Shadowing/Extracurriculars + Misc.

[deleted687806]

Hi all!

I have a couple questions for you:

1) Why does this pre-optometry subforum not have school specific stats/extracurricular threads?

2) When did you start shadowing optometrists, and when did you generally shadow them throughout your undergrad? (summers/breaks only, during school year, etc)

3) Could someone give me a breakdown of the generally understood importance of academics/OAT scores/extracurriculars/shadowing to admissions? (I'm fairly new to this and although I have been lurking for a while I haven't found much info on this! Sorry for asking such basic info, maybe I'm just a bad lurker )

Thank you so much for your help! I appreciate it so much

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[Groucho Marx]

1. Here is a list of average OAT scores and GPAs of admitted applicants for the year 2014: http://www.opted.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Profile-of-Applicants-20141.pdf
The optometry section of this forum isn't as active as some other parts of this board, so that might be one of the reasons that there aren't more sub forums.

2. I didn't do much shadowing, as I didn't really find it to be that helpful or necessary. You're not going to pick up a lot of information before starting school. If you know that this is the job you want to do, then I don't think that a lot of hours are necessary. If you're trying to decide which career is right for you, then following different docs around will be a lot more useful. Most schools have a required minimum number of hours. It's fairly small from what I remember.

3. I would presume that GPA and OAT scores have the most weight on your acceptance as they show the most about your dedication, consistency, and abilities.

 

[roush137]

I only did a little shadowing and I did it over winter breaks. (This is a great time because offices are very busy in late December.) I worked as a tech at an office and I think that was more beneficial than shadowing. I got the job by asking the optometrist I shadowed if she knew anyone hiring. It was only 5-10 hours a week (or less sometimes) so it was very manageable with my classes. I also got involved with our preoptometry club which got me involved in a lot of things outside of basic shadowing.

In terms of hierarchy of importance for admission, I would say every school has their own criteria. I would look at the profile of applicants. Some schools have high GPAs, but not as high OAT or vice versa. If you have above average OAT and GPA, you can probably get by with less optometry experience (But not none! You still need to show you have an interest in the field and you will definitely need to have some knowledge in your interview.) If you have average or below average stats, then I think having a lot of experience can really help you.

The best thing you can do is pick your top few schools and email their admissions reps and ask directly. If possible, going in for a meeting with them is good too. I can tell you that I definitely think it helped me feel more comfortable in my OSU interview because I had met the admissions rep and we had corresponded through email several times.