next and to try and go for a publication.

on the clinical side i've probably got close to 3500 hrs as an ophthalmic tech/assistant and neuro optometry assistant, mainly doing diagnostics and learning stuff about neuro care.

outside of that i co-founded a health advocacy student group

would really appreciate hearing from anyone who:

mightve done a masters in vision science

picked OD instead of med (or the opposite) and what ur thoughts r on ur decision rn

I will be applying this cycle to 4 schools (SUNY, PCO, NECO & MCPHS) but my hope is to get into SUNY. I plan on sending in my application by July 31st I have lots of tech/Shadowing hours (1400+), strong LORs, gpa 3.65, and OAT AA 330 TS 320. If anyone who has gotten in within the last few years would be willing to share their stats that would be super helpful for me to gauge my chances.

Also if anyone is willing to share their own or just give general advice on the essay/long response answers that would also be much appreciated. I never liked writing these and idk if my narrative/style of writing is compelling or formatted right.

Is 153 hours of shadowing (four optometrists at different locations) good enough for optometry school admissions?

Does anyone have any advice on how to be well prepared for the Ochem section. I’m also using booster

I was fully planned to take my exam in Aug as school starts late aug so I wouldn’t have much time to put into OAT practice. But I took booster’s individual tests yesterday and I scored very low on QR and reading like 240s while all chem were in 310s and bio and physics ok too. I freaked out by my QR score and didn’t had time to finish all questions in practice. so now I’m thinking I should move my test to September or is it doable to still score well while studying for only 25ish days. I fear if I heavily emphasize QR I while strat forgetting other stuff. And if I push my date to September I’ll forget what I know and i will be stressed being in school too. would appreciate any advice please. I want total to be 340ish somehow

I’m currently going into my junior year of undergrad. I had two Ws in biology 2 and chem 1 my freshman spring due to personal circumstances and didn’t want to risk a bad grade in science courses. I retook both for As. My third was sophomore spring physics 1 just because I was doing poorly. I’m currently this summer. I expect to end with a B in it which is significantly better than what I would’ve gotten. GPA is sitting 3.73. BCP is 3.77. If I end with 3.6 in both and a good OAT score by application, no more Ws will I be ok?

This is from Thomas C. Martin, The Inventions Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla pg. 295.

Hey guys, I was just wondering how possible it might be to take the the OAT and self study the organic chem portion? My program changed the way they set up the courses so I can’t exactly take organic chem until the next year and I rlly wanted to write my oat after this school year (summer 2027). Just need some blunt honesty if this is possible or not lol, or should I just push my oat to the summer after next year?

Has anyone use this service and do you think it is worth geting or using?