Pre-Med--->Pre-Optometry

Hello CC Members,

I talked to my pre-med counselor about the idea of switching from pre-med to pre-optometry and she said it was a good idea. I told her that I wanted to go into optometry because I wanted to have a respectable career and salary but sill be able to have a nice work-balance life. In addition, I wanted to have less stress at work and more time with family and friends when I am not at work. Being a doctor would mean having a higher salary than an optometrist, but it would also mean having a low work-life balance, working almost 24/7 (sometimes being on call for the weekends), and being more stressed about decisions that can possibly affect a patient’s life. I’ve heard bad things about optometry as well such as the idea of more retail jobs being open and less private practice opportunities. Will I be able to secure a job after graduating from optometry school without worrying about the trouble of finding a job? Is it good idea to make the move from Pre-Med to Pre-Optometry as a second semester sophomore? My gpa is currently around a 3.2 but I’m hoping I raise to a 3.4ish gpa by the end of senior year. Would I be better off applying to optometry school instead of medical school?

You’re going to have a tough time getting into medical school with a 3.4 GPA. If that’s the ceiling you are aiming for MD is essentially out of the question. I’d say the bigger question is do you want to deal with only the eyes? NP or PA are both respectable career/salaried positions with good work-life balance that are much closer to MD than OD.

Besides optometry, you should also consider podiatry. Your GPA is in range, but you’ll need to take the MCAT for DPM school admission.

See: [Podiatric Medicine](Podiatrist)

DPM requires 4 years of professional school plus a 3 year medical & surgical residency.

Basically podiatrists take care of everything from the ankle down nowadays. Many podiatrists run independent practices and their work-life balance is better than medicine.

Would my gpa be considered in range for optometry if I raise it to a high 3.4 by the end of senior year along with a 3.1 science gpa?

IMHO, I think your sGPA is kind on the low side, but if you do well in MCAT you still have a good chance. Study hard on it and try to get at least 525.

Sorry that For Optometry MCAT is not a replacement of OAT which is required.

Regarding OAT and GPA requirements for each school, you can find in the following link

http://www.oatbooks.com/oat-scores-for-optometry-schools

artloversplus would my curennt cGPA be on track for acceptance to a pre-optometry school as a second semester sophomore?

Can’t tell, but the average accepted Gpa is given by each school in the above link.