Question for those who were accepted to SUNY?

[Myopia Sucks]

What optometry related experiences did you have? I had shadowing experience but that wasn't enough to accept me so I'm currently on hold. I'm planning to fill up my light schedule next semester with Optometry related work.
Thanks!
Spencer

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[CollSmith]

I work as a technician and I still got put on hold ... And I shadowed four different places.

 

[Myopia Sucks]

I work as a technician and I still got put on hold ... And I shadowed four different places.

Maybe your issue is academics and OAT score?

 

[whymisha]

I only shadowed at one place 4 times and got accepted. They didn't ask specifically how much I shadowed

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Hang tight! If i were you I would try to contact the school and let them know your interest, especially if you can talk to the admissions director / assistant.

I am currently a first year at SUNY and I can tell you that we are still interviewing people. During finals week (last week), i definitely saw a few groups touring around and interviewing.

Best of luck! If you guys have any questions feel free to message me.

 

[CollSmith]

Yeah my gpa is low but I did well on the oat and have a very well rounded application but gpa is a big factor

 

[rachmind]

Don't get discouraged. It's not just about shadowing, it's about shadowing different types of optometrists. I only shadowed three times but I did commercial, pediatric, and contact lens specialists. When I got accepted, I had just started working as an ophthalmic tech (few weeks experience). Don't just rack up hours. Show them that you understand that there's various fields and that you've been exposed to a number of them. GOOD LUCK!! Hope to see you in the fall

 

[Mark2K8]

I had shadowed an optometrist who had 2 private clinics and also shadowed (and volunteered) at a homeless center that had optometrists (rarely, might I say) volunteer there and perform basic eye examinations. I think latter they liked a lot/lead to helping my admittance.

Good luck!

 

[w.puggy]

Did you hear back from them?

 

[Myopia Sucks]

Did you hear back from them?

The admissions office told me that I didn't have enough optometry experiences but I was academically eligible. My next semester will be focused on getting as much experience in optometry

 

[dejablue10]

If you don't mind me asking, how many hours of shadowing did you have? Or how much experience did you have before you applied?

 

[Myopia Sucks]

If you don't mind me asking, how many hours of shadowing did you have? Or how much experience did you have before you applied?

20 hours of shadowing at SUNY's visual rehabilitation
20 hours of shadowing with an Ophthalmologist (family friend)
Honestly, I'm in 100% agreement with the admissions office haha
Optometry has been something I wanted to do since I was 7 years old but I haven't obtained any real experiences due to constant rejections from local optometrists for shadowing, crazy university course load, and a little bit of depression (I was getting rejected from basically everything). Luckily, studying abroad gave me the confidence to make my own opportunities and eventually landed me shadowing experience at SUNY. Since my next semester is pretty light, I will do whatever I can to become completely invested in Optometry and hopefully get accepted...

 

[w.puggy]

20 hours of shadowing at SUNY's visual rehabilitation
20 hours of shadowing with an Ophthalmologist (family friend)
Honestly, I'm in 100% agreement with the admissions office haha
Optometry has been something I wanted to do since I was 7 years old but I haven't obtained any real experiences due to constant rejections from local optometrists for shadowing, crazy university course load, and a little bit of depression (I was getting rejected from basically everything). Luckily, studying abroad gave me the confidence to make my own opportunities and eventually landed me shadowing experience at SUNY. Since my next semester is pretty light, I will do whatever I can to become completely invested in Optometry and hopefully get accepted...

Sounds like a great plan. Don't worry about getting rejected from local optometrists for shadowing. I must have emailed at least 30 of them and only three got back to me. Just keep asking around and one of the optometrists will say you can shadow him/her. Good luck!

 

[ohmyrosh]

What optometry related experiences did you have? I had shadowing experience but that wasn't enough to accept me so I'm currently on hold. I'm planning to fill up my light schedule next semester with Optometry related work.
Thanks!
Spencer

I was just accepted last week! I have around 100 hours of shadowing at two different practices and also research at the NIH. I think they're looking for a variety of shadowing experiences rather than a lot of hours at one place.

 

[CollSmith]

We're you accepted after being put on hold and congrats

 

[ohmyrosh]

We're you accepted after being put on hold and congrats

I'm not sure if you were asking me, but no, I wasn't put on hold. It was soon after my interview.

 

[fifa518]

Does suny reject anyone after the interview or do they put you on hold before rejection? Also has anyone on hold heard back yet

 

[Jacklynnve]

Does suny reject anyone after the interview or do they put you on hold before rejection? Also has anyone on hold heard back yet

Yes they do reject people, they don't put people on hold automatically. And people on hold won't be informed until late April or beginning of May when all of the interviews are over and they review applications again. Hope this helps.

 

[fifa518]

Thank you !

 

[Futureeyedocgirl]

I was accepted to SUNY 3 days after my interview ( which was at the end of February so I was a super late applicant).I have a high GPA but my oat was average ( got a 340). I would recommend when you shadow at SUNY, you should shadow optometrists in various fields. For example, I shadowed a doc for 3 hours in the vision rehab area, then 3 hours in ocular diseases and 3 hours in pediatrics. I also shadowed another developmental optometrist last summer on and off maybe averaging 20 hours total. So as you can see my shadowing hours were not so long but I did learn a lot which I wrote about in the application (and spoke about in my interview).

Being involved in your college's student life was also important to SUNY( at least thats what I think). I cofounded and am president of the pre-optometry club at school. Also, played tennis in school. They even asked me about my tennis playing in college lol

 

[Myopia Sucks]

I was accepted to SUNY 3 days after my interview ( which was at the end of February so I was a super late applicant).I have a high GPA but my oat was average ( got a 340). I would recommend when you shadow at SUNY, you should shadow optometrists in various fields. For example, I shadowed a doc for 3 hours in the vision rehab area, then 3 hours in ocular diseases and 3 hours in pediatrics. I also shadowed another developmental optometrist last summer on and off maybe averaging 20 hours total. So as you can see my shadowing hours were not so long but I did learn a lot which I wrote about in the application (and spoke about in my interview).

Being involved in your college's student life was also important to SUNY( at least thats what I think). I cofounded and am president of the pre-optometry club at school. Also, played tennis in school. They even asked me about my tennis playing in college lol

Thanks for the word of advice! I'm actually shadowing a lot more this semester, covering private practice and different departments at SUNY. So far I shadowed at glaucoma, contact lens, neuro-optometric, vision rehab, cataract pre-op, and retina. I had to give up my spring break but it's for a good reason haha