Do You Really Have What It Takes?

[Tippytoe]

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I repeatedly see posts from students with subpar grades and OAT scores asking if they can get into optometry school.

At some point you have to realize you just don't have the brainpower to go further. If you can only attain C's in your undergrad science classes, graduate school will eat you alive.

Be realistic. Just because you might be able to smooze a school official to let you in, chances are you will fluck out with a big fat school loan check still needing to be paid back.

Optometry school really isn't for the faint-hearted. It's hard. I'm afraid I see alot of people here that are going to be in for a rude awakening.

 

[physicslover]

if they are dumb enough to flunk out of optometry school after spending so much money and time, i don't think reading this post is going to help them

 

[q1we3]

fact that matters is most of these students with below 3.0 never get accepted. the avg. GPA of entering class in most schools is still around 3.4

 

[optom123]

I repeatedly see posts from students with subpar grades and OAT scores asking if they can get into optometry school.

At some point you have to realize you just don't have the brainpower to go further. If you can only attain C's in your undergrad science classes, graduate school will eat you alive.

Be realistic. Just because you might be able to smooze a school official to let you in, chances are you will fluck out with a big fat school loan check still needing to be paid back.

Optometry school really isn't for the faint-hearted. It's hard. I'm afraid I see alot of people here that are going to be in for a rude awakening.

What was so difficult about optometry school? How was a regular school day like, back then?

 

[Shnurek]

I can tell you optometry school is no joke. Why? Because we are trained to be full fledged doctors in 4 years vs. 7+ years for medical students. My anatomy professor who teaches MD students at NYU as well as OD students here at SUNY stated she "wouldn't survive at SUNY for more than a month." We actually have MORE information to learn in a shorter amount of time than the MD students at NYU. These are the professor's words not mine.

At first I didn't believe it but it makes sense in a way because we are trying to upstage the MD/DO students so we can come closer to being on par with them. (At least this is the case at SUNY) Just like the DO students take the regular MD curriculum plus extra manipulation classes that MD students don't have to take.

Also food for thought, SUNY's average matriculant GPA for 2015 was 3.57 compared to DO average matriculant GPA of 3.48 for last year.

 

[Shnurek]

DO Stats: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=792377

SUNY Stats (2015 isn't up yet): http://www.sunyopt.edu/admissions/od_demographics.shtml

 

[gmch155]

I repeatedly see posts from students with subpar grades and OAT scores asking if they can get into optometry school.

At some point you have to realize you just don't have the brainpower to go further. If you can only attain C's in your undergrad science classes, graduate school will eat you alive.

Be realistic. Just because you might be able to smooze a school official to let you in, chances are you will fluck out with a big fat school loan check still needing to be paid back.

Optometry school really isn't for the faint-hearted. It's hard. I'm afraid I see alot of people here that are going to be in for a rude awakening.

Some schools (such as the one I attend) have, for the most part, very serious students. The average student at my school, for example, averages a 2100+ on their SAT's (well that's the median, but you get the point). At some schools every science class is graded on a curve, so it's actually incredibly easy to get a C...this means 50% of people who take the class end up with a C or lower. Luckily, I have yet to fall into that category, but it definitely could happen to me. So just because you get a C or 2 or 3, doesn't mean you're not qualified. I find it frustrating when students at easy schools flaunt their absurdly high GPA's, and everyone says, "yep you're in! Welcome to med, dent, pharm, optometry school!" If I wanted to, I could have attended an average school and had a rocket high GPA. But I didn't do that. I went to a challenging school, where the only GPA inflation that occurs, is outside of the sciences. Organic Chem, Intro Chem, Bio, Physics, Genetics - 50% C, D, F. So getting C's doesn't mean you're not qualified. While getting A's and B's is of course the best thing you could do, it's important to not make generalizations.

 

[lthomp11]

The optometry schools take your undergraduate school into account. A B at Harvard is going to look a lot better than an A at a community college.

 

[Shnurek]

Some schools (such as the one I attend) have, for the most part, very serious students. The average student at my school, for example, averages a 2100+ on their SAT's (well that's the median, but you get the point).

Are you in an opto school or a dent school

 

[KHE]

The optometry schools take your undergraduate school into account. A B at Harvard is going to look a lot better than an A at a community college.

While most schools do consider the difficulty of an undergraduate institution, I wouldn't rely to heavily on that making a huge difference. You need to do as well as you possibly can. A "D" at Harvard isn't going to cut it.

 

[fly10]

Some schools (such as the one I attend) have, for the most part, very serious students. The average student at my school, for example, averages a 2100+ on their SAT's (well that's the median, but you get the point). At some schools every science class is graded on a curve, so it's actually incredibly easy to get a C...this means 50% of people who take the class end up with a C or lower. Luckily, I have yet to fall into that category, but it definitely could happen to me. So just because you get a C or 2 or 3, doesn't mean you're not qualified. I find it frustrating when students at easy schools flaunt their absurdly high GPA's, and everyone says, "yep you're in! Welcome to med, dent, pharm, optometry school!" If I wanted to, I could have attended an average school and had a rocket high GPA. But I didn't do that. I went to a challenging school, where the only GPA inflation that occurs, is outside of the sciences. Organic Chem, Intro Chem, Bio, Physics, Genetics - 50% C, D, F. So getting C's doesn't mean you're not qualified. While getting A's and B's is of course the best thing you could do, it's important to not make generalizations.

I agree with this.
a lot of students coming from C.c's manage to get a 3.8 vs others coming from more difficult schools that are 3.0 students, but does that mean the student who has a 3.8 at an easy school is more qualified then someone with a 3.0 at a hard school.

And i know they look at what school the student is coming from AFTER looking at your GPA.

Lets say some one with a 3.8 and 320 OAT score applies from an easy school while someone else with a 3.0 and 320 applies from an IV league school...who do you think has a better chance at getting in?

and as much as they say extracurriculars, shadowing and what school you go to are important, the two main things that determine if you're a competitive applicant are GPA and OAT score.

having said all of that, i wish i knew all of this before i started undergrad and would of definitely went to a diff school..

 

[Jonbrout]

Well while we are on the topic of flunking out. I believe the school I am planning on attending next year (SCO) has like a 99% pass rate? I assume this means 1)they only accept qualified students, 2) they really want you to succeed and help you as much as they say, 3) or they are overly easy? I somehow doubt the latter. They have one of the best clinician programs in the nation.

Thoughts? Opinions on other schools are welcome.

 

[Shnurek]

I think SCO is a great school with lots of freedom for Optometric practice.