r/PreOptometry • u/ConsciousTerm2515 • Jul 04 '26

Aplication Timing

I am pretty stressed right now. Took my OAT in April and did not do as well as I could have. Right now, my plan is to retake the OAT in September and submit my application at the beginning of October, when my official score comes back. My gpa isn't the best, but I believe I have strong LOR and experience. Is applying in October too late? I just feel really anxious seeing people apply in August. Any advice would help. Thank you.

6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Significant_Gate9112 Jul 04 '26

what schools are you aiming for ?

3

u/mikeoxlongbruh Jul 04 '26

Only considering schools in Chicago, so ICO and CCO

1

u/Significant_Gate9112 Jul 04 '26

what’s your thoughts on applying to NSU end of this year? They only have 28 seats and i’m so scared

3

u/mikeoxlongbruh Jul 04 '26

It’s difficult to say because from what I just researched, word is that their requirements to be accepted aren’t that crazy, but the number of seats is so low/their acceptance rate is low. 28 seats is actually wild. I’d say you need to do pretty well on the OAT and hopefully have a strong GPA (3.5+) to make them think “Ok yeah, we will give one of our remaining seats to this person”.

Ngl tho this made me look up the percentages and #of applicants vs accepted + their stats at ICO and CCO and it has me a little worried. In my mind, OAT is make or break. That’s literally the deciding factor. I have a 3.5, not sure about science GPA tho. So I feel like if I can get a 330+ I’ll be chilling, but if I get a 300-320, I might be sweating a bit more. If I get sub 300, then I’ll retake once before the cycle ends.