You can go to whichever undergraduate school your heart desires. Try to keep your undergrad costs low if possible, because optometry school can be expensive. It does not matter where you go for undergrad. You just need to do well in all your courses, especially the pre-reqs for programs, do well in your extracurriculars, and do well on the OAT. I went to community college for a year then attended VCU for undergrad. We did have a pre-optometry club and pre-health advising, but in all honesty it’s not needed to excel in getting into optometry school. Try to stay in state if you can for undergrad, if it’s a good option.
Thank you so much! I actually have been taking some courses at my community college while in highschool to hopefully save some money. I'm glad someone else did this also instead of just going to a university.
Also what do you think about accelerated programs? Are they extremely hard or about the same. I have known what I wanted to do for a long time so if I could get through undergrad faster I think that would be great!Thank you so much! I actually have been taking some courses at my community college while in highschool to hopefully save some money. I'm glad someone else did this also instead of just going to a university.
Thank you so much! I actually have been taking some courses at my community college while in highschool to hopefully save some money. I'm glad someone else did this also instead of just going to a university.
Hmm that's strange that they weren't interested in letting you shadow. Several of my families doctors have offered to let me. Maybe look some up on the internet?
I'm not graduating from the community college just picking up classes so maybe I will have enough credits to do an accelerated program or be able to finish a semester or two early to save money
I just graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a BS in Natural Science/Pre-Optometry. The Pre-Optometry track that they have is specifically tailored to fulfill the pre-requisites of the majority of optometry schools, which makes the coursework you’re taking actually relevant and useful. They also have an accelerated 3 year program, as well.
What are accelerated programs?
Would i type in optometrists to shadow or just optometrists and call the office?
I think an accelerated program would be great as long as you get through everything and get everything done. The faster you get through schooling with the least amount of debt, the better!
Just search for local optometrists in your area whether they be private practices or corporate and reach out to them via email and/or phone to ask if you may shadow them every so often for 1-2 hours (can be longer) on certain days or for a certain period of time (1 week or 1 month, etc).
That is where I was accepted and my favorite school actually! They seemed to have the best program from what I can tell!
It's so funny that you commented my number one school. I think it might bea sign haha! Can you tell me more about your experience in the program? And are you in optometry school now?
Haha that’s awesome, congrats! But sure, I’ll PM you!
