Any Advice on Whether Optometry School is an Option For Me Given That I Have an MCAT and No OAT???

[oldpremed38]

Hello everyone. I applied to medical school last cycle and was not successful in getting an acceptance (8 interviews with 5 rejections and 3 wait lists). I always have had a strong interest in optometry school and was wondering if anyone who is knowledgeable about applying to optometry school can give me an idea of whether I may have a chance of getting accepted given that I have an MCAT and no OAT. According to the following website Deadlines and Other Information | OptomCAS 15 of the 23 Optometry schools accept the MCAT. Does anyone know how receptive these schools are to accepting students who have an MCAT and no OAT? Will I have a chance of admittance if I shadow an optometrist? I have taken Anatomy and Physiology but not a pure Physiology course. I also have not taken Microbiology, however, I can take Microbiology and a Physiology course in the Fall. I have a lot of negatives like I am an older applicant and have old prerequisite classes and extracurriculars. Here is a summation of my stats/extracurriculars:

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, December 2009
Large State School
Overall GPA: 3.86
Science GPA: 4.0
MCAT: 504

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Volunteer at local hospital Same Day Surgery Department - 955 hours
Research Assistant at University Health Center Genetics Lab - 213 hours
Research Assistant for Poeciliine Gonopodium Length and Size Dependence of Mating Strategies Research Project - 1 semester
Research Assistant for Multi-Component Evaluation to Minimize the Spread of Aquatic Invasive Research Project - 2 summers
Research Assistant for The Asian red seaweed Grateloupia turuturu Research Project - 1 summer
Biology Tutor - 1 semester
Member of Premedical Society - 2 year
Volunteer at local Soup Kitchen - 2 years
Physician Shadowing - 20 hours

ACCOLADES/ACHIEVEMENTS
Capital Scholarship winner
Dean's List - 7 occasions
Honor's Note - Economics
New England Scholar - 3 occasions
National Merit Scholar Honor Club Member
Golden Key Honor Club Member
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Club Member
Excellence in Biology Award - 2007
CNA Nightingale Award
CNA Top Average Award

EMPLOYMENT
12/19-present Certified Nursing Assistant

Any input from anyone on whether I have a chance of getting into optometry school if I apply on June 30 and shadow an optometrist (and take Microbiology and Physiology in the Fall) given the above would be greatly appreciated!!!!

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[urheb]

I saw you applied and plan to apply med schools, PA schools, pharm schools, and optometry schools. Like what do you want???
If getting a Dr or somewhat equivalent title in healthcare field is your primary goal, don't come to optometry. It is the worst one compared to other primary care providers.
Go try med schools again - brush your interview skills. PA schools or dental schools are good also.

 

[oldpremed38]

I saw you applied and plan to apply med schools, PA schools, pharm schools, and optometry schools. Like what do you want???
If getting a Dr or somewhat equivalent title in healthcare field is your primary goal, don't come to optometry. It is the worst one compared to other primary care providers.
Go try med schools again - brush your interview skills. PA schools or dental schools are good also.

Thank you for your reply. I applied to medical school but was unsuccessful in getting accepted. One of the schools I applied to let me interview and accepted me into their pharmacy school. After I found out about the oversaturation of the pharmacy profession, I decided to withdraw my acceptance. I am now currently deciding what is the next direction for me to head in since medicine did not work out. I am very late for PA schools and it seems many PA schools have an expiration date on when the prerequisites can be taken (my prerequisites are very old). I feel that I would enjoy optometry and want any advice on if it is possible for me to gain entrance into an optometry school given that I have the MCAT instead of the OAT. If you are any one else has any insight on this, I would greatly appreciate it!!!!

 

[Loptometriste]

Yes, schools are starting to accept alternatives to the OAT. I highly enjoy being an optometrist.

Here is a link with all the schools and what they accept: Deadlines and Other Information | OptomCAS

 

[Optogal]

I don't know what specific school policies are but anyone who is "competitive" for med school is absolutely academically strong enough for optometry school. I would hope optom adcoms would recognize this (I'm sure they would).

