Accepted today to Waterloo!!!

[montana83]

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eh....good to know other ppl got the acceptance email on june 1st too...i was a bit weary when i first got it and was a little inclined to call the school to make sure it wasnt a mistake :S good thing i didnt and found this forum...i havnt yet gotten my xpresspost package yet tho

 

[jimmyopto]

Rejections are officially out. Received mine in the mail first thing this morning, just thought i would pass that along.

~jimmy

 

[eye_hope]

Rejections are officially out. Received mine in the mail first thing this morning, just thought i would pass that along.

~jimmy

I'm sorry to hear that Jimmy. If optometry is something you truly want to do, keep at it... and you can and will do it! Thanks for all the info you provided me, and good luck in the future!

 

[tybuff]

Rejections are officially out. Received mine in the mail first thing this morning, just thought i would pass that along.

~jimmy

you and me both bud.

 

[powerpuff]

hmm...by the looks of it..is it safe to assume that if you did not yet receive an email of acceptance..then your rejection should be coming in the mail shortly?

 

[surgical_tomato]

to the ppl who got an interview and/or accepted by waterloo -

if you don't mind, can you share what kind of extracurriculars you were involved in? (ex. working in an optometrists office, shadowing, varsity teams, clubs)

In particular, I'm going to start shadowing an optometrist soon. Both she and I are not sure how much of the protocols and going-on's of an optometrist's office she is suppose to expose to me.

- So what did your optometrist show you?

- and how long did you shadow for (if I had to guess...2 days would be enough)?

 

[pre_opt_sku]

to the ppl who got an interview and/or accepted by waterloo -

if you don't mind, can you share what kind of extracurriculars you were involved in? (ex. working in an optometrists office, shadowing, varsity teams, clubs)

In particular, I'm going to start shadowing an optometrist soon. Both she and I are not sure how much of the protocols and going-on's of an optometrist's office she is suppose to expose to me.

- So what did your optometrist show you?

- and how long did you shadow for (if I had to guess...2 days would be
enough)?

I had a lot of musical extra curricular actitives... both playing in the university ensembles, community, teaching some free music lessons, and playing with two professional orchestras.

I did shadow an optometrist for about four mornings??? While I was there I sat in on some of the exams and did some of the pre testing. I've been working for an ophthalmologist for the past year, and didn't think I needed to get much optometrist shadowing since I work full time for an ophthalmologist and learned a lot about both professions in doing so.

I don't think Waterloo cares too much about your extra curriculars (although it certainly won't hurt). I think the main thing is to get opt experience so you know what you're getting into and will be more knowledgable at your interview. I've heard of people getting harped on during interviews because of not having any optometry experience.

 

[jimmyopto]

Hey guys; I would like to basically echo what pre_opt_sku said in his post. I think that experience with an optometrist is more for your own sake (so you know if your interested in the profession) than it is a requirement for getting in to waterloo. What you really need to worry about is your gpa and OAT score. Without going into too much of a rant I would really like to emphasize that point because that is your bread and butter when it comes to getting into waterloo. This has been my downfall. I finished with a four year honors degree from UWO and actually had the highest average in my 4th year out of the whole graduating class and was given an award for doing so. However, my cumulative average is only slightly above an 81% (last two year avg is 87%) and my OAT score is a 350. As far as my extracurriculars go: I played junior hockey in my first two years of university, coached a community hockey team for the past two years, am involved in student government, shadowed my optometist, have been a research assistant (in a visually related field) for the past two years, and am pursuing my masters as we speak, which is completely funded by an NSERC scholarship. Add to this that I have a couple publications and a few conference presentations and I'm very frustrated that I have now been rejected for the second straight year (sorry, i guess that was a rant).

Anyway, what I want to say is don't fool yourself about EC's/shadowing and the rest of your application. Make sure you lock down your grades and OAT score first and foremost b/c from my experience they are what counts to waterloo. I appologize for the bitter overtones in this post but I am only a day off getting rejected for the second time and really considering changing career paths.

