UC Berkeley Optometry student here to answer your questions!

[Phoropter]

Hi there!

I am a second year optometry student at UCBSO (UC Berkeley School of Optometry). It was only less than two years ago when I was in your shoes, going through applications, studying for the OAT, and contemplating whether becoming an optometrist is even the right path for me! I found these forums on StudentDoctor.net very helpful during that process, so I'm here to give back by answering your questions! Feel free to ask me anything about the optometry application process, the OAT, being an optometry student, and especially being an optometry student at UC Berkeley!

I look forward to your questions!

Phoropter

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[mathcod]

At UCBSO, is there student housing available for grad/optometry students? What involvement does the Foresight pre-optometry club have with the UCBSO during the school year, if any?

 

[Salmon]

I want to hop on the housing question. How difficult is it to find housing near the school? And how expensive is it?

 

[Xsod6]

What kind of questions should you ask at the interview?

 

[rustybathtub]

I want to hop on the housing question. How difficult is it to find housing near the school? And how expensive is it?

I'm an incoming student so I can answer this as a non-berkeley native who just found housing recently. I think it was definitely tricky. I was scouring craigslist everyday and the difficult thing was that a lot of apts would post an ad and have open house either the day of, or the next day. I couldn't make arrangements to fly to berkeley with that short notice. Some landlords would want you to hand in the deposit the day of. Another thing is it's probably a good idea to know who your roommates would be (if you want to live with roommates)- that definitely makes the search much easier simply by knowing how many rooms you're looking for. I think studios now go for $1200- $1400. On-campus housing wasn't that much better- it's $1000 to live in a cramped 5 bedroom dorm-ish suite.
Depends on the area you are used to now, definitely lower your expectations on how nice the apts are. I've seen some of the worse looking apts go for $800/room (that is if you're lucky). I've also seen people pay $700 to share a bedroom (that is, to have a double).

You can look into living at the Metropolitan. It's all furnished, close to school and $1250-$1300 for a room for yourself living with 3 other ppl in a suite. I've seen posts of families with spare rooms looking to rent to incoming students at $950. There was a living-room converted into a bedroom (by way of a strategically placed sheet) for $650. I would say $900-$1000 is pretty realistic right now for a decent room to yourself, in a relatively viable area.

Take away is lower expectations and open your wallet wider. Definitely when I see posts from other optometry schools where students are talking about $300 rooms- I die a little inside.

 

[Phoropter]

At UCBSO, is there student housing available for grad/optometry students? What involvement does the Foresight pre-optometry club have with the UCBSO during the school year, if any?

There are definitely a lot of housing options. There are a few "grad student" UC Berkeley affiliated housing sites that are available near campus, and typically one unit has 3-4 bedrooms with two bathrooms and a shared living area/ kitchen. One huge difference between this type of housing and non-UC Berkeley affiliated sites is that these are furnished. One good example is "Jackson House", which several of my classmates live in. You can read more at http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/jackson_house.html. There are TONS of apartments and studios in Berkeley as well. Looking for places is a bit stressful though, since most places only sign leases about a month in advance. My housing-finding strategy was to look on craigslist and padmapper.com, where you can sort places based on rent price. Ultimately, I found 5 listings that were having an open house on a weekend and I drove over to Berkeley on a Saturday and saw those places. Of the 5, two were good matches and I was able to land the lease on one of them. In my opinion, finding a place on craigslist is usually a better deal than the student apartment complexes scattered throughout Berkeley. I pay $1150/ month for a nice studio apartment 4 blocks from campus. My apartment has a separate bathroom, separate kitchen, walk in closet, dishwasher, and gas stove. Utilities are about $60/ month.

Foresight and UCBSO are very connected: the Optometry school has a mentorship program (which I participated in) where a UCBSO student and a Foresight student are paired up, and the Foresight student gets to shadow the Optometry student during our preclinic class. It's a really cool opportunity for Foresight students to see the preclinic course firsthand! Of course, the Foresight student is encouraged to keep in touch with their optometry student mentor as they go through the process of applying to optometry school!