My other thought here is, it's awfully late for you to be searching around - are you hoping for Sept 2021 admission? If so, I'd start making phone calls NOW. I'd say it doesn't hurt to try if you are truly motivated. Some optom schools are probably not filling their classes with the type of quality students they would like, so I'm sure you would more than adequately fit in. But you need to start getting on it TODAY.

 

[brockopto]

I saw you applied and plan to apply med schools, PA schools, pharm schools, and optometry schools. Like what do you want???
If getting a Dr or somewhat equivalent title in healthcare field is your primary goal, don't come to optometry. It is the worst one compared to other primary care providers.
Go try med schools again - brush your interview skills. PA schools or dental schools are good also.

" It is the worst one compared to other primary care providers".
-Go do your research buddy, pharmacy school is one the least competitive programs right now, with oversaturation in the profession and graduates not finding jobs with ****ty pay.
-PA school, you become an ASSISTANT, with lower pay than other professions.
-Podiatry school, unless you can work with feet, and have no other option, no one applies here!
OP best option after med school is Dental or Optometry as these two have the best growth rate currently!

 

[urheb]

" It is the worst one compared to other primary care providers".
-Go do your research buddy, pharmacy school is one the least competitive programs right now, with oversaturation in the profession and graduates not finding jobs with ****ty pay.
-PA school, you become an ASSISTANT, with lower pay than other professions.
-Podiatry school, unless you can work with feet, and have no other option, no one applies here!
OP best option after med school is Dental or Optometry as these two have the best growth rate currently!

- Do you consider pharmacist as primary care provider?
- PA as an assistant makes as much as optometrist with half tuition and time spent
- No need to make disrespectful comment on other career
- Optometry does not have the best growth rate. If anything, although not quite likely, optometry is the next pharmacy. You do research on market saturation, number of new schools, tuition and debt to income ratio, and acceptance rate. Pharm schools have like 85% acceptance rate, optometry schools have 75%, dental schools have 50%, and med schools about 35%.
- Optometry is still a good career IMO but only if you are truly interested in it, many confirm their interests after shadow multiple ODs. The OP didn't seem like it to me and that's why I told him not to pursue optometry as just a back up of med school.

 

[deleted989644]

- Do you consider pharmacist as primary care provider?
- PA as an assistant makes as much as optometrist with half tuition and time spent
- No need to make disrespectful comment on other career
- Optometry does not have the best growth rate. If anything, although not quite likely, optometry is the next pharmacy. You do research on market saturation, number of new schools, tuition and debt to income ratio, and acceptance rate. Pharm schools have like 85% acceptance rate, optometry schools have 75%, dental schools have 50%, and med schools about 35%.
- Optometry is still a good career IMO but only if you are truly interested in it, many confirm their interests after shadow multiple ODs. The OP didn't seem like it to me and that's why I told him not to pursue optometry as just a back up of med school.

I know my post is a bit off-topic, but would that mean school tiers and the networking in them would be more important to make a worthwhile career out of optometry?

...so more established institutions vs newer institutions a la law school?

 

[jluv]

Thank you for your reply. I applied to medical school but was unsuccessful in getting accepted. One of the schools I applied to let me interview and accepted me into their pharmacy school. After I found out about the oversaturation of the pharmacy profession, I decided to withdraw my acceptance. I am now currently deciding what is the next direction for me to head in since medicine did not work out. I am very late for PA schools and it seems many PA schools have an expiration date on when the prerequisites can be taken (my prerequisites are very old). I feel that I would enjoy optometry and want any advice on if it is possible for me to gain entrance into an optometry school given that I have the MCAT instead of the OAT. If you are any one else has any insight on this, I would greatly appreciate it!!!!

Go to DO school or Caribbean medical school.

 

[Whysoez]

Go to DO school or Caribbean medical school.

Caribbean med school is even worse than Pharm imo.