Do I stand a chance?

[imisoa]

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I decided about a month ago to apply to optometry school. I am Senior at the moment and I have not yet taken the OAT. I plan to take it in September.

I am a Chemistry major with minors in Biology and Professional Writing
3.2 cumulative GPA
3.02 science GPA
(I am taking physics 1 and 2 this summer)
I have a C- in Calculus 2 and a D in Biochemistry Class and Lab due to a semester in which I suffered from a serious ailment.

I am repeating Biochemistry class but I only have space to either repeat Calculus 2 or Biochem Lab. I know most optometry schools do not ask for either of these but I feel as though one of them should be repeated to bring my GPA up. Which class would you advice me to repeat?

I have not completed all my prerequisites which are Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Statistics.

My extracurricular activities include:
1. President of the Biochemistry society
2. Secretary of the Biochemistry society since freshman year
3. Shadowing experience
4. Over 120 documented volunteer hours and 100 undocumented volunteer hours
5. Internship at a medical marketing company creating social media posts and blogs for medical fields including optometry
6. Member of the pre-professional organization at my school's campus
7. Volunteer Science writer at ASBMB Today magazine (member magazine for American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)

Do I stand a chance? If not, I would like advice as to how I can become competitive.

 

[optgal]

Yeah you'll get in somewhere just get a 300+ on the OAT! Apply before November/December! Good LORs!

 

[sbopt87]

Get more experience or volunteer work with an optometrist. Don't follow this field unless you really want to bc I see a lot of people make this a last minute decision bc gpa is low.

As long as you do good on the oat you will be ok with some schools. And try to make good grades on that last classes you have to take.

 

[optomvt]

Get more experience or volunteer work with an optometrist. Don't follow this field unless you really want to bc I see a lot of people make this a last minute decision bc gpa is low.

As long as you do good on the oat you will be ok with some schools. And try to make good grades on that last classes you have to take.

I agree! Make sure this is really the field for you.

 

[imisoa]

Thank you.

I understand the concern of knowing what kind of field you are getting yourself into and I have explored all fields including pathology, dental, optometry and cancer biology research. I didn't make this decision because my GPA is low. (I had a serious ailment that dropped my Major GPA from a 3.43 to a 3.08 and I've already pushed it up back to a 3.2 without repeating those classes) My science GPA doesn't include the physics 1 and 2 and 2nd semester of Bio. So I cannot say that it is low until I have completed these classes.

I hated working in a lab and dentistry didn't interest me. I started exploring at the age of 16 so I'm quite relieved that I've found something that I can say I actually like. I will be going back to my home country when I graduate, and optometry is a field that is untouched not because of money but because eye care is generally over looked.

My internship as a social media manager requires that I write a weekly blog on extensively researched eye ailments and tips for patients. I also have to create 5 social media posts relating to the practice and the eye every week. I have to contact the doctor regularly to ask questions and through this position I realized that I enjoyed discussing the eye more than any other part of the body.

In the last 3 weeks, I have acquired 20 additional hours of shadowing and by the time I am ready to apply at the end of July, I will have shadowed 5 different practices with over 50 hours and it's safe to say that I am very interested in this field.

One of the optometrists I found has gone out of her way to let me shadow her whenever I can and lets me bombard her with questions. Her love for optometry has undoubtedly been passed on to me as she gets excited at even the simplest things as she explains and shows me what optometry is all about.

I am now studying for my OAT and I am aiming for high scores.