importance of undergrad college?

[ndnutmeg]

I'm considering applying to optometry school for the fall of 2007, but my GPA is only 3.15. The university I'm attending is pretty competitive, especially in the science classes. Everyone is aiming to get into med school, and everything is graded on a curve...and I want to pull my hair out before every science test. I think that I could have gotten a higher GPA if I went to a less competitive school. Do optometry schools take that into account at all? Any info about this would be greatly appreciated! I just want to know if I would be wasting my time by applying. Thanks

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[eye2eye]

I'm considering applying to optometry school for the fall of 2007, but my GPA is only 3.15. The university I'm attending is pretty competitive, especially in the science classes. Everyone is aiming to get into med school, and everything is graded on a curve...and I want to pull my hair out before every science test. I think that I could have gotten a higher GPA if I went to a less competitive school. Do optometry schools take that into account at all? Any info about this would be greatly appreciated! I just want to know if I would be wasting my time by applying. Thanks

I think they really do take the undergrad univ. into consideration...atleast that is what I have heard from admin people.

but honestly this all depends on who is interviewing you and what those admition comminites views are on your school

I have heard an admin person say that he really likes people from community colleges who transfer to univ...because he was such a student and knows that those students had it hard and had to go through a lot and are mature, etc....and he sees that in them and appriciates it...but he also mentioned that his colleages didn't all agree.

so just like that example...i guess diff admin people could have diff opinions about your school. But OVERALL, if your univ. is well known and respected (like the UC's for example)...then you are going to be fine...and it will only help you! Hope that made sense...

 

[bizibee]

I'm considering applying to optometry school for the fall of 2007, but my GPA is only 3.15. The university I'm attending is pretty competitive, especially in the science classes. Everyone is aiming to get into med school, and everything is graded on a curve...and I want to pull my hair out before every science test. I think that I could have gotten a higher GPA if I went to a less competitive school. Do optometry schools take that into account at all? Any info about this would be greatly appreciated! I just want to know if I would be wasting my time by applying. Thanks

if you don't mind me asking, where did you go to college? cos my undergrad was tough, too. hehe.

like what eye2eye mentioned, it depends on who interviews you as well as where you're applying. most schools will accept community college grades, but schools like SUNY and NECO told me that they regard university grades highly compared to community college grades because of the toughness level of the classes i guess, and PCO said community college courses are fine with them. so you should call and ask the schools directly.

goodluck!

 

[ndnutmeg]

i go to notre dame, which isn't exactly the toughest school out there (i mean it's no ivy) but it's harder than average. i'm only applying to suny, which i know will be tough, but i know that i am probably going to end up in nyc after graduation. if i dont get in, i'll just reapply the next year. and if i dont get in then....well i guess i'll just pursue something else, haha. i'm trying to do everything i can to make up for my less than stellar grades...including studying like crazy for the oat. thank you for your help and advice!

if you don't mind me asking, where did you go to college? cos my undergrad was tough, too. hehe.

like what eye2eye mentioned, it depends on who interviews you as well as where you're applying. most schools will accept community college grades, but schools like SUNY and NECO told me that they regard university grades highly compared to community college grades because of the toughness level of the classes i guess, and PCO said community college courses are fine with them. so you should call and ask the schools directly.

goodluck!

 

[iiiimonica]

sorry for the bad spelling!

i learned this from an optometry school admit rep
each school has an academic index, which basically says how your school rates compared to others

the schools that are less challageing have a lower index

the oat is supposed to be the true indication of your apptitude (which hey i really disagree with!)

what usaully happens is students from "tough" school (w/o grade inflation) is that thier oat's match their gpa. so if you have an overall gpa of 3.3 you should excpect to see an oat of 330 (AA) or the oat's are way above the gpa (gpa 3.4 but oat 380, which i saw a lot from my Cal classmates)

suny - oh suny!

i applied to suny last year, i went to community college before transfering to UC Berkeley, long story short -the interviewer made me feel like i had little to no chances for acceptance because i came from a community college. i actually had to get a letter from a community college professor explaining that i came from a rigourous program. he was the only one, out of 6 schools that i interviewed, to ask for this. he also reccommened that i apply to less rigourous schools (then he listed a few)

i did get accepted to suny, but i joyfully declined the invatation

i go to notre dame, which isn't exactly the toughest school out there (i mean it's no ivy) but it's harder than average. i'm only applying to suny, which i know will be tough, but i know that i am probably going to end up in nyc after graduation. if i dont get in, i'll just reapply the next year. and if i dont get in then....well i guess i'll just pursue something else, haha. i'm trying to do everything i can to make up for my less than stellar grades...including studying like crazy for the oat. thank you for your help and advice!

