What more should I be doing to become a competitive applicant/What are my chances?

[MinKim]

Hello,

I'm going into my second year as a Microbiology Student. I have a 3.82 overall GPA and 3.76 Science GPA.

In extracurriculars, I have been a teaching assistant for 3 semesters for Intro to Chemistry (CHM1025), interned at a Public health organization (Control Flu) that vaccinates public schools, and I have been working at CVS as a pharmacy technician since high school.

At my school I have yet to run into any other Pre-Optometry students so it has been hard for me to grasp what activities I should verge into for my extracurriculars.

I have yet to volunteer at the college level and I'm planning to apply to volunteer at a hospital. How much is the recommended hours/time commitment I should invest to become a well rounded candidate? Should I aim for a variety of volunteer organization or put a solid amount of time into one?

The only shadowing experience I have is from high school a long time ago. How many hours should I invest into shadowing and when should I start? There is a class offered at my University that is dedicated to Physician shadowing and rotations in various fields. Will optometry schools accept that as my time shadowing?

Also during the application process how many letters of recommendation are required? and from what variety of people should I ask them from?

Overall I know that the I should invest more time into getting into research, volunteer, and shadowing but is there anything else that can sharpen my skill sets for my future application?

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[optomgirl218]

Hey MinKim,

Your GPA is definitely on the right track. Keep on trying to maintain what you have and it will definitely help in the admissions process. Those extracurriculars sound great but I would recommend doing some that relate to the eye care field. I would definitely recommend shadowing optometrists. Volunteering at a hospital will look great but I think if you're able to find a volunteer position that pertains to optometry it would be even better. But it's good that you are involved in many different things, it shows you are well rounded. There's no set amount of volunteer hours you need to do but I would recommend just getting starting and doing a decent amount. For example a few months. As for the class offered at your university, optometry schools require for you to shadow optometrists so it may not be accepted if an optometrist isn't included in the various fields you mention. I think the best thing would be to reach out to optometrists in your area or ask to shadow them.

As for the letters of rec, every school has different requirements and you can find a lot of info on optomcas. It has a section labeled letters of evaluation and you'll be able to view the various schools requirements on there. You can also go to an optometry school's website and get the information there as well. Usually 1 letter is required from an optometrist and the 2-3 may be from professors or research mentors etc. But like I said every school is different so I would definitely research this.

Overall, I think you'll be a great applicant with your gpa and if you put an effort into research, volunteer, and shadowing. Also try your best on the OAT. That definitely takes a big portion of determining your admission status. Hope this helps! And let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[Kat3H49]

Hello,

I'm going into my second year as a Microbiology Student. I have a 3.82 overall GPA and 3.76 Science GPA.

In extracurriculars, I have been a teaching assistant for 3 semesters for Intro to Chemistry (CHM1025), interned at a Public health organization (Control Flu) that vaccinates public schools, and I have been working at CVS as a pharmacy technician since high school.

At my school I have yet to run into any other Pre-Optometry students so it has been hard for me to grasp what activities I should verge into for my extracurriculars.

I have yet to volunteer at the college level and I'm planning to apply to volunteer at a hospital. How much is the recommended hours/time commitment I should invest to become a well rounded candidate? Should I aim for a variety of volunteer organization or put a solid amount of time into one?

The only shadowing experience I have is from high school a long time ago. How many hours should I invest into shadowing and when should I start? There is a class offered at my University that is dedicated to Physician shadowing and rotations in various fields. Will optometry schools accept that as my time shadowing?

Also during the application process how many letters of recommendation are required? and from what variety of people should I ask them from?

Overall I know that the I should invest more time into getting into research, volunteer, and shadowing but is there anything else that can sharpen my skill sets for my future application?

Hi there! I take it you are not applying to the 2018/2019 Optometry class? First off your GPA is quite outstanding, congrats! Your volunteer activities that you listed above sounds spectacular, when you go to start your application in OptomCAS (if you are applying to any schools in the states) then I would definitely list those things above. Make sure you know the dates you start and end that particular activity tho, and be ready to write a short blurb about what your role in that activity entailed (you will have to have that info for your online application headsup). Most Optometry schools require around 8-30 hours of Optometrist Shadowing experience. If you want exact hour amounts, you would have to check into each individual school that you are thinking of applying. Some don't even have a minimum amount, but I personally have 40 hours myself- just to be safe lol. I do not know if schools are particular when it comes to having one volunteer activity vs many. When you fill out the application, I think it looks great to have a lot of little volunteer activities- ultimately what you do with that organization and the quality of your work means more than anything I think. Depending on when you want to apply to schools, you can begin to shadow anytime you want. I started shadowing after my first year of university, and am currently shadowing this summer again. As long as you get it done within at least 2 years of your application- that should be fine. As for that course offered at your school- that sounds pretty cool- I think that would look good on your application- but unless you get to shadow an Optometrist in a professional setting with real patients- then I do not think that will count. As for letters of reference- some schools ask for different things, but most schools require at least one letter from an optometrist, one from a University/college prof, and some can even accept from a boss or coach or priest. But as I said, different schools ask for slightly different variations of that- Buuut all schools will want at least one from the OD, and one from a prof for sure. As for the cherry on top of your application- make sure you do well on your OAT. Most schools require at least a 300 on of a 200-400 scale - so if you can score well on that standardized test, then with all honestly, with your fantastic GPA, your extracuriculars, you would have a hella great shot at getting in. (You should be dang proud of that GPA- most people applying into OD schools have like a 3.5- especially in the states lol). Let me know if this helps at all. Good luck!

 

[waapo2018]

Hi MinKim,

You are on the target with those GPAs and your extracurricular activities look fantastic. In terms of shadowing, I think you could use the shadowing experience from high school. I am not entirely sure about that. You could contact the schools you're interested in and ask them about that. Sorry I couldn't address that part directly. However, with hours I know UAB requires a minimum of 40 hours and SCO requires about 30. I think you should try to do more than the requirement. I think about 70 would be sufficient. But it's always good to go above and beyond. Other than that, I think you are on the right track. So good job and keep up the excellent work!

For the letters of recommendation, I think you should google what each school requires. For example, UAB requires 4- 2 from professors and 2 from optometrists. NOVA only wants 1 letter. So it varies by school so you should definitely look at each school's requirements to see what they want.