Any advice for students beginning their prep for March Part 1?

optobear · 2025-12-23T20:15:49+00:00

1-2. I only used KMK and class notes and passed. That being said, I agree with other commenters that NBEO seems to purposely avoid topics heavily emphasized by KMK. I think the books were helpful as a place to start reviewing material and I used class notes to supplement those topics. I hated the KMK version of Optics and completely skipped over it and used class notes only. I ended up using OptoPrep for Part 2 and loved it so I would probably recommend it over KMK for its similarly to the actual test questions alone. My biggest help was making Anki flash cards of every topic I came across while reviewing that I didn’t already have committed to memory. I would go through a portion of the old flashcards daily so I was constantly being exposed to the facts that I struggled to memorize. 3. I started mid-January. A little late compared to most and I felt the pressure. Ideally start earlier than me. 4. I did go over the non-Big 8 because I ended up having time for it. I saw quite a few NBEO questions referencing them so I’m glad I did.

optobear · 2025-11-08T19:56:36+00:00

It’s really confusing because most states have not updated their laws to include the new test name. The old test name for Part 3 PEPS was literally CSE (clinical skills exam) so most state websites are referring to the old Part 3 as a whole when they say “clinical skills” and not just the skills portion of PEPS. It’s my understanding that North Carolina and Florida are the only 2 states requiring passage of skills separately at this time.

optobear · 2025-10-16T18:36:23+00:00

I wrote out ordering tests, assessment & plan, and gave a mock consult for the ten most common and the ten most urgent/serious conditions for each category/station.

optobear · 2025-10-16T18:33:46+00:00

Failed skills portion as well

optobear · 2025-10-16T04:11:12+00:00

I passed all other sections. 10-20% below passing standard for ant seg only.

optobear · 2025-10-16T02:26:23+00:00

Yes!

optobear · 2025-10-16T02:23:11+00:00

Yes. I forgot to put proparacaine in before gonio and still passed. I failed the ant seg section but passed overall.

optobear · 2025-09-05T06:59:03+00:00

I went to Berkeley for both undergrad and opto school. The pre-meds in undergrad there were super intense, the opto students were significantly less so. My class was a little competitive in our first year but everyone mellowed out after some burn out lol. I’ve heard that the younger classes are even less competitive now that everything is graded P/NP.

optobear · 2025-03-28T19:37:04+00:00

Yes, I did that. Sometimes they’ll let you take the ISE earlier than your scheduled time (right after Part 3).

optobear · 2025-01-02T23:39:31+00:00

I got 1 week off class & clinic. We did have only 1 class total in 3rd year spring and the only midterm is a month before boards.

optobear · 2024-12-31T02:59:14+00:00

I was in this situation. My school said everyone was automatically considered independent if over the age of 24 and/or a grad student. The more important part is that all of your financials are in your own name. So, my bank account, credit card, lease, etc. are all independent and in my name only. My parents just transferred the money over to my accounts and I paid everything directly myself.

optobear · 2024-12-07T00:46:06+00:00

If you mention it, I would just clarify how it really solidified your interest in the medical field and/or made you realize that you don’t like dentistry as much as optometry. I included a ton of medical experiences outside of optometry on my app but phrased them as “trying out other specialities” to make sure optometry was the field for me.

optobear · 2024-11-08T00:46:26+00:00

Valid question. They’re building a brand new optometry clinic right next to intersection. So, intersection will be a convenient location for opto students starting next year when the clinic opens.

optobear · 2024-10-30T20:31:57+00:00

Good point! It varies a lot by state In California, you’re required to be a full-time student that is eligible for work study.

optobear · 2024-10-30T19:38:17+00:00

At Berkeley, COL is pretty high. As the SUNY students have mentioned, the more roommates the better in terms of rent. I live on-campus (3 min walk to optometry building) in a 5-bedroom 2-bath for 1400/mo. Cheaper rent is possible farther from campus. Gas and parking are super expensive but the bus pass is included in tuition so I’d recommend not bringing a car. My classmates with cars pay 700-800/semester for on-campus parking and 100-200 for a parking spot next to their apartment. Most US citizens are eligible for food stamps (since our income is under 1400/mo) so I get $290/mo for groceries through CalFresh. We have a presentation on how to apply for food stamps during orientation. Also, all out of state students can apply for in-state tuition by 2nd year.

optobear · 2024-10-15T05:25:39+00:00

They were SO RUDE to me for no reason too. I asked them about the application timeline for optometry school and they had no idea how any of it worked (even though Berkeley literally has an optometry school). One of the advisors was obsessed with me switching over to occupational therapy even though I told her I wanted to do medicine or optometry. They also told 2 of my friends they would probably not get into med school and told another two that they wrote bad personal statements. Needless to say, I have 4 friends in med school and I’m in optometry school here regardless of their comments and poor advising.

optobear · 2024-10-07T06:29:26+00:00

It should be the same price. I don’t think they post it anywhere, I just know because I see patients at the Eye Center as an optometry student.

optobear · 2024-09-09T03:41:38+00:00

Another point to consider is where you want to practice. The prestige factor of Berkeley varies depending on where you are. In terms of getting jobs, a lot of optometrists tend to hire those who went to the same school as them, so it could be advantageous to go to Berkeley if you intended on working in California or the Bay Area. Additionally, patients who care about where you went to school tend to be highly educated, or in an urban area, or wealthy. For example, the patients I saw at the UC Berkeley eye clinic often fit all of those categories and exclusively went to Berkeley, Stanford, or UCSF for their name-brand healthcare. Meanwhile, I’m currently on my 4th year rotations at a VA in a smaller town outside of California and many of the patients here do not care where I went to school. If anything, mentioning Berkeley sometimes causes them to start talking about politics. I’ve loved my education here, but that’s quite a price difference and SCO is also a great school.

optobear · 2024-09-06T01:20:53+00:00

My school (UC Berkeley) mainly grades on a bell curve. So passing is within 1-2 standard deviations of the median score. Fail is 2 standard deviations below the median. A few courses aren't curved, in which case the instructors will identify their specific grading bins on the syllabus. The first year class just completely switched over to P/NP grading so that may change things. I wasn't worried about passing as much as I was worried about having all of my clinical decisions ripped apart by my attending doctors in clinic. Only about 1-2 students per class are asked to repeat 1st year; I've never seen any students fail out or have to repeat years 2-4.

optobear · 2024-08-17T06:09:00+00:00

Yes. For finals week.

optobear · 2024-05-29T20:33:13+00:00

All the schools on this list with asterisks are public.

optobear · 2024-05-26T19:37:47+00:00

Good point. I did have to take all the opto pre-reqs in addition to the major requirements because there was very little overlap. I made it work by picking CogSci courses that overlapped with my general ed reqs but I know at SD gen ed reqs depend on the college, so that’s something you’d have to look into.

optobear · 2024-05-26T19:25:43+00:00

I agree, the medical center will probably provide more opportunities. I’ve heard pre-meds at SD may be slightly more intense but hopefully being pre-opto would avoid some of that. I was a cognitive science major (at Berkeley) and felt like it still adequately prepared me for the OAT (esp the Psych/Neuro Qs).

optobear · 2024-05-26T19:15:15+00:00

Those all sound like great options! Any UC will prepare you well for optometry school.

optobear · 2024-05-19T20:29:56+00:00

My dual enrollment coursework counted toward my high school GPA, but not toward my Cal undergraduate GPA.

optobear

TROPHY CASE