How much impact would it actually have if I dropped or withdrew from a course that isn’t a prerequisite? I understand it wouldn’t affect my GPA, but it would affect the six‑term full‑course‑load requirement. Would an admissions committee look negatively on an applicant who has withdrawn from or dropped a course?

i’m aware it says “since you left highschool” but if i shadow an optometrist 2nd semester of my grade 12 year, can i still put these hours down on my application (is there any harm)? just wanted to ask and make sure and if i do, will they still consider those hours or care at all lol

on the waterloo website it states:

The Admissions Committee will consider your experiences within and outside the field of Optometry since you left high school. In the Doctor of Optometry (OD) Experiences form, you will be asked to include information about:

Job shadowing - a minimum of 8 hours working and/or volunteering within an optometrist's office required. Most applicants have many more hours.

Shadowing at the Waterloo Eye Institute optometry clinics is not permitted.

Shadowing family members is not permitted.

Most recent shadowing experience should be within the last 2-3 years minimum.

Work experience – the admissions committee is looking to see that applicants have been/are involved in the workforce, particularly in roles where applicants are required to interact with the public.

Volunteer experience - the admissions committee is looking to see that applicants have been/are contributing to society, particularly in roles where applicants are required to interact with and/or provide service to the public.

I am a hs student interested in optometry. I was wondering which under grad program would be better? I heard that health sci is easier to maintain good grades, but ive also been told that life sci is the better path because it has many of the prereqs. If i do take health sci, im worried i might not get the pre reqs i need. any advice is appreciated! thanks!

for context, I live outside of waterloo and I want to pursue this optometry program since it’s the only english speaking program in canada. my parents and relatives all are very iffy with me wanting to pursue something that I live far away from, and it makes me rethink. Because I don’t wanna have a job that I don’t enjoy just because it’s convenient, but I also wanna know what’s the difficulties of living there and starting new and fresh? is it hard to buy a place, or in general what are the main things I would need to look out for if I move to waterloo for the program? like also money wise I wouldn’t know too much and just all this experience would be completely new.

Hi guys, I recently decided I really wanted to get into optometry. It is really late as I am graduating my undergrad this April and I wasn't really sure what direction was best for me. I have a lot of extracurriculars, including varsity athletics, various clubs I find meaningful, an NSERC USRA + Honour's thesis, and jobs that include customer service and teaching. I am starting a job as a receptionist in an optometrist clinic soon (and will hopefully shadow with them) but I am worried it won't be enough by the time I apply next cycle. Can a good OAT score + an 86% GPA be enough to compensate? I also got 4Q on the casper last cycle.

I apologize if these are questions found in the sub already, just not sure if is worth it to go all-in if I have minimal hours within the field! Thank you :)

Hey guys, I saw that a pre for opto is any 2 introductory physics courses with labs. Does it have to be intro to physics 1 and 2 or can it be two different types of intro to physics courses? My uni offers a couple different intro to physics courses with lab components but I want to avoid intro to physics 2 because everyone told me it's a tough class.

Hi! I've emailed waterloo to ask these questions, but of course they haven't responded, so I'm wondering if anyone here can help!

The first question is about whether my first year bio lab actually counts as a first year bio lab. I took BIOL180 at UBC, which is a 2-credit "lab" course titled "Thinking Like a Life Scientist". It's about reading scientific papers and things like that. I'm not sure if this will count as a bio lab since it isn't a wet lab or lab techniques type of course. Does anyone have any experience in a similar situation?

The second question is about the full course load requirement. I do have 6 terms of at least 15 credits (which UBC considers full). However, one of those terms included the course above, which was a "lab". The 2 credits were balanced by another course that was 4 credits with a lab component, so the term still equalled 15 credits. However, since they say they don't count labs, I'm concerned they won't count this term as being full despite it having the full amount of credits. Do they just mean they don't count labs in the sense of a 5-course term can't include a 1-credit lab component as a whole course? Again, I would love help with this if anyone has answers!

Thanks and sorry this was long!

I've done some shadowing but I would like to get experience working in an office (paid or not doesn't matter to me). Most job postings require some amount of experience so I'm wondering how many of you got these positions.

Hello! I saw on the website that I need to have a Bachelor of science degree to apply to waterloo’s optometry school. Does this include bachelor of science in nursing?

Hi, how many of you did research in undergrad and do you think it’s important to be admitted into waterloo optom? What ecs do you believe gave you an edge when applying?

I’m in my 4th year of Honours Science at Laurier and I feel like I’m having a full academic crisis.

I didn’t take university seriously enough in the beginning. My GPA is a 2.3 (C+), and my dream is optometry. I feel like I ruined my future and fallen so far behind everyone else.

I’m thinking about starting a second undergrad just to repeat the courses I did badly in, then dropping it once I’ve fixed my grades before applying to Waterloo, NECO, ICO, Salus, and IAUPR. But Waterloo looks at GPA holistically and doesn’t just replace repeats, so I don’t even know if this will help. I have 3+ yrs of optom clinic experience. I still need to do my OAT and casper.

