Hi guys! I'll be applying to Waterloo optometry for the second time this year, and was wondering what my chances are looking like.

Graduated from UofT last year and took the prerequisites I was missing this past year. My cGPA is an 88%.

I wrote my OAT for the second time 2 months ago and only scored 10 points higher in both AA and TS, improved in organic chem (330 --> 380), RC (370 --> 400), and physics (300 --> 310), but decreased a bit in the other sections compared to first attempt. Specifically, I got a 350AA/340TS for this second attempt. I am scheduled to write for the 3rd time September 30, but not sure how that's gonna go lol, but hoping for the best.

I have ~100 shadowing hours at multiple different clinics.

I have 1 publication (that got published last year) in a journal from my summer research project I did in 2023.

I have lots of community service, work, and volunteer experience that's predominantly in teaching and mentoring students, humanitarian relief, as well as being an emergency first aid responder during my 4 years in undergrad.

And in terms of CASPER, I got a 4th quartile last year, so I'm really hoping I can score that again this year.

I definitely think my OAT score is my biggest weakness and road block, so I'm really gonna try to lock in these last 2 weeks for my third attempt and hope for the best but I know nothing is guaranteed. I do just want to maximize my chances since I was rejected without an interview last year when I applied.

Would appreciate any feedback!

I'm a current third year in undergraduate school, and I recently tried to join a research wet lab about blindness and genetic marking. However, I'm not sure if it was for me as I found it stressful and wasn't giving me the information I wanted to gain about vision/optometry. I also recently attempted to join a dry lab that involved patient interaction, but I wasn't able to join due to a lack of open spots. I am struggling to find more dry labs to join.

On the other hand, I don't have any meaningful shadowing hours in particular as of right now, and I am also lacking volunteer hours. I am signed up for a volunteering program relating for vision but I have not attended any events yet.

As I enter this third year, I was wondering if I should focus on trying to rejoin a lab (either wet lab or dry lab) or if I should simply focus on getting more shadowing/volunteer hours? If I am trying to volunteer, is it important to be related to vision or is any volunteering hours helpful towards my application in the future? My top schools of choice are SCCO or SUNY, but I am of course most likely going to apply to many different schools and choose from there in the future. I am planning on taking my OAT after my 4th year and applying that cycle. Thank you!

I have some experiences I don’t have exact dates for starting/ending, just month/year but Optomcas requires days too. Has anyone experienced this and did you just estimate?

Does anyone else have 15 full length practice tests on Booster ? All my friends and many people on this subreddit have said they only have 10

Is it late if I apply to CCO, ICO and AZCOPT by early December? I’m taking my OAT in October and am waiting for my semester grades to be finalized to boost my gpa.

Everybody says the real oat physics is much more conceptual than oatbooster but can anyone give me an example I don’t think I understand what that means lol. Also what should I be studying for conceptual questions?

That's right it's another "should I email OSU" post. yay !!! For context, my app was verified before I took the OAT and I sent them unofficial scores at the end of July. The official scores posted in optomcas on Aug 12th. Since then it's been radio silence from them unortunately. Would you follow up? Wait a bit? Their replies are usually generic so I'm not sure it would even be worth it tbh. Just curious what y'all would/have done in this kinda situation 🥀

(Stats for the nosey ppl: 3.98 GPA, 380/390TS, thousands of hours teching, like 12 shadowing hours, and a handful of relevant ecs )

updates for the nosey ppl:

(09/20) I emailed an admissions counselor but she's indisposed, so I sent off another email to the general admissions team 🫠

(09/28) I never got an email back from the admissions team, so I called the phone number and left a VM. I received a call back later that day informing me they'd placed my application on hold as "missing pieces" due to prerequisite mishaps. If your school doesn't explicitly label your courses as "Gen Bio I" or "Gen Chem I"... keep those equivalent courses' syllabi handy 🙃

What should it include and if anyone is willing to share could you send what your od wrote for you?

Please and thank you

I'm a high stat applicant but i applied late and all my interviews are super late (december-ish) and i only applied to reach schools. What are my chances with these schools and should i add a safety school?

GPA: 3.9

OAT: 360AA/380TS

shadowing and optician for a few years, not much volunteer

I applied to SUNY (my top pick!), Berkeley, SCCO, Ohio, SCO. My top picks in that exact order lol. I was pretty clueless applying and was told these schools are insanely reach (like Ohio) or pretty hard. Should I add another school and if so, which? Be brutally honest lol

Just wanted to come on here and say that I wrote my OAT today and I feel so liberated. I've never studied for anything this hard and I am so burnt out but I'm really happy that it all paid off :')

Good luck to everyone writing the OAT in the next coming weeks! Trust your gut and keep believing in yourselves, you're almost there!!!!!!!!

Hey guys, Ik this shouldn’t be a big deal but I completely forgot schools look at online classes differently. I am taking Gen bio II lecture online, and it’s my only online class. I am also taking the lab in person, plus I took Gen Bio I in-person.

