Required Degree

[Austin1]

I am in my fourth year of college and I am applying to an optometry college this comming august for the following year. I will have every requirment for optometry school and a bachelors degree but I do not wish to get a bachelors degree. I do not want to get a degree because I will receive a great deal of money from my native american tribe to pay for school if i dont get one. They will not pay for a great deal of my professional school if I get a degree. Don't ask me why, but that is how they work. Anyways, I talked to the admissions lady at this college and she told me that a bachelor's degree is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED and that I need to get one for prefrence even though I told her my situation. In their catalog they mention that if one has a minimum of 90 hrs that they are eligible for the bachelor degree of vision science which I wanted to get. She acted like I would not have prefrence if I did not abtain a bachelors degree. MY QUESTION IS: Do any of anyone's classmates not have a bachelors degree upon entering optometry school? Also, do all schools act like this? Any help would greatly be appreciated. THANK YOU

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[cpw]

at most schools a BA or BS is REQUIRED before matriculation. I don't think there are many schools in which there are exceptions.

 

[Eyegirl2k7]

I feel for your situation.

Unfortunately I can't provide you will any helpful information
(BA 2002).

Eyegirl

 

[Tyra]

Although my mom told me not to let this out (she's highly superstitious), there is hope for those who don't have a bachelors degree. I went on a tour at ICO in October and my guide was a 2nd year (very nice at that). I had just had the conversation with my mom that I was thinking about applying for early admission in October '03 for admission in the fall of '04 because I was going over the practice booklet for the OAT and realized I would have all the requirements at the end of the summer '03. Why shouldn't I then take the OAT in October '03 while everything was vivid and fresh in my head? Well when my guide asked when I was planning to apply, I responded in a doubtful way about applying for early admission even though I felt I had no chance (they could only say no, right?) because the catalog said although no degree is required, it is highly recommended. I then asked if she knew anyone that got in on early admit. She told me did!!! She was actually a Psychology major that hadn't even finished her prereqs! She took the OAT, interviewed and got accepted contingent on her finishing her prereqs by the start of Optometry college. I asked her why then out of 148 students did I only see that 6 students (in the entering class of 2001- which was her class) were accepted without a degree? She told me that not many people are brave enough to apply for early admission so go for it!! And I will....

 

[christie]

There are people in my class that don't have a bachelor's degree yet..they will receive it after they have completed one year of optometry school..those people are from certain schools that have a contract with PCO. Other than that, everyone else had a B.S. or a B.A. degree before matriculating.

 

[TPMOH]

At OSU, my class had about 5-10 student w/o a bachelor's degree out of 64.

 

[Eyegirl2k7]

I definetly know that applying as early as possible will only be to your advantage because of rolling admissions. Good luck!

 

[OD2BMike]

You will have completed all the requirements for a BS by the time you enter OD school so it seems that this is only a technical issue. I'm not sure about all the schools, but I know there are many OD schools, including my alma mater ico, that do not require a degree. If I were you I would make the admissions committee aware of your predicament; they know money is an issue for everyone. Also, what is your Ntive American tribe? One optometry school guarantees no tuition to Native Americans of a certain tribe (forget which one ), but I assume you would know about this if it applied to you. The only issue you might run into is that some schools will require you to earn a BS while in OD school. However, I don't think not having a BS or BA will be a big problem for 1st year admission. Good luck.

 

[Eyegirl2k7]

What about for licensing? Don't you have to have a BA and an OD in some states?

Just curious.

Eyegirl

 

[Austin1]

Thank you all for the advise. I do want to receive a B.A. after my first year, or after graduation from my optometry school. I really appreciate all of your responses.

 

[J.opt]

Few schools require a bachelors. It is recommended, but if you have enough hours to get one, they should have no problem letting you in.

I don?t know if you want to go to NSU, but I think they are trying to attract Native Americans to their program. However, due to their small class size, very few people get in without a degree.

You still have a good shot though.