Post-Bacc. prereqs taken at a 2-year college

[caltrinity]

Hi,

First of all, I just wanted to say that this forum has been an excellent resource for me as I prepare for a change in career. I have found the information and resources here quite informative and helpful.

Background:

I graduated with a Bachlors Degree in Business in 2004. Throughout my undergraduate career I focused my studies primarily on business and law. I did take one intro optometry class and the usual calc, stats, and psychology classes.

Question:

I want to now pursue Optometry but will have to take the pre-reqs at a community 2-year college, mainly due to financial concerns.

What are my chances of getting into a good optometry school with my background and taking 90%+ of my pre-reqs at a 2-year institution?

Perhaps Rosanna, et. al can chime in on this as I am particularly interested in staying in CA.

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[rpames]

That really should not be a problem. I know of several students who took several pre-req. at CC's when they decided to go back.

 

[HYCW]

What are my chances of getting into a good optometry school with my background and taking 90%+ of my pre-reqs at a 2-year institution?

Hi Caltrinity-
I was in your shoes 2 years ago. I had all of the social science courses done in undergrad, but almost none of the sciences, so I took them at the local community college. It took ~2 years to fulfill everything because I wanted to apply to Berkeley and they have a ton more requirements. Anyway, I applied this year to SCC O, Pacific, and UCBSO and got into all 3 so the community college pre-reqs are totally fine!

First, decide which 2-year college you will attend and then call each optometry school for a list of courses that will fulfill their pre-reqs. This is pretty crucial because with the budget crunch, all of the 2-year college courses (*especially* the intro science classes) are overfilled and it's hard enough to get into them. You don't want to accidentally be signed up for one course while the one you really want gets filled.

Definitely try to get all A's if possible because people will not view your classes as being truly on par with a university course. So if you got an A in your class, you need to back that up with a reasonable OAT score.

Also, I think it really helped that I had a lot of extracurricular volunteer optometry experience while going to school fulltime. It showed that I was truly committed to pursuing optometry and it wasn't just a whim.

Good luck! If you have any further questions, feel free to ask. I actually really enjoyed taking my classes at a 2-year institution because there are a TON of people in your same boat (career changers, especially in the night classes) and it's a great support group/motivation help.

 

[caltrinity]

HYCW,

Thanks so much for your response. I was also looking into the same three optometry schools.

Can you perhaps tell me your impressions on all three schools?

Also, if you don't mind sharing, what was your GPA, OAT score? And what sort of volunteer work did you do?

Did you go to a community college in Los Angeles? Do you have any that you recommend?

Was it difficult to get a recommendation as most community colleges do not have a special pre-health committee?

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[kgrabar]

I took several of the science pre-recs at CCs after I graduated: Microbio, Anatomy and Phys I and II, Physics I and II. Although I didn't apply to the CA schools, I was accepted to the 4 I applied. None of these schools had an issue with my taking classes at CCs maybe becuase of As in the CC classes, good OAT score, concurrent full-time work, and a good record at the university level. I did feel that I needed to address the CC classes during the interview to defend myself, but they all seemed to understand and didn't make me feel like less of an applicant. Hope that helps!

 

[caltrinity]

HYCW,

Could you also talk a bit about the interview process for each school?

Did they bring up anything about you taking the classes at a community college? If so, what were their concerns?

Also, did you have all your prereqs finished prior to your application? Or did you leave some to take the spring or summer before admission?

In the LA/OC area, I found only 2 colleges that have courses that satisfy Berkeley's Bio-Chem requirement so I am limited to those colleges. Perhaps you can recommend one over the other?

And lastly, could you please share what your course load was like. i.e. which classes you took during which semester. Is there a recommended set of courses to take first, second, etc. I was thinking about leaving the bio-chem and physiology for the spring of the admission year, etc. Would you recommend such a move?

Thank you again for your help. I hope I am not burdening you too much. I thought I was all alone, so it is good to hear from someone going through the same thing.

Feel free to email me if you do not feel comfortable answering on the forum.

[email protected]

 

[cpw]

i took classes at a CC post-bac in northern california. I did get info from SCCO and UCB about which classes would count for their requirements and used only that list. (which required me driving an extra 30 miles out of my way to take anatomy.. but that's what I had to do)

I also showed I could work a fourty hour a week job, take two classes at night, and still make a 4.0. They liked that.. a lot. It showed i was committed to my choice to go back.

I applied to SCCO, UCBSO, and UHCO. I got into all but Berkeley.

Hope this helps !!
And for those in no cal that care... I took classes at Diablo Valley College and Contra Costa College.

 

[caltrinity]

CPW,

Thanks for your input. I have found that for CA community colleges, assist.org, was very helpful in finding classes that satisfy requirements at Berkeley. Since Berkeley has one of the most strigent pre-reqs requirements out there I am assuming that the courses will be ok for other schools as well?

There are only 2 colleges in the LA/OC area that satisfy the Bio-Chem requirement and I too have to drive about 45 minutes to get there.

Could you perhaps give me your impressions on each of the three schools you applied to and why you ended up choosing Houston over SCCO, etc.?

If I may also ask did you have a better than average OAT score as well?

