Hesitant on applying?

[Serena85]

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Hey all,

I want some realistic answers here so feel free to be completly honest with me.

I am a 25 year old female graduating with a Bachelors in Biology this month. When I first started college I did not know what I wanted to do like most people. I attended a community college because it was what I could afford at the time, my parents could not afford to send me to a university. Advisors told me to take a general studies major to figure out what I wanted and I did. Then I switched to Pscychology after a year and a half because I honestly felt pressured to choose a major when everyone I knew, had one and knew what they wanted to do. At age 20 I applied for a job at an optometrist office in where I still work at so I am going on my 5th year working there. As I learned the trade of optometry from a opticians persepective I realize that this was something that greatly interests me so I switch to become a Biology major at age 21. I also am currently a certified Optican ABO and NCLE which is an option in Maryland. They normally train opticians without experience and certification is an option.

I attend a University right now, granted Biology is not an easy major and my grades kind of waiver so my GPA is not the most ideal (2.5) kind of embarrasing because i know most people have higher ones. As someone who works to pay bills and is a full time commuter student I always find it hard to get straight A's. Science is not something that is easy but requires a lot of effort and time. I really love optometry. If i get into optometry school I will not be working so all my time will be at school so I am sure grades won't be a problem.

My question is how likely am I to get into optometry school with a low GPA and a good OAT score? I want to apply this July for next year. Thinking of applying to Nova or the Tennesee school mainly.

 

[nc2tarheels]

I'm sure students have gotten in with a 2.5 gpa before, but I think it'd be a real different type of circumstance. I would say that you would to AT LEAST bring your GPA up to a 2.8-2.9. You may have to go back to school to finish up a Masters. I had a friend that was in a similar boat, however, he ended up going back to school so that he could get his Masters. While doing so, it helped his GPA and he was accepted with a 2.75.

 

[jc328]

Master programs usually require 2 years and some programs require time consuming research. You can also look into post-bacc programs to take some pre-req class or graduate level science class. NOVA's average GPA is 3.37 and SCO's GPA is 3.47, since you are working part time, I guess it will probably take a year or so to raise your GPA to competitive level for those schools. I think focusing on OAT and get stellar score on it would be a quicker way to increase your competitiveness if you wish to apply for the next cycle.

 

[Taven7755]

Generally, I am NOT a big proponent of evaluating someone off of GPA alone. Grade inflation, circumstances, and most of all difficulty level are big factors. For me, a lot of the people I saw struggle at the beginning of school (I'm 2nd year at nova) were students that, very simply, had just never seen anything of that difficulty before.... The number one in our class had a 2.8...oh yeah, but also a 390 OAT, B.S. in Mathematics....I had a 2.9, studied chemical engineering with a good OAT.

So my point is that you are not without hope. Having said this, here is what is likely required: Keep up the experience, get all A's your final year with a lot of classes, and a +350 on the OAT....you will have to show them something to impress them at the end. So, don't give up, but you will have to knock them dead with the final year. Good luck!

 

[Serena85]

hey thanks everyone for the input!!!

Taven7755 you give me some hope and I will definitly take your advice thanks!!! 🙂

Hopefully I'll score really good on the OAT