Is Optometry School Right For You?

Once you’ve made the decision to pursue graduate studies, your next step is choosing the right school. This decision will have a major effect on your daily life for the next several years and can influence your academic and career paths. Choosing the right school for you involves many aspects. Among the many factors to consider, concentrate on the following:

The trick to assessing your chances of getting into a particular program is knowing where you stand with regard to the various factors that programs consider when making admissions decisions. A good way to get a sense of how optometry schools perceive you is to create a fact sheet with your OAT scores (or projected scores), overall GPA, and GPA in your major (and minor, if applicable). Relevant outside activities, work experience, internships, publications, etc. will also contribute to the overall strength of your application.

The next step is to find a current source of information about optometry programs. There are several guides published every year that provide rankings of schools, as well as data about acceptance rates and median GPA and OAT scores. In addition, some rank schools according to their reputations among students, professors, or prominent people in the field. Put your OAT score and GPA alongside the median numbers of schools that interest you. The comparison will give you a rough idea of where you stand. But remember, OAT and GPA are not the only criteria for admissions. Many other factors like recommendations and “intangibles” like activities and relevant experience can factor prominently into the admissions equation. Once you have some idea of where you fall in the applicant pool, you can begin to make decisions about your application strategy.

A sensible application strategy will include schools in three general categories:

1. Dream schools – places you’d love to attend, but where your chances of acceptance are up in the air or even unlikely
2. Good possibilities – programs you’d like to attend and where your grades and OAT score are close to the median
3. Safeties – schools where your numbers make acceptance likely

Most prospective grad students apply to between four and seven schools. How many you should actually apply to, though, is best determined by your strength as an applicant, the difficulty of admission at schools to where you’re applying, and the general difficulty of getting into any program in your specialty. If you’re applying to five or six optometry schools, pick a couple of dream schools, several in the “likely” category, and one or two safeties.

• If English is not your first language, most optometry schools will require you to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or provide some other evidence that you are proficient in English.
• Plan to take the OAT. All U.S. optometry schools require it.
• Begin the process of applying to optometry schools at least 12 months before the fall of the year you plan to start your studies. Some programs start as early as July.
• You will need to obtain an I-20 Certificate of Eligibility from the school you plan to attend if you intend to apply for an F-1 Student Visa to study in the United States.
• If you’ve already completed an optometry degree outside the United States, get information from U.S. schools—some may have special programs for international graduates of optometry

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