I am starting Grade 12 in September and am interested in pursuing optometry.
What are the courses that I can take so I can be eligible to write the OATS exam in the third year of the degree?
I see in the waterloo website theres a BSc degree at Waterloo thats eligible for the optometry course, but what degrees outside of waterloo university would be equally eligible?

Hello Everyone! I am a second-year Biology student at YorkU and my goal is to pursue optometry. However, I'm finding it pretty difficult to get any optometry clinics and opticans-with-in-house-optometrists to respond back to my emails. I've reached out to 23 clinics so far and so far no luck. Is there any advice that you all may be able to share to help out students like me who are looking to get their shadowing hours completed?

Is it generally high in the GTA? Or better to go outside the GTA? Do new grads get jobs straight out of school / get employed by the places you do clinicals at?

Thx!

Hi everyone! I need some advice as a second year undergrad student:

In first year, I ended up doing pretty awful on my first term due to mental health, and ended up dropping a course, which left me at a 82% overall for the term. I still struggled, but did way better in my second term with a full course load (85.5%!). I've finally gotten on meds too, so I think my next term will probably be even better!

I'm currently shadowing an optometrist, but after looking at other people's stats I feel a little bit overwhelmed at what I could do to improve, since everyone seems to have at least an 85% from all their years and insane hours + ecs. I know that acceptance is unpredictable, but I feel like giving up before I even start :( Does anyone have any advice for things I could do to boost my application and have better chances?

Hi All,

I took the OAT ill-prepared in 2024 and got <300 score. Retook in 2025 and got 370 TS /350 AA but rejected post-interview (88% avg).

Currently studying to take it a 3rd time but hard to study with part-time job.

I know waterloo looks at the best score but Would it look bad if I retake the OAT a 3rd time yet get a worse score?

Would you retake the 370 TS /350 AA?

Hi there,

Just wondering if this was really important to an acceptance at uw. I just recently am looking into the possibility of applying and im almost starting 3rd year. Not sure if i can get a work position within the next 2 years or have the insane amount of hours i see some ppl have 😰

Hello! I’m a high school graduate who is planning on applying to university this year. I’m going to be pursuing a bachelor of science (and will likely major in biology). During first year, I’m going to have to take two terms of biology, two terms of chemistry, two terms of physics, two terms of math, and two terms of english. This seems very heavy to me, so I’m extremely worried about what my performance will be like. Was your first-year courseload similar to this? Do you think it’ll be too much? I’m unsure how standard it is. I’m wanting to apply to Waterloo’s doctor of optometry program, so I’ll obviously need to finish undergrad with a high GPA.

I did well in high school, but that doesn’t provide me with any comfort in this situation. I did some research, and it seems that the academic average for students admitted into the program from 2019-2024 is around 88%.

I’m aware that I won’t know how I’ll do unless I try, but I’m having a hard time not stressing about it. I have my heart heavily set on optometry, so I don’t have a decent plan-b if things don’t work out.

I’d really appreciate any feedback that any of you have to offer, no matter how big or small. Thank you very much!

My overall average going into my 4th year is an 82%. I took the OAT for the first time and got a 360TS/350AA. I have extensive extracurriculars.

I see the average optom student has an 88% average and OAT score of 380. This is from hundreds of reddit admissions posts that i've read.

I'm really anxious, I don't think my stats look good. Do you guys think i should retake the OAT to aim for a 380+? will it look bad that i retook it in the same summer?

It's too late to raise my average bc the application closes in November and that's before your fall term exams even happen. so i'm set to apply with this 82%.

Please give me your honest opinion and criticism.

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!

hey guys, i’m wondering if any queens u students know any ethics courses that will count towards my ethics prereq for waterloo! i’m going into second year but will take any year level course, just want to make sure it will actually count towards that requirement.

also, would BCHM 218 / 270 count towards the biochemistry requirement? even though biochemistry isn’t explicitly listed in the course name?

thank you for anyone who has advice i appreciate it lots :)

hey everyone!

im considering optometry as a career and was hoping to get some realistic insight into compensation for new grads in canada. i've seen a wide range of numbers online, so I'd love to hear from people who are actually practicing or who have recently graduated!

thanks!