~jimmy

 

[Nru1]

to the ppl who got an interview and/or accepted by waterloo -

if you don't mind, can you share what kind of extracurriculars you were involved in? (ex. working in an optometrists office, shadowing, varsity teams, clubs)

Hi tomato,

To be honest, I was accepted with pretty much nothing in the way of extracurriculars (a few small volunteer things like judging an annual science fair is hardly an "extracurricular"!). I had job-shadowed my optometrist for about 4 hours over 2 afternoons, and basically sat in on exams and chatted about the profession. My undergrad marks and OAT were reasonably high, though, and to echo others' comments, that's what makes all the difference for this program. Not to say the extracurriculars are irrelevant (or unimportant for other reasons!) - it's just that I don't think they're the first thing the admissions committee looks at. Unfortunately, I'm sure the school misses out on some very well-rounded, motivated applicants with this approach.

 

[tybuff]

I got waitlisted - everyone drop their spots so i can get in, ok?

 

[tybuff]

Anyway, what I want to say is don't fool yourself about EC's/shadowing and the rest of your application. Make sure you lock down your grades and OAT score first and foremost b/c from my experience they are what counts to waterloo. I appologize for the bitter overtones in this post but I am only a day off getting rejected for the second time and really considering changing career paths.

~jimmy

you got rejected straight up twice?? no waitlists??

 

[jimmyopto]

you got rejected straight up twice?? no waitlists??

Hi Ty; Yes you are correct - rejected twice no waitlist no nothing just the same "sorry we are unable to extend to you an offer of admission at this time".

 

[montana83]

surgical tomato - i worked with my optometrist for about 2 weeks but was constantly keeping contact with him (sending holiday cards, dropping by the clinic and havin convo's, basically sucking up to him) over a 2 year period...i think its not so much what u do while working for ur optometrist but the relationship u develop with him or her in order to get them to write a kick ass reference for u becuz apparently thats very important from what ive heard from all the kids in waterloo opt right now...in terms of extracurriculars...everyone has the same thing...volunteering at hospitals/optometry clinics/school clubs, and all that...if u sell yourself in a way that makes u different from all other applicants i think itll help u a lot...i worked at a 3rd world country's hospital last summer and viewed eye diseases - im sure that was different from everyone elses application

jimmy- i feel for u bro, i got rejected last year and i know how bad it feels...im sure u can get into any american opt school u apply to if u ever have that as an option...and im sure u'll be a stronger applicant for 2007 if u decide to apply since ur doing ur masters, good luck

 

[qwopty99]

I finished with a four year honors degree from UWO and actually had the highest average in my 4th year out of the whole graduating class and was given an award for doing so. However, my cumulative average is only slightly above an 81% (last two year avg is 87%) and my OAT score is a 350. As far as my extracurriculars go: I played junior hockey in my first two years of university, coached a community hockey team for the past two years, am involved in student government, shadowed my optometist, have been a research assistant (in a visually related field) for the past two years, and am pursuing my masters as we speak, which is completely funded by an NSERC scholarship. Add to this that I have a couple publications and a few conference presentations and I'm very frustrated that I have now been rejected for the second straight year (sorry, i guess that was a rant).

the problem you ran into is as follows:

for waterloo admissions, "your" entering average is heavily weighed by the marks u got in the pre-reqs. u state your average got better by 3rd and 4th year - this doesn't necessarily help your app since most of the pre-reqs, and hence your admission average, is determined largely by your 1st and 2nd year avg (which remains static despite any later efforts to improve your overall avg).

i've seen people in your position - they were getting low 70s in 1st and 2nd year, then switched undergrads to Waterloo for 3rd and 4th - to see their average in 3rd and 4th get into the 90s. in one case, her OAT was 370. she was still rejected because the pre-req marks she had were all still, low.

u may have to consider other plans (e.g. the united states). otherwise, consider a PhD in vision science if u think u could do a career in academia. otherwise, do med school.

