Career Change into Optometry Acceptance Chances

[S6M7H5]

Hey Y'all, so I'll try to keep this concise and short to make it easier to understand. I always knew I wanted to go into Optometry ever since I was little. In high school I got close to 50 hours of shadowing in Optometry and loved every second. At college I did 1.5 years of Pre-Opto prereqs such as Bio 1 & Bio 2, Chem 1, MicroBio, and Stats (Got B's in all of them (I usually did bad on finals which brought me down from an A to a B)). Before I was able to finish my parents forced me to change my major to Engineering (Paying for everything at the time so I guess they thought they should be able to pick what I study) and I am close to graduating now with an Engineering degree but having some experience I know this is not my future path. I am right around a 3.25 overall gpa but I believe my science gpa is low because of all the advanced math and physics classes (prob around 2.6ish if I had to guess). My engineering major is Cybersecurity which is very similar to Computer Science. I know I will still have to take the remaining classes Chem 2, O chem 1&2, & Biochem as well as the OAT which I hope to get at least a 350 on. I do plan on applying to every school if that's what's needed for me to get accepted. I am in my mid-twenties if anyone is wondering.

1. What are my chances of getting accepted? will my different background help me at all?
2. Will my old pre-req credits still count? I think it's been a little over 5-6 years for some.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[pnw256]

Unless you're literally dying to do optometry, I wouldn't switch. I would do anything to go back in time and major in CS/do a CS bootcamp. While I think optometry is awesome and a fulfilling career, the pros - to me - are nowhere close to outweighing the cons. With CS you're talking about a much much better quality of life at all stages of your career, less workload, more flexibility, etc. I could go on and on

 

[S6M7H5]

Unless you're literally dying to do optometry, I wouldn't switch. I would do anything to go back in time and major in CS/do a CS bootcamp. While I think optometry is awesome and a fulfilling career, the pros - to me - are nowhere close to outweighing the cons. With CS you're talking about a much much better quality of life at all stages of your career, less workload, more flexibility, etc. I could go on and on

Understandable, I was planning on doing a master's in CS and then a PhD in either Information tech or Artificial intelligence if optometry school didnt work out. But I've met many people in CS and even though they are making 200k+ they keep saying the stress is too much or the job is just staring at a computer screen for hours daily. I don't know if that's 100% true but it sounds like a miserable time. i know not everyone is like that so I'm trying to find people who genuinely enjoy their job and ask what it's like. Most the people i do ask however are above there 40s which could be why they are so negative. thanks for your input though its much appreciated!!!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

The different background may help. It would help you to reach out to admissions officers at a few of the schools with your questions on the age of your prereq coursework and whether you need to retake them. But I agree, if you aren't passionate about optometry, get the CS stuff done with first. At least bank some money so you can spend it if you wind up going to optometry school.