Hello. I am considering applying to optometry school for the 2019 cycle (and/or the 2020 cycle). Based on my research (using Optom CAS my main point of reference), I am short four prerequisites: microbiology, anatomy and physiology, and psychology. I'm planing on taking these courses next term (January - April), and believe that I would meet the requirements for most of the schools if I had them (some schools seem to have a fringe requirement or two, like a second organic chemistry, but they are the exception). However, I've noticed that many of the colleges require a lab for the microbiology course. It doesn't look like any of the microbiology courses I can take at my universities would have a lab, so I would be without this prerequisite. Would most universities be able to waive the lab prerequisite if I met all other requirements? Do they even check to see if the course has a lab? The courses that I have taken that actually have labs do not show up as such on my transcripts (it just has the title, course code and grade for each class), so they would have no way of knowing unless they looked up each of the courses on Google. Do they actually do that?
Also, I was wondering whether or not I would have a good chance of getting in. Is there still enough time to apply for the 2019 cycle and be competitive, or have I missed the boat? Some background information:
- Age: 26
- Canadian, but I'm applying to American schools as there is only one optometry school in Canada. Are there good scholarship opportunities available?
- Completed a B. Sc. honours degree in 2014, a M. Sc. in December 2018. Does it hurt me that I finished my degree a few years ago, and am taking some of the prerequisites after graduation?
- Academic average: ~91.6% (undergrad), 90.6% (grad). I'm not sure how this translates into that 4.0 scale. I took a full course load (five courses) every term throughout undergrad. My grades are as follows:
Undergrad:
90 - 100 (A+ based on CAS scale) - 24 one-term courses/63 credit units.
80 - 89 (A) - 9
70 - 79 (B) - 8
60 - 69 (C) - 0
50 - 59 (D) - 2
Range: 50 - 100%.
Grad:
90 - 100 - 4
80 - 89 - 1
Range: 83 - 95%.
- OAT: Haven't written yet (I worked full-time for the last two years and had a master's thesis to write).
- Volunteer work - I did weekly tutoring at my local high school for several years, and I regularly donate blood. I feel I may be somewhat lacking here, and I'm wondering how essential this is. It's common knowledge that you have to be a professional asskisser to get into medicine, is it the same for optometry or are they more interested in your grades/test scores?
- Shadowing - I haven't done this yet. Again, how essential is this? I can understand needing to shadow for a couple days to make sure the profession is right for you before incurring loads of debt, and to get a good reference letter, but is it really necessary to have dozens and dozens of hours of shadowing experience (as some people seem to have)?
Also, I was wondering whether or not I would have a good chance of getting in. Is there still enough time to apply for the 2019 cycle and be competitive, or have I missed the boat? Some background information:
- Age: 26
- Canadian, but I'm applying to American schools as there is only one optometry school in Canada. Are there good scholarship opportunities available?
- Completed a B. Sc. honours degree in 2014, a M. Sc. in December 2018. Does it hurt me that I finished my degree a few years ago, and am taking some of the prerequisites after graduation?
- Academic average: ~91.6% (undergrad), 90.6% (grad). I'm not sure how this translates into that 4.0 scale. I took a full course load (five courses) every term throughout undergrad. My grades are as follows:
Undergrad:
90 - 100 (A+ based on CAS scale) - 24 one-term courses/63 credit units.
80 - 89 (A) - 9
70 - 79 (B) - 8
60 - 69 (C) - 0
50 - 59 (D) - 2
Range: 50 - 100%.
Grad:
90 - 100 - 4
80 - 89 - 1
Range: 83 - 95%.
- OAT: Haven't written yet (I worked full-time for the last two years and had a master's thesis to write).
- Volunteer work - I did weekly tutoring at my local high school for several years, and I regularly donate blood. I feel I may be somewhat lacking here, and I'm wondering how essential this is. It's common knowledge that you have to be a professional asskisser to get into medicine, is it the same for optometry or are they more interested in your grades/test scores?
- Shadowing - I haven't done this yet. Again, how essential is this? I can understand needing to shadow for a couple days to make sure the profession is right for you before incurring loads of debt, and to get a good reference letter, but is it really necessary to have dozens and dozens of hours of shadowing experience (as some people seem to have)?
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