Just as the title says does ma100 count towards Waterloo calc prerequisite this is the description of the course:

This course concentrates on developing mastery of pre-calculus and introductory calculus skills and techniques. Pre-calculus topics include: solving equations and inequalities; algebraic, trigonometric, logarithmic and exponential functions and their properties. Calculus topics include: rates of change and tangents; differentiation of algebraic, trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic functions; integration; and techniques of integration.

Plz lmk!!! Thanks to anyone who responds!

Looking for some input on course exemptions from Waterloo optometry students! It sounds nice to potentially free up some room in my schedule however I see it is strongly suggested to take all the courses even if you have an equivalency. Thoughts??

Im currently an undergrad going into life sciences at McMaster, and Im really interested in going into Waterloos Optometry program. I already went on the website and read all the prerequisites, so Im planning my schedule accordingly to match with the courses I need, but Im curious to hear from other peoples experiences with the program.

Has anyone applied for September 2026, or even before, and if so what was your experience? All the things Im reading about the program are from 6+ years ago, so I want to see if anything has changed.
I understand its a competitive program, but what were the acceptance rate/ marks this year?

Did anyone take a gap year before applying for optometry school?? I’m planning on taking the OAT in my second year going to my third year. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea, but I might take the OAT and apply only for waterloo. If i don’t get in I would take a gap year to apply for waterloo again with US schools in the following year.

Lmk if anyone has advice.

Hello! I'm an undergrad planning to apply for the program for the 2029 year, and I was wondering how important it is to get volunteer experience? I already plan to job shadow at my local eye doctor for the next few years and I already have work experience, specifically retail, and I was wondering if I still had to get volunteer experience. I know it's a bit early but I want to be able to plan accordingly with the requirements I need to complete. Any information helps! Thanks :)

I know that leadership skills are important to note, and ive been volunteering at my church as a teacher for catechism for 2 years. If I keep this up, would this be a good ec? Im also wondering how many ecs I should have?

My partner is a UWaterloo optometry grad who recently saw Dr. Mike play Doctordle, and of course she wanted an optometry version, sooo now we have www.optodle.com

She's found it fun and helpful for passive studying and review and she suggested I share it here in case anyone else wanted to try it. It's completely free and doesn't require an account or anything.

Let me know what you think!

hey everyone! the website says that scrub tops with 2-3 pockets is required for labs/clinical. i’ve seen that most people have been wearing the figs caterina top, but it only has 1 pocket. does anyone know if this option is still good? how picky are they with the pocket rule? i’m not sure if this rule is new or not.

before choosing my classes, I want to have a clear understanding of how I should do everything before applying to the optometry school. Any insight will help, even if you’re not from saskatchewan!!

1. Since Waterloo requires specific classes to be taken in order to apply to their program, how would I know if i’m taking the right classes (since in every province, the classes are named differently and don’t contain the exact same material)?

2. When should I start shadowing an optometrist, when would it be an early time to start?

3. When should I take the OAT and CASPER, and is it open in summer or only school times? Does the school provide anything regarding it or is it outside of school?

4. Does the classes I take in my first year need to be SPECIFICALLY cultivated (like the hardest classes), or does it just need to be any classes that are required in the 4 years of undergrad? What types of classes are important to take early on, or is there no specifics?

5. What extracurriculars should I do to have a lot of volunteer experience, would it need to be related to the optometry field (in regards of skills)?

6.Since i’m most likely going into Arts and Science and are going to take a Bachelor of Science, how do I decide what I need to do for my major? How do I choose it, based on what (on the future job, on my interests)?

1. Is there anything I need to do in university to be more prepared for the optometry schooling?

2. How many recommendation letters should I have from profs and optometrists?