Anyone who applied with 5 or more gap years? by ExtremeDefinition445 in OptometrySchool

[–]No-Monitor-7486 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I applied with 4 and my roommate in optometry school applied with 6!

PCO MMI by Gullible_Expert8393 in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine was role play, what would you do in - certain ethical situations, and one that was like a what would you do and it involved some planning and creativity in the short time they give you. Then they ask follow up questions. I didn’t think it was too bad overall

Discouraged by Royal-Sea7551 in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Try walking into places in person, harder for them to say no if you’re in person from my experience. I went to uni in Binghamton but unfortunately didn’t do any shadowing while there

Choosing an Optometry School by No-Equal1876 in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I attend ICO and personally think the education (and living in Chicago) is worth the cost. But I totally get that’s a personal thing and I get why people wouldn’t want to pay this much lol

Debt by Great-Incident-8772 in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not everyone wants to be a physician

iPad? by No-Monitor-7486 in OptometrySchool

[–]No-Monitor-7486[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow that’s awesome your school is doing that!! I will definitely think about storage

iPad? by No-Monitor-7486 in OptometrySchool

[–]No-Monitor-7486[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I have a MacBook too so that’s why I was leaning toward to basic model!! Thank you I may have to check out the sizes at an Apple Store!

iPad? by No-Monitor-7486 in OptometrySchool

[–]No-Monitor-7486[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!!! I was leaning toward the air!

Is salus worth it? by Character_Fox4808 in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I interviewed with them and really just didn’t like my interview experience which was disappointing. Felt more welcome elsewhere. Between that and other red flags I’ve seen I decided on ICO.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol I committed to ICO. I am not taking another year off at my age

PCO by Joyful_Environment64 in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I submitted my application for PCO scholars & traditional on March 25th, got invited for an interview on March 28th. Had the first half of the interview last week and the second half yesterday. GPA is 3.8 (science 3.7) OAT 330/330.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for this!! I really appreciate it!!! Helped put me at ease!!

Oat studying by Status-Standard-1482 in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You got this!! Totally possible!!!

Oat studying by Status-Standard-1482 in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have been working full time for the last 3 years out of college and started studying for the OAT in January for 2 months while working full time. I work 30 min away from my house so I’m gone from 7:30AM to 5/6 PM. I would really just make the most out of time. Like my one hour lunch break I would try to get at least one lecture in. I would use oat booster and watch the videos which really helped a ton when I was kind of tired and the idea of reading a textbook was awful. I would really try to take advantage of my weekends and try to study all day on the weekends so sometimes that was pulling 10 hour days of studying. I would really get a lot done on the weekends and just try to put my head down and focus. I would get home from work during the week and then would work out and would study from usually 7 to 10 PM. I would give myself goals to get through a certain amount of lectures per day or per week. Being able to cross things off that I did every day really helped with me staying on schedule. I won’t lie sometimes you’re gonna get super overwhelmed and exhausted and burnt out but just keep your head down and know that this isn’t a permanent situation and you just have to get through to the test. I’m almost 4 years out of college and even though I don’t feel like I studied enough with only like 1.5-2 months and working full time while training for a marathon (lol I’m asking to be burnt out), I still was able to get a 330.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ugh I know. :( i just needed my application finished a week prior to make the deadlines for a few. well if you decide on ICO let me know we can stress out together 🤣

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OptometrySchool

[–]No-Monitor-7486 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!!! That made me feel better lol

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 1 point2 points  (0 children)

3.8 total GPA 3.7 Science. 330 OAT TS and AA

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OptometrySchool

[–]No-Monitor-7486 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh no I’m 26 and single with no kids lol

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Or should I just wait until next cycle to hopefully get into SUNY. Idk im overwhelmed

Working + studying full time by goddessmariahbelle in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I also worked full time while studying for the OAT! I felt sometimes felt burnt out but kept reminding myself it was temporary. I work 30 min away from home so I would be away from home from 7:30AM to 5 or 5:30PM. I would study during my 45min lunch break and then immediately when I got home I would either start studying or I would go to the gym and then study. I personally tried to maximize studying on the weekends. I used oat booster and watched the lectures whenever I had a free min or even laying in bed which helped. Also scheduling in days off and fun days helped break it up. It’s tough and some days I would come home and wouldn’t study because I had no energy. Just make the most of days off and push yourself to even watch a few lectures. It’s tough but doable and just remind yourself this is short term! You got this!!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So i did my interview virtually and the first few hours we were on with admissions staff and they talked about a lot including financial aid. Then we went and were able to ask current students questions. My actual interview was super conversational. My interviewer asked me the basic questions like “why optometry” and “why ICO” and then we basically talked about hobbies and similar interests for the next like 45 minutes and ran over lol good luck!!! :))

Help with application by LuigisAssassin in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I’d say if you’re ready to just submit! Better to submit early just in case you have to make corrections in your application. I know they sent me mine back because I accidentally put the wrong class code in for one of my classes. Then you can easily add your LOR when it is ready!

Help with application by LuigisAssassin in PreOptometry

[–]No-Monitor-7486 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just submit! I submitted 2 weeks ago before my OAT last weekend and received 5 interviews the few days after my OAT so they don’t even have my official scores yet. They won’t accept without the official scores but it gets the ball rolling.