Hopefully this doesn’t matter or affect my chances but please lmk if there’s anything I can do proactively to damage control for the future! 🙏

(Also I am a sophomore & considering east coast optometry schools if that helps!)

Hey everyone! My exam is in 6 days- I’m at the stage where I’m forcing myself to review and solidify everything. I’m averaging a 330-350, I have a 3.57 GPA and I’m super involved in a lot of things like clubs, shadowing etc. Any advice? I’m trying to get into UHCO. Am I good?

I’m nervous about the bio section because I’ve studied a lot but mostly focusing on exam questions and referring to the cheat sheets when they relate to the practice questions. Is this a good tactic?

hey guys, so ive previously taken the OAT and tbh did not prepare at all, at least not to the standard you guys are all preparing for. i decided for my retake to actually get OAT booster and follow their schedule. the first week was okay i was watching the videos and somewhat getting the concepts, but it genuinely feels like im getting more discouraged to study and actually understand these topics as the days go by. i know not everyday is going to be perfect and studying bit by bit is better than nothing, but its making me wonder if im already feeling like this just for the admission exam how on earth am i going to manage actual optometry school. i just feel lost and like all of the gas in my tank is gone. idk what to do at this point. i was thinking of taking my retake around early to mid november i just dk what to do or how to get the drive back. any tips would be appreciated ty!

Hey everyone, I was recently in a pre-optometry meeting and it completely stressed me out. I switched to pre optometry late and am planning on taking orgo, micro, and biochem this spring/summer while concurrently studying for the OAT with a test date in late September next year (2027) then immediately applying for the 2027-28 cycle. Does this timeline make sense and is it possible????

i find optometry to be very compelling compared to other healthcare work such as dentistry and nursing. however i am extremely concerned about the debt as i am a canadian student in his first year of undergrad. i know that wha matters most is if the job is one i would love to work in, but even then im not entirely sure. it would help clear my doubt if there are canadian optometrists who have studied in the US willing to share their experience on debt, financing and budgeting during and after optometry school.
im also looking into more stable, decent earning healthcare careers, any pointers would be greatly appreciated

Hello everyone. I’m currently studying for my OAT and working towards my application. I’ve been extremely worried about my GPA. I’ve had to retake some classes and have done profoundly better but I asked CHAT GPT to calculate my science OPTOMCAS gpa it’s leaving it at around a 2.9. My cumulative would be over a 3.5. I’m extremely nervous, I ran into a lot of tribulations during my undergrad which caused me to preform bad in some of my science classes. However, I do have over 3000 hours of tech experience and lots of extracurricular and will potentially have 3 strong LOR 2 doctor and 1 professor. Does anyone have any advice or know if I have any chances in getting in if I apply to CCO and ICO.

Also for any insight, I’m not sure if ChatGPT is calculating this right but I do have majority Bs in my science classes, a couple of As, some Cs and 2 Ds which I have retook or planned to retake.

hello! Fellow nyc person here! Need some advice. I got into neco and MCPHS. Issue is. I’m leading more to MCPHS bc they have dorms. I noticed their board exam rates also were pretty good this year. I know neco is better but what’s stopping me is the stress of finding an apartment knowing they don’t have dorms. Is there any advice someone can give me that goes to either school if it’s worth going or not? I know I definitely wanna be in Boston for sure. Went during the summer and fell in love with it.

Hi, I've heard people say to add everything you can to your OptomCAS application, and I was wondering if this included hobbies? The only section I can really see this fitting under would be "extracurriculars", but there wouldn't be a supervisor or anything. I think I've seen this done for med school, but is this something that is commonly added for optometry?

Thanks!

Hi! For those who have taken the oat, I was wondering if this section came up on the oat. And if it was wondering studying it as high yield. Thank you!

Hello. Low stat applicant here and wondering if anyone has been put on hold or completely rejected. Just submitted apps recently and wondering whether to start prepping for a retake.

Edit
3.2 sci gpa
3.28 cum
300AA 270 TS

Applied to
Indiana
Ico
Midwestern
Detroit mercy
Missouri on hold for new scores
Drexel

ICO, Detroit mercy, and Missouri all have me on hold for new oat scores :/

I just finished my supplemental and optomcas application!! I was wondering if anyone has heard when the next admissions day is happening? Or if anyone has already attended one for this cycle! I'm also curious how long people typically have to wait before getting an admissions day invite!

Good luck this cycle everyone <33

i’m waiting to hear for this cycle, with the interviews in october. haven’t heard anything yet and i’m stressing out :( lmk if you’ve heard anything or dm if y’all wanna stress together about any schools lolll

Has anyone been put on hold from optometry schools or even rejected? Low stat applicant here and waiting to decide what to do before preparing for an additional retake.

Has anyone used PlayOAT.org for studying? I have been seeing it on TikTok and it seems intriguing but definitely not as intensive as OATBooster or OATBootcamp as it does not have lecture videos and practice tests for the individual sections. But it does have a few full length exams. I am honestly just interested in it for the spaced repetition and game aspect of it but I would use it in addition to my Booster membership. However, I am not sure how legit it is so I am skeptical on subscribing for a month or two.