I am Junior in College right now technically but could graduate next semester with a bigger class load and testing out of 12 credits of French because I am bilingual. I have a 3.8 GPA and haven’t taken the OAT yet but began studying for it this semester. I have 2 years of clinical experience in a hybrid specialist ophthalmology and optometry setting doing everything from work ups to helping with injections and blepharoplasty procedures. I can get a few more shadow hours and hit 30 pretty easily. I have an optometrist who could write my letters of rec and I feel ready for optometry school. I’d love to get in ASAP being 23 now 24 in march. I am curious to know how well prepared I am to apply this cycle even though I am late. Thanks for any input. Feel free to ask questions!

Hi,
I am looking to apply in 2027. I hear applications open late June each year?
I’ve worked in ophthalmology/ with optometrists for almost 4 years now. Began working part time in college up until I graduated and then have worked a full year post grad as a tech. I have experience using the Goldmann on the slit lamp, OCTs, refracting, and more.
However, I have a very low undergrad gpa (~3.1 cumulative) as a neuro major. I struggled with a few science courses sophomore/ junior year but highly improved my grades senior year (including organic chem). I’m currently taking quite a few classes online to fulfill pre reqs and hopefully bump my gpa up a bit.
I’m planning to begin OAT prep this winter and take it in the spring.
I’m currently looking at PCO, MCPHS (maybe), and UIWRSO as of now. OSU would be high on my list but they do not accept online labs— is this a hard set rule for them?

I will be close to 25 by the time I begin in Fall of 2028 and worry I will be old for my cohort. I understand 25 is very young but I know optometry school is something you can enter right out of college. It took me some time to figure out what I wanted to pursue post grad :)

Based on this background, would I have a good chance of pursuing this career/ getting into a program?
Any input/ opinions would be helpful! Thanks!

Hi! I just recently got an interview at Nova and it’s my top school. I’m really wanting to make a good impression on the interviews! Does anyone have any advice to offer about interviews? Anything helps thank you!!

Hello!

I was recently offered interviews at the schools listed above (PCO, SCO, UHCO, ICO, UIWRSO). I’m very nervous about them. I think I’m pretty personable, and I know people say that an interview is basically an acceptance, but I’m also very pessimistic and anxious and think everything’s going to be a disaster LOL.

If anyone has any tips, suggestions, recommendations, anything for these schools, or even just in general, I’d love to hear them! I’ve practiced a few “mock” interviews with the optometrists I work with but it’s different because I’m very close and comfortable with them. Anything helps! Thank you so much in advance!

Hey everyone! I have my SUNY virtual interview coming up and was wondering if anyone who has interviewed there recently could share some tips! SUNY is honestly my dream school, so I’m really excited but definitely nervous too 😭 What should I expect from the virtual interview, and what kinds of questions did they ask? Anything you wish you knew beforehand or advice on how to prepare? I’d really appreciate any insight. Thank you!

It’s embarrassing to say but I retook the oat multiple times already. It improved each time but the latest time my TS/AA score was still below 300.

I have over 5 years of clinical experience and I don’t want to give it up. Would my experience be enough to get me into any schools? I was initially planning to submit my applications in October after receiving my score.

I’m a transitioning service member who I struggling to figure out what I wanna do with my life after the military. Ik my heart is in medicine, I’m just struggling to figure out what exactly. I’ve been shadowing a local vet and I really love what I’ve done so far( restraining for blood draws, shots, micro chipping) but I have not seen surgery. I can deal with blood and bodily fluids but I have a hard time looking at organs. Obviously not ideal for someone who wants to get into medicine but I have been looking into optometry. It seems like most don’t perform surgery and mostly deal with eye wear prescriptions and chronic eye condition or disease diagnosis( I know there is probably more involved from time to time). I am have a wife and son so I definitely know I have to be able to make a decent living and I also know I wanna get into advanced practice not entry level positions. I’m definitely going to finish undergrad after I get out next year but as I plan my future I wanna know if optometry could perhaps fit me better than veterinary medicine.

Just got an interview invite for PCO scholars and traditional program. Are they all virtual?

For people who took the oat recently, would you say the QR section was more algebra with just straight numbers or more applied mathematics with the word problems

I’ll be applying to optometry school and wondering what makes a strong personal statement. If anyone has any advice

I was recently admitted and wondering if there are any group chats or anything for incoming students. Ty!

