Letters of Recommendation with OptomCAS?

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HaengWoon

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Hey there! I'm planning on applying to optometry schools for the entering class of 2012 and while browsing through the Optom site, I saw a bulletin on the main page stating: "Application data from previous OptomCAS applications are not carried over to the current application cycle. You must submit a new web-based application including all new required documents." My only problem with this is that I am shadowing optometrists now and am not sure how long I will be staying with one optometrist as I want to get the most experience possible. I want to ask for letters of recommendation but I feel like they would want to do a letter of recommendation right away while I'm fresh on their mind. OptomCAS requires that the recommenders send the letters directly from themselves, and not through an undergrad institution's service so am I supposed to wait until next July to ask for a letter of recommendation? I read the FAQ on the website concerning this matter but I don't think that they addressed it. Any help or experience with this situation would be greatly appreciated!

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Well right now there is an online application where they can just copy and paste their letter. So if you want them to write one now, you can ask them too, have them save it and then use it for next year. If you think they may probably forget/postpone writing it, you should just ask them next year. I don't think they will forget who you are.
Try explaining the situation to them and see what they say.
 
I was in a similar situation. If your school has a letter service (for example mine has a Health Professions Office that holds all letters of rec for health professional school applications), you can ask them to hold the letter. Then ask if they will send a hard copy of the letter back to your optometrist so he/she can copy and paste it into the OptomCAS website when you apply next year. This is what I had to do because my optometrist did not have the letter he wrote for me a year ago. Luckily, my Health Professions Office was understanding and sent it back to him so that he could submit the letter for me.
 
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