Took the OAT today and...

[szoptogeek]

Hi everyone
I wanted some advice from you lovely people. I am an absolute horrible standard test taker and I scored 310 AA and 300 TS. I really don't want to retake. I studied for 3 months nonstop and that's as best as I could do. I'm just not good with test anxiety. I was wondering if I still have a good chance at getting accepted. I have a 4.0 GPA, and a little shadowing. Should I shadow more? I don't really understand how people have over 50 hours of shadowing. After a few hours, it's very repetitive. Even the optometrist I shadowed told me (nicely) that there really isn't much more to show me. I asked a bunch of questions and took notes. But like I said, it was stuff I already knew. I've also been trying to get a job at an optometrist office but none are hiring in my area. What is your take on my situation?

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[optogirlkp]

I personally think there's a lot to gain from different scopes of practices in terms of shadowing. Have you only shadowed from one type of practice? Try to look into shadowing at a VA hospital, clinics that specialize in a certain area (low vision), ophthalmologist, private offices, and other commercial practices. When I shadowed in these different areas, I always learned something new so something you might want to try!

 

[Snakedoctor1]

I don't really understand how people have over 50 hours of shadowing. After a few hours, it's very repetitive.

How about after 20 years? You do want to be an Optometrist, right?

You will probably get accepted everywhere if you do well in the interviews. A 310 is not as bad as you think it is, especially with a 4.0

optogirlkp is right about shadowing, there are interesting places to go if you look around.

 

[ehara1]

With a 4.0 you'll be fine. Schools know that some people can have an off day here and there, so even with a 310 and your 4.0 gpa you'll receive a good amount of interviews. They will more than certain ask you about it in your interview and would want to know what happened, but I don't think you have much to worry about. Just get great letters of rec and LOTS of shadowing experience from both private and commercial offices, and you'll be good.

 

[szoptogeek]

How about after 20 years? You do want to be an Optometrist, right?

You will probably get accepted everywhere if you do well in the interviews. A 310 is not as bad as you think it is, especially with a 4.0

optogirlkp is right about shadowing, there are interesting places to go if you look around.

Her job didn't bore me. What I meant by that was that it was repetitive in a sense that within a few hours, I got the gist of it. It didn't require additional days or hours. I'm a fast learner and keen observer, so I pretty much knew how things ran within a couple of hours. But yeah I do plan to shadow in different areas. Thank you for your helpful comments.

 

[tkuhug]

I made the mistake of shadowing for 3 weeks and I'm pretty sure the optometrist got sick of me lol. He was nice about it though and just told me the same thing, that he felt there was not much else that he could show me.

I was lucky that I started volunteering at a another office and they just so happened to need another person for Fridays and Saturdays, and hired me part-time. Maybe if you say you want to volunteer and actually become part of the workforce. Working and volunteering at an office is definitely more rewarding than just shadowing since exams do become repetitive and you're not really doing anything.