What to do after undergrad...

[nmu preopt]

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I am finishing up my second year of undergrad at Northern Michigan University. Ive heard of many different routes when going to OD school. For instance my grandpa only had to take 2 years of classes and they were paid for and through the military in the 40s. Some people take time off after undergrad to travel and learn about life outside the classroom while others go straight to OD school. What are some of the stories of people who have been through this stage already, and would you have taken the same route again?

thanks in advance,
nmu preopt

 

[al-majhul]

I am finishing up my second year of undergrad at Northern Michigan University. Ive heard of many different routes of going to OD school. For instance my grandpa only had to take 2 years of classes and they were paid for and through the military in the 40s. Some people take time off to travel and learn about life outside the classroom while others dont take any time off at all. What are some of the stories of people who have been through this stage already, and would you have taken the same route again?

thanks in advance,
nmu preopt

Wow, two years. Optometry has certainly changed a lot since then. I remember when I went to my interview (I believe it was at SCO), I noticed an old relic in a display case from one of the first graduating classes at SCO. I think that was in the 30's; it indicated that they indeed did finish within two years. Today is a different story. OD school is a full four years of rigorous training that's far more advanced than when your grandfather went to school.

I'm not really fully responding to your question here, just pointing out that today's programs are going to be vastly different from what a lot of older OD's may have experienced, in terms of what route they took. I think the standard route is to get your bachelors, make sure your pre-reqs are complete, take your OAT and apply; then go at it for four years straight. I don't even know if any program will let you take time off between years, that seems kind of odd. They may allow you two years between years two and three if you're doing a master's or PhD (in visual science, for example). Although I can't honestly comment on that because I haven't researched it.

 

[rpames]

I would suggest going for it right away...at most, take a year off. The longer you wait, the hard it is to get yourself to go back. I went straight in after finishing my BS and I can say that you won't get burnt-out from going right into it. I'm finishing my 2nd year now and in a few short weeks I will be a 3rd year and seeing patients! It is flying by.

The sooner you start, the sooner you finish!

 

[r_salis]

I would suggest going for it right away...at most, take a year off. The longer you wait, the hard it is to get yourself to go back. I went straight in after finishing my BS and I can say that you won't get burnt-out from going right into it. I'm finishing my 2nd year now and in a few short weeks I will be a 3rd year and seeing patients! It is flying by.

The sooner you start, the sooner you finish!

I'd just add that if you want to take a year off -- that is, if you have something cool/fun to do, like travelling or spending a year at the beach or whatever -- do it. You're only young once, and once you get out of OD school the amount of responsibility you're going to have is going to skyrocket. Otherwise, you might as well go straight through and finish up sooner.

It all depends on your individual circumstances, there's no "right" way to do it.

 

[Rosanna]

Hello:

I went straight into optometry school right after undergraduate. It was the right decision for me because I knew it would be difficult for me to go back to school if I stopped. I do have classmates that came to optometry school after working for a few years. The average age of our entering class is always around 24-25 years old. You have to decide what feels right for you. Since I knew I was going to start optometry school pretty much after I was done with undergraduate, I planned my schedule accordingly so I graduated in 3.5 years and took half a year off to enjoy myself. During the time, I just relaxed and took time for myself to get prepared for optometry school. Actually, I was getting pretty anxious and bored by the end of my break so that’s how I am. =)

Honestly, if I had to do it again, I probably would have tried to graduate in 3 years and took a full year off to travel. I planned my freshman year schedule a bit too easy and I always knew I could have pushed it a bit and graduated a bit earlier. A year would have been nice for me to actually go oversees and live there for a bit. I found that although my break for ½ year was nice, I had to stay in the US since Berkeley wait-listed me and I was waiting to hear back from them. 🙂

Best wishes,

Rosanna

P.S. Hey r_salis: That's a GREAT avatar. Where did you find it?

 

[r_salis]

P.S. Hey r_salis: That's a GREAT avatar. Where did you find it?

Thanks, Rosanna! I "borrowed" it from Pacific's Optometric Extension Program: http://www.opt.pacificu.edu/test/pulldown6/Clubs/OEP_WEBSITE/about_oep.htm . I was doing a google image search for "phoropter" (don't ask 😉 ), and it popped up as one of the matches.

 

[student121]

These are suggestions for those who have good chances for getting into opt school, but what about the ones that have bad GPA after undergrad? What is the best thing you should do? Repeat prereq courses? Go for a second major? Try to get a masters? Unfortunetely I'm in this situation and I was wondering if anybody know of applicants who had to reapply once, twice, or even three times to get in? What did they do after undergrad to improve on their chances of getting in the next year?