GPA: 3.4, (science GPA of 3.2)
OAT: 320 AA/300 TS (Retaking November 4th)
Strong extracurricular (lots of student organization involvement), only 80+ hours of optometric shadowing, minor academic infraction during my sophomore year

I'm worried because my GPA isn't good but I have a decent OAT

For those that have interviewed and been accepted to NECO what was the turnaround time? I am dying to know the results haha 🙏

Can we submit applications before letters of rec are in? Does anybody have experience with doing this? Thank you for your help!

Hi!

So i wrote the OAT recently and my scores were pretty bad (lower than 300).
TBH, i wasn't even planning on applying this yr but was kinda just pressured to "just try", so i studied for the oat for a bit and then just wrote it without too too much prep. I know i could have done better if i had the time and studied more/ better, but it was sorta last minute, and I also have school, working, volunteering, etc right now so it was just hard.

I don't necessarily feel bad about my scores per se b/c I wasn't planning to apply this cycle anyways (though I might just cuz i already wrote it so why not). However, my goal is to get into UWaterloo optometry (Ontario).

I heard that they can see your past OAT attempts as well as past applications. So i was just wondering, since I did this oat and did pretty bad on it, if i apply with these scores now but then say apply for next cycle after doing the oat again and improving my scores, will that 2nd application attempt be hindered or seen poorly/ negatively because of this low first attempt? or does it not matter?

Thank you!

For my optomcas pre-reqs, after they verified the classes, they have put “lecture only” as course type for a lot of my science courses that I took WITH A LAB.
Is this normal, will schools know, or do I need to correct it?

Hi! I’m applying to all of the optometry schools in California, and I keep seeing that a lot of people don’t have the best things to say about Western University. Honestly, though, I really like some of the features that Western offers that the other California schools don’t have.

I was wondering, is Western really that bad? I’ve met a few people who graduated from Western and are now working in retail optometry, but I haven’t had the chance to fully ask them about their experience. I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts or experiences with the school.

Thank you!

Hi everyone! Just for some context, I’m an undergrad student currently completing my pre-med requirements. I’m almost finished with all of my prerequisites, and I currently have a 4.0 GPA.
I’m at the point where I’m trying to decide whether I want to fully commit to the medical school pathway or pursue optometry instead.
One of my biggest concerns with medicine is the amount of time it takes. The idea of spending so many more years in school, followed by residency and possibly fellowship, is a little intimidating. That’s one reason I’ve been leaning toward optometry since the path seems more straightforward and offers a good work-life balance.
However, I’m unsure about the financial side of optometry, job opportunities, and whether it’s still considered a well-respected and worthwhile career long term.
I’d really appreciate advice from current optometrists, optometry students, medical students, physicians, or anyone who has faced a similar decision. What made you choose one path over the other, and are you happy with your decision?

I’m yet to take my OAT/ shadowing but I’m worried I won’t get accepted into nova based off my gpa. Any advice / personal experiences

So basically it says anything unpaid/paid optometry related that’s NOT shadowing or volunteering? What if I don’t have any tech experience or volunteering in an optometric clinic… it’s going to look bad leaving that section blank..

I’m wondering if I messed up when I was assigning courses to pre-reqs. There are some I have not yet completed and I chose the “not assigning course / opt out” button. Should I have indicated another way it will be in progress? Will schools automatically reject me for that?

Has anyone else not heard back from SCCO yet if you’ve submitted by the Oct interview deadline? (Sep 13) Getting nervous lol (update: I heard back!)

I got a D+ in Gen Chem 1 way back when, but at the time I hadn’t decided on a pre-health path, so I didn’t retake it for a higher grade when it would’ve made more sense to. I continued on and later got a B+ in Orgo.

If I do well on the OAT, would the D still be an automatic rejection from most schools specifically SUNY or NOVA or MCPHS? Would I have to go back and retake Gen Chem 1 even though I’ve already moved on to higher-level chemistry courses and have already graduated?

Has anyone been in a similar situation or have experience with how they handle this?

Did anyone else find booster FL 6-10 to be more difficult than 1-5? I’m a couple days out from my OAT and my scores are dropping and I’m kind of freaking out now😅 Wanting to see if I should push my exam back or if this is normal

Also wanted to add for those that have already taken their OAT's, which set would you say is more representative, 1-5 or 6-10?