Is an MLS major worth an extra term?

[Krazyxazn]

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.Ok, here is my situation. I recently graduated from high school and I have decided on becoming an optometrist. My opportunities are limited to a certain extent. .
.I plan on going to Valencia Community College for my first two years of school. I’m a dual enrollment student there and already received my credit for Intro to Humanities and U.S. Government which I earned a “B” in both courses. I plan to transfer to the University of Central Florida afterwards..

.The thing is VCC only offers an A.A. in Biology. I wanted to major in Medical Laboratory Sciences at UCF. It could be a backup plan if I didn’t get into Optometry school. I noted all the pre-requisites to get into the MLS program at UCF and it seems like a lot. I hate how VCC is setup where they force you to take all these pre-requisites classes that you don’t really need. It’s already too late to apply to UCF and just start there, my fault for being a procrastinator. .

.The question is should I extend my stay at VCC and get in 3 extra courses that will quality me for my acceptance into UCF’s MLS program or should I stick with my A.A in Biology and get the dodge out of VCC after 2 years rather than staying one extra term to finish up those 3 extra classes. Then continue my transition to B.S. in Biology getting those 3 courses in my junior year which will also grant me into Optometry school..

.I plan on going to Nova Southeastern University for my Optometry school since it’s the nearest one and it’s also in Florida. From what I heard from my cousin, who just got accepted into Pharmacy school somewhere in California (didn’t ask where exactly), he knows a few people who go to or went to NSU and said it’s the best in the state so that’s good. He also told me that I should take Human ..Anatomy, Human Physiology, and Microbiology at UCF since it’s a better course there. VCC does offer those but it combines Human Anatomy and Physiology into one class which he said wasn’t enough. .

 

[daysend85]

The major you decide pretty much doesn't matter for optometry school. What you need to do soon, if optometry school is your main goal, is find out the pre-req courses that are needed to get into the Nova optometry program and then make sure you take them somehow. I am not very familiar with Nova's requirements, since I concentrated my searching to PCO. I graduated with a B.S. in biology, and it was relatively easy to pick up the required courses for PCO. PCO does not require human anatomy, and I did not take it. I didn't think Nova required anatomy either. However, I'm fairly certain all optometry schools require microbiology.

I think you should major in whatever you want to major in, it's as simple as that. Then, once you're in the major, make sure you take all of the pre-reqs. Those are what matters. Like I said earlier, I went the B.S. in biology route because I have an interest in biology. With this major, it was easy to pick up the required courses. My undergrad school called the MLS major, Clinical Laboratory Science. I would assume they are similar. I wouldn't recommend going that route because it dramatically limits your future. Why not just major in biology and then go into an area that interests you, if you don't get accepted in an optometry program? Biology is nice and broad and provides a lot of opportunities for your future. Unless you are 100% set on the MLS, I'd think about just going after the bio. I am not talking down the MLS program, I'm just saying that it sets up a lot of limitations. Only you can decide what you want for your future.