as for the person who suggested that the masters will help, for waterloo i doubt it. we had a guy go through the vision science program at waterloo a few years back, obtain a masters, and still not get accepted (!) - the guy even was a TA for some of my courses for chrissake - we all knew him. he ended up doing his OD at SCCO

 

[jimmyopto]

the problem you ran into is as follows:

for waterloo admissions, "your" entering average is heavily weighed by the marks u got in the pre-reqs. u state your average got better by 3rd and 4th year - this doesn't necessarily help your app since most of the pre-reqs, and hence your admission average, is determined largely by your 1st and 2nd year avg (which remains static despite any later efforts to improve your overall avg).

i've seen people in your position - they were getting low 70s in 1st and 2nd year, then switched undergrads to Waterloo for 3rd and 4th - to see their average in 3rd and 4th get into the 90s. in one case, her OAT was 370. she was still rejected because the pre-req marks she had were all still, low.

u may have to consider other plans (e.g. the united states). otherwise, consider a PhD in vision science if u think u could do a career in academia. otherwise, do med school.

as for the person who suggested that the masters will help, for waterloo i doubt it. we had a guy go through the vision science program at waterloo a few years back, obtain a masters, and still not get accepted (!) - the guy even was a TA for some of my courses for chrissake - we all knew him. he ended up doing his OD at SCCO

Spades,

Thanks for your input on the situation, I was unaware that the prereq GPA was so heavily weighted in the admissions decision. That tidbit of info will help me determine if reapplying is really worthwhile b/c I would have to rewrite the OAT and it doesn't really sound like I have a chance even if I ace'd the thing.

My situation is exaclty as you have mentioned: poor performance in first two years (mid to high 70's) and then obviously the turn around that I mentioned in my previous post about my upper years. Thus my prereq GPA is shot.

I have been mulling over going to the states for a couple years now, in fact, I was accepted to the US out of 4th year but thought it was well worth the money to try and upgrade my app (master's, etc) for waterloo. Unfortunately, there is no way to go back and change my prereq's so it may have to be the US after all. I just can't fathom spending over $100 K in tuition let alone living expenses on top of that. I am debt free to this point and I can't picture amassing that much debt and then trying to get a home mortgage and a business start up loan once I'm done the program - I will be drowing in monthly payments.

As far as academia goes I am considering it, however, I don't know if that is the type of career I am looking for (not patient related, not autonomous, etc). If I were to do a PhD I would likely move over to pharmacology and look for an industry job as opposed to doing a post doc and looking for a job inside the ivory tower. Aside from that I am looking in to other careers: meds, law, business, pharm, pt. I really need to get all my eggs out of the optometry basket, I've wanted to do this since I've started university but it may not be meant to be.

As an aside if there are canadians who read this and have info on scholarship money that is available to canadian students attending US optometry schools or potential paid research positions please PM me (or post) so I can make a better decision on whether the US route is feasible.

Thanks
jimmy

 

[qwopty99]

i'm sorry to hear about the situation that you are in. i'm sure you are not only as good, but better than many of the students who will get/got acceptances to UW. we had a thread a while back where i voiced my opinions on the issue that not all undergrads are equally rigorous, and how it makes getting into UWSO easier for those who did their undergrad at UW. but anyways...

i HAVE heard of the private US optom schools giving scholarships - but the scholarships are more in "name" only (e.g. 1000 bucks), since they aren't nearly enough to begin to cover any of your expenses.

as for tuition reductions etc., i HAVE heard of a UW pre-opt grad who applied to SUNY (she didn't make it to UWSO) and was admitted to the OD/PhD program. the "benefit" of that particular program, to the extent that i understand the specific offer, was that the student was responsible for paying out-of-state tuition for 1st year, but because she was a grad student (PhD), for all subsequent years, she would be deemed a "resident" and subsequently pay in-state tuition (significantly cheaper). i don't know if u were planning on going to school for that long, but the cominbed program is quicker than a consecutive program - and getting the philsophy doctorate isn't really a bad idea these days. this "story" is a few years old - so u may want to research a bit to see if a similar tuition reduction still exists.

