How much does undergrad school matter?

[jck16]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, but it seems really useful from my browsings. I tried going to my college advisor, but she can only give me generalities. I heard that only one person in the class last year even considered a career in optometry, so there doesn't appear to be too much information available on campus. Currently, I'm a rising fourth year undergrad and seriously focusing my attention on this career path. I attend a pretty good university, but my gpa has suffered a bit from the pre-med classes I had to take (~2.72). I know I have to focus this last year on bringing that up (in addition to doing well on the OAT), but I am curious as to how much optometry schools factor in which college you went to.

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[Envision]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, but it seems really useful from my browsings. I tried going to my college advisor, but she can only give me generalities. I heard that only one person in the class last year even considered a career in optometry, so there doesn't appear to be too much information available on campus. Currently, I'm a rising fourth year undergrad and seriously focusing my attention on this career path. I attend a pretty good university, but my gpa has suffered a bit from the pre-med classes I had to take (~2.72). I know I have to focus this last year on bringing that up (in addition to doing well on the OAT), but I am curious as to how much optometry schools factor in which college you went to.

Dear JCK,

well first off, what university are you attending? second, i believe the rule of thumb is professional schools will first look for reasons to reject you prior to giving you an interview. therefore, they probably wont even notice what school your from unless your grades and OAT score are at a competitive range. of course this varies from school to school, i would still say don't rely heavily on the reputation of the college your attending as a plus. as for the reason your gpa is low, to my knowledge premed prerquisites are general the same as preopt, predent and in fact many other prehealth professions. so if you did poorly in those courses, that probably wont be overlooked by the admission committee either. jus my opinion. if you have further questions, please feel free to ask. there are many useful questions SDN can provide you answers for, the trick is knowing which ones to ask

 

[a1bui]

There's probably a couple topics like this on SDN, so you should do a search to get more info. I've asked the same question in the past and the overall response was that it doesn't really matter what school you go to.

A lot of opt. schools go by something they call a "magic number," which calculates your gpa, and OAT score into... kind of like an average. If you meet their standard for the "magic number," then you'll be interviewed. So with that said, I'm pretty sure opt. schools don't weigh your gpa differently from other schools.

On the bright side, I talked to an admissions rep. from SCCO, and she said that your school can factor in somewhat. For instance, if you're close to the "magic number," or competing for an interview spot with someone who has the same scores. Your school could also help during the interview process. For example, your interviewer can see that you took difficult classes in a competitive school, so he/she might think you'd be more prepared then others.

I guess the take home message is; undergrad might factor in a little, but you shouldn't count on it. Just improve your gpa, and score above par on your OAT (helps balance gpa).

Good luck!...I'm in the same boat you are so I know how you feel.

 

[Ryan_eyeball]

There's probably a couple topics like this on SDN, so you should do a search to get more info. I've asked the same question in the past and the overall response was that it doesn't really matter what school you go to.

A lot of opt. schools go by something they call a "magic number," which calculates your gpa, and OAT score into... kind of like an average. If you meet their standard for the "magic number," then you'll be interviewed. So with that said, I'm pretty sure opt. schools don't weigh your gpa differently from other schools.

On the bright side, I talked to an admissions rep. from SCCO, and she said that your school can factor in somewhat. For instance, if you're close to the "magic number," or competing for an interview spot with someone who has the same scores. Your school could also help during the interview process. For example, your interviewer can see that you took difficult classes in a competitive school, so he/she might think you'd be more prepared then others.

I guess the take home message is; undergrad might factor in a little, but you shouldn't count on it. Just improve your gpa, and score above par on your OAT (helps balance gpa).

Good luck!...I'm in the same boat you are so I know how you feel.

I think the previous two posts possess alot of good information for ya.

 

[stompy]

The SUNY rep told me that a 3.0 from my school will be considered competitive--so I think some schools do factor that in as their equation. He said it might be an equivalent of a 3.3 or a 3.5 of another lesser known school...

 

[daggerjet]

I think the most important thing is to do well on your OAT so you can justify the GPA that you have obtained. If you do extremely well to counter your GPA and you come from an extremely competitive undergraduate program, the school might consider the interview.

Granted, I came from UC Berkeley and didn't exactly have the best GPA... but I did extremely well on the OAT, and was given an interview to every single school that I applied to (including Berkeley). So don't lose hope, focus, bring up your grades and do well on the OAT. GL with everything!

 

[odstudent]

With a 2.72 GPA I think you should aim for a 350 OAT. What does everyone else think?

 

[cpw]

With a 2.72 GPA I think you should aim for a 350 OAT. What does everyone else think?

well, you should always aim high... but I'd say anything 330 or up would be great (unless you're gunning for berkeley) Obviously the higher the better.

 

[Dr4eyes]

hey daggerjet,
wat were ur stats??

 

[jck16]

Yeah, thanks a lot for the info. Without a doubt, I know I'll have to do well on the OAT. I guess my biggest fear was that I wouldn't be allowed to apply at all, considering that most of the schools I looked at seemed to require a minimum of a 3.0 to even apply. Btw, I go to Duke Univ, but I guess it wouldn't matter unless I'm able to become competitive first.

 

[Rusunn]

The SUNY rep told me that a 3.0 from my school will be considered competitive--so I think some schools do factor that in as their equation. He said it might be an equivalent of a 3.3 or a 3.5 of another lesser known school...

what undergraduate school did you go to stompy?

 

[stompy]

I went to UC San Diego...it's not that well known esp. on the east coast, but it's known mainly for it's bio, bioengineering related programs...maybe top 3 in the nation for these undergrad programs (open to interpretation/debate of course)...well, the point is that you more likely heard of UCSD than SDSU (San Diego State University).

I also think a better school also prepares you for your OAT much better. I have a 3.0 GPA but 350 AA and 360 TS without studying in additional to the Kaplan course I sat in on. Don't know what I'd have got without Kaplan, however...