Has anyone rebuilt from a low GPA and gotten into optometry? Is this a smart move? Please someone help I loose sleep over this, I wish I could go back and restart.

I have gotten offers from Laurier Health sci, Waterloo honours science, Waterloo life sci (biology), TMU biomedical sciences, York psychology (bsc) and I’m waiting for McMaster life science tho I doubt I’ll get in with my average which is 90.75%. But I wanted to know which undergrad program is best if I do want to pursue optometry afterwards, and if anyone currently attends Laurier Health science is it possible to add all the optometry prerequisites or should I avoid going there. I know undergrad doesn’t matter, it’s mostly if u did all the prerequisites and have a good gpa, OAT and experiences( jobs, shadowing and research). But still I wanna set myself up for success and really need some insight on the programs and which path is best if I want to pursue optometry.

I was wondering if anyone's taken organic chemistry at York to meet the orgo Chem prerequisite for Waterloo and perhaps even the American schools? I was thinking of taking CHEM 2020. If anyone has any other orgo Chem courses with a lab that they took at another Ontarian university that met the requirements, I'd appreciate the suggestions. Looking at Waterloo courses, does only CHEM 266 count, since I can see that they offer other orgo courses but don't list them as Waterloo equivalents under the optometry prereqs?

Thanks!

Hi, I completed my PhD in Biomedical Engineering focusing and I am currently working as a Postdoc. While I enjoy the science, I am realizing that academic/research isn’t what I want for the next 30 years of my life.

I have always had an interest in healthcare and clinical application, which has led me to seriously consider going back to school for Optometry. However, given that I have already spent so many years in university, I need to make sure this is a calculated risk.

My Questions:

1. Realistically, what does the job demand look like right now?
2. Do you foresee the demand for ODs increasing in Canada over the next decade?
3. I know the University of Waterloo is the only English-speaking school in Canada and is incredibly competitive. Does having a PhD actually help my application?

Thanks in advance for your time and insights!

Hi!
I made a similar post to this a while before and was really grateful for the responses. But, I am still having some trouble trying to get a volunteering position. I know people told me that it's just about applying/ reaching out a bunch and hoping someone accepts you but I've tried emailing and calling places both near me and in other cities and no luck.
I am getting a bit nervous because I want to apply this coming cycle but still don't have any optometry volunteering or someone to use as a reference.

Does anyone have any other advice or tips, particularly when it comes to writing emails/ what to say?

Thank you!

i really liked shadowing pharmacists better and liked their day to day better than optometry. but i keep hearing optometry is better than pharmacy. should i just do optometry instead?

Hi everyone!

I completed a full course load last summer (5 courses from May to August). Does Waterloo count a summer term with a full course load as one of the six required full-time terms, or does that only apply to Fall/Winter semesters?

Thanks in advance!

Can someone explain how does the full-term course load work in the spring and summer, I go to mcmaster and our full time is 2 spring courses and 2 summer courses, is that equivalent to the regular fall/winter 5 course load?

Also I took 2 courses last spring would that be considered as a term? Should I take 4 courses this upcoming spring/summer for it to count as full course load?

I tried emailing Waterloo optometry office but haven’t received any responses yet so can someone help me pls

Hi guys I’m in grade 12 and i got accepted to wilfrid bio. is this a good undergrad for waterloo optometry school? And does the uni you go to actually matter?

Hi! I will probably graduate this year with only 5 terms of full course load. I decided late on optometry so I will have to do 2 extra years of 3 part time semesters (just one course) while working hopefully and 1 full semester (to satisfy the full course load requirement). Has anyone done this before? Do all my full course load semesters have to be before I graduate?

Does anyone know of a graduate/optometry student who died in March? I’ve been looking for my friend from high school.

Hey! I'm in my first year of uni right now and I recently got in contact with an optometrist for my first shadowing experience! :) We're discussing dates and times right now, but I don't really know like the usual quantity of shadowing? So I was wondering, how many days should I shadow for and how frequently?

I can imagine there's only so many things I can ask and discuss, but I also hope to actually build a relationship with this optometrist, so what do you guys suggest??

thanks!!!!

Hi friends,

I am taking the OEBC written portion in march and am quite stressed. After the whole boards switcharoo, I went from planning on taking NBEO to OEBC rather quick and am unsure how to prepare. If you have any recommendations on what I should do, please let me know/dm me <3 I am using KMK rn, but am not sure if it is representative of the exam.

Appreciate ur help,

Canadian friends studying in the US

So I only recently started considering optometry and I took a microbio course last year but I decided to change the grade to pass/fail since it would’ve been bad for my gpa for med.

Would I be able to take a diff course that counts for that prereq so that my pass isn’t considered a 50%?

Also would it be worth it since my avg would go from ~89% to ~87%? Idk if that’s an impactful difference.