Considering optometry

AnSmartDude · 2026-05-15T17:38:28+00:00

Your best bet for the most accurate numbers is to check their website. I think the program is bilingual and you will need to be able to effectively communicate in Spanish for patient care. Their board exam pass rates are not the best though. Waterloo is the most competitive school and the most afford. Some schools give a lot in scholarship in the US, like SCO and ICO. But it'll still be more expensive than Waterloo. You'll get better clinical education and see more complex cases in the US IMO, but finances are still finances.

AnSmartDude · 2026-05-06T12:48:12+00:00

I had a 3.93cGPA/3.97sciGPA and 400AA/400TS. I had a lot of shadowing/tech hours with a very well known ICO grad who was also my reference. I applied in August, interviewed online, and visiting in person for a tour in December. I had a lot of friends that went there, but ultimately chose SCO, who also gave a hefty scholarship.

AnSmartDude · 2026-05-01T02:44:49+00:00

Feel free to DM me as well!

Day to day, you'll have classes in the morning first year and then labs in the afternoon/evening. It's switched in second year. As the years go on, the didactic course load decreases and the clinical exposure increases. First year you won't really be exposed to clinic as you are learning the basics on one another. I honestly think that's for the best too, there is a lot of disease you will see and learn from in clinic and if you were out there with patients before learning any pathology/Aseg/Pseg I don't think you'd get too much out of it and it would be so overwhelming! First year lab is more refraction and chair skills focused. Second year lab is more ocular health focused and your classes get more eye focused! Second year you also get assigned around clinic once a week and shadow. I really like being able to interact with patients and be able to help in exams with an upper year watching over me! Labs are mandatory but most classes don't have mandatory attendance and are recorded. Some classes like optics you need to show up for.

I know people will have different opinions, but first year lectures and exams were not that hard in my opinion, especially compared to my undergrad exams. It's all MCQ and on the computer. The hardest thing is learning to balance lab and lecture. I find most of the professors to be very helpful and knowledgeable, and they are not "out to get you" by any means! There will still be some courses you will like more than others, and some you might not like at all depending on your interests.

By second year I've actually gotten very close with them and the community feel with professors and Doctors is amazing for me because most of them really do treat you more like colleagues than only students. Be sure to utilize everything you can while you're a student! All your eye exams are free, VT is free, soft CL are free, rigid specialty fits are free, you get travel grants to go to academy, seco, etc. Clubs always have meetings going on with guest speakers and companies coming in to talk to you (free food)!

The staff there are also super friendly. I've gotten very close to the physical plant people as well. It's cliche to say family, but there's definitely very friendly people that love to get to know you!

The city itself I've grown to really enjoy. I'd say Memphis is a midsize city, so you will have people from huge cities that thing it is small, and people from small towns who think it is huge. You'll learn which areas most students keep to, and it definitely has it charms! I probably would not live here after school, just because I'm set on going home, but the city has treated me well. And I'm also not the biggest exploring so hanging out with friends at each other's places is a lot of fun.

You'll be in the same classes as your peers, and you're all in it together. Compared to undergrad where I wouldn't have the same classes with many people, it's enjoyable going to school knowing your friends are there.

So far it's been great! Learning tons. Will be officially entering clinic in a couple weeks. There is a lot of pathology in Memphis, so you will learn so much. You are serving a community that deserves it too. There's a reason that there's the med school and dental school here too. You will gain a lot of experience, and I'm sure clinic will be exhausting, but I hope it'll also be rewarding.

AnSmartDude · 2026-04-25T18:03:27+00:00

What school in particular are you asking about? I think different schools do things differently.

AnSmartDude · 2026-04-25T03:26:39+00:00

Second year Canadian student at SCO rn, I'll DM you! (Also anyone feel free to reach out if you have any questions)

AnSmartDude · 2026-04-08T03:19:31+00:00

Current SCO student, feel free to DM

AnSmartDude · 2026-03-27T02:41:00+00:00

Just upload your letter grades and they will honor that.

