Hi all,
I just wanted to see what my chances were for being accepted into any of these optometry schools:
1. New England
2. ICO
3. MCPHS
4. UMSL
5. Indiana
I am currently applying for Fall 2016, but am graduating this May 2015. I am taking a year off for financial reasons, but during my time off I will be working at an optometry office in the West Loop of Chicago as a patient technician and commuting from home.
I am a Psychology major with a minor in Bioethics. I currently have a 3.49 overall GPA with a 3.1 science GPA. I have no W's or anything less than a C on my transcript. I took the OAT in December of 2014 and scored AA of 300 and TS of 290 (I'm not the best standardized test taker). I will have letters of recommendation (hopefully) from 1 or more of the three optometrists I work with (all went to ICO), a professor (research lab director or engaged learning professor), and a grad assistant I work closely with in my research lab. I might also ask some of my supervisors from work.
As for my experience and extra curriculars, I currently serve as the Secretary for our Pre-Optometry organization, but since we have such a small organization and not the greatest Executive Board, I do a lot of the work the president does. I have coordinated visits from other optometry schools and we also hosted a dinner with a speaker with a talk on optics. In addition to this I have gone on two Medical/Public Health brigades to Nicaragua, one as just a member and one as a brigade leader. These were both 9 day trips with groups of 25-30 students where we provided medical services and clinics to community members of Nicaragua. In addition to that, we also did a lot of manual labor for our public health portion, building latrines, septic tanks, and making concrete floors for people's homes. As a leader for a brigade I worked extensively with my co-lead to plan the entirety of the trip, which included recruitment, flights, leading reflections, and in-country activities. I am also a member of Chi Omega, a women's fraternity. I served as the Director of Campus Activities on our junior executive board where I planned all events with other organizations. These included intramurals, Relay for Life, and participating in other group's philanthropy events. I additionally have been working in a research lab for children's language, cognition, and emotion. I often go to different grade schools to test children between the ages 5-14. In addition, I code data, enter it into SPSS, and perform basic lab duties.
In terms of work experience, I worked as a caller for our gift center at my university. At this job, I called alumni for donations to the school. Additionally, I worked for our Conference Services department for two summers, one as a regular employee and one as a manager. I worked in hospitality services so I dealt with customers on a regular basis. As a manager I also had the responsibility of making schedules, attending manager meetings, and coordinating day to day jobs. Currently I work for my university's recreation center (the gym) as a front desk receptionist.
I am also currently employed by an optometry office as a patient technician. I answer phone calls, schedule appointments, pull files, all regular receptionist things. But I also interact with patients by taking their family and eye history, pre-testing them (I know how to use an auto refractor, our retinal camera, glaucoma test, and lensometer), and pre-screening them before they see the doctor. I work with our opticians as well to pull insurances and help pick out glasses for patients. I work very closely with our doctors and plan to shadow them a lot during the summer when I am not working. Besides them, I plan to shadow another optometrist that lives closer to me during the summer.
Some downsides: I only took one semester of organic chemistry, and I did not take biochemistry or anatomy or physiology either. I know these are not required prerequisites but I don't want it to affect my chances (hopefully). My OAT score is rather low as well.
Just wanted to know what you all think! Feedback greatly appreciated.
I just wanted to see what my chances were for being accepted into any of these optometry schools:
1. New England
2. ICO
3. MCPHS
4. UMSL
5. Indiana
I am currently applying for Fall 2016, but am graduating this May 2015. I am taking a year off for financial reasons, but during my time off I will be working at an optometry office in the West Loop of Chicago as a patient technician and commuting from home.
I am a Psychology major with a minor in Bioethics. I currently have a 3.49 overall GPA with a 3.1 science GPA. I have no W's or anything less than a C on my transcript. I took the OAT in December of 2014 and scored AA of 300 and TS of 290 (I'm not the best standardized test taker). I will have letters of recommendation (hopefully) from 1 or more of the three optometrists I work with (all went to ICO), a professor (research lab director or engaged learning professor), and a grad assistant I work closely with in my research lab. I might also ask some of my supervisors from work.
As for my experience and extra curriculars, I currently serve as the Secretary for our Pre-Optometry organization, but since we have such a small organization and not the greatest Executive Board, I do a lot of the work the president does. I have coordinated visits from other optometry schools and we also hosted a dinner with a speaker with a talk on optics. In addition to this I have gone on two Medical/Public Health brigades to Nicaragua, one as just a member and one as a brigade leader. These were both 9 day trips with groups of 25-30 students where we provided medical services and clinics to community members of Nicaragua. In addition to that, we also did a lot of manual labor for our public health portion, building latrines, septic tanks, and making concrete floors for people's homes. As a leader for a brigade I worked extensively with my co-lead to plan the entirety of the trip, which included recruitment, flights, leading reflections, and in-country activities. I am also a member of Chi Omega, a women's fraternity. I served as the Director of Campus Activities on our junior executive board where I planned all events with other organizations. These included intramurals, Relay for Life, and participating in other group's philanthropy events. I additionally have been working in a research lab for children's language, cognition, and emotion. I often go to different grade schools to test children between the ages 5-14. In addition, I code data, enter it into SPSS, and perform basic lab duties.
In terms of work experience, I worked as a caller for our gift center at my university. At this job, I called alumni for donations to the school. Additionally, I worked for our Conference Services department for two summers, one as a regular employee and one as a manager. I worked in hospitality services so I dealt with customers on a regular basis. As a manager I also had the responsibility of making schedules, attending manager meetings, and coordinating day to day jobs. Currently I work for my university's recreation center (the gym) as a front desk receptionist.
I am also currently employed by an optometry office as a patient technician. I answer phone calls, schedule appointments, pull files, all regular receptionist things. But I also interact with patients by taking their family and eye history, pre-testing them (I know how to use an auto refractor, our retinal camera, glaucoma test, and lensometer), and pre-screening them before they see the doctor. I work with our opticians as well to pull insurances and help pick out glasses for patients. I work very closely with our doctors and plan to shadow them a lot during the summer when I am not working. Besides them, I plan to shadow another optometrist that lives closer to me during the summer.
Some downsides: I only took one semester of organic chemistry, and I did not take biochemistry or anatomy or physiology either. I know these are not required prerequisites but I don't want it to affect my chances (hopefully). My OAT score is rather low as well.
Just wanted to know what you all think! Feedback greatly appreciated.
