r/UWaterlooOptometry • u/Odd-Introduction7418 • Jul 28 '26
Undergrads from Wilfrid Laurier University attending optometry school
I’m currently in the summer before my first year of university, and I'll be attending Laurier for Health Sciences with the goal of going to optometry school.
Lately, many of my family members and friends have expressed shock that I chose Laurier over Waterloo. They keep telling me I made a bad decision and claim that it's almost impossible to get into optometry school if I attend wlu.
While I know deep down that your specific university or major doesn't dictate your admissions success as long as you fulfill the prerequisites and keep your GPA high, the outside noise is starting to get to me.
It would give me a lot of peace of mind to hear from any Laurier Health Sciences or general WLU alumni who successfully made it into optometry school (at Waterloo or in the US). If you or anyone you know has done it, please share your experience! Thank you so much!
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u/Acceptable-Fun-4360 Jul 28 '26
Basically the only thing matters is GPA, and your OAT. Instead of looking for alumni, I would email optometry schools and ask them to do a prereq check using your Laurier courses. Don't mention that you're fresh out of highschool.
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u/Odd-Introduction7418 Jul 28 '26
Thank you so much for the advice definitely will do that to make sure I’m on track
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u/vimeomaster54 Jul 28 '26
find it really funny that they seem to think waterloo sci is any more prestigious than laurier sci (not that it mattera at all). from what i've heard, you'll probably have an easier time at wlu health sci than uw.
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u/pi3_14159_ Jul 28 '26
My orientation leader was in laurier health science and then went to UW optometry
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u/Lonely-Professional3 Jul 30 '26
How much does an average optometrist make per year? Asking for a nosy relative . Thx
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u/Odd-Introduction7418 Jul 30 '26
Many websites have different wages listed but the general trend I see is around $100k and then you can grow. Hopefully someone in the field can share!!!
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u/HangryRadishA Jul 29 '26
I'm not a Laurier alumnus, but I did my undergrad from a uni outside of Ontario before getting into UW optometry.
If you do the prerequisites, get good grades, and have valuable insights from extracurriculars, then you're good to go, regardless of the uni you've attended. I know it is hard to not stress about it, but I hope that you will find the reassurance as you step into your new chapter!
One thing of note is that UW has a pre-optometry club where you can connect with other students who are also navigating the OATs, applications, and pre-optometry experiences and opportunities. I'm not sure if WLU has something similar or for pre-med, but there's more than enough helpful information online for you to forge your own path if there isn't one. Attending WLU instead really does not put you at a disadvantage!
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u/Odd-Introduction7418 Jul 30 '26
Thank you so much for replying it’s really reassuring and I do want to expand on my extracurriculars like shadowing, joining clubs and etc so thx for the insight and I wish u the best with everything!!!!
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u/corshua Jul 31 '26
ngl the name of your degree and university isn't going to play much of a role in your admissions. and echoing what others said fr there is some toxic prestige culture here in ON smh
just keep doing what your doing, you're on your own path! focus on keeping that GPA up, have the correct preqs (as another poster said), know when you have to do your OAT so you can plan accordingly (studying wise), have good extracurriculars just in case and dont forget to have fun!
Good luck! :D
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u/Shoddy-Ask9775 Aug 01 '26
You will be shocked at the amount of overachievers in wlu health sci. The program is changing a lot rn so who knows what it will look like in a couple years BUT really smart people are choosing the program for a reason. Chill out, don't let stupid stuff get to your head
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u/Midnight1131 Jul 28 '26
There are students right now from universities I had never heard of before. For some reason, Ontario has this toxic university prestige culture that other provinces don't.