Low Amount of Shadowing Hours

[katie22]

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I am a biology major with a chemistry minor and these are my stats:

Overall GPA: 3.77
Science GPA: 3.67
OAT: 330 TS/ 340 AA

With the application cycle for 2016 approaching quickly, I wanted to get some opinions from you guys. I'm worried because I only have about 20 hours worth of shadowing 2 different doctors. I have plenty of extra curricular activities/volunteer work, but I'm not sure if my low amount of hours of optometry shadowing will keep me from receiving an interview/acceptance. Any opinions are greatly appreciated!

 

[Futureeyedocgirl]

I am a biology major with a chemistry minor and these are my stats:

Overall GPA: 3.77
Science GPA: 3.67
OAT: 330 TS/ 340 AA

With the application cycle for 2016 approaching quickly, I wanted to get some opinions from you guys. I'm worried because I only have about 20 hours worth of shadowing 2 different doctors. I have plenty of extra curricular activities/volunteer work, but I'm not sure if my low amount of hours of optometry shadowing will keep me from receiving an interview/acceptance. Any opinions are greatly appreciated!

It's not about the amount of hours you do but what you take away from shadowing a certain doctor. Try to get another doctor in (schools usually like when students shadow at least 3 different modalities of optometry like pediatric, low vision, glaucoma/cataract specialists etc..) and in your application and/or interview speak about what you learned or what stood out the most from each of the 3 doctors.

 

[whymisha]

You really won't have a problem with these stats. I would even say you don't need to shadow any more, as long as you can speak about what you got out of your shadowing. I had very similar stats and shadowing hours to you and no one asked me for the number of how many hours I shadowed, but instead asked about my experiences.

 

[Mark2K8]

Your stats are great. I'd say 20 hours is the minimum personally, but like others said, it is the experience that you got out of it that matters (and what will be asked on your interview). Honestly for me, after shadowing over 10 hours it all got very repetitive / didn't see anything new.

 

[caitlinfollansbee]

From what schools have told me, the minimum is a minimum for a reason..it's average, and you don't want to be just average. Your stats are incredible, but they also want to see that you've spent time in the field and won't get to school and realize it's not a god fit for you. A school told me that they had a student with a 3.7 GPA, 350 OAT and 15 shadowing hours and she wasn't going to be high on the list like that. He explained it like her GPA was an "A" her OAT was a "B+" or an "A," and her shadowing was a "D." Now, it's not like that at every school but I would definitely make an effort to shadow some more. I can't explain how beneficial it's been to work in an OD office. I've learned so much of just the day-to-day grind vs just shadowing in exam lanes. You've got time to add more to your app, so I'd reach out and see what else you could find. Super impressed by your stats though! Way to go!

 

[Meeehai]

Your stats are great. I'd say 20 hours is the minimum personally, but like others said, it is the experience that you got out of it that matters (and what will be asked on your interview). Honestly for me, after shadowing over 10 hours it all got very repetitive / didn't see anything new.

This. If anything I would say it's more valuable to shadow a higher number of different people rather than try to hit an hour minimum, even if you only shadow each doctor for a few hours. That way, you can more easily talk about your shadowing experience. With that being said, you still have some time before applying.

 

[roush137]

Do you have any other optometry related ECs? Most schools don't even have a minimum or it's like 10 hours. I only officially shadowed 2 doctors, but I worked as a tech and did other things like preopt club and went on some optometry related trips. It's about showing an interest in the field, not racking up tons of hours. With your stats I would say you have nothing to worry about!!!