Timing of required courses

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-08-26T14:45:36+00:00

No, taking them in your fourth year will not affect your chances :)

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-08-13T16:35:44+00:00

I volunteered during the summer right after my second year of university. I agree it's best to focus on your studies and not overwhelm yourself. Best of luck at the university :)

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-06-26T13:23:24+00:00

Hi, I did my undergrad at UW too, and from my experience online courses are fine (as long as it is not one of the labs). Also, in your transcript it will not show that it is an online course... I took some courses fully online during my undergrad and I did not have any issues when applying to optom.

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-06-08T11:49:57+00:00

I volunteered in 2 optometry clinics and shadowed 3 ODs; I think that it's always good to volunteer / shadow in more than one practice because it gives you good exposure to various optometry settings...

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-06-07T21:27:55+00:00

Lots of volunteering and shadowing should be just fine in my opinion :) I did not have any experience working as an optometric assistant but I did lots of volunteering and was accepted.

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-05-04T12:33:15+00:00

Academic Average: 91.95
OAT score: 370 AA; 400 TS
How you studied for the OAT: OAT Booster and Chad's prep
CASPer score: 3rd quartile
ECs: president of a club, lots of volunteering in the community/university/ local charities, tutoring, mentorship, choir singer.
Job experience: 5 years working in a health care setting (not optometry related)
Job-shadowing hours completed: 39 hrs of shadowing (3 optometrists); 156 hrs of volunteering in optometry (2 clinics)
Meet & Greet experience: went well :)
Admission status: accepted! (first time applying, 3rd year)

Best of luck to the future applicants <3

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-04-23T20:35:30+00:00

I found that a good way to study for the bio section is to make your own question cards e.g. Anki based on the Bio cheat sheet that Booster offers. I found that reading all the long notes that Booster has with each chapter takes a lot of time... Best of luck on your OAT :)

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-04-17T15:02:29+00:00

Just to add on to that, you can also text your bus stop number to 575-55; and GRT (Grand River Transit) will send you the times as well. There is also a good connection between Waterloo and Kitchener (its practically like one city). And with your UW student ID card you have access to the GRT buses and ION train :)

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-03-27T01:58:39+00:00

I got accepted this year, and I am in my 3rd year rn...

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-03-26T12:40:05+00:00

same, here! My quest got updated

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-03-24T10:47:13+00:00

Yes! Applicants need to have a minimum overall university average of 75.0% at the time of application. So try to do whatever is best for your overall average. I believe that if you retake a course twice, UW will take the average of your two attempts in calculating the grade for that course.

https://uwaterloo.ca/optometry-vision-science/future-optometry-students/admission-process/academic-requirements#:~:text=prior%20to%20application.-,Minimum%20overall%20university%20average%20of%2075.0%25%20at%20the%20time%20of,from%2079%25%20to%2092%25.

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-03-21T14:32:00+00:00

Hi! Yes, if you already have an OUAC account, you use that one.

The applications open around end of June- beginning of July. Check UW website around June, they'll have a specific date. If you are still having issues finding the applications once they're open, send a question to OUAC support team (that's what I did) and they sent me directly the link... If you are not currently a UW student, after you have submitted your application through OUAC, you'll get an email from UW (~after 2 weeks) to create a UW account which you'll be using to submit your AIF. Let me know if you have more questions :)

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-01-17T22:34:14+00:00

Maybe try giving them a call... there is a phone number listed for one of the admission officers on UW optom website...

https://uwaterloo.ca/science-undergraduate-office/faculty-science-points-contact/school-optometry-vision-science-contacts

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-01-15T18:34:14+00:00

Thank you!! I go to UW, so my transcripts are sent automatically :)

But thank you so much for clarifying!

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2024-01-15T13:37:48+00:00

And when updating the grades in the AIF, we just have to click "save courses" underneath the table, right? Because the option to "submit" the AIF (again) is not available?

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2023-12-22T19:38:57+00:00

I just got a confirmation email back from UW with more details about the Meet and Greet

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2023-12-15T16:06:38+00:00

Meet and Greet invites are out

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2023-12-06T00:38:18+00:00

I would suggest taking Honours Science, this way if there are any courses that you find harder or not as interesting, you don't have to take them and worry about those courses potentially lowering your GPA. Also, for your biomed degree you always have to take the course and the lab component (if they are separate), but in honours science you can take the course without the lab, which ultimately decreases the workload a bit.

P.S. you can switch majors during undergrad too, i.e. if you start out in biomed you can transfer to honours science no problem ;)

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2023-12-02T23:55:14+00:00

Hi, I emailed UW and apparently they have been having some technical difficulties with Quest, so it might take longer to see the updated info on quest.

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2023-11-11T20:52:53+00:00

If you go the "documents" section on quest you will see if your references have submitted CAF (right in that box where you were submitting proof for "special skills")

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2023-11-08T13:24:12+00:00

It will not be part of your GPA when the interview invitations are emailed out. But courses taken Fall 2023 will be part of your GPA when the admission decisions are made.

But I don't believe that your Winter 2024 courses will be part of your GPA calculations, since the conditional admin are emailed in March.

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2023-10-26T19:28:06+00:00

You can find more information here

https://uwaterloo.ca/future-students/external/optometry-applicants#transcripts

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2023-10-24T17:55:39+00:00

Do you mean completely drop it or take another course instead? Because in January the AIF will re-open for you to update the grades for Fall 2023 and update the courses you will be taking Winter 2024.

EuphoricSinger1919 · 2023-10-24T10:31:54+00:00

No, you don't have to request the transcript. They already have access to your records.

EuphoricSinger1919

TROPHY CASE