 

[eye2eye]

iiiiimonica...can you please tell me just about what your GPA was at the CC and then at berkeley...i am trying to figure out why they would care about your CC classes...did you get a lower gpa at berkely?

I TOTALLY think that the bio classes at Community colleges are MUCH harder then at even UC's...becauae at my cc, everyone was working hard to get into UCLA, Berkeley, etc. and there was no curve...i dono...i guess it was just different, but FOR SURE NOT EASIER!

 

[CAOD_05]

Don't kid yourself. You're comparing a class that a bunch of college rejects are taking to a school where a majority of the class were valedictorian in HS. Dont demean yourself by trying to explain the quality of education between a CC and UC Berkeley or any other Universities.

iiiiimonica...can you please tell me just about what your GPA was at the CC and then at berkeley...i am trying to figure out why they would care about your CC classes...did you get a lower gpa at berkely?

I TOTALLY think that the bio classes at Community colleges are MUCH harder then at even UC's...becauae at my cc, everyone was working hard to get into UCLA, Berkeley, etc. and there was no curve...i dono...i guess it was just different, but FOR SURE NOT EASIER!

 

[prettygreeneyes]

Don't kid yourself. You're comparing a class that a bunch of college rejects are taking to a school where a majority of the class were valedictorian in HS. Dont demean yourself by trying to explain the quality of education between a CC and UC Berkeley or any other Universities.

Wow... college rejects... that's a pretty bold and incredibly stereotypical statement. There are many reasons that people choose to attend a community college over a university for a period of time, only some of which are academic.

 

[eye2eye]

Don't kid yourself. You're comparing a class that a bunch of college rejects are taking to a school where a majority of the class were valedictorian in HS. Dont demean yourself by trying to explain the quality of education between a CC and UC Berkeley or any other Universities.

obvioucly you have no idea what you are takling about and I am not going to waste my time defending what Community colleges with you.

just one thing...my 4 closest best friends at my CC all had above 4.3's in HS and transfered out of CC all with 4.0's (having completed calculus, Ochem, bio, gen chem...etc.) they had financial problems (along with the fact that they didnt want to move out of their parents house yet) that kept them from attending UC's after HS (and btw all 4 had gotten into UCLA among other universities)...so ya at CC you have students that are REALLY smart and especially in bio and chem courses, EVERYOEN is trying to get A's and transfer to UCLA, CAL, etc.

I understnad that many many smart students are in the UC bio courses as well...but those courses are also filled with freshman and sophmores that are just glad to be out of their parents houses and are partying and never studying and they bring the curve down (helps us A,B students).

oh god, I can go on forever...YOU CANNOT SIMPLY SAY THAT COURSES AT CC are easier!!! that is soooooooooo not true ...FOR SURE THAT WAS NOT TRUE AT THE CC I ATTENDED!!!!

 

[eye2eye]

obvioucly you have no idea what you are takling about and I am not going to waste my time defending what Community colleges with you.

just one thing...my 4 closest best friends at my CC all had above 4.3's in HS and transfered out of CC all with 4.0's (having completed calculus, Ochem, bio, gen chem...etc.) they had financial problems (along with the fact that they didnt want to move out of their parents house yet) that kept them from attending UC's after HS (and btw all 4 had gotten into UCLA among other universities)...so ya at CC you have students that are REALLY smart and especially in bio and chem courses, EVERYOEN is trying to get A's and transfer to UCLA, CAL, etc.

I understnad that many many smart students are in the UC bio courses as well...but those courses are also filled with freshman and sophmores that are just glad to be out of their parents houses and are partying and never studying and they bring the curve down (helps us A,B students).

oh god, I can go on forever...YOU CANNOT SIMPLY SAY THAT COURSES AT CC are easier!!! that is soooooooooo not true ...FOR SURE THAT WAS NOT TRUE AT THE CC I ATTENDED!!!!

I dont really like my reply to your posting...but I REALLY REALLY DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOU SAID IN YOUR POSTING

 

[still_confused]

a couple of my high school chums transfered to UCLA a year ago. they managed to get that priority transfer program, they feel that its a totally different ball game as thier 4.0's evaporated. and unfortunately i have to tutor them (and im not exactly the brightest guy)
i took a couple of GE and physiology courses at CC and i found them to much more managable then univeristy courses but i will not say they are full of college rejects, though plenty of them are (like my other chums who decided CC should take 3-4 years).

as far as those that party all day, they are still the tops of thier high school and take grades very seriously. nobody "never studies" because they will get a zero everytime. work hard party hard! partial credit are hard to come by and failing is very easy.
and the curve is brought down not because people dont study, but because the test ist damn hard. everyone in the class knows all the material, that is a given, the teacher knows that so they throw curve balls, page after page, once in a while we get a freebie like "explain theory x" or "derive this forumula" (but even those are tricky because we try to find the trick to that problem, existent or not, because we are not use to getting freebies!"