Thank you.

 

[HYCW]

Hello! I took all of my remaining pre-reqs at LA Valley College, including Biochem. Is that one of the JCs that you're looking at?

None of the schools I interviewed at (SCCO and Pacific) had concerns about taking classes at a CC. They didn't ask my anything about it at all! Maybe because my OAT scores were fine? They ranged from 340-370, with the exception of OChem (290, yikes! But I was in the middle of OChemI when I took the OAT).

For the past two years, I've volunteered weekly at two places. At UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute, you get to work in the low vision center with two really awesome ODs. It's mostly office work, but you get to see ODs in a hospital/research setting, which is fun and different.

The other place I help out at is a non-profit that puts together community eye screenings for low-income areas (mainly Compton, Watts, etc). I do office work and help set up events, plus work the actual event (~1/2 per month). We partner with Lenscrafters sometimes and go out on a fully-equipped mobile coach to give free eye exams and glasses to underpriviledged populations (children, homeless, and even ex-offenders.) When I say "work the event," I mean that I get to do a bit of everything: check in patients, help them select glasses, cut lenses and put them inside frames, act as scribe for ODs... It's been the greatest experience ever, and solidified my intent to go into optometry.

If anyone wants the contact info for either of the above places, PM me. They're always looking for volunteers!

Finally, it's actually pretty easy to get a rec from a JC professor. The classes are fairly small (~40) so you get to know profs well. Most are accessible and encourage you to come by their office. There's also opportunities for tutoring, lab assistantship, etc. Also, many profs know that we students are using their CC class as a stepping stone and are happy to write recommendations or give advice.

Caltrinity, I'll email you the rest of my response since this is getting long and I don't want to hijack the thread.

Hope this helps!

 

[cpw]

Could you perhaps give me your impressions on each of the three schools you applied to and why you ended up choosing Houston over SCCO, etc.?

If I may also ask did you have a better than average OAT score as well?

Thank you.

My OAT score was 340.. and my scores ranged from 310 (organic) to 370 (reading comp and physics). But, I had been out of college three years and it had been five to six since I'd had organic.

I chose Houston over SCCO mainly for cost. I went to college in Texas, my parents still live in Texas, and I got in-state tuition. I REALLY liked SCCO .. it's beautiful, everyone was nice, the campus clinic was GREAT.. but it's SO expensive.

So, I chose to move back to Texas, be close to family, and have cheaper tuition. I'm very glad I did. I love UHCO. The people are great, the school is great, our clinic is HUGE..... I have no regrets.

I hope this helps.

 

[polkadot]

If you're having trouble getting into Biochem, you might try a UC extension. I know someone who was able to take it through Berkeley extension night classes to fulfill the pre-req for dental school. UCLA might offer the same kind of courses.

From my own experience, I haven't found any negative feedback about my return to community college (DeAnza and West Valley in ncal), other than SUNY asking why I had so many transcripts (and seemingly satisfied with my response that I was a returning student).

PM me if you want to know anything more.

- p.dot

 

[Rosanna]

Hello:

Sorry for being a little late in responding to this post.

I wanted to chime in to what everyone has been saying and that taking pre-requisite courses at a JC will be fine to satisfy the requirements. I was going to recommend the website assist.org, but it looks like you knew about that already.

Are you sure there are only 2 JCs in the LA/OC area that cover the biochem requirement? Have you checked IVC? I went there to take care of the human anatomy requirement (which I ended up not taking, but that's another loong drawn out story). The SAO here knows that it's difficult to find certain classes to take, so if you are accepted, you have the option to take the prereq courses at UCB during the summer (right before school starts). I believe you can take the anatomy, physio, and biochem requirements here. I would not recommend you trying to wait that late to take those requirements though. Nevertheless, there were a good 1/2 dozen people in my class alone that took both anatomy and physio in the summer right before starting first year. The classes will be expensive and you'll have to find housing here in the summer, so it's a bit of a hassle if you can get away with doing something else.

Since UCBSO requires almost the most prereqs (I believe it requires the most with UHCO), you will satisfy pretty much every other school's prerequisite requirements at the same time. To be sure, go to --> http://www.opted.org/info_profile1.cfm

Oh, since HYCW mentioned some good volunteer opportunities, if you are in the LA/OC area, there are a few good options (in addition to the UCLA Jules Eye Stein Institute). I would definitely join P.O.P.S. through SCCO since you will be able to get to go to vision screenings with SCCO 3rd and 4th year students (my friend at SCCO is handling memberships, so you can PM me if you need her contact info). Through POPS, I participated in about 3 community vision screenings in low-income neighborhoods, and also got to participate in the Special Olympics where athletes got free eye exams provided through the Lion's Club. Also, there is an eye institute at UCI which you can inquire about volunteer positions. I volunteered at the Blind Children's Learning Center in Tustin which was amazing. There is also the Braille Institute in LA which you can volunteer at also.

If you are in the North Bay, there is the School for the Blind in Fremont.

Best wishes,

Rosanna

 

[caltrinity]

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your help and support. You have really given me some valuable advice and have made this difficult transition time that much more manageable.

Thanks again.