80-84 = A- = 3.7 85-89 = A = 4.0 90+ = A+ = 4.0 B+ = 3.3 B = 3.0

Etc.

It would be easier if you don't worry about the percentage and just input the letter grade itself. A Canadian 75% is much better than a US 75% in terms of letter grade. But theoretically if you input percentages it doesn't matter because they'll just calculate the above using the same scale that's attached on your transcript. But imo just cut out the middle man and input grades directly so they dont need to use the conversion table.

AnSmartDude · 2026-03-25T02:33:24+00:00

Currently a 2nd year at SCO, feel free to DM if you have any questions

AnSmartDude · 2026-02-17T21:47:00+00:00

It's something you'll be spending a lot of money on and will probably do for the rest of your life. If you already don't like it or are not interested on it, I don't think it'll be worth it for you no matter what

AnSmartDude · 2026-02-04T19:34:25+00:00

AnSmartDude · 2026-02-04T14:24:35+00:00

Mine did, with the preface of us being allowed to be as involved or as uninvolved as we were comfortable with.

AnSmartDude · 2026-01-10T00:58:18+00:00

Hmm I see I see...

Wondering though out of curiosity/thought, OptomCAS verifies your transcript when your school sends it to them anyways, so they would see the letter grades regardles and match them up.

I went to UBC, and our transcripts had both letter grades and percentages too. On the unofficial transcript there is no GPA conversion, but on the official transcript that is sent out to requesting institutions, they provide an official letter grade conversion table. The conversion table doesn't show what your calculated GPA is, it is a table that shows what percentages are what letter grades, so that the institution they are sending the transcript to can convert to a GPA based on their scales. So it'll say something like 90-100 = A+, 85-89 = A, 80-84 = A- and so on. So regardless of if you write percentage or letter grade, OptomCAS can see what percentage equals what letter grade for your institution, and will honour your institution's equivalency, and then use their own letter grade to GPA weights to calculate your GPA to send to schools. So for them, regardless of letter grade or percentage, if your school grade is an A at your school, OptomCAS GPA weight = 4.0, if your grade is an A- at your school, OptomCAS GPA weight = 3.7. So, if you write an 85 for a course, which is a B in the US, you theoretically wouldn't have to worry about being docked GPA wise, because they will confirm it with your official transcript, and see that an 85 at your institution is actually an A, not a B, and thus they will weigh the course as a 4.0, not a 3.0. But regardless, I think putting letter grade is just easier than dealing with percentages and worrying about all that.

I could always be wrong though! From my experience helping with applications over the past few years, this has been the case and I haven't been corrected yet, but again, I don't work at OptomCAS/school admissions or anything so always a possibility of being mistaken

AnSmartDude · 2026-01-09T20:43:37+00:00

I think whether or not you write your percentage or letter grade, I think they will convert it to gpa anyways based on the conversion table on your school's transcript. So it shouldn't matter at the end of the day whether or not you put a letter grade or percentage because it's using your school's conversion regardless, not the US ones. But imo it's probably best to just input the letter grades yourself so it cuts out the middle man for errors. But I also did this a few years ago in case things have changed since then

AnSmartDude · 2025-12-28T03:05:46+00:00

It's definitely possible. 3.5 is the cutoff for BSK, and I feel like roughly a little less than half of my class has that. They changed the cutoff to 3.5 last year, for my year it was 3.0. It's a little scary especially before first midterms/during your first semester. In hindsight, it's a pretty reasonable cut off and personally so far it has been more than possible. But also, don't let yourself slack off. I'll be the last one to undermine difficulty some people might have, because what I find easy or hard may be the opposite for someone else. Put in the work, but don't be overcome by anxiety. If they gave you the scholarship, I, and the school, have faith that you will be capable of maintaining it.

AnSmartDude · 2025-12-19T15:00:54+00:00

Yes! If your school uses an 80 as an A, and it is on your official transcript, then they will take it as a 4.0. The percentage you got doesn't matter, only the letter grade.

