OptomCAS Experience Descriptions

[wavelength360]

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Hi guys!

For the section in OptomCAS where we have to enter our extracurricular activities, shadowing, etc. and provide a brief description about each one and the max. of characters is 1500, should I try to use close to that number of characters? Because I can write it either way. What is your guys' opinions on this? Do schools want to see me write a lot about it or describe it in a few sentences? Especially for shadowing, it's not like I can talk about what cases I saw because it is confidential. What should I be writing about in those description box for shadowing. Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[paasnaas]

I think the average I used was around 800-900 characters. I don't think it should be a matter of using 'all' the characters. I don't think it should be too short either. Open up about your experiences. I tried to explain what I observed, what I learned, and how that experience enhanced my desire to become an optometrist.

 

[wavelength360]

This doesn't have to be in essay form right? Like does it have to be insightful as a personal statement? I think I'm thinking too hard about this. It's probably suppose to be easier than I think it is lol

 

[paasnaas]

This doesn't have to be in essay form right? Like does it have to be insightful as a personal statement? I think I'm thinking too hard about this. It's probably suppose to be easier than I think it is lol

I don't think so. I just wrote one paragraph for every experience I wrote. I did not treat it like a personal statement. I tried to be short, concise and to the point. You don't want to have to waste the admission committee's time. But you should treat your supplemental application like a personal statement because on supplemental apps you need to convince schools why you want to go there and why are a good fit for their program.

Hope this helps

 

[wavelength360]

Thank you for sharing your opinions 🙂

 

[Loptometriste]

I wrote mine like a resume description. When it came to characters, I used the max on my optometric work experience. For my job as a sales associate at American Eagle when I was a freshman/sophomore in college, I used 175. I also highlighted my really interesting volunteer experiences with mid-range descriptions, about 400 characters.

 

[AdamT]

I did mine in bullet form it was very short but to the point