then again, a good friend of mine transfered to berkeley are from what i heard is setting the curve in each classs... also, many people i study with are transfers and they are some of the smartest people i know


there is antecdotal evidence supporting each side, but in the end, its th Opt schools decision to weigh each institution and since they weigh university more, we will just have to live with it

 

[KaBlamO]

iiiimonica... why do you say the oat is not a true indication of your aptitude? it's a STANDARDIZED test taken by every pre-optometry student, whereas GPA is relative only to the school and grading system of that school only. some schools have tougher exams than others.

i've taken classes and CC and i went to ucla. from my experience, cc is so much easier than ucla. i could study the night before and do well. heck, even uci is easier than ucla with 2hr finals instead of 3hr ones plus many of their exams are scantron whereas ucla are short answers which means there's no chance of guessing b/c it's obvious when you try to BS it.

also, the school that you went to does go into consideration during the application process, but there is no HANDICAP to re-calculate your gpa from as there is with med school. instead, it's more of an unwritten rule to take the undergrad school into consideration, but it's more about the NUMBERS.

anyhow, i've dealt with thick and thin to get to where i am now. 9 more months until rotations! woohooo!

good luck to you applicants!

 

[jltopt10]

I'm considering applying to optometry school for the fall of 2007, but my GPA is only 3.15. The university I'm attending is pretty competitive, especially in the science classes. Everyone is aiming to get into med school, and everything is graded on a curve...and I want to pull my hair out before every science test. I think that I could have gotten a higher GPA if I went to a less competitive school. Do optometry schools take that into account at all? Any info about this would be greatly appreciated! I just want to know if I would be wasting my time by applying. Thanks

I understand your situation completely. I went to a private school (2500 undergrad), with a 3.1 GPA. I studied a whole lot for the OAT and did really well. I applied to four opt schools, and was accepted at my first choice the day of my interview. I also got interview invites to all the schools I applied, but didn't go. Anyways, don't give up! Start studying for the OAT now, and I highly suggest Kaplan (my actual score was 90 pts higher than my 1st practice OAT). Also, be sure to put everything you did in your app, and remember to sell yourself! Have confidence and believe in yourself, and they'll see that. Best wishes!

 

[phuongle2]

Jltop10, you said your GPA is around 3.1, I have the same GPA too, so I was wondering what 4 schools you applied to, the school that you got accepted and the OAT score that you got? How did you study for the OAT? You said Kaplan is helpful, do you mean the Kaplan Oat review books are helpful, or the Kaplan OAT Prep Course is helpful? Thank u.

 

[iiiimonica]

iiiimonica... why do you say the oat is not a true indication of your aptitude? it's a STANDARDIZED test taken by every pre-optometry student, whereas GPA is relative only to the school and grading system of that school only. some schools have tougher exams than others.

sorry i wrote that wrong - oat is supposed to measure how well you do in optometry school (does it really do this? i don't know, but like the SAT, i'm sure it is more of an indication than an apptitude - one afternoon predicts 4 years?)
not every one is good at standardized tests, but does it mean they aren't really smart people who won't kick butt in optometry school, no! it justs means they aren't good at standardized tests

what i ment to say was the oat might try tp predict how well you will do in optometry school, it can't predict what kind of optometrist you will be. which is why we have to do personal statements, shadowing etc. your oat and gpa's are only parts of your application.

 

[jltopt10]

Jltop10, you said your GPA is around 3.1, I have the same GPA too, so I was wondering what 4 schools you applied to, the school that you got accepted and the OAT score that you got? How did you study for the OAT? You said Kaplan is helpful, do you mean the Kaplan Oat review books are helpful, or the Kaplan OAT Prep Course is helpful? Thank u.

I applied to PCO, ICO, NSU, and UHCO. I live in TX, which is my main reason for going to UHCO (it's cheaper!). I didn't go to the other interviews for this reason: I didn't want to be tempted to go somewhere else.

I studied for the OAT from the end of Aug until the begininng of Oct (3-4 hrs/day). I did the online Kaplan prep class. It's a toss up for which is more helpful, the books or the class. I needed the review books because I felt I was wasting my time reading chapter after chapter in my bio textbooks. The practice stuff helped me calm down, so I didn't freak out during the real test. My scores, AA: 370 and TS: 390. I highly recommend the online class because you have access to everything instantly. You can watch lessons as much as you want, rewind, fast forward, etc. Luxuries you don't have in a live classroom. The lessons are short: 5-15 min and usually include practice problem to solidify concepts. I thought it was worth every penny.

Hope that helps! Best wishes!