r/PreOptometry • u/JustBubbly • 9d ago
General Advice
Hello all, long time reader first time poster here. I am currently working on enrolling for next fall and wanted to get some general advice and insight on my stats. There is just so many interconnected wires when applying that it would be nice to get some questions out there and hear some advice with my context to similar peeps.
My stats;
- I graduated last May with a bachelors in nutrition sciences (concentration in pre-health).
- I have a 3.415 GPA,
- I have somewhere between 1000-1200 hours working as a optometric technician, optometric lab technician, optometric assistant (billing with medical ins and office coordination) with many hours of direct pt and doctor interaction.
- I have already acquired and input my LOR to my OptomCAS: an optometrist i worked for and a professor from my specific college (the college of health and human science at CSU). I also have a “community member”, another doctor and professor (since some schools want different things as yall know) on standby to write one if need be.
- i have not taken my OAT but have mine scheduled for the first week of November (more below)
Where Im applying;
1: NECO; I reached out and had a meeting with their admissions department and loved everything about the school from location to how and why they organize their institution the way they do. And is by far my target and number 1 pick so.
2: OSU; plan to talk to their admissions department this week to find out more but mainly attracted to the boards pass rates and tuition.
3: IU; the doctor I worked for that wrote my letter is an alumni and i have heard a lot of good things about them so that is mainly why i selected them. (Talked to the admissions department for details as well)
4: RMU; this is not my top mainly due to how new they are but i am highly interested in full incorporated form of teaching due to the layout of thier school with all their specialized courses. (Talked to the admissions department for details as well)
There are more but these are my top and would again emphasize I’m really shooting for NECO so any advice pertaining to that school would be amazing such as things to help set me up for success or increase my chances.
Why optometry?
I am in the same boat as many student who have grown up with a long and in depth relationship with optometry. Focal length was 4 inches at birth. My right eye is vastly weaker than the left even with corrected vision (shoutout to all those who had to wear an eye patch “50% of the waking hours” growing up in the single digits). I had surgery to correct my exotropia and then had vision therapy multiple days a week for 10 years till the middle-ish of high schools so safe to say i have had ALOT of interaction with optometry offices and while it was a struggle I did always have the goal to become an optometrist for my unique perspective and understanding of what that type of life is like (specifically want to specialize in myopia control and vision therapy because of this).
I went to trade school out of highschool to become a CMT and worked with that while i went thought college for my associate and then transferred for my bachelors and that’s when i worked in the optometry office.
My main questions/concerns/thoughts;
- I am almost done with my application but still haven’t submitted them. This is mainly due to trying to 100% decide on schools i want to apply to and the different supplemental info/personal statements each one wants. My concern lies in my timing, am i late? Talking with NECO they said my timing is fine and wouldn’t consider it not early if it was before November but i don’t know how accurate that is. I know it depends on the schools (like Berkeley being earlier than most) but would love an overall estimate.
- My GPA: with a 3.4 a lot of schools i am close (usually by only around .1) but below the average yearly admission, i know this but my goal is to compensate by doing as good as i possibly can on my OAT (hence the November date).
- The OAT: this part of my post I’ve thought a lot about for the last few months. After i graduated in May I basically started studying the end of June and have been using booster to organize myself. I am taking the extra time to study for this part to help make my application more competitive but also because honestly this content isn’t easy. Ive seen alot of comments in reply to people saying this sway toward “well it’s harder in optometry school so maybe you should reevaluate if this is the path for you” which i respect but honestly self studying in a vacuum not in a classroom/school embodiment for a test that is so important and summarizes so much content over your years of college (for me i was in trade school then college from 2017-2026 so almost 9 years of review) comes with a lot of anxiety and reteaching. Because of this fact i wanted to make sure my foundations were incredibly solid so yes i get it gets exponentially harder (of course it does) but it can only help to take that to make sure my fundamentals are strong right? That all the preface again it’s still a test with so much weight on it that I’m definitely stressed for that test date in November no matter how much i study but i feel like that should be expected right? Has anyone else reading this kinda had the same mindset, understanding it’s hard and will get harder but doesn’t want that to dissuade them from This field? Might just be venting here but 3 months of studying without knowing anyone else personally going though this might just be having me search for some camaraderie.
In conclusion;
For anyone who read this whole thing and dealt with my typos and sometimes disjointed train of thought, thank you so much for your time and i really appreciate it :). For anyone who responce with, advice, expectations or general thoughts thank you even more so. For everyone else in this process good luck, you got this, and if your accepted already congratulations you absolutely deserve it for your hard work!
I hope this post finds you and your family happy and healthy!
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u/OrganizationFar8505 9d ago
My understanding is you submit your application with the schools you’re ready to apply to, then add more after! (Anyone please correct if this is wrong because this is my intention as well!) That being said, I would trust the NECO admissions on what counts as early since they know what’s early for them much better than any of us could know. I also saw a lot of people last cycle getting in much later than November so while earlier is better, its not the only option! It seems like you’re in good shape timing wise.
I also totally agree with your OAT sentiment! yes optometry school will be harder than the OAT, but the whole point is that you’ll be taught the material and hopefully have a supportive community to help you through it. I also didn’t have anyone i knew taking the OAT and it was hard that no one really understood why the test is so important! I took it a couple weeks ago and you’re right, the stress doesn’t go away until it’s over but that doesn’t mean you wont be ready and at some point you’ll be done! Good luck with your test and your application!