 

[Phoropter]

I want to hop on the housing question. How difficult is it to find housing near the school? And how expensive is it?

Hi Salmon!

Check out my reply to mathcod, above. If you have any other questions let me know!

 

[Phoropter]

Hi xsod6,

The best advice I can give you is really just general interview advice: research the school and come prepared with a few questions specific to the school. I had read about a program called VOSH where optometry students can travel to other countries and participate in vision screenings for underserved populations. This was something that I was really interested in, so I asked about the VOSH program during my interview. At my interview, I found my interviewers to be very friendly and engaging. Honestly, I felt like I was just having a conversation! Just find a few things about UCBSO that interest you and ask about them during your interview!

 

[Phoropter]

I'm an incoming student so I can answer this as a non-berkeley native who just found housing recently. I think it was definitely tricky. I was scouring craigslist everyday and the difficult thing was that a lot of apts would post an ad and have open house either the day of, or the next day. I couldn't make arrangements to fly to berkeley with that short notice. Some landlords would want you to hand in the deposit the day of. Another thing is it's probably a good idea to know who your roommates would be (if you want to live with roommates)- that definitely makes the search much easier simply by knowing how many rooms you're looking for. I think studios now go for $1200- $1400. On-campus housing wasn't that much better- it's $1000 to live in a cramped 5 bedroom dorm-ish suite.
Depends on the area you are used to now, definitely lower your expectations on how nice the apts are. I've seen some of the worse looking apts go for $800/room (that is if you're lucky). I've also seen people pay $700 to share a bedroom (that is, to have a double).

You can look into living at the Metropolitan. It's all furnished, close to school and $1250-$1300 for a room for yourself living with 3 other ppl in a suite. I've seen posts of families with spare rooms looking to rent to incoming students at $950. There was a living-room converted into a bedroom (by way of a strategically placed sheet) for $650. I would say $900-$1000 is pretty realistic right now for a decent room to yourself, in a relatively viable area.

Take away is lower expectations and open your wallet wider. Definitely when I see posts from other optometry schools where students are talking about $300 rooms- I die a little inside.

Hi rustybathtub, thanks for this response!

You brought up a great point: it's pretty tough for out-of-state (or out of the area) students to plan ahead to find housing in Berkeley. Once you're admitted, you'll have a chance to come to Berkeley and meet your new potential classmates. This event is called "Admit Day", and it's a VERY good opportunity to meet potential roommates! If you find some other students who you click with, try to find a place together! There is a good chance one of them will be from the area and will be able to scope out apartments on your behalf. Also, a lot of 2nd and 3rd year optometry students are often looking for roommates, so ask around once you're admitted!

 

[Vision and eyes]

Hi there!

I am a second year optometry student at UCBSO (UC Berkeley School of Optometry). It was only less than two years ago when I was in your shoes, going through applications, studying for the OAT, and contemplating whether becoming an optometrist is even the right path for me! I found these forums on StudentDoctor.net very helpful during that process, so I'm here to give back by answering your questions! Feel free to ask me anything about the optometry application process, the OAT, being an optometry student, and especially being an optometry student at UC Berkeley!

I look forward to your questions!

Phoropter

Hi Phoropter,
I was just wondering (if you don't mind me asking) what your BPA gpa was when you applied? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't UC Berkeley mainly focus on the BPA gpa rather than the overall?
And do you know what classes count towards that gpa because an admission counselor told me physiology and anatomy counts as well?

Thank you!

 

[nnessa]

Thanks for offering your help, Phoropter!

I know you've talked a little about your interview, but if you don't mind, can you elaborate more on the Multiple Mini Interview process? Thank you in advance!

 

[ucbsowarrior]

Being a part of the foreskin club helps,I meant foresight club..woops...lol

There is student housing nearby, but as a grad student you would be looking at less options then undergrads (different dorms).

