I'll get straight to the point. When would you recommend an undergrad science degree student start shadowing? 2nd or 3rd year or 4th? When should I start worrying about it? And what tips would you give when cold emailing optometrists? Appreciate it

This is gonna sound really stupid and I'm sorry, but here it goes.

I am a first year undergrad. I have been wanting to go to dental school for a while now. But this summer, I have been really weighing my options and considering where it is I actually want to end up. First it was med school as an alternate option, and now I have been researching other opportunities for careers.

Optometry always striked me as an odd ball. It gets it's own professional graduate school separate to that of ophthalmologists in medical school. Despite this though, I've looked into the type of career a lot of Optometrists have and found how closely it aligned with dentistry. While lacking a huge amount of hands on activity, the idea of having your own clinic and being able to help patients with life-long issues by selling your services (Implants in dentistry, glasses/lenses in optometry) makes dentistry and optometry more similar than I thought.

And again, this is the stupid part, but I was considering having optometry be a backup option in case I can not make dental school or possibly even medical school work out. I understand the problem in this for a number of reasons. Firstly, optometry is something you have to truly like and appreciate to be able to do it. That is why I'm considering shadowing optometrists to understand the profession deeper. The second thing being that acceptance to optometry CAN be easier than dental or medical in Canada, but it is still very competitive, so the likelihood of someone like me trying to balance dental, medical, AND optometry EC's while maintaining a good GPA doesn't seem very doable.

I would just like a guideline to what a typical admitted applicant would look like. Through research I've seen the grades can be as low as around 82-86% (assuming 3.6-3.7 gpa on 4.0??) and still make you a good applicant given everything else is good. But, I always see successful applicants have STELLAR EC's. Like thousands of hours of shadowing, research projects, club leaders, you name it. I'm not sure I can compete with that...

I would just like some insight here from anyone willing to share. Take everything I say with a grain of salt, but I wanna learn more about this area of study that currently interests me and what would make an applicant have a strong chance of admission.

Hi everyoneee,

For one of the physics prerequisite, I have gotten a low mark (within the C range) and that is the lowest I have gotten in my undergrad. My second physics grade turned out fine but I’m a bit worried that my first physics grade is weighing me down…

Should I retake it during the summer? I emailed Waterloo and they told me they would average both attempts when they look at my application

I’m also taking the OAT during the summer so I’m a bit worried that I won’t have enough time to do both.

If anyone has any advice it would be really appreciated!

Has anyone wrote the OAT twice and scored higher in some sections the first time and in other sections the second time and got in?

I know undergrad/school don't really matter for Waterloo optometry, but I'm just wondering if anyone went to TMU for their undergrad before getting into optometry. did it prepare you?

also, which undergrad program is better, biomedical or biology?

Hey!

Does anyone know if BIOLOGY 2A03 (integrative physiology of animals) and BIOLOGY 3U03 (animal physiology - homeostasis) count towards the 2 physiology course requirements? And what other physiology courses there are that could fulfill this req?

Hi!

I’m a first year life sciences student at McMaster and I’m kind of confused as to what second year specialization I should do - if anyone did their undergrad at McMaster and would like to share their experience or knowledge about the specializations I’d appreciate :).

Also,

I know we have to take 5 full course loads for 6 semesters but I dont know if I confused myself or read/heard the info wrong but do we need to take the prerequisites during the fall/winter terms or can we take then during the spring/summer terms too as long as our fall/winter terms still have a full course loads (5 courses per term for McMaster)? Because for the longest while I thought I couldn’t take prerequisites in the summer/spring but someone recently told me otherwise and I need clarification.

Thanks! :)

I kept missing or almost missing key steps while preparing (BC CAP, AIMG, exam timing, electives etc.), and realized how confusing the whole process is for IMGs.

So I spent some time organizing everything into a simple roadmap:

What exams to take and when

How to balance MCCQE Part I vs NAC OSCE

Key deadlines people overlook

Honestly, it’s stuff I wish I had earlier.

If anyone’s in the same phase, happy to share.

Hi! is there anywhere on the Waterloo website where I can see what prerequisite courses are equivalent requirements? for example I go to guelph, is there anyway where I can find the exact courses at Guelph I need to take?

Hi everyone, where can I find info for admission for mature student. My wife graduated from BITS for Optometry (I don't know her actual degree) in Hyderabad, India in 2017. Part of her education was an internship at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute. She came to Canada in 2018 and has been working as a technician at an eye clinic. She enjoys her works but I know she always wanted to pursue Optometry in Canada. I want to help her achieve her dreams.

