What should I do?

[jjl123]

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I am in a dilemma. And I am also panicking.
I am currently a junior in a top 20 undergrad school.
My GPA is currently a 3.0 and my science GPA is a 2.8. I am on my second semester, so my GPA is expected to rise a little, but obviously not too much. I will be taking the OAT in september, and I'm motivated to do very very well because my GPA is so low!!
My top two choices for optometry school are SUNY and ICO.

I have two questions.

1.
First, when should I apply? I am planning on retaking a class this summer, taking the OAT in september, then applying in September, but I noticed that the GPA's are constantly rising in all schools, so I'm thinking that maybe it'll be better to take more classes, raise my GPA (but it won't go up too much) and apply in December/January.
So, lower GPA in September, or higher GPA in January?

2.
I have lots of extracurricular activities. When I mean lots, OH I MEAN LOTS. I helped find the optometry school my freshman year, I've shadowed two doctors, I've held Presidents and Vice Presidents and Treasurer positions in 3 extracurricular activities, received a summer grant, interned in a chemical company, went abroad for an optometry-related clinic volunteering, TA for enriched elementary students, etc. But once again, my GPA is low......
Do I have a chance with ICO and SUNY? How can I strengthen my application?

3. (I lied, I have 3 questions)
How much to optometry schools look at the difficulty of the undergraduate institution? My school is known for difficult science courses, and I was wondering if optometry schools even knew or looked into it.

 

[optgirl1121]

Hey jjl123 I was pretty much in the same boat as you. My undergrad institution was also known for hard science classes and so my gpa was pretty much similar to yours. During the summer after my junior year I took a summer class (Microbio) and I also took a kaplan OAT course. I worked very hard over the summer and focused on studying and took my OAT for the first time in september. I scored really well on the OATs so I was pleased with that. Even though I finished my OATs in september, I did not send in my application till mid january. I wanted to spend my fall semester raising my grades and I also needed letters of reccomendations so I waited till after fall semester. Once I sent in my applications, I received interviews to all the schools I applied to (ICO was one of them) and was accepted to all of them as well. So basically what I am trying to say is yes you still have a chance of getting in with a low gpa as long as you do well on the OATS and have extracurriculars and shadowing experience, which you clearly do. Don't stress out too much you should be fine. Just make sure you do really well on your OATS and try to apply as early as possible just to be on the safe side. I know I waited till january but I was pretty confident due to my OAT scores.

 

[Rain Clouds]

1. Taking classes probably won't raise your GPA much, really at this point you're trying to just keep your GPA from dropping any more. With that in mind, only take the classes you really need. Then use your time to focus on getting as much experience in optometry you can. Not just to boost your application, but to help you learn some things that will help you out during optometry school. I'd just apply early as possible in your case. Just get yourself into consideration as soon as you can.

2. According to the ICO report here...
http://www.ico.edu/images/stories/2012_Entering_Class_Profile.pdf
About 25% of the class got in with undergrad GPAs under 3.19. Some questions for you are: Can you explain why your GPA is relatively low? Have you been on a trend of improvement? What do you plan to change about your studies that will help you succeed in optometry school? I guarantee you they will ask this at the interview. You have a chance, you just have to work at it.

3. Remember, everyone went to top notch undergrads, you're not competing for spots against people who only have Associate degrees from community colleges. You're competing against all of the other best optometry candidates in the country. Not only that, but optometry coursework is even more grueling and overwhelming than any of your undergraduate coursework. If you can barely keep up at 3.0 at your undergrad, that is a pretty good indicator of how well you will do in optometry school, unless you can make a pretty good case for how the way you study has changed.

 

[KHE]

1) You should apply as early as possible. That applies to everyone.

2) You should stop worrying so much about extracurriculars. Those are all fine and dandy but your GPA and your OAT are the major factors in your admission. Work on those rather than trying to do more extra curriculars or getting a job in some optometry office. You obviously have enough exposure to the field. I disagree with the person who said try to get a job in the field. Take hard courses and do the best you possibly can. Even if your overall GPA doesn't rise significantly, a whole batch of As in your final year will mean something if you can pair it with a high OAT score.

3) Naturally the calibre of your undergraduate instituiton matters. I disagree again with the person who says that everyone graduates from a top notch undergraduate. That is simply not so. Obviously a 3.2 from an Ivy League school will be looked on more favorably than a 3.4 from Southest Arkansas State.

For you though, you're not going to change your school. You are where you are. Just do as well as you possibly can, espeically in the final semester of this year and the first semester of next year.

 

[Tonometry]

Hey,

1) Apply early as possible, dont count on raising your GPA and then applying as you dont know for certain if your GPA will go up or down and if it does, it wont be by much. Do well on your OAT make it better than ICO's Average. Its a great thing that GPA is on the rise, However theres still room for lowbies (I'm one of them).

If your school is top notch then you should be well prepared for the OAT itself, I received a C- at my university for organic chemistry but somehow on my OAT I received the 90th percentile, so either I studied amazingly on my OAT (No.) or my school suppppper competitive in organic chemistry (Yes.)

2) Dont worry much about your extra curricular anymore. Everyone has extra circular and I honestly think as long as you have enough to show that you are interested in Optometry then your good.

3) For my interview, the Dean actually told me that they do look at what University ppl go to... ICO is an old school, they have records of people from all sorts of university and they know the type of grades those people from those university apply with. They compare those applicant with their previous students who have came from those university and see how successful they are.

The university you go to, does matter. If your school has a medical+dental+vet program and/or research university and and your taking the biology courses, then they really judge your school higher than others.

Apply early

 

[Rain Clouds]

Work on those rather than trying to do more extra curriculars or getting a job in some optometry office. You obviously have enough exposure to the field. I disagree with the person who said try to get a job in the field. Take hard courses and do the best you possibly can. Even if your overall GPA doesn't rise significantly, a whole batch of As in your final year will mean something if you can pair it with a high OAT score.

GPA + OAT is a more important factor in admissions, yes, but my real point is that admissions isn't everything.

OP: Remember, after admissions, you're gonna be an optometry student, not an optometry applicant anymore. Getting exposure in the field and learning optometry things before you get here, will give you a bit of an edge while you're in optometry school, it might make the difference between floundering in your optometry coursework and doing okay. And I don't mean just working at an office to have a job scheduling appointments and making coffee, but actually making an effort to learn about topics in optometry. Again, with a GPA floating right 2.9-3.0, you don't really want to keep that trend going through your graduate studies. Give yourself a bump with some experience if you even have the inkling that you might struggle while at school. I don't know you, so I don't know how much you already know, obviously, it could be the case that you know everything you can learn at the moment, in which case it would be a useless exercise. But whatever you think will help.


And yes, I may have been exaggerating in saying that everyone graduates from a top-notch college, but I honestly think the main delusions that applicants have is that they're somehow competing against people that don't have the qualifications they do. There are far more qualified optometry school applicants than there are spots in each class, so gauge yourself realistically, an Ivy League education isn't going to be the kicker that gets you in, and I'm sure Ivy League applicants are rejected all the time. An Ivy League 3.0 might beat a 4.0 from a rural non-science college, but that might bump your application to being on the top 300 list instead of the top 900. You're qualified, you're just not the only one who is qualified. There are only 2 people out of my class of 160 that came from a "Top 20" school, and I doubt it's because only 2 people applied and accepted. I do think you can get in, maybe even easily, with your stats, but just remember, make no assumptions.