GPA during Optometry School?

[E_wen]

Besides passing optometry school, is there any incentive to achieve and maintain a high GPA throughout the coming four years? I'm starting optometry school tomorrow at Pacific University and my mom wants me to do really well for scholarships. I guess scholarships are one plus to having a high GPA but I'm not sure if it's worth sacrificing a lot of time I could be using to explore Oregon and otherwise having a good time while passing.

Are the scholarships for a high GPA really good? Will my GPA affect my chances of finding employment post-graduation? Will it affect how much I earn post-graduation?

Thanks

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[undecisiveone1]

If you're considering a residency then you definitely want to maintain a good gpa

 

[mssvbn5]

If you care to be a part of an honors program (BSK) or participate in a residency program, GPA will matter. Otherwise, as long as you pass your classes and board exams, GPA does not matter one bit.

 

[generallyspeaking]

Nobody will handout a scholarship for just high GPA; it would include some sort of essay competition or other component (clinical research, multimedia, etc). Payouts are usually several hundred or several thousand. Some of the big nation-wide competitions can go up to 10,000 but again there is usually some competition involved rather than just having a high GPA. I graduated with honors and didn't receive a dime for my GPA alone.

GPA is important for residency.

 

[poojerrr]

To be honest it bothers me a lot that you're just looking to "get by" in Optom school. To me, I don't particularly care about grades but I do believe what you're going to be learning is how to better serve someone else and just getting by so you can "explore Oregon" seems really selfish.

Just my personal opinion though.

 

[Snakedoctor1]

To be honest it bothers me a lot that you're just looking to "get by" in Optom school. To me, I don't particularly care about grades but I do believe what you're going to be learning is how to better serve someone else and just getting by so you can "explore Oregon" seems really selfish.

Just my personal opinion though.

Your tune may change when you start Optometry school. The difference between an A and a B on a test may be two or three test questions. Is it worth an extra 3-4 hours of studying to nail those last couple of questions? Maybe for you it will be. You will learn important information regardless of whether or not you landed an A or a B on a test, just as you will learn information you'll never use again. While this doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't worth learning, my point is that GPA and O.D. quality do not correlate.