I'm worried that I wont be a very competitive candidate for admission b/c my undergrad degree is in Marketing. However, I am working on the required pre-req classes for admission, plus I plan to work for/shadow a few optometrists. Once all of that is complete, and I receive a good OAT score and GPA, how competetive do you think I will be?

As far as I know, most optometry schools don't require you to be a science major. As long as you have the prereqs, and your GPA and OAT are good, you just as competitive as anyone else.

Don't sweat it. If you do very well on the OAT & on your GPA on your prereqs and you will remain competitive. Science Majors are probably preferred, but I would definitely not give up hope. I was recently accepted
:) and my degree was not science based.


AA

Don't worry. My major's East Asian Studies with a minor in Visual Science and I've gotten in to all the schools I've applied to. I think as long as you have a decent gpa/oat scores and have a good interview, you'll have no problem. Don't let your BA lower your self-esteem or whatnot. We're all going into 1st year with the same pre-req. Some with more science background but we're all starting at the same level :)

Thank you all for the encouragement! :)

Likewise, I have a BA in sociology and asian american studies. I finished my pre-reqs post-bac at a community college, and spent a good year and a half working at retail and private practices.

I don't have research background, or an extensive science background, but I did well on my OATs and my pre-req GPA. I'm sure your BA in marketing has its merits for when you become a practicing optometrist. :)

Keep ya head up! Good luck. If I can do it, I'm sure you can.

I was a non-science major, too. Just do well on your pre-reqs and OATs, as the others have said. Good luck! :luck: