non-traditional applicant

[lightbulb92]

Hello to all SDN members interested in school of optometry. This is my first post and I am going to be non-traditional applicant with couple of questions on which directions I should take going forward.

To briefly introduce my self, I graduated with a biology major and attended international medical school. I withdrew from the program in the middle of my second year and have returned to states. I am currently working towards applying to optometry school. I understand that it is important to expand on the reasons to why I withdrew from the program and want to become an optometrist on my PS. I learned many things in harder and expensive way and I am here. I have some shadowing hours from a optometrist and plan to continually shadowing. I hope to shadow another optometrist soon. I have been volunteering at a non-profit community shelter for a long time ever since I graduated college, during the breaks while in medical school and since I left the program. I have few EC on my resume but most of them are outdated since many of my ECs were done during college.

Here are some of my questions:

1) I have 3.0 cGPA and 3.1 Science GPA. I have not taken biochem, statistics, human anatomy/physiology. Although I have taken these courses at med school, I know it is not possible to have these credits accepted for pre-requisites since I have not finished the program. I am trying to decide if I should take these three courses at a university near my residence while preparing for the OAT or if I should consider postbac program that will suffice these course requirements and help with my GPA.

2) I have done research on postbac programs on aamc website. However, are there postbac programs that pre-opt students prefer? if so may I ask for your suggestion?


Thank you so much for reading and thank you in advance for any suggestions !!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[OcularMigraine]

I would just take the 3 courses you need near your residence (and any other classes the specific programs you are interested in requires). Your GPA is not the strongest, but with a strong OAT, experience in the field, and motivation you will get into a program. I think post bacc would be unnecessary and expensive for you on top of the expenses you currently have. Continue to get experience in the field and studying for the OAT for the strongest score!

Best of luck.

 

[lightbulb92]

I would just take the 3 courses you need near your residence (and any other classes the specific programs you are interested in requires). Your GPA is not the strongest, but with a strong OAT, experience in the field, and motivation you will get into a program. I think post bacc would be unnecessary and expensive for you on top of the expenses you currently have. Continue to get experience in the field and studying for the OAT for the strongest score!

Best of luck.

Thank you for the reply! It is true that I have spent a lot of money on school already, but I am worried that my GPA will not be at a safe place even after the courses taken at a near by institution. In addition, I have taken ENL (english literature course for second language students) courses to compensate my English literature requirements during my undergrad. Do you know if schools will accept these for english requirements?

 

[OcularMigraine]

Thank you for the reply! It is true that I have spent a lot of money on school already, but I am worried that my GPA will not be at a safe place even after the courses taken at a near by institution. In addition, I have taken ENL (english literature course for second language students) courses to compensate my English literature requirements during my undergrad. Do you know if schools will accept these for english requirements?

Are there specific schools you are interested in? The "safe place" will depend a lot on the school's average applicant so I would do your research on specific programs so you know the GPA/OAT range you should aim for. A lot of students have made it in this forum with low GPA's and high OATs and I wouldn't consider your GPA even low. I'm not too familiar with the ENL requirements, so it would be better to contact specific schools to see if they are accepted!

 

[lightbulb92]

Are there specific schools you are interested in? The "safe place" will depend a lot on the school's average applicant so I would do your research on specific programs so you know the GPA/OAT range you should aim for. A lot of students have made it in this forum with low GPA's and high OATs and I wouldn't consider your GPA even low. I'm not too familiar with the ENL requirements, so it would be better to contact specific schools to see if they are accepted!

Thanks again for the reply. This is the source I am looking at = OAT Scores for Optometry Schools

looks like average GPA can range from 3.2 - 3.6 ish. This does mean that people with lower GPA has been accepted but I certainly think my GPA of 3.1 and 3.0 is on the low side. If I may, are you an applicant or in college?

 

[OcularMigraine]

Thanks again for the reply. This is the source I am looking at = OAT Scores for Optometry Schools

looks like average GPA can range from 3.2 - 3.6 ish. This does mean that people with lower GPA has been accepted but I certainly think my GPA of 3.1 and 3.0 is on the low side. If I may, are you an applicant or in college?

You can balance out your GPA by scoring high on the OAT. I applied this cycle and just finished interviews and gotten acceptances

 

[lightbulb92]

Congrats! and thanks for all your replies !

You can balance out your GPA by scoring high on the OAT. I applied this cycle and just finished interviews and gotten acceptances

I am still trying to decide if I should go for a short post bac or just take classes independently since post bac will give me various support when it comes to time for applications.

 

[a.zan]

Hi! I am on the same boat as you. I graduated on a not so much high GPA from a foreign university. I mostly got Bs and Cs when my grade was evaluated through WES. I also am missing some prereqs- no calculus, some other classes of mine are not sure would fit the criteria of american chemistry class and some units like biostatistics only converted into 2.5 us semester hours, so i’m pretty much missing 13credit hours. On top of that I just discovered optometry recently having been out of school for 3 years and working full time as a hospital lab scientist. I’m preparing for my OAT now and and hopefully get my heavy credits like the sciences at a state university while i’m planning to take lighter ones like sociology from CC to save money. Oh and I haven’t shadowed an optometrist yet.

How’s your progress btw? let me know how it goes.