How Many Schools to Apply to?

[eyesplurgeonwarbys]

Hi guys! I just wanted to see how many optometry schools on average most people to apply to. My thought behind it is to apply to as many as I can (meaning almost all of them)because having to apply again next year would be a pain. Is there such thing as too many, though?

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[evorage]

I read some where that the average was about 5 schools per applicant. The only downside to applying to multiple schools is all the fees for the application, OAT scores, supplementary and any travel expenses during interviews.

 

[eyebelieveinyou]

I think it's a waste of money to try to apply to so many. Narrow your choices down to around five. With good stats, recommendations, and experience, you're bound to get in somewhere. If you have the time and money to apply to a lot of schools, then do it. You also have to consider that not all schools will be a good fit for you. Do you have some schools in mind? Have you visited any?

I'm only applying to 2-3 schools. I've submitted my app for one school. I'll probably be submitting the other two next month.

 

[eyesplurgeonwarbys]

I think it's a waste of money to try to apply to so many. Narrow your choices down to around five. With good stats, recommendations, and experience, you're bound to get in somewhere. If you have the time and money to apply to a lot of schools, then do it. You also have to consider that not all schools will be a good fit for you. Do you have some schools in mind? Have you visited any?

I'm only applying to 2-3 schools. I've submitted my app for one school. I'll probably be submitting the other two next month.

I've only visited one actually, but I have a decent list of my top choices. I think I'm still stuck in a med school mindset where you should apply to like 30 to have a fair chance. My stats are good, and I feel like my letter will be strong as well. My biggest downside is experience. I switched from going down the med school route to optometry not too long ago, so most of my extracurriculars were directed towards med school. I have shadowed optometrists, but don't have anything above and beyond that is optometry related. That concerns me the most. I also enrolled in anatomy because 8 of the schools require them (a few that are my top picks because they're in California) while some of the others recommend them. I just took my OAT, so going to anatomy class has just been exhausting, and I am working on my apps as well,but I'm not sure if I want to drop the class because then I can't apply to those schools that require it. I guess my biggest fear is not applying to enough, and then not getting in! Again, when I switched to optometry, a had the mindset of "let me apply to alllll schools." A bit confused about what I should do.

 

[Weirdy]

I've only visited one actually, but I have a decent list of my top choices. I think I'm still stuck in a med school mindset where you should apply to like 30 to have a fair chance. My stats are good, and I feel like my letter will be strong as well. My biggest downside is experience. I switched from going down the med school route to optometry not too long ago, so most of my extracurriculars were directed towards med school. I have shadowed optometrists, but don't have anything above and beyond that is optometry related. That concerns me the most. I also enrolled in anatomy because 8 of the schools require them (a few that are my top picks because they're in California) while some of the others recommend them. I just took my OAT, so going to anatomy class has just been exhausting, and I am working on my apps as well,but I'm not sure if I want to drop the class because then I can't apply to those schools that require it. I guess my biggest fear is not applying to enough, and then not getting in! Again, when I switched to optometry, a had the mindset of "let me apply to alllll schools." A bit confused about what I should do.

Apply to top 3.

Add 2 safeties.

Its not like a med school app. If your stats are competitive, you will get interviews. Spread yourself too thin and then you'd have to tell them you're withdrawing your app because your #1 has already given you an acceptance letter.

 

[Anbinh]

I am currently in the application process and have applied to five schools. I've read the average number of schools people apply to is 5-6!

 

[_Optics_]

I ended up applying to three schools. Got into one and may decline the last interview.

I suppose my philosophy on this is do up to three if you are confident in admission. More if you are less confident.