Univ. of California at Berkeley

TravisP said:

I would like to go to Berkeley for Optometry, can anyone admitted to the School of Optometry please tell me their stats.

Do you have to have a bacholors degree or can you do the 3 year undergrad and transfer like in Dental/Med schools?

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Look at their website for admission information.

When do Berkeley ppl know when they have been accepted or not?

Hello:

I am a 2nd year optometry student at UCBSO. Here were my stats when I applied:

OAT-
Total Science: 350
Bio: 360
G Chem: 340
O Chem: 330
Physics: 330
Reading Comp: 310
Quantitative Reasoning: 330
Academic Average: 330

Overall/Science GPA: 3.2


Starting a few years ago, a bachelor's degree is a requirement. There is no combined BS/OD program here like other optometry schools but there is a OD/PhD program.

From what I understand, if you are among the top 10% of the application pool, you will be accepted without an interview. You will receive this notice most likely in December/January because the deadline for applications is usually the middle of December. After that, Berkeley assigns one interview date and usually invites about 80 people. By then, the entering class of 60 is probably 1/2 full. When I interviewed, about 20-25 students were accepted early and last year's class had about 30 students accepted early. So if you make it to the interview round, you will most likely be in a crowd of 80 interviewees trying to get one of the remaining 30 seats left.

After the interview date, you will receive a decision relatively soon. Acceptances come fast (within a few days to a week), rejections come a little bit slower (a week to three weeks later), and wait-list applicants (like I was) receive the notification the latest almost a month later.

Good luck!

Best wishes,

Rosanna

When should we expect to hear from UCBSO whether or not we are granted an interview? I'm anxious to find out...

nobodyknows said:

When should we expect to hear from UCBSO whether or not we are granted an interview? I'm anxious to find out...

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I would like to know too. They contacted me at the end of November telling me that I still needed one more letter of rec, but that's the last time I heard from them. They rarely respond to messages, but I've read that they're supposed to be pretty swamped.

BTW, does anyone know if they'll accept a letter with out the evaluation form? One of my recommenders sent one with the form, which was apparently lost by the USPS, and the second letter was sent without one. If they don't, then I guess I'm screwed.

TravisP said:

So if I have a 4.0 GPA at a out of state school and a high OAT, I will be accepted with out an interview?

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You would have a great chance but again it depends on a number of factors. My classmate was an engineering major at Chicago with a GPA of 3.9 and high OAT scores (379-390) and was accepted right away when she applied.

The rules change every year but if you have great stats and experience then your chances are great at Berkeley and any other school you apply to.

- Rosanna

I guess I'm not part of the top 10%, but I just got an invitation for an interview, which is good enough news for me for now...woohoo!

The letter sent to me was dated January 6, 2005. I'm in the bay and if you live farther out and have yet to receive the invite, you should be gettting one soon.

yay, i got my interview invite to Berkeley too!

Congrats bobsacamenoh and purplehaze98!

When is the interview date?

Rosanna said:

Congrats bobsacamenoh and purplehaze98!

When is the interview date?

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February 20th with registration starting at 8am.

bobsacamenoh said:

February 20th with registration starting at 8am.

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Are you sure it's on the 20th? I just got an e-mail from Dean Levi saying that the interview date is on President's Day, February 21st.

- Rosanna

The letter that I have says it's on Sunday the 20th. They mention the same date 3 times in the letter. I'll call and email to check just in case.

Rosanna said:

Are you sure it's on the 20th? I just got an e-mail from Dean Levi saying that the interview date is on President's Day, February 21st.

- Rosanna

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For those still waiting on an invitation from Berkeley, I would give them a call just to check on your status. I've done this twice and they've been very helpful. I called today and they said they're still reviewing my file for a possible early acceptance (I have to get a 6 out of 10 vote from the committee). If this happens, the dean is supposed to call me within the next week to discuss the details. If the dean doesn't call, I was told to expect an interview invitation by the end of next week. Hope this helps.

Rosanna said:

Are you sure it's on the 20th? I just got an e-mail from Dean Levi saying that the interview date is on President's Day, February 21st.

- Rosanna

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The woman I spoke with in the admissions office said the interview date would be on the 20th.

mtong said:

The woman I spoke with in the admissions office said the interview date would be on the 20th.

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Yep...Sunday Feb. 20th....I'll be seeing some of you there =)

Hello all:

Just confirmed with Sharmila that the interview date is on the 20th. She will be looking into why Dean Levi's e-mail to all the optometry students said the 21st.

I hope to meet some of you there.

- Rosanna

Hi,

I'm new to this network and it's really helpful. Does anyone know what the interview is like for Berkeley and if it's tough? Thanks

Ning said:

Hi,

I'm new to this network and it's really helpful. Does anyone know what the interview is like for Berkeley and if it's tough? Thanks

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Hi Ning:

Please refer to the following posts:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=2119661#post2119661

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=1150892#post1150892

From my own experience, I did not find the interview hard at Berkeley. A few of my friends who were interviewing during the same interview cycle had said that SUNY was probably one of the tougher interviews out there (SUNY interviewed me at my undergraduate college so I can’t comment on that).

The general format of the interviews has not really changed since I was an interviewee. Go over the post where I described the interview day so you won’t be surprised at its length. It will be mainly the entire day, so be prepared with that. If you need a parking permit (I’m not sure they provide one anyone), you will need to get to the parking lot early to purchase one (hopefully you’ll find a kiosk that actually works).

The general complaint I’ve heard is that you will feel like a “cattle” being herded from one part to the other. Try to mentally prepare yourself that you will be interviewed with likely 80 other students vying for a spot. Mostly everyone will be in a black suit. Yes, we will be taking your picture also for your file.

The best advice that I can give you (the only advice that I got from my parents) is that if you want to be a student here you REALLY need to show it during your interview. The actual interview (one professor and one 3rd year optometry student) is probably scheduled for only ½ hour. If you have more to say and if you are having a great discussion, don’t look at your watch and just keep the conversation going. It will show if you want it bad enough, but don’t be creepy about it 😀

Oh yeah, GOOD IMPRESSIONS COUNT! As an optometry student volunteer on interview day, I don’t have a say in who gets in or not. However, I was encouraged by the Dean of Student Affairs to write him a short e-mail if anyone impressed me while I was talking to them during last year’s interview day. And now, all three interviewees that I mentioned in my e-mail are first year students. Did my e-mail get those students accepted? Probably not – but if a student is impressed, the faculty member was probably impressed also.

So have a good time, and remember to ask questions and show desire if you really want to be here.

Best of luck everyone!

- Rosanna