I would say living at the International House would be your best bet as it's only a 2 min walk to Minor Hall (the opto-building ad Cal)

North of campus is nicer, south of campus is ok also, but it gets a bit dangerous if you are walking late at night, say past midnight after a long day studying the stacks.

At UCBSO, is there student housing available for grad/optometry students? What involvement does the Foresight pre-optometry club have with the UCBSO during the school year, if any?

 

[ucbsowarrior]

What kind of questions should you ask at the interview?

If they teach with passion, b/c at ucbso there are some good lectures, but some of the 'profs' are researchers and do not communicate well with the student body.

Why in the 80-90's they almost shut down the optometry program at cal? The upper ranks know about this at uc regents. The person interviewing you probably won't even know about this. Tell them to get back to you (only if they decline your acceptance)

Why kids of a few known faculty members get a green light, while the kids of normal hard working americans sometimes get shafted in the program? Different treatment for different folks. I can remember two people who would've either been held back or kick out if it were not for their family lineage.

If practicals exams in pre-mod should be recorded with video, to challenge some of the incompetent scoring given by a few pre-faculty instructors. Most of them are good and fair, but I feel a few are too subjective as to who they are scoring. I had 5 classmates and the one that looked the most beautiful always told me she always scored much higher with the male pre-mod instructor (there was one particular instructor) vs when she was scored by a female instructor. Then another classmate who wasn't so popular said she did things that they said she didn't do. Without a video, it's your word against theirs. In addition, a video will let your review you own performance and see what you can improve in a more effective way vs a piece of paper with numbers on it. It will also allow you to review your 'bedside manner'

There's a lot more, but I guess I'll leave it at this final thing you should ask them: Do students still need to do mild custodian duties such as throw out trash, clean dust and wipe glass in the dispensing area? I always felt that the hired help should do that if you are paying five figures a year for schooling. I think there are effective things to learn with a students time then mild custodian duties. Custodian duties are a concept they they need to know, not practice for a couple of years while in school.

I'll leave it at this for now, but for the most part ucbso is a place to goto od school. Just wish they had better feedback from the students. Too many of the students are too politically correct to speak up and usually play the brownie point game, which actually hinders valuable feedback.

 

[ucbsowarrior]

Hi there!

I am a second year optometry student at UCBSO (UC Berkeley School of Optometry). It was only less than two years ago when I was in your shoes, going through applications, studying for the OAT, and contemplating whether becoming an optometrist is even the right path for me! I found these forums on StudentDoctor.net very helpful during that process, so I'm here to give back by answering your questions! Feel free to ask me anything about the optometry application process, the OAT, being an optometry student, and especially being an optometry student at UC Berkeley!

I look forward to your questions!

Phoropter

Are they still holding people back in pre-mod for silly stuff like taking a pd wrong or fogging by a quarter diopter off? When everyone uses a pupillometer these days and different refraction techniques in real world. Refractions should be based on a solid understanding of optics and how changing lenses affect the optics, not some monkey see monkey do routine.

I think students that need extra help should receive it if they accepted them into the program or have a more stringent acceptance protocol which will not let these student into the program. The students not performing well is not only the students fault, the school must take responsibility for letting them in. Don't let them if they are incompetent. The administration should take some responsibility on the matter. Holding them back a year does nothing. I still feel the pain for 1 of my classmates who was held back (she almost had a nervous breakdown, but she made it through the program with the help of some 420 iop lowering meds.

 

[optogirlkp]

When do they start contacting the applicants for interviews? Should we expect it before Christmas or after the holidays are over?

 

[LVOD20]

When do they start contacting the applicants for interviews? Should we expect it before Christmas or after the holidays are over?

In the new year - first week of January, I believe.

 

[tphung]

Hi Phoropter,

If I was to apply for Fall 2016 school year, is it acceptable for me to complete my bachelor in summer of 2016 (right before school starts)?

Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to answer our questions.

 

[Jalam]

Do you have any social media messaging options that you can contact me with for easier communication??? I would appreciate it so much!