Pre-Optometry?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I couldn't find a pre-opt forum so I posted here since it was the closest thing. I apologize if it's in the wrong place!</p>

<p>I'm a high school junior interested in studying optometry in the future. I have a few questions for undergrad:</p>

<ol>
<li>I've seen schools with 7 year optometry programs, but if I didn't want to go to any of the colleges offering that, could I just study 3 years at another college and apply even without finishing a degree? Or would it be very difficult to finish all my required classes within 3 years?</li>
</ol>

<p>2
a. Does the university I choose for undergrad matter that much? How should I look for one? I've been looking for universities with good biology programs, but I'm not completely sure what I'm doing.. Of course, I'm looking for a one that fits me well, but will optometry schools factor that in greatly as long as it's a decent school? </p>

<p>b. I'm scared that if I choose a school that's not rigorous enough, I will die in opt school but if I choose one too hard, I will have so much trouble getting a good gpa/getting into the opt school :/ How will I know how to choose one just right?</p>

<ol>
<li><p>This may be a little off topic, but during my undergrad studies, is there any short training classes (like bartending for example) that would get me a better job than minimum wage? Because I am planning to do work-study and it would be nice to get something related to what I'm studying and/or a more decent salary (even if it's only a little more than minimum!). What I'm basically asking is if there's better jobs for people </p></li>
<li><p>Before all this, I wanted to be a music major. I was wondering if continuing being involved with music during college would help at all with optometry school? I heard apply to optometry school is similar to applying from hs to college; they look at everything you've done with internships/shadowing, ECs, volunteer work. Is this all true?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Wow, I'm sorry the questions are so long :-(
I thank you so much if you can help at all!</p>

2

<p>Unfortunately, I’m not all that familiar with the optometry process. Maybe someone else here is, but you should also check the SDN pre-optometry forum:
[Pre-Optometry</a> | Student Doctor Network](<a href=“Pre-Optometry | Student Doctor Network”>Pre-Optometry | Student Doctor Network)</p>

3

<ol>
<li>Most, if not all, optometry colleges will require a bachelor’s degree. You need to finish your undergraduate degree. </li>
<li>For Southern California College of Optometry, and most likely other colleges as well - it does matter. These optometry schools want to report that they have “__ number of students from UCLA.” It looks good for them. Also, they are also aware that some universities have lower average GPA’s so if the university you get your bachelor’s degree from is known to be difficult, they will take that into account and cut you some slack. </li>
<li>Any undergraduate school you do choose will have an amazing list of work-study jobs. Work-study jobs are THE BEST. You can do research at a lab, work at the school’s medical hospital (if they have one) among other great jobs and get paid 10+/hour. Your school might also have a student health center that has an optometry center. Most of these jobs are only open to work-study students so take advantage of these opportunities. </li>
<li>Optometry is different than other professional studies like for example, law in that they weigh heavily your extra curricular involvement. HOWEVER, THEY WON’T LOOK AT THIS UNTIL YOU PASS THE ACADEMIC ROUND OF ADMISSIONS WHICH IS ALMOST ALL NUMBERS (PRE-REQUISITE GPA + OAT SCORE). The interview process comes after you pass the academic round and you won’t stand a chance in the interview process if you have no shadowing experience or extra curricular activities. </li>
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<p>I’ve done a fair share of research for pre-optometry (I’ll be applying to optometry school next year) so message me if you have any questions!</p>