taking a break

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JelloSlapper

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10+ Year Member
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😍hello fellow p-opts.


I'm a newberz :laugh:

Anyways, I was wondering if my age or graduation would affect my admissions to any of the schools? Do they have a preference for recent graduates? I'm graduating this year, and I want to work about a year or so to raise some money before I start taking my OATs and applying to school. I can't really afford anything right now 🙁 cuz I'm broke as it is from the past 4 years lol And also, does working as an opt tech count as shadowing? I'm sure that I'll try to shadow some people but i was wondering if I should count that towards my hours. Thanks
 
Hi, I don't know if the schools have a preference for recent grads or not, but I have been out of school for 3 years now and was just accepted at 3 schools so I don't think you have to worry as long as you have the pre-reqs, GPA and OAT you should be fine. As far as shadowing I think it is pretty school specific. Some schools specify that they require a given number of hours UNPAID observation with an optometrist. Just check with the schools that you are interested in applying to. I worked as an assistant at an OD office for 2 years and also did some shadowing.

Good Luck!!
 
😍hello fellow p-opts.


I'm a newberz :laugh:

Anyways, I was wondering if my age or graduation would affect my admissions to any of the schools? Do they have a preference for recent graduates? I'm graduating this year, and I want to work about a year or so to raise some money before I start taking my OATs and applying to school. I can't really afford anything right now 🙁 cuz I'm broke as it is from the past 4 years lol And also, does working as an opt tech count as shadowing? I'm sure that I'll try to shadow some people but i was wondering if I should count that towards my hours. Thanks

I think it was advantageous for me to take a year off, it gave me more opt. experiences to talk about, and things that I have done to improve my application.

I think shadowing is very different than working, just because you are solely devoted to observation and asking questions about the procedures.