New pre-optometry student

[Narb1120]

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Hey guys! I am totally new to this forum and have heard great things about the help students receive from its members. I just graduated UCLA with a degree in psychobiology. My overall gpa was a 3.4 and my overall science GPA is a 3.27.

I left the school with hopes of getting into the medical field but after one rotation in the emergency ward as a volunteer further enforced my choice of not diving into the wrong field. It took me a lot of time and research to finally decide what area of healthcare is right for me (dental, pharmacy, PA, etc.) and I think I have finally decided on optometry.

What tips can you give me?

I am current resident of southern california ...
Any insight on a good optometrist to shadow?

What study material would you suggest for the OAT?

I have a bunch of Princeton Review books from my sisters MCAT test. Is that good enough?

Any other insight???

As you can tell I stay up late nights trying to figure all this stuff out but it would be nice to get help from students who have been involved in the field longer then me 🙂

Thank you in advance!!

 

[mrfunnyman]

Hellooo and welcome to the forum

A good way to start shadowing is to start with your own optometrist, most likely they'll be happy to help.

when you decide to shadow different optometrists, make sure to try out the various settings and in different demographics. (commercial, private, VA, group, etc etc) This will help see if this is really what you want and give you an idea where you would like to work.

Do you mind telling me what exactly was it that helped you choose optometry over all the other fields? just curious.

 

[Narb1120]

Thank you for the advice!

Well it took some extensive research within all of the fields. Regarding medicine, my sister is a 4th year medical student in new york and she gives me "inside information" as to what medical school actually entails. I love medicine and the art of performing it but these days medical school has just become a lottery and student that are overly qualified and determined are being turned down for no apparent reason. And plus I did not want to move all around the states to receive my education. My close friend is in his 2nd year in dental school at UOP and also gives me information. I actually enjoyed his tour and his description of what dental school requires. I made my decision soley due to dealing with patients mouths my entire life. I couldnt see my self pursuing something like that (personal). Pharmacy is a very dull profession, again in my oppinion. I dont think going to school for 4 years and "handing out" medication is something i would find interesting, especially considering the length of the program and the extensive studying that pharmacy school requires.

I believe that the eyes are amazing organs. Just the thought of someone not being able to use them to their full potential is upseting. Considering i wanted to be in healthcare more then anything, it seemed like the perfect fit.


I really hope this helps, considering most of the thoughts are my personal oppinions 🙂

 

[oceanblue392]

Hi! welcome to the forum!

I agree, shadowing your own optometrist is where to start. Then them if your optometrist has connections to other optometrists in the area. Try to shadow optometrists in different settings (commercial-ei walmart or lenscrafters, group practice, VA, etc) and different specialties (pediatrics, low vision, geriatrics, disease).

You can check out the OAT forum regarding people's opinions on the various study material, but I studied solely off of the Kaplan material-I took the class the first time i took it, but didnt think it helped too much. Second time I took it, I studied solely off the books, and it seemed to be okay (got a 350 first time, 370 second time). Where in SoCal are you? I'm in orange county, but run around LA quite often. I can sell you all my kaplan stuff.

As far as choices of optometry schools, you have 3 to choose from in California alone, so you stand a good chance of not having to travel across the country. Theres UC Berkeley, SCCO in Fullerton, and a new school in Pomona - Western University. Based just on your grades, you stand a good chance at both Berkeley and SCCO. You'd just need to gain experience shadowing and/or working in an office. Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions.

Its a bit late this year to try applying. Berkeley finished accepting apps (they are not rolling), but SCCO is rolling and still taking apps - I think their deadline to take the OAT is late Feb (I think), so it might not be too late for SCCO.

To be honest, with your stats I wouldn't consider Western. It seems to be a last resort since it is a brand new school with many unknowns. You have the grades to get accepted pretty much anywhere, just do well on the OAT.

 

[zyg0te]

Hi! welcome to the forum!

