Applying to Optometry School

[Ztlundgr]

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Hey everyone, I have a whole lot of questions for anyone who cares to answer. I am going to be a senior in undergrad this upcoming fall at a small liberal arts college in MN. Since I began my undergrad I have been a Bio major/chem minor and planning on going to medical school. This summer I did a fairly significant amount of shadowing in the medical field and decided that this just wasn't for me (little late right?)! I decided to start shadowing other professions in the medical field such as Optometry, PT, chiro, and dentistry. Optometry interested me very much! The OD's I shadowed were very helpful and seemed to genuinely love what they were doing and I totally began envisioning myself as one day being an eye doctor. The problem I have now is where to begin. Is it too late for me to apply yet this year? (keeping in mind I have not began to study for the OAT or look at the optomCAS) I will be setting up a Co-op/ internship during the school year, so I believe this will cover most of the Opt schools requirements for shadowing experience. I also don't really know where to begin when finding the right optometry school to apply to since MN does not have one. Is there a certain school where MN students have a better chance of getting in to like it is for medical? I also do not really know the timeline for when I should be doing things such as taking the OAT and submitting apps. Do optometry schools have secondary apps? 😕 I'm sorry I'm throwing this at you guys haha I just really need some direction right now and have so many questions! I have many more, but I believe that should suffice for now! Thank you!

p.s. Be prepared for more!

 

[epalacios]

Well, first of all, welcome aboard! Optometry is an awesome profession, as there are many different avenues you can take with your career.

First thing you have to do is start your OptomCAS application, and register for the OAT. You need to get the OAT completed as soon as possible, since you will most likely not get an interview until you take it. Register for the Kaplan prep course, it's about $1200. I took it online, since it gave me more flexibility and I work full time. You should try to take the OAT by November, so you have time to take it again if you need to before the application deadline (must wait three months to retake it). Kaplan has everything you need for a successful review, including note cards, books, and online modules.

Other than that, you are good to go. Good luck!

 

[HPDV6000]

Welcome, I am also new to optometry (entering my Junior year as a undergraduate).

The OAT is generally taken before March 1 of the year you want to apply, and since the OAT is taken online and there is no writing portion, it is graded on the spot from what I've heard, so study hard!

It's best to get as much involved in the volunteering as much as possible, shadow multiple optometrists and maybe a ophthalmologist to learn the difference between the different professions (this tends to come up often in interviews!).

 

[Ztlundgr]

Well, first of all, welcome aboard! Optometry is an awesome profession, as there are many different avenues you can take with your career.

First thing you have to do is start your OptomCAS application, and register for the OAT. You need to get the OAT completed as soon as possible, since you will most likely not get an interview until you take it. Register for the Kaplan prep course, it's about $1200. I took it online, since it gave me more flexibility and I work full time. You should try to take the OAT by November, so you have time to take it again if you need to before the application deadline (must wait three months to retake it). Kaplan has everything you need for a successful review, including note cards, books, and online modules.

Other than that, you are good to go. Good luck!

I took a kaplan course for the MCAT during the previous school year and have all of the books, but one thing different in the tests is that the MCAT has no math in it. To be honest, I'm not confident at all in my math skills (apart from basic math skills needed in gen chem and physics) and calculus scares the death out of me...so is there any particular advice you have for studying for the QR section? I've been looking into possible things such as the OAT destroyer package of OAT destoyer, Physics destroyer, and Math Destroyer, but they are $200+!!

 

[epalacios]

Small price to pay if it helps you get a competitive score...I paid $1200 for the Kaplan online course I'm using right now.

 

[bobbio]

I took a kaplan course for the MCAT during the previous school year and have all of the books, but one thing different in the tests is that the MCAT has no math in it. To be honest, I'm not confident at all in my math skills (apart from basic math skills needed in gen chem and physics) and calculus scares the death out of me...so is there any particular advice you have for studying for the QR section? I've been looking into possible things such as the OAT destroyer package of OAT destoyer, Physics destroyer, and Math Destroyer, but they are $200+!!

The MCAT stuff should prepare you quite well - I used an MCAT book to prep as well and the questions on the MCAT book was definitely more difficult than those on the OAT. If you want to study QR, OAT Destroyer is really good because it has a lot of problems for you to solve with the answers in the back (with explanations on how to solve). And don't worry too much about QR - the math is pretty straightforward. Good luck with the application process!

 

[Roffles]

The OAT is much more straightforward that the MCAT. The math section is mostly algebra and questions meant to be a bit confusing. It's really not very difficult, just be sure to take you time. If you can find a practice test, that should be more than enough to prepare you for the OAT since you already have the materials for everything other than the QR section.

As far as applications go, applying early is usually the way to go, but there's nothing wrong with applying late. Get the OAT taken care of and move from there. I took it before even starting the OptomCAS stuff, but there's nothing wrong with starting the application early.

 

[Blondiechick919]

Kaplans class was COMPLETELY worth it for me. I really wish I would have realized I wanted to be an optometrist in college when there was a Kaplan center 100 yards from my house, but I digress. Working full time, the online course was 1200 and took my diagnostic score from 280 to my test day score of 340. I was very pleased. I am applying to OSU, NECO, SCCO, NOVA, PCO, and AZCOPT. I just clicked submit on OptomCAS tonight...I'm nervous but very excited!!!