Application and transcript

[LedaLeda]

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I recently decided that I would apply to optometry school this year, so I feel like I got a delayed start on the whole process of applying...still studying for OATs...but I want to get the application over with and send it in. I was wondering if its better to send in the transcript now...or should I wait until the term ends (my school runs on a term system) so I can have my current classes on it as well...or maybe till December so I can have all my fall-semester courses? It doesn't really matter gpa-wise (I have a 3.8) but not really sure what the schools prefer.

I'm getting kind of nervous, seeing how many of you have interviews, and I haven't even done OATs. I'm still trying to find optometrists to shadow...

Any advice?

 

[HPDV6000]

I recently decided that I would apply to optometry school this year, so I feel like I got a delayed start on the whole process of applying...still studying for OATs...but I want to get the application over with and send it in. I was wondering if its better to send in the transcript now...or should I wait until the term ends (my school runs on a term system) so I can have my current classes on it as well...or maybe till December so I can have all my fall-semester courses? It doesn't really matter gpa-wise (I have a 3.8) but not really sure what the schools prefer.

I'm getting kind of nervous, seeing how many of you have interviews, and I haven't even done OATs. I'm still trying to find optometrists to shadow...

Any advice?

Well your GPA is top notch for Optometry school and I would suggest waiting until your course is done to send in a completed transcript, but this might delay your admissions for a whole year... but if you have completed all your pre-reqs, I say send it in now, and then when you finish your semester, send in that transcript.

If you have no experience about the optometry field, no shadowing or working in a clinic, regardless of your grades, I'd say your chances for admissions will be low.

But that's just my opinion, very good chance I'm wrong.

 

[319671]

Well your GPA is top notch for Optometry school and I would suggest waiting until your course is done to send in a completed transcript, but this might delay your admissions for a whole year... but if you have completed all your pre-reqs, I say send it in now, and then when you finish your semester, send in that transcript.

If you have no experience about the optometry field, no shadowing or working in a clinic, regardless of your grades, I'd say your chances for admissions will be low.

But that's just my opinion, very good chance I'm wrong.

i agree with you. if you dont have that many optometry related experiences you might not get admitted everywhere, even though you have an awesome Gpa! (congrats btw) because I know some schools require you to have certain hours, or they give you a conditional acceptance.

 

[LedaLeda]

Well I started volunteering at a optometry clinic for low income families. I was also offered a job at lenscrafters which i am considering. I think I can get in some hours, enough to get an idea of the field. But I just will need till December or so to get a significant number of hours that schools would care. I really don't want to delay my application for a year. I'm trying to fit everything in, studying and shadowing and all, with my school work. Here's my plan:

OATs--Beginning of October
Volunteer clinic--2hrs a week
Lenscrafters--(assuming I get it) 10-12 hrs/week
Shadowing--(I'll find two doctors) ~5 hrs a week

I know some of you have years of experience working in an optometry office as receptionists, etc. To be honest I was premed before, and decided that wasnt for me...so this shift has been recent. I do have research experience in a lab at a medical school (and even have two published papers), but I don't think they will care much about that because I have noticed that many optometry schools aren't so research oriented. So yeah...I'm worrying now. This is gonna be quite a semester for me, squeezing everything in 🙁