A typical day for an optometry student

[Jay12]

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Hi guys,

I was wondering if any optometry students can tell me the typical day in the life of an optometry student, specifically the first year.

Thanks.🙂

 

[vsarge0708]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if any optometry students can tell me the typical day in the life of an optometry student, specifically the first year.

Thanks.🙂

Ok this is for a typical Monday first semester at Nova:

8:00-10:00 a.m: Exams--if only 1 exam was scheduled, we would get out at 9.
10:00-12:00: Optics lab every other week
12:00-1:00: Binge on carbs and sugars
1:10-2:00: Microbiology
2:10-3:00: Biochem
3:10-5:00: Optics--some weeks we would get out a little early
5:00-7:00/8:00: Crash at home with more carbs and sugars
8:00-10:00: Study at the library
10:00-12:30: Me time
12:30-7:15: Sleep time

This was pretty much a standard day during the beginning of the semester, once finals were in sight the study time would get kicked up a notch. It may look pretty tough, but it's def. doable

 

[xenopsyllus]

At PUCO, it's lecture 8-noon MTTF, and 1-5 on Wednesdays. Labs are in the afternoon MTTF (and can run until 7 pm) and in the morning Wednesdays. When the make the schedules, they tend to clump our labs so that we have an afternoon or two free each week.

It's a significant step up from undergrad, though the hardest part for me was going from a 10 week quarter system to a 16 week semester system. I was crashing and came to the disturbing realization that it was only half way through the term!

 

[sniklegem]

SCO First Year Schedule, roughly:

Lectures are in the morning from about 8-12.
If you have lab (3-4 times a week depending), afternoons from 12-2 & 2-4 or just one lab from 12-4.

Study all the other time.
Eat when you can.
Sleep when you can.

2nd year students... schedule is reversed, with labs in the morning and lectures in the afternoon.

 

[alferec]

Hey Jay12,
You may have seen it already, but I have a blog in my website so you can get a pretty good idea on what a typical day is like for me (for my first year see the archives):

http://www.optstudent.com/nucleus

 

[Jay12]

Thanks you guys, that was really helpful.

And just one other quick question, my university goes by a semester based system, and I know that alot of optometry schools go by the quarter based system. What is the main difference between these two, and which one do you think is easier, harder, or pretty much the same?

 

[xenopsyllus]

Take this with grain of salt, since I went from an undergrad on quarters to an optometry school on semesters.

Quarters are an endurance test. Hit the ground running and keep running until it's done. There's no time to falter, but there's also little time to be distracted. It's over soon enough and the light at the end of the tunnel is never that far away.

Semesters are a willpower test. There are more times when you can kick back for a few days because there's no impending exam, providing ample opportunities to be distracted from schoolwork and procrastinate.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

vsarge,

For days other than Monday, is a typical class day at NOVA more like 10-5?

How about Fridays?

 

[alferec]

Jay12 - the quarter system here at SCCO, as I've said many times previously, is like putting out little fires one by one. You would put out one fire, but by the time you put that one out, another one has already started. So despite the fast pace and numerous exams per week, the advantages are that (1) you can regurgitate the information easier because of the relatively short time between exams and (2) if you don't like your class or prof then you can say adios in a shorter time vs. in a semester system. Overall, I like the quarter system for these two reasons, but I am biased since my undergrad was quarter also.

 

[vsarge0708]

vsarge,

For days other than Monday, is a typical class day at NOVA more like 10-5?

How about Fridays?

For the rest of the week--Tues lecture from 1-5, and every few weeks there would be a clinic observation in the morning. Wed lab 10-12, then lecture from 1-5. Thurs lecture from 10-4/5. Fri lab from 8-10, then lecture from 1-5. This was the schedule for lab group D. I think every group had 2 8:00 a.m. days a week, 2 10:00 a.m. days and a 1:00 p.m. day.

 

[still_confused]

I'm in the classroom when its dark out and i get out after the sun has set. there are no windows in the classroom. I've gone a week without seeing the sun.

I love it, I'm part vampire