Retake pre-req for Optometry school?

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Jaslynn89

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First of all, I would like to talk a little about my personal background. I am an immigrant from Myanmar, and I came to US five years ago. I just graduated from UCLA with 3.0 GPA majoring in biochemistry. I was a transfer student from community college, and had 3.6 transfer GPA. During my junior year in UCLA, my father was diagnosed as a cancer patient and passed away in my senior year. My grades in UCLA were inconsistent due to high level of anxiety & stress. I weren't able to focus, and extremely nervous when it comes to taking exam. I have two C+ for biology classes (Genetic& biotechnology classes), and one C- (O chem lab2). I did mostly okey for my biochemistry classes, got A- and B. I was a bit discouraged, and depressed when I was in UCLA. I didn't join any pre-optometry clubs which I regret about it. Recently, I just decided to go to optometry school, and I would like to know if I should retake those lower division classes. Would it really increase my chances of getting in? My first choice is Berkeley, and other optometry schools in CA. Thank you in advance& I'd really appreciate your help.

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I'm sorry to hear about you father's passing. To answer your question, UCB is one of the most competitive optometry school to get into. I'm not sure if a 3.0 gpa will cut it even though you are an alumni with a biochemistry degree. (I'm waiting for the UCB invite, so I'm not sure if I can give you any pointers on your top school). It might not be necessary to retake all your classes that you've made C's in. I made 3 C's and I double major in biochem and biology. During my interviews, my interviewers told me that they take your major into consideration if your gpa was slightly lower than 3.5, but that doesn't mean you won't get in if you have a 3.0. You might not get into UCB with a 3.0 though. Have you taken the OAT? If you do really well on the OAT, it might balance out the low gpa so that you don't have to retake everything to bring your gpa up. Also, since you've "decided" to go into optometry program, have you consider doing shadowing with O.Ds? Some schools require OD LOR, so I would find an OD to shadow, and build a strong EC profile. Here's a list that might help.

http://www.opted.org/files/public/ApplicantPaige.pdf
 
Thank you for your feedback. I have emailed a few Optometrist and started shadowing in January, and taking OAT in May. I have a 3.0 UCLA gpa, but most of my lower division courses were taken at Community college, and have 3.6 gpa. Are they going to take a combined gpa or just UCLA gpa? To be safe, I would apply more than 5. Good luck on your application. Do you mind telling me which schools did you recommend? Thanks
 
OptomCAS will look at everything. So, when you are in the process of applying, you'll have to get the official transcripts from your first and second college. The cGPA and sGPA are combined from both schools. Sorry about the above, I misread UCLA for UCB (my mistake!). Anyway, there are only 20 schools to choose from, and 3 are in CA. The link above should help you to see where the past applicant's entering class GPA, OAT, and deadlines so that you can compare how you match. I would apply to your top schools (obviously), and those that are well within your statistics. I think most apply between 5-7. Also, the above link tells you the cost of attendance for instate vs. out-of-state so you can determine from then. I only applied to 4 schools, and I only completely 3 secondaries, and got in of c/o 2016 for 2 of my schools, but waiting on UCB. Thank you! If you need help, PM if you want.
 
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