Although I didn't apply to any of the schools you're looking at, I applied and was accepted to SUNY and Pacific University and declined an interview at Berkeley. The interviews were pretty typical. My day at SUNY started with an impromptu essay - they gave me 20 minutes. I had no choice in topics. I was asked on how I would act if a patient came to me with a condition that I could treat but that would not be covered by the patient's insurance carrier if the patient was not a referral (I think this is common since O.D.'s are not considered physicians by carriers and their patients are often not covered by insurance). The interview consisted of a
panel of four people: 3 clinical optometrists and 1 academic/research guy. They asked standard questions about my reasons for choosing optometry and SUNY, my experiences that would make me a good optometrist, my good/bad attributes, etc. After that I sat around a while waiting as they interviewed three other people. Then the four of us got a tour of the facility - which has a great clinic and they have recently move to a newly remodeled building in an ideal location. Then we had lunch with some students and were told to feel free to spend as much time as we wanted at the school, attend some lectures/labs, etc. I was interviewed before I took the OAT but was accepted about one week after I got my OAT scores back.
I interviewed at Pacific during the Christmas break. I was invited to interview by phone which was a nice touch. The interview day began with an impromptu essay although this time there was a choice of four odd questions: they had nothing to do with optometry but if memory serves me two of the questions were something like "If you are from Portland, do you carry an umbrella in August" and the another was "Do you prefer to take public transportation or to drive yourself?" After the essay I was interviewed by two people - one was the woman who called me and invited me to interview (the director of Professional Programs at Pacific) and the other was a clinical professor. Much more relaxed than the SUNY interview even though they had prepared questions - a single sheet and they alternated between them asking questions. At the end of the interview I was asked to pick a sheet of paper at random from the table. There was a clinical situation on each and I had to describe how I would act. My situation was one in which I recommend to a child's parents that the child should enter a vision therapy program. The mother is acceptable to the idea but the father says "he's got no problem hitting in little league...he doesn't need any type of therapy." Since it was Christmas break and there were no students on campus, I did not get an official tour. The director that interviewed me gave me a short tour (a very nice small campus in a cute semi-rural Oregon town) as she was several months pregnant at the time. They did tell me I was free to walk around and see the facilities which seemed a bit old but still in good condition. I had an acceptance offer on my answering machine when I got home.
My only advice would be to be yourself, make lots of eye contact, smile, remember people's names, etc. Be sure you feel comfortable answering questions like "Why do you want to be an optometrist?", "What brought you to this decision", "What personal attributes will be helpful/detrimental in your educational pursuits", etc. Don't worry too much about the impromptu essays. They were never mentioned again. Good luck!!
[This message has been edited by mpp (edited April 02, 2001).]
