Nov. to late for applying?

[dds4life]

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hi everybody. this is my first time applying to optometry schools and i was wondering if November is too late to apply to have a good chance for exceptance since most schools are on a rolling admissions. i'm waiting for my transcripts and recs before i send them out to the schools (targeting mid Nov.). I'm applying to ICO, SCCO, NECO, and Nova. also, can anyone tell me anything about these schools such as; acceptance rates.....easy or hard to get in? which schools are known for their didactics vs. clinical aspects? each schools OAT range? and any of these schools more williing to accept non-traditional students? sorry for the crapload of questions but yup, first time applicant. thanks in advance for your help and best of luck to all.

 

[a1bui]

Not TOO late. I got interviews at 5 schools when i applied in November. When u get invited, try to get early interview dates (my mistake).

For the schools you're applying to, I got:
ICO: Accepted (interviewed March)
NECO: Rejected (interviewed Feb.)
NOVA: Accepted (interviewed March)- attending
SCCO: didn't apply

Check www.opted.org for their profile sheets of GPA's and OAT's of their enrolled students. It changes every year so you can never tell. There is no "easy" school to get into...i know ppl with lower stats that got into schools that i didn't get into, and vice versa. In the end, just have average stats, a good interview (know your optometry stuff) and you'll be fine.

 

[msjang]

thanks dds4life for starting this topic 🙂

to a1bui:
I was wondering if you would mind answering some more ques. about the topic? I will be applying end of Nov. (mailing in my apps last week of Nov), and I was wondering if it is possible to get an interview date say late Jan. or early Feb? You mentioned that one should take the earliest interview date that the school offers you...I was wondering did the schools offer you interview dates in January, when you applied in Nov? Also, about when did you apply in Nov, if I may ask?

Thanks!!

 

[a1bui]

dds4life:

easy or hard to get in? : http://www.opted.org/profiles.pdf (should be updated soon)

which schools are known for their didactics vs. clinical aspects?: general rule (from what i've heard); private schools are more clinic based, public more researched based. Didactics are generally the same, though you can kinda tell which schools are better based on Part 1 (first time passing rate) for boards. You can do a search for those scores on the forum. NOVA had 89% 2 years ago, and 90% last year, so pretty good.

each schools OAT range? : http://www.opted.org/profiles.pdf

and any of these schools more williing to accept non-traditional students?: i don't know the policy for each school, you should ask each school individually. Most schools will accept you as long as you meet their requirements, very few even let you in w/o a B.A/B.S. degree.

msjang:

I got a couple interview invites in early december, so I did them mid-late december, during my winter break. Other schools took awhile longer for the invite, so i didn't get invited until january or februrary, in which case I interviewed according what was most convient for my lab classes/midterms. In some cases, I made the mistake of choosing to interview a few weeks and even over a month, from when i got the invite....don't do that, haha. Depending on the school, interview dates vary from invite date. Some schools had openings the following days and weeks. The latest i remember was a school that didn't have one open until 2 more weeks. All are relatively close from when they inform you.

 

[YokYee]

Hey everyone,

I am a first year at Northeastern right now and I think November is definitely NOT too late to apply. I applied in November and had an interview by December. Our school is pretty lenient about people who apply. They don't give away all the seats before December or whatever. I asked and they said they always save seats for the later applicants.

In addition, I think NSU is a great school to attend b/c we have alot of patient contact starting with our second semester of our first year. There are only 26 of us in the class so you receive alot of 1:1 help if you need it. Coming from a big undergrad university, I was amazed at how friendly and helpful everyone was.

Oh yeah, one final thing. Grades and OAT scores aren't everything. I was an average student but I did pretty well on my interview and here I am today! 😀

 

[pienfoo]

oh lucky you!!
i have an interview at NOVA in 16 hours and my mom and I got mild food poisoning from this asian place called "PAIWAI" (don't go there). it looked really good and clean too. dang it! i really want to go to NOVA because the school is so nice and everyone in it seems helpeful as well. okay i hope tomorrow goes well.

 

[tInAkRiS]

you'll do fine, if it makes you feel any better, my flight to ft. lauderdale was delayed and I was supposed to arrive there around 9 p.m. the night before my interview and I ended up rolling into our hotel at 5 a.m.!!! I was so tired and so nervous and I ended up waking up about 3 hours later because I was so nervous! They were very understanding of my situation and we joked about it in my interview. Hope you feel better, and don't worry about tomorrow!