applying to only one school - SUNY?

[NYeyeGirl]

Hello,

just wondering if anyone out there can give some friendly advice.

Here's the situation:

I am an Econ. major who has now been out of school for 2 years and looking to change careers. In college, I was originally pre-med, but got sick 2nd sememster freshman year, which lasted through 1st semester sophomore year, and totally flunked chem and calculus (then had a reduced course load 1st semester 2nd year). This is because I had mono, not a psych. disorder or anything like that. Given this, and my sudden discovery that I do not want to go to school for so many years to be a doctor, I dropped science altogether and pursued business + law and did somewhat well (A's and B's). Now that I have actually worked in business, I see that it is all wrong for me and I really miss science and patients. I really want to be an optometrist after surveying all health-related professions. Now, I have to go take all the science classes post-bac at CUNY, part-time, since my husband is a first year resident (medicine) and we need my income to live on for our apt. This will take me a looong time (prob. 2 years part time).

So the questions are:

1. Is the CUNY program (Hunter College) part-time good enough for SUNY admission?

2. Does anyone know anything about the CUNY program?

3. How difficult is it to get into SUNY? Does the admissions process vary from other schools? If I am only applying to SUNY (because my husband is going to be tied to residency and fellowship in New York City), what can I do to gain a higher chance of acceptance? Will the school be understanding of teh fact that I am only applying in NYC, or will they think that I am not interested in optometry enough?

4. Since my college gpa is not that great (esp. science), will SUNY take into account my post-bac gpa instead?

5. Has anyone ever taken a summer class to fulfill a science prerequisite? Would it be a bad idea to take phys. or orgo as a summer class since the material is on the OAT and it may be too brief of a survey?

ANY FEEDBACK AT ALL on ANYTHING above would be MUCH MUCH APPRECIATED! I would be happy to hear any advice.

THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!

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[cpw]

ooo where's r_salis... she's SUNY. Maybe she can help you out.

 

[r_salis]

(Oooh, oooh -- I'll take this one! )

NYeyeGirl -- I was in a very similar situation to you -- I was a liberal arts major as an undergrad with a non-stellar GPA, took post-bacc classes to complete my science pre-reqs, and only applied to 2 schools (including SUNY, where I am a 1st-year now) in the cities my husband would be able to transfer to with his company. The main difference was that I was out of school and working for awhile longer than you.

--> 1. Is the CUNY program (Hunter College) part-time good enough for SUNY admission?

--> 2. Does anyone know anything about the CUNY program?

I can't answer these -- but I'm sure SUNY's admissions department would be the place to ask.

--> 3. How difficult is it to get into SUNY? Does the admissions process vary from other schools? If I am only applying to SUNY (because my husband is going to be tied to residency and fellowship in New York City), what can I do to gain a higher chance of acceptance? Will the school be understanding of teh fact that I am only applying in NYC, or will they think that I am not interested in optometry enough?

With Berkeley being the toughest by far to get into, SUNY is probably in the top 1/2 or 1/3 of the 17 optometry schools in terms of competitiveness for acceptance -- I say this because: 1) they're a state school, and 2) they have a small-ish class size (72). They won't think you're not interested in optometry for only applying there -- if it comes up in the interview, you can explain your reasons for only applying there at that time.

--> 4. Since my college gpa is not that great (esp. science), will SUNY take into account my post-bac gpa instead?

They did for me -- they're looking to see a trend of improvement overall, and by acing your science classes you'll show them you can handle the workload of a professional program. (Also plan on acing your OATs).

--> 5. Has anyone ever taken a summer class to fulfill a science prerequisite? Would it be a bad idea to take phys. or orgo as a summer class since the material is on the OAT and it may be too brief of a survey?

I took Orgo II over the summer -- it was the full course, just on a compressed schedule. *Yuk*. I had to do it, so I did. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's doable.

--> ANY FEEDBACK AT ALL on ANYTHING above would be MUCH MUCH APPRECIATED! I would be happy to hear any advice.

*Definitely* call the admissions department and arrange to set up a time to meet with someone since you're in town. That's what I did at PCO, and they were super nice when I visited. Before you go, map out a plan of attack to show to them -- the classes you're going to take and when (which semester), bring along a copy of your college transcript, and explain your situation to them. You could probably do this over the phone as well, I just liked going there in person.

Good luck! Let me know if there's anything else I can add, or feel free to PM me!

 

[rskhanna]

I only want to apply to SUNY too. How long should the respones be to the application?'s. Also, how did u study for the OAT. I bought some garbage book, and i really reflected the 1st Oat scores i got. Thanks ([email protected]

 

[NYeyeGirl]

r_salis, Thanks so much for your reply! It has been really helpful to hear your feedback. I will definitely follow your advice!

Hope you are enjoying SUNY.

Thanks to all of you guys.