Are my chances of getting in any good?

[DOOMflow]

---

Members do not see this ad.

First off, I'd just like to apologize in advance for creating another topic related to a question that is likely asked far too often on this website. That being said, I am really concerned about my chances of getting into optometry school.

I attend a major North American university, majoring in molecular biology with a GPA around 3.0. My GPA was higher after my first two years, but during my third year I was battling addiction (world of warcraft addiction lol) and as a result my grades were less than stellar and my gpa dropped from about a 3.3 to a 3.0.

I've written the OAT, and I scored decently well. My Total Science average was 370 and my Academic average was 360, these put me in the 94th and 95th percentile respectively. I'm happy with that score and I don't think I'll need to re-write the exam.

My volunteer and work experience is quite extensive, I've maintained a job at a major company for 4 years, one that is involved with money and the public. In addition to this I have experience with tutoring and in a commercial lab. My volunteer experience is a mixture of an overseas mission, coaching for a community sports league and other various things in my local community.

With respect to letters of reference, I can get one from an employer, someone involved with my volunteer experience and (hopefully) my optometrist. I've yet to do any shadowing in an optometric setting, but I will be asking my optometrist if I can shadow him prior to him writing my letter of reference.

So, that's my basic application bio and here are my questions.

1. Is my gpa way too low to be accepted? I will be applying to 5 or 6 schools within the US, most of which have an average gpa of 3.3-3.4. Can my OAT score help me out here, or should I return for another year of undergraduate school to raise my gpa? Also, my grades from my current semester should raise my overall gpa, should I wait until January when those grades are on my transcripts, or would that do more harm than good considering the 'rolling admissions' system in place?

2. Will I be at a significant disadvantage not having a letter of reference from a professor? I attend a very large institution, and with classes sizes ranging from 150-400 students it's difficult to get to know a professor enough where they'd be comfortable writing a letter of reference for me?

3. Will I like optometry? I went into school with really no idea what I wanted to do. The optometry program is appealing to me because it's only four-years, has a high level of autonomy in the workplace, allows for the pursuit of business objectives and will train me in a skill needed in poorer parts of the world (I plan on returning to the country I volunteered in later on, and being able to provide them with optometric care would be awesome). That being said, I'm more of a 10-4 kind of guy than a 9-5 person, I'm not a huge fan of working weekends and I'm looking to have a high earning potential. Will optometry provide me what I'm looking for?

4. Are average incomes really as high as they are reported (around $100 000-150 000/year) or are these averages inflated due to a few well-established practices/O.D.s making way more?

5. When I'm 50 will I hate my job and wish I went the grad school - PhD route? Does the job get monotonous, or does it provide you with a challenging and rewarding career for a long time?

6. Can personal essays help my application? I like to think I'm an above-average writer, and I'm hoping this requirement in addition to my OAT score can work to make me a highly competitive applicant despite my low GPA.

Again, I apologize for the wall of text, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot for your time!!

 

[blysssful]

1. The averages for the incoming first year students are just that--averages. Meaning there are a significant number of students who fall below that average. Hypothetically, if you have 90 credits with a 3.0 average, and you're taking 15 credits with a 4.0 average this semester, that would only raise your cumulative GPA to a 3.14. This is NOT a large enough increase to consider postponing your applications until January. It will hurt you more than it will help.

2. Get letters from those whom you know will write you great ones. However, a letter from a science professor is required for some schools. Call individual schools.

3. The only way to figure this out is by shadowing. You should consider doing a significant amount of shadowing before even continuing with the application process. Hours of shadowing now may save you years of an unfulfilled career path down the line. Also, OD degrees may not allow you to work in every country.

4. Do some research for medians and the various percentiles of incomes around the country.

5. IMO, a rewarding career stems from being passionate about your chosen profession. The healthcare field is not stagnant, and developments will continue into the future. Whether you will feel challenged with your profession is completely subjective.

6. Yes. Otherwise what would be the point of writing them?


As an aside, you might want to take some time to figure out if you're considering optometry for the right reasons.

 

[brighteyes5555]

I think you should really shadow and then come back to all these questions. I think it is reasonable to assess a career, pros vs. cons, but see if you like optometry first.

 

[Hambre]

THe good news about optometry is it changes. When it gets boring, you can change and do something else in it. You can be more disease related, more Therapy related, more family practic... man, it goes on and on!

As for being accepted, I'm in the school in PR, and you are pretty much guaranteed a spot here. See my previous posts, its not easy, but if you need to get in, you got it.

As for the OAT/GPA, nice... I actually am the opposite, GPA 3.6 and OAT 300. I had several schools say "if you were about a 320..."

Oh well, in the end the degree is all that matters. The only question I have actually heard any doctor/employer ask is "Have you passed boards?"
THats it!
Good luck!

 

[Absolute Vision]

In response to your questions 3 and 5, you should definitely shadow different subspecialties of optometry including private practice and retail optometry to determine if optometry is a profession that you can see yourself doing for the next 25-30 years. You should ask the ODs that you shadow about how they feel about their career choice...would they do it all over again? Is money their main motivation? There will be monotony with any career choice that you finally decide to pursue, but it's up to you to either accept the monotony or make the situation better for yourself by perceiving the situation in a more positive light...you're helping people improve their vision and being well compensated.
It's also very important to make an informed decision about pursuing a career choice...just ask 'SaveYourself' who has recently posted his perspective on optometry...he regretted entering the profession and is now pursuing a second career in law. Just do some more research before you decide to invest all your time, energy, and money on a career. Good luck.