Are extra curriculum activity highly looked upon by optometry school?

[Smooth Operater]

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When applying for optometry school admission, do admission comittees take curriculum activities (other than job shadowing optometrist) as a big portion to evaluate the applicants? Is the selection similiar to med school in term of interviews, and type of characters they look for?


thanx you!

 

[basilisk312]

they probaly do take it into account to see if your a well-rounded person..after all a person with an extra cirricular activity has expereinced more than someone who did not and may have something more to offer.

 

[Potato!]

I applied to 3 O.D. schools and was accepted to all 3. My impression was that as long as you have shadowed an optometrist and know a lot about the profession and you've got decent grades and OAT, then you're Golden. Any other extracurricular activities are not neccesary solely for the purposes of gaining admissions. If however, you have a less than solid GPA or OAT, then you need to have some other good things going for you (ie. more extracurrics).

I think the interview is similar to med school interviews (though I have never had a med interview). I think the optometry one is probably more laid back though. The type of character they look for: Someone who is comitted to optometry, is passionate about it, intelligent, calm & relaxed in the interview and generally seems good natured and friendly.

My 2 cents...

 

[jd4me]

The interviews generally aren't like med school interviews. Med school interviews typically include a faculty member, a physician, and a member of the community, whereas opt school interviewers are usually just a faculty member or faculty members. They're also much more relaxed, and I don't think that they're nearly as scripted as med school interviews.