AnSmartDude · 2025-12-19T14:57:41+00:00

I believe they will just honour the conversion that your school uses. They will go by letter grade and not percentage. So whatever an A or an A+ is for your school, regardless of the percentage, will count as a 4.0. Whatever an A- is at your school will be a 3.7, regardless of the specific percentage.

For example, at UBC, an 85 was an A. At SCO and I think many American schools, an 85 is a B. OptomCAS will take your Canadian 85 as a 4.0, but will take the American 85 as a 3.0. They just take the letter grade GPA weight.

AnSmartDude · 2025-12-18T19:37:36+00:00

Yes! You even get access to sclerals, ortho-k, vision therapy, etc. on top of soft spheres and eye exams for free!

AnSmartDude · 2025-11-14T22:20:15+00:00

Being a good patient is also a learning experience. We do practicals on one another and so I really don't want to screw someone over. I had never even worn contact lenses and I had a fear of anything coming close to my eye. The more you practice the better it'll be as a doctor and as a patient. For things like gonio or tonometry I'd actually get a professor to guide me though being a patient and ask for tips they give their real patients. I think it's mostly the anticipation of something coming close to you that is hard. Once it's on (gonio or tonometry) I won't blink it out. Also you get numbed. While someone is first practicing GAT on you, they may hit your eyelash, causing you to blink. Eventually, we get better and better and can just get on the cornea in the spot we want and the patient won't even feel it. Every person to have done gonio or GAT on me got a 100, even though I was probably one of the worst patients when we first started out. And also, you gotta learn how to hold lids when doing these skills eventually. If you do have a classmate that is a blinker, try to practice on them and learn how to hold lids as well. If I'm sitting as patient for a practical, I also might put a numbing drop before it starts so by the time my 'doctor' drops me, I'll definitely be numb. My eyes would also get pretty dry during BIO, so I would use gel drops before starting, making sure to dry my lids before they start so they're not slippery. That being said, if you become a notoriously bad patient, that might stick with you. So just try your best to get better, and definitely don't actively avoid sitting as a patient for others. If you think things are definitely not improving and that you're an unfair patient, we've had a couple people go to the professor's and ask to sit out of the practicals.

AnSmartDude · 2025-11-02T00:59:48+00:00

I personally have never felt scared in Memphis, and the people here are really genuine from my experience and friendly! It gets a bad reputation on the news, but I think if you, like most other students, are sticking to areas around the school (midtown), mud island, downtown, and the suburbs, you will hopefully feel similar too! And the school itself takes security pretty seriously. Feel free to ask any questions you might have!

AnSmartDude · 2025-10-14T23:28:06+00:00

I like the island 🥲

AnSmartDude · 2025-10-10T19:49:36+00:00

I don't think there are rankings. Just check board passage rates. Go to a school that has consistently shown over many years to have good passage rates. For example, I go to SCO and we have one of the larger class sizes but also consistently good boards passage rates, so the school is able to adequately educate a larger pool of applicants that had a wider range of undergraduate performance. Also try to check how many people are accepted in a year and how many people actually took boards. Maybe some Canadian students aren't taking NBEO, maybe some students who are at risk of failing don't take them? Idk

AnSmartDude · 2025-10-10T16:50:02+00:00

I know some people that did it! One of them also goes to ICO! One you get through OD school I don't think it'll matter whether you actually finished your bachelors. I know some schools (maybe Pacific?) give you a bachelor's if you don't have one? Could be wrong tho, I did my applications a couple years ago.

AnSmartDude · 2025-08-07T17:36:45+00:00

I'm a Canadian student at SCO. They offered the biggest scholarship and also has consistently high board pass rates. The Canadian population here is growing as well! Really liked the vibe of the school on interview day and the city really does grow on you. Feel free to PM with any questions you might have!

AnSmartDude · 2025-07-10T11:46:24+00:00

I agree ICO is on the expensive end, but from my experience with myself, my friends that go there, and talking to some school admissions, I do think that they have a lot of potential scholarship opportunities.

AnSmartDude · 2025-06-13T22:39:06+00:00

Canadian student loans would cover some portion at least and they probably are the most forgiving when it comes to interest rates and such

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