11000th Will I Get in? Post

[chemlover219]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post. i've been lurking for years !

I've been stressing out for far too long (freshman year day 1 to be exact) about my application and I finally apply this summer. I've talked to NOVA and ICO, who both said I am competitive, BUT I still wanted some advice/ encouragement.

I am under-represented (Black Female) and study at a very well-known university. My major is Chemistry. My current GPA is a 2.85 (ugh). I work for "The worlds largest company in eyewear industry" without giving away the name (google it if you please) as an optician. My GPA is low because of my freshman year primarily (a couple C's and a couple D's) and I just finished this semester and expect my GPA to improve but not significantly because I have been classified as a senior for 2 years now (I took loads of college classes at my current's schools smaller campus in high school). Also starting this school year with surgery didn't help either.

I retook the classes I got D's in and I earned a B the second time around for one and possibly an A for the other (waiting for final grades currently). No excuses but saying my classes are competitive doesn't even cut it. I have to take classes ALL the same courses as the engineering students, and they basically rank us based on points and assign us a grade based off our rankings and how many A's, B's, C's they decided to give out. Needless to say freshman year was an eye opener.

I've put in 100 volunteer hours with the diversity office. I am a member of Iota Sigma Pi (national honor society for chemistry). I held a chair position in a club. I am former member of "Women in Science". I am also receiving a certificate in collaborative leadership. I've shadowed 1 optometrist because I have to work and goto school full time which can get pretty busy.

I had to drop an internship with amazon midway through, a TA position, and a mentor position because of my surgery ( I needed time to recover ). So I don't have as many things as I would have liked to have anymore. So if you're wondering why I don't have tons of extracurriculars...

Anyway, I plan on applying to NOVA, ICO, SCO, SCCO, Midwestern (Illinois).

My organic professor and another chemistry professor who is very well known around the country for his research have agreed to write my letters of rec., as well as the doctor I work under. (if that matters; someone told me to get the best 2 professors and the OD i work under to write my letters for the best chances)

I am taking OAT this summer.

I just need to know I still have hope. I'm not giving up regardless but thoughts??

Thanks

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[optometrygirl29]

There is always hope. I would try to get more shadowing hours in if you can I think it will help bolster your application. Some schools are going to be tough on you regardless of whatever caused you to do poorly. I say this because I know. I was paying my way through school so I couldn't go full time, I had to work full time and it took long to finish my bachelors. I had to drop a whole semester mid way through because of health issues ( b/w and autoimmune disease, car accident and a tumor docs couldn't determine if it was malignant or not) Now I got interviews to NOVA and a few others and I wont mention which school bc its irrelevant now, but they gave me a hard time and said that my issues didn't matter bc there were others who went through hard times and managed to get better grades and OAT scores. Now ill be honest and you'll see I ended up at IAUPR ( I know I know save it theres already a thread trashing my school) but while like I said in other posts my experience wasn't perfect, I made it through and I was, at the end of it all, happy with my decision to go there and happy with the outcome. Sure I had hardships there that maybe other schools dont face, but they really helped me the whole way through. What I will tell you is that A) there is hope and B) wherever you end up make the best of that situation and school. NOVA and ICO are both amazing schools so is SCO (and the cost of living is way less than ICO and NOVA) If this is your dream and you work hard you will achieve it. You really dont need anyone to tell you that there is hope, Hard work always at some point will prevail. Wish you the best of luck on your OAT studies and application process.

 

[Elizah46]

There is always hope. I would try to get more shadowing hours in if you can I think it will help bolster your application. Some schools are going to be tough on you regardless of whatever caused you to do poorly. I say this because I know. I was paying my way through school so I couldn't go full time, I had to work full time and it took long to finish my bachelors. I had to drop a whole semester mid way through because of health issues ( b/w and autoimmune disease, car accident and a tumor docs couldn't determine if it was malignant or not) Now I got interviews to NOVA and a few others and I wont mention which school bc its irrelevant now, but they gave me a hard time and said that my issues didn't matter bc there were others who went through hard times and managed to get better grades and OAT scores. Now ill be honest and you'll see I ended up at IAUPR ( I know I know save it theres already a thread trashing my school) but while like I said in other posts my experience wasn't perfect, I made it through and I was, at the end of it all, happy with my decision to go there and happy with the outcome. Sure I had hardships there that maybe other schools dont face, but they really helped me the whole way through. What I will tell you is that A) there is hope and B) wherever you end up make the best of that situation and school. NOVA and ICO are both amazing schools so is SCO (and the cost of living is way less than ICO and NOVA) If this is your dream and you work hard you will achieve it. You really dont need anyone to tell you that there is hope, Hard work always at some point will prevail. Wish you the best of luck on your OAT studies and application process.

Hey! This post gave me some relief since I’m applying this cycle. I was wondering which schools you were accepted into since they gave you a hard time during interviews. I’m in a similar situation.