Advise – Engineer to Optometrist with low GPA

[flyingdiver]

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Hello everyone, I’ve been reading this forum for quite some time as I have been considering a career change to Optometry. I’m hoping to get some advice on my situation.

As mentioned, I’m considering Optometry as a new career. I graduated with my BS in Computer Science in 2001 with a GPA of 2.23 and since then I have had a very successful career as a software engineer in the defense industry. This year I just graduated with my MS in Computer Science from a top tier engineering school with a GPA of 3.78. I have determined that engineering is not what I want to do for the rest of my life and have always wanted to be an Optometrist.

Obviously all of the required Pre-Optometry coursework is not part of any Computer Science curriculum so I’m in the process of enrolling at a local community college for the courses I would need (Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology, etc…). I have taken all of the required Math, Physics, Statistics, and General Education courses typically required for Optometry School admission however.

I’m just wondering how big of a problem my undergraduate GPA is going to give me. I got mostly As and Bs in the Pre-Optometry courses but did badly in a lot of the upper-level engineering classes that have no relation to the study of Optometry at all. Will an admissions committee trash my application for getting Fs and repeating courses such as Differential Equations, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Architecture, etc…? It just seems really unfair that some 400 level upper-level Engineering courses that I did horrible in will factor into my GPA even though they are not at all required for admission to a Optometry School.

Without question I plan to ace the Pre-Optometry courses I am going to take and plan to ace the OAT. Will admission committees focus more on my recent grades and ignore the unrelated grades? Will my MS in Computer Science with a GPA of 3.78 help?

Thanks in advance…

 

[blueeyedOD]

Why don't you call up an OD school that you're interested in, and ask them?

 

[KHE]

Hello everyone, I’ve been reading this forum for quite some time as I have been considering a career change to Optometry. I’m hoping to get some advice on my situation.

As mentioned, I’m considering Optometry as a new career. I graduated with my BS in Computer Science in 2001 with a GPA of 2.23 and since then I have had a very successful career as a software engineer in the defense industry. This year I just graduated with my MS in Computer Science from a top tier engineering school with a GPA of 3.78. I have determined that engineering is not what I want to do for the rest of my life and have always wanted to be an Optometrist.

Obviously all of the required Pre-Optometry coursework is not part of any Computer Science curriculum so I’m in the process of enrolling at a local community college for the courses I would need (Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology, etc…). I have taken all of the required Math, Physics, Statistics, and General Education courses typically required for Optometry School admission however.

I’m just wondering how big of a problem my undergraduate GPA is going to give me. I got mostly As and Bs in the Pre-Optometry courses but did badly in a lot of the upper-level engineering classes that have no relation to the study of Optometry at all. Will an admissions committee trash my application for getting Fs and repeating courses such as Differential Equations, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Architecture, etc…? It just seems really unfair that some 400 level upper-level Engineering courses that I did horrible in will factor into my GPA even though they are not at all required for admission to a Optometry School.

Without question I plan to ace the Pre-Optometry courses I am going to take and plan to ace the OAT. Will admission committees focus more on my recent grades and ignore the unrelated grades? Will my MS in Computer Science with a GPA of 3.78 help?

Thanks in advance…

You should talk to whatever schools you are interested in applying to to see how your situation will play out.

I'm more puzzled how you managed to get admission to top tier engineering graduate school with a 2.33 undergraduate GPA. Wow.

 

[artiSUN]

I saw this post and it reminded me of... myself. I graduated with a degree in electical engineering and computer science in 2002. My GPA was less than stellar, though probably not as bad as yours (2.83 or something like that). I decided later around 2005 that I wanted to go into optometry and started taking all the pre-req courses at a local community college. I've finished all my pre-reqs, taken the OAT, and applied to a couple schools so far. I've gotten an interview and hope to be hearing from a few others.

I think what really matters is your science GPA and your OAT score. Your overall GPA (despite the major) might probably be more relevant if you were a recent graduate as this might give them doubts as to how academically responsible you currently are. But considering your coursework was from over 6-7 years ago and unrelated to pursuing optometry, they will likely place more weight on your more recent efforts as they are more focused and related toward optometry. As long as you do really well and show that you are very academically competitive right now, you should be fine.

I would also suggest shadowing a number of doctors (as you've probably already read on the forum) in a number of different specializations. Just immerse yourself enough in the field to really know why you want to work in it, why you belong in it, and what you can contribute.

 

[artiSUN]

oh yes, and double check with the school you're interested (like the other posters above suggested). I find the larger schools are a little better about looking at your relevant coursework and focusing on that more than unrelated stuff. Smaller ones might be a little pickier because they have a lot less space so they need to be more selective 😛