 

[O.D.-2-B]

Hey guys; I would like to basically echo what pre_opt_sku said in his post. I think that experience with an optometrist is more for your own sake (so you know if your interested in the profession) than it is a requirement for getting in to waterloo. What you really need to worry about is your gpa and OAT score. Without going into too much of a rant I would really like to emphasize that point because that is your bread and butter when it comes to getting into waterloo. This has been my downfall. I finished with a four year honors degree from UWO and actually had the highest average in my 4th year out of the whole graduating class and was given an award for doing so. However, my cumulative average is only slightly above an 81% (last two year avg is 87%) and my OAT score is a 350. As far as my extracurriculars go: I played junior hockey in my first two years of university, coached a community hockey team for the past two years, am involved in student government, shadowed my optometist, have been a research assistant (in a visually related field) for the past two years, and am pursuing my masters as we speak, which is completely funded by an NSERC scholarship. Add to this that I have a couple publications and a few conference presentations and I'm very frustrated that I have now been rejected for the second straight year (sorry, i guess that was a rant).

Anyway, what I want to say is don't fool yourself about EC's/shadowing and the rest of your application. Make sure you lock down your grades and OAT score first and foremost b/c from my experience they are what counts to waterloo. I appologize for the bitter overtones in this post but I am only a day off getting rejected for the second time and really considering changing career paths.

~jimmy

Hi Everyone,

I am very new to this forum and I know you guys have been talking together for a while now but my Father (who is an optometrist) has been reading your discussions and relaying them to me for some time now and he thought I should give some imput since I have had quite an experience with Optometry Schools over the past 2 years.

I too am waiting to hear from Waterloo but I suspect since I have not recieved an email that I have been yet again, rejected! I did apply last year, got an interview but did not get accepted. Both my parents and my Uncle are Optometrists in Newfoundland so I have been actively involved in the field since about Age 15. I also worked for a large Optometry practice in Wolfville Nova Scotia for the past year...but none of this seemed to matter to Waterloo regardless! My GPA was 3.42 after Gradutation (but my first year is dragging that down 👎 ) and I only recieved a score of 320 on my OATs. I thought about re-doing my OATs as you can imagine but I decided instead to apply to a few schools in the United States and re-apply to Waterloo before going through all the trouble.

Anyway here is what I have endured over the past little while:
-After my rejection from Waterloo I looked at the schools in the US that I had the pre-req's for and went ahead with the application processes. I applied to SUNY(New York), Southern California College of Optometry, Southern College of Optometry (Memphis), ICO (Chicago), Houston, Nova South Eastern (Ft Lauderdale) and again Waterloo.

The applications were all very different and I made sure all applications were in before the end of December 2005. I ended up getting interview calls for all of them (exepct Waterloo). I went to my interview in California first and got an acceptance from them the following week (VERY PROMPT!). I then went to Florida and Memphis for interviews in one trip (I did not like Florida and if anyone is thinking about applying there I will be happy to share my disappointments). I also went for interviews in Chicago and New York. After all my interviews were over I had Acceptances from California, Illinois and Florida and I had been Wait-listed at New York and Memphis (I am still currently in the top 10 at Memphis).

ANyway, as you can see eventhough my GPA and OAT scores were lower than most, the schools in the US are more geared to knowing YOU as a person. Jimmy they would be fallling over backwards to get you to go to their schools I am SURE of it.

I am telling you this because I think you should definately apply. Eventhough the school is going to cost me BIG bucks to go to, I have never met nicer people than the ones I met while on interviews at all the schools and the investment is obviously going to be a good one in the long run.

You should look into it!

Sorry this was so long but I think its important that you all know that you should not count yourselves out as bad applicants and you should consider the long term benefits of applying in the US 🙂

Hopefully this was slightly encouraging

 

[jimmyopto]

Hi Everyone,

I am very new to this forum and I know you guys have been talking together for a while now but my Father (who is an optometrist) has been reading your discussions and relaying them to me for some time now and he thought I should give some imput since I have had quite an experience with Optometry Schools over the past 2 years.