I agree, shadowing your own optometrist is where to start. Then them if your optometrist has connections to other optometrists in the area. Try to shadow optometrists in different settings (commercial-ei walmart or lenscrafters, group practice, VA, etc) and different specialties (pediatrics, low vision, geriatrics, disease).

You can check out the OAT forum regarding people's opinions on the various study material, but I studied solely off of the Kaplan material-I took the class the first time i took it, but didnt think it helped too much. Second time I took it, I studied solely off the books, and it seemed to be okay (got a 350 first time, 370 second time). Where in SoCal are you? I'm in orange county, but run around LA quite often. I can sell you all my kaplan stuff.

As far as choices of optometry schools, you have 3 to choose from in California alone, so you stand a good chance of not having to travel across the country. Theres UC Berkeley, SCCO in Fullerton, and a new school in Pomona - Western University. Based just on your grades, you stand a good chance at both Berkeley and SCCO. You'd just need to gain experience shadowing and/or working in an office. Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions.

Its a bit late this year to try applying. Berkeley finished accepting apps (they are not rolling), but SCCO is rolling and still taking apps - I think their deadline to take the OAT is late Feb (I think), so it might not be too late for SCCO.

To be honest, with your stats I wouldn't consider Western. It seems to be a last resort since it is a brand new school with many unknowns. You have the grades to get accepted pretty much anywhere, just do well on the OAT.

Just to clarify, you have the grades where you wont be automatically turned away anywhere. However, your grades are really the average of the entering classes. You need to do above average on the OAT and gain some experience.

 

[blysssful]

Just to clarify, you have the grades where you wont be automatically turned away anywhere. However, your grades are really the average of the entering classes. You need to do above average on the OAT and gain some experience.

I agree here. If you want to be considered a serious applicant, your experience in the field is crucial... you shouldn't just rely on your average GPA or pending test score. Before you further consider this field, start shadowing optometrists ASAP. After all, you wouldn't want to waste your time & money going into a field you know little to nothing about, right?

Also, if you want to stay in the southern California area, SCCO would be your best bet. Check out the SCCO pre-optometry group on Facebook. Dr. Munroe gives some great advice from the perspective of an admissions director. Good luck & welcome to the forums!

 

[Narb1120]

Thank you so much for the advice! And I am right on top of the shadowing business. I got in touch with my optometrist and he agreed to take me in.

And as for schools...Would you consider Western U or Berkeley??

Thanks!!!

 

[blysssful]

Thank you so much for the advice! And I am right on top of the shadowing business. I got in touch with my optometrist and he agreed to take me in.

And as for schools...Would you consider Western U or Berkeley??

Thanks!!!

Berkeley, absolutely. Western, no. There are tons of threads about Western if you're curious why.

 

[zyg0te]

Thank you so much for the advice! And I am right on top of the shadowing business. I got in touch with my optometrist and he agreed to take me in.

And as for schools...Would you consider Western U or Berkeley??

Thanks!!!

Congrats on the first step! Once you get your first shadowing experience, everything else starts falling in to place. Really.

Berkeley, yes.
WU, keep an open mind.
The school has a pretty bad image on here, and it makes it hard to filter out what info to keep or disregard.

Since you're from SoCal, call them to schedule an tour/orientation. They will throw you their sales pitch (which is really good in my opinion). That way you can compare all the pros they give you, with all the cons the posters of SDN love to share.

Also when you shadow, ask the OD what they think of the new program too. I found of the ODs I ask, just about as many are exited about the school as there are against it. Get their prospective, digest it, and draw your own conclusions.

 

[Oogilily]

And to answer your question about OAT study material, I used the Princeton Review MCAT books to study for the OAT and I found them to be great. I wish I would have gotten them a lot sooner. But, you should be just fine using those to study. Just make sure you overlap all of the topics. Just google OAT test or something and you will find the site that has all of the potential topics.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

You should also check if your school has a Pre-Optometry Club, thats probably a good way to start getting to know others who are applying and find out more info that you might not come across here.