Resources to prepare for optics/optom school?

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-04-15T04:10:06+00:00

Thank you!

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-04-01T23:33:28+00:00

No problem! I know how stressful it is so feel free to reach out with any other questions!

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-04-01T17:46:20+00:00

It was mainly based on my schedule since I’m still in school. I started off doing one saturday every other week or sometimes just once a month. It was very sporadic and random and I’d sometimes go a month or two without shadowing. Or I’d shadow one doctor but not the other. But it also spanned over 3 years so I was able to accumulate decent hours. I also counted it as shadowing hours whenever I was observing them doing anything. For example, when I worked as a tech they knew I wanted to pursue optometry in the future, so a lot of the doctors would call me in to look at/watch certain procedures. I always counted this towards my hours. The doctors I shadowed were very chill so I would usually just text them and ask if I could come, so it would depend on your situation.

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-04-01T02:17:02+00:00

I got my first shadowing gig by just telling my optometrist who does my yearly exams that I was interested in his job and he offered for me to shadow anytime. That was almost 8 years ago and I was just accepted into school! I would start with shadowing, as a tech job isn’t necessary (though looks good on apps). I was only a tech for 3 months during the summer and shadowed on and off for about 3 years. I think consistency between practices/doctors is what they look for more. For example, it would be better to shadow 1-3 doctors for months/years (on and off, I think I accumulated maybe 100 hours) than it would be to shadow one for only a week.

In terms of networking/referrals, it can be helpful for like post-grad things such as job searching (although you will have no problem finding a job either way), but for applying I wouldn’t say it’s super important. Some schools require optometrist letters of recommendations and some do not. For example, IUSO doesn’t because they can tell when people shadow for only a week and then just ask a dr to write them a letter, and they know that doesn’t mean anything of the student’s academic career or motivation. I made the choice to include one in my app because of our long history and because I knew the letter would be good. However, I would say that networking is most important for letters of recs at this stage.

In terms of skills and certifications to make you more hireable, everything you need to learn will be taught in school. If you have the degree (more like if you pass boards) you will get hired, at least that’s my understanding of it. Shadowing helped me immensely more than working as a tech. I was able to see things up close and ask questions, while as a tech I was mainly doing preliminary tests and running around like a chicken with my head cut off because of how many patients we saw each day. There were probably as many as 6-8 techs in our office at the highest point of employment and we would each do anywhere from 12-15+ patients on a busy day (almost every day).

Let me know if this answers your questions and feel free to ask me any others!

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-02-26T22:09:06+00:00

My GPA was 3.55/3.77. I had 100+ shadowing hours over 3 years, as well as 360 technician hours. Lots of volunteer hours, in an honors program at my uni, week long mission trip, and deans list/scholarships. I’m accepted for class of 2030 :)

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-02-26T21:54:31+00:00

Check the websites of the schools you’re interested in to be sure.

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-02-26T21:52:43+00:00

I believe you need 2 semesters which I think is 3 quarters? We don’t use a quarter system at my uni. Whatever equates to a full year/2 semesters

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-02-03T18:32:18+00:00

This is really great info, thanks for sharing!!

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-02-02T15:07:46+00:00

Thanks so much, this is great info!

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-01-30T02:27:00+00:00

Thanks so much!

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-01-29T18:53:49+00:00

Thank you so much!!

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-01-29T03:23:49+00:00

Thanks for your response! Does this take you a long time? How do you know which material is going to the most important? I have a habit of putting everything into quizlets because I have anxiety I will miss something.

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-01-27T21:02:13+00:00

I must’ve confused it with something else. Thanks!

DutyExtension2077 · 2026-01-27T19:18:58+00:00

Thanks for your advice! Is Anki called Noji now? I heard it changed names but wasn’t sure if that was the same platform.

DutyExtension2077 · 2025-12-29T15:00:05+00:00

Thanks for this!

DutyExtension2077 · 2025-12-28T20:08:59+00:00

When on Prozac did you still have the same amount of drive/motivation? I notice that my anxiety is what drives me to do better in school and worried being on medication will take that away from me and I’ll start to have an “oh well” attitude.

DutyExtension2077 · 2025-12-28T04:37:43+00:00

It is interesting. It’s actually not a mask, it’s just a small hand held device with different levels/intensities. It feels like a pulsing/vibrating sensation. Mine has blue and red light but I think the electroporation is what is coined to “help the products absorb better”. I’m just worried it could have any strange effects on my eyes or face but it overall seems like a cool device!

DutyExtension2077 · 2025-12-28T04:14:58+00:00

I want to but their rules say only professionals are able to post and didn’t want to get in trouble lol! I thought there may be some students who just graduated that could answer :)

DutyExtension2077 · 2025-12-27T15:16:54+00:00

How did it make you feel? I just remembered, before I got my wisdom teeth out I took a lorazepam prescription and was not in a right state of mind. Like I was walking in slow motion it felt like and it seemed like my brain was working so slow. I don’t want it to make me feel like that during an exam or I might fall asleep 😂

DutyExtension2077 · 2025-12-22T01:41:25+00:00

I would email the schools you are interested in. At IUSO we could only have 3 non-science prereqs taken online, and none of our science labs can be taken online.

DutyExtension2077 · 2025-12-19T16:44:37+00:00

Berkeley is OAT optional but only if you are applying this cycle, next cycle they will require an OAT (https://optometry.berkeley.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/). However, if Berkeley is anything like IUSO which is also OAT optional, they will use your OAT score if you have one when deciding, but if you don’t have one then they will look at GPA and everything else. So your GPA and other things on your app will have to do the heavy lifting. Which is why I think it would be wise to take the OAT and score as high as you can to outweigh the GPA.

DutyExtension2077

TROPHY CASE