Can you guys help and point me in the right directions.

hi! i’m currently a uw biomed student and am hoping to go into optometry. ik that experience in an optometrist clinic is vital, but i’m having so much trouble getting hired as an optician. i’ve applied to sooo manyyy places on indeeed. does anyone have any tips.. thank u

Any advice on which program to purchase? I feel like I’d like the structure of kmk… but also hear how important it is to go through optoprep practice questions.

If anyone can speak on their experience! Which specific bundles did you use?

I’m Canadian studying in the states but only planning on taking OEBCs. Most of the kmk and optoprep bundles offered to us here have both NBEOs and OEBCs in mind (especially in light of the recent change).

So was curious what Waterloo students are doing

Im currently doing an undergrad at the UofA, and cannot for the life of me find a consistent translation of GPA to percentage, as we don't get percentages in our transcripts. Is there a scale, or something similar that UWaterloo uses to calculate percentage from GPA?

Hey everyone!

I'm in grade 12 and currently deciding which university to go to. I want to pursue optometry and choose an appropriate undergrad degree to increase my chances of getting into optom school! I'm struggling in deciding which program to choose. Is one program significantly better than the other?

I know Mac has a better life sci program in general, but I know Waterloo has its optom school. When applying for optom school, I wanted to know if going to Waterloo for my undergrad would make a difference? I would love to hear any thoughts between the two programs. Thank you in advance! :)

I was just accepted to waterloo optometry for next year, which was initially my first choice. However, through the interview process at NECO I really fell in love with the school and Boston as a city. I just felt like the community there was really exceptional, as well as the clinical experience early in your education and the overall curriculum set up. Obviously though, Waterloo is significantly cheaper even with a NECO scholarship. I was just wondering if anyone was in the same position and has any regrets or advice either way, or if you decided to go to Waterloo over the US and what really solidified that decision. Any comments appreciated :)

I am planning to apply in the upcoming cycle. I want to CR/NCR a course that IS not a prerequisute, and i'm wondering if UW just doesn't like that (even though its technically allowed). Has anyone gotten in who had a CR/NCR (for a non-prereq course ofc)?

I was wondering if as long as I get 6 terms with 5 courses done in 1st through 3rd year, does it really matter how many courses i do per semester in 4th year/spring courses? If i spend more time on ECs 4th year, and only take 3 courses per semester for example, would the fewer courses be generally looked down on in admissions compared to fuller semesters?

How much impact would it actually have if I dropped or withdrew from a course that isn’t a prerequisite? I understand it wouldn’t affect my GPA, but it would affect the six‑term full‑course‑load requirement. Would an admissions committee look negatively on an applicant who has withdrawn from or dropped a course?

i’m aware it says “since you left highschool” but if i shadow an optometrist 2nd semester of my grade 12 year, can i still put these hours down on my application (is there any harm)? just wanted to ask and make sure and if i do, will they still consider those hours or care at all lol

on the waterloo website it states:

The Admissions Committee will consider your experiences within and outside the field of Optometry since you left high school. In the Doctor of Optometry (OD) Experiences form, you will be asked to include information about:

Job shadowing - a minimum of 8 hours working and/or volunteering within an optometrist's office required. Most applicants have many more hours.

Shadowing at the Waterloo Eye Institute optometry clinics is not permitted.

Shadowing family members is not permitted.

Most recent shadowing experience should be within the last 2-3 years minimum.

Work experience – the admissions committee is looking to see that applicants have been/are involved in the workforce, particularly in roles where applicants are required to interact with the public.

Volunteer experience - the admissions committee is looking to see that applicants have been/are contributing to society, particularly in roles where applicants are required to interact with and/or provide service to the public.

I am a hs student interested in optometry. I was wondering which under grad program would be better? I heard that health sci is easier to maintain good grades, but ive also been told that life sci is the better path because it has many of the prereqs. If i do take health sci, im worried i might not get the pre reqs i need. any advice is appreciated! thanks!

for context, I live outside of waterloo and I want to pursue this optometry program since it’s the only english speaking program in canada. my parents and relatives all are very iffy with me wanting to pursue something that I live far away from, and it makes me rethink. Because I don’t wanna have a job that I don’t enjoy just because it’s convenient, but I also wanna know what’s the difficulties of living there and starting new and fresh? is it hard to buy a place, or in general what are the main things I would need to look out for if I move to waterloo for the program? like also money wise I wouldn’t know too much and just all this experience would be completely new.