I too am waiting to hear from Waterloo but I suspect since I have not recieved an email that I have been yet again, rejected! I did apply last year, got an interview but did not get accepted. Both my parents and my Uncle are Optometrists in Newfoundland so I have been actively involved in the field since about Age 15. I also worked for a large Optometry practice in Wolfville Nova Scotia for the past year...but none of this seemed to matter to Waterloo regardless! My GPA was 3.42 after Gradutation (but my first year is dragging that down 👎 ) and I only recieved a score of 320 on my OATs. I thought about re-doing my OATs as you can imagine but I decided instead to apply to a few schools in the United States and re-apply to Waterloo before going through all the trouble.

Anyway here is what I have endured over the past little while:
-After my rejection from Waterloo I looked at the schools in the US that I had the pre-req's for and went ahead with the application processes. I applied to SUNY(New York), Southern California College of Optometry, Southern College of Optometry (Memphis), ICO (Chicago), Houston, Nova South Eastern (Ft Lauderdale) and again Waterloo.

The applications were all very different and I made sure all applications were in before the end of December 2005. I ended up getting interview calls for all of them (exepct Waterloo). I went to my interview in California first and got an acceptance from them the following week (VERY PROMPT!). I then went to Florida and Memphis for interviews in one trip (I did not like Florida and if anyone is thinking about applying there I will be happy to share my disappointments). I also went for interviews in Chicago and New York. After all my interviews were over I had Acceptances from California, Illinois and Florida and I had been Wait-listed at New York and Memphis (I am still currently in the top 10 at Memphis).

ANyway, as you can see eventhough my GPA and OAT scores were lower than most, the schools in the US are more geared to knowing YOU as a person. Jimmy they would be fallling over backwards to get you to go to their schools I am SURE of it.

I am telling you this because I think you should definately apply. Eventhough the school is going to cost me BIG bucks to go to, I have never met nicer people than the ones I met while on interviews at all the schools and the investment is obviously going to be a good one in the long run.

You should look into it!

Sorry this was so long but I think its important that you all know that you should not count yourselves out as bad applicants and you should consider the long term benefits of applying in the US 🙂

Hopefully this was slightly encouraging

Hi guys,

Thanks for the helpful posts with regards to the US route to the OD degree. Spades, I agree that possibly going the combined program route may have its benefits because in addition to getting resident tuition rates (after 1st year) I certainly should be able to get funding for the PhD which would help offset the debt. I will have a closer look into the schools offering combined programs and how much funding they offer.

OD 2B, let me welcome you to the boards and wish you success in your endeavours south of the boarder. With regards to the US route I have another complication in the mix which is I am engaged to be married (afterall I'm 24 and life must go on even if my schooling has no end in sight) and have another person to consider. The main issue here is getting the appropriate visa status so she would be able to work in the US as she is carrying a significant debt load from here undergrad. It is my understanding that going over as an undergrad student I am only eligible for a F1 visa and therefore she a F2 and as a result she is restricted from working. However, if I can obtain J1 status she can get a J2 and be able to work. As far as I know J1's are only given out to post docs (maybe PhD's?) and I am not sure if I would be eligible for one. Again if anyone can shead some light on potential visas for cdn student i would appreciate it.

Thanks
jimmy

 

[jefguth]

Some of the US school do have some fairly substantial scholarships, however they are limited. My school, ICO, has one worth about $13000/ yr. basically for the top academic student entering and several $7000/ yr. for some of the other top students. The catch to scoring one is applying at the earliest possible date b/c they are awareded early in the admissions cycle.

As for the visa thing and your wife, it is possible to apply to the DHS for special consideration based on financial need once you've started school that would allow your wife to work. A girl in my class and her husband were able to do this. However, I'm sure you would want the security of having somthing arranged before ever moving to the US.

 

[tybuff]

got accepted today from the waitlist

see you all in sept

 

[Nru1]

got accepted today from the waitlist

see you all in sept

Way to go, Ty! Looking forward to meeting you in Sept ... Congrats!