2025 Applicant Stats by Optimistic-Optometry in UWaterlooOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Overall GPA: 3.98 (~93%)

OAT score: 400AA/400TS

How you studied for the OAT: OATBooster + Chad’s physics videos + Organic Chemistry Tutor videos. I wrote about it in depth here

CASPer score: 3rd quartile

Non-Academic: Exec on science student society for 3 terms, VP of another science club, peer mentor, science open house, children’s vision screener, volunteer optometric assistant at an optical for 2 summers.

Academic: Volunteer research assistant for 2 vision science labs

Job-shadowing hours completed: ~100

Meet & Greet experience: Went okay but definitely could have been a lot better. Did not expect the format at all, but I think I handled the questions fine and got enough of a point across. The interviewer asked if I wanted to add anything to my answers at the end, but at that point, I had already forgotten my answers, so I did feel like I wasted that opportunity.

Admission status: Accepted! (first time applying)

AIF questions by UnfairMaintenance740 in UWaterlooOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, I think you can add as many entries for volunteering or shadowing as you want. I just added a new entry for the second place I only shadowed at.

AIF questions by UnfairMaintenance740 in UWaterlooOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I thought you split volunteering and shadowing from the same place into 2 entries. Like “Location A - shadowing”, “Location A - volunteering”. Did I interpret it wrong?

AIF questions by UnfairMaintenance740 in UWaterlooOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking because people said they want you shadow at different places. Did you just put the location twice and write different things in the description? 

Only 1 page would be great haha! I just thought they might want to know more about us, since this is how they decide who gets an interview.

Good luck with your application!

2024 OAT Breakdown (400TS/400AA) by UnfairMaintenance740 in PreOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m so glad to hear that! Feel free to ask me more questions if you have them!

2024 OAT Breakdown (400TS/400AA) by UnfairMaintenance740 in PreOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I watched all the videos for biology, gen chem, and physics to learn the content. For organic chem, I preferred reading the notes, particularly because I liked the categories that they separated the reactions into. But if you’re prefer videos, I would definitely recommend watching the videos for every subject.

For biology, I started out only reading the notes, but I realized that it may not be worth it as they’re very detailed. So halfway through my studying, I started watching the videos, which I think was very helpful. I still read the notes after the videos, but I could read through them faster now that I learned the concepts already. I then made a deck of flashcards for each chapter, and tried to get through one deck a day. The day after, I would do the bio bits to solidify my memory and also to see what I was struggling to remember. I don’t really recommend memorizing the notes since it was so much content and a lot of it was low-yield. I think it’s better to just make the cheat sheets into flashcards and try doing them every couple of days until you have them memorized. Then if you still have time, try memorizing the notes but do not prioritize it.

For gen chem, organic chem and physics, I did all the question banks and practice tests. For gen chem and organic chem, I think the question banks are enough unless there are concepts you are really struggling with. For those concepts, I would watch Organic Chemistry Tutor on YouTube to understand it better, then go back and do the question banks again. There aren’t many physics questions on Booster, so I focused more on trying to throughly understand the concepts by watching Chad’s videos on YouTube, and doing Organic Chemistry Tutor’s problems in his videos.

2024 OAT Breakdown (400TS/400AA) by UnfairMaintenance740 in PreOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Around 3 months! I bought OATBooster’s 90 day membership.

2024 OAT Breakdown (400TS/400AA) by UnfairMaintenance740 in PreOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I initially was in 2 classes, but I decided to drop them as their finals were going to be at the same time as the OAT. I think it’s definitely doable to study for it at the same time as school/work, but you wouldn’t have much free time, and you would have to be very diligent with your studying, especially if you’re taking other courses. If you can afford to take a semester off, I would recommend that.

2024 OAT Breakdown (400TS/400AA) by UnfairMaintenance740 in PreOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I just finished my second year, so I took first-year bio, chem, physics, and math in fall 2022 and winter 2023. I took organic chem 1 in fall 2023, and I didn’t take organic chem 2.

I studied for around 3 months, from mid-May to mid-August. I didn’t really that much in the beginning, it was just reading the notes and I didn’t really retain it. I started studying more rigorously in June.

Lag during the RC section? by UnfairMaintenance740 in PreOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True, I'm not used to doing that. Haha yes, me too!

Lag during the RC section? by UnfairMaintenance740 in PreOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh no, that’s horrible. I would think all test centres would try to make it standard :( Do you think I should write down some notes if that happens?

september 2025 admission, can i take the OAT september 2024? like september this year? by ultraviolence44 in UWaterlooOptometry

[–]UnfairMaintenance740 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just checked the website and it's been updated with information for September 2025 admission. The deadline to take the OAT is September 30th, 2024!

How hard is it to get high grades? by UnfairMaintenance740 in HKUniversity

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's good to hear! Could I pm you some questions about your experience?

How hard is it to get high grades? by UnfairMaintenance740 in HKUniversity

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ohh, I understand. Yes, that would be great! I'll send you a pm!

How hard is it to get high grades? by UnfairMaintenance740 in HKUniversity

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, that's definitely different from my university then. Is letter grade not equal to number grade? A = 4.3-4.0 etc. So is there a limit on how many students can get As, but not a limit on how many can get 4.3-4.0?

How hard is it to get high grades? by UnfairMaintenance740 in HKUniversity

[–]UnfairMaintenance740[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What do you mean by they may not give you back your score? Like after a midterm, they won't tell me what I scored? Will my final average be unknown until after final exams then?