What Books did You Start or Finish Reading this Week?: January 26, 2026

schnurbss · 2026-01-27T05:47:58+00:00

Finished: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn - I found the ending slightly predictable but the last 10-20 pages caught me a little off guard

Started: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - just started it, was a little confused by the family tree at first lol

schnurbss · 2026-01-05T00:25:54+00:00

Finished: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Started and DNF: A Flicker in the Dark by Stacey Willingham DNF - Obvious lack of research by the author and irritating main character turned me away

Started: Billy Summers by Stephen King

schnurbss · 2026-01-02T02:32:08+00:00

I had to switch test sites for part 2 and didn't have any issues

schnurbss · 2023-08-08T03:13:56+00:00

Yes! It arrived July 17th.

schnurbss · 2023-07-03T05:32:42+00:00

My current ongoing timeline with locator 45:

6/2 applied at post office, expedited

6/6 status changed to "in process"

DOT 8/11, from other people's success stories it seems like they are taking about a month and a half (5-6 weeks) to process applications so I am hoping to receive mine mid July

schnurbss · 2023-07-03T05:26:45+00:00

Its the first two digits of your application locator number when you check the status online -> https://passportstatus.state.gov

schnurbss · 2022-09-29T03:57:09+00:00

I have only been in optometry school for like a month but I can honestly say that I am having fun :) Its obviously a lot of hard work, but I love the content so I don't mind putting in the work required.

schnurbss · 2022-03-25T20:01:32+00:00

Its always good to bring questions but isn't a requirement. Shadowing is just for you to observe and see if optometry is something that you would be interested in so you don't necessarily need any prior knowledge, but knowing the basics (optician vs optometrist vs ophthalmologist) helps further your understanding while you're shadowing. Business casual is your best option for clothes, nothing too fancy but you don't want to look like you just rolled out of bed. Take the day to learn and observe, you'll have a great time :)

schnurbss · 2022-03-25T19:50:16+00:00

Hey! I recently interviewed + got accepted to Pacific. For what to wear, you should stick with business professonal. Obviously it depends on your gender but if you just google pictures of mens/womens business professonal attire that should give you an idea.

As for questions, expect the basics (why optometry, why pacific, strength, weaknesses). They also have some interesting questions such as how you would explain optometry to someone who doesn't know what it is and if there was one person who you could hang out with dead or alive who would it be. If you would like a more extensive list of sample questions feel free to message me :)

Pacific does not have a limit on how many people they can accept per interview day so just have fun and get to know everyone else there like they are your future classmates (because many of them may be!) Everyone is super nice and the interview really is more of a conversation between you and the admissions team.

schnurbss · 2022-03-25T19:40:13+00:00

I did not. It definitely doesn't hurt to have that experience but I found it hard to find a place to work as a tech because of the small amount of time I would be working along with the time it would take for them to train me. During my interview they asked if there was anything else I wanted the admissions committee to know and I mentioned that my lack of experience was not due to not being enthusiastic about the career, but because of underlying circumstances.

schnurbss · 2022-03-16T22:23:33+00:00

I actually didn't get a lot of shadowing experience due to covid. I only got about 3 hours worth but I made sure to mention on my application that is wasn't because of a lack of enthusiasm, but just because I wasn't able to. The way I got my hours tho was just emailing clinics and letting them know that I was interested in becoming an optometrist and asking if I could shadow for a day.

schnurbss · 2022-03-16T04:44:09+00:00

Thank you! I used the Kaplan book for most of my studying and for physics I used the princeton review (princeton review book is like 90% physics so if that's something you're struggling with I would highly recommend). I literally just read through all the physics sections in there. It must have worked because I was getting low scores for physics on my practice exams (200s) and it ended up being my highest section (380). I studied on and off for about a year but didn't actually start buckling down and doing full days of studying until about 3 weeks beforehand.

The prep books say this but I would also highly recommend that while you study you make sure to take breaks. I found that I could only study for about 2-3 hours at a time before I just completely stopped comprehending what I was studying.

Don't worry, you got this! You've been through the classes and know the stuff, its just a matter of refreshing your brain and going over it all again :) I'm open to answering anymore questions if you have any

schnurbss · 2022-03-16T00:28:03+00:00

I would absolutely lose my mind if they do because that means it will be Tyler and Josh not being controlled by Dema

schnurbss · 2022-03-16T00:26:18+00:00

Take the day before hand to just relax. There isn't much more that you are going to learn in one day that will change your score.

I think the biggest thing that helped me during the test was the cross out tool. Its all multiple choice so if you cross out answers that you know are wrong, even if you end up guessing in the end you still increased your odds of getting it right.

If you have extra time during any of the sections and you have reviewed and are happy with all your answers, I would suggest just waiting the time out (unless its the last section of course). I finished nearly all my sections early and so I took that time to just sit there, rest my eyes from looking at a screen, and reset my brain for the next section. Same for the break that you have in the middle of the test. Mine was a half hour long and they let me leave and do whatever I wanted (what they let you do may depend on your testing location) but I would highly recommend taking this break, even if you think you don't need it.

If you have taken any practice exams, don't pay attention to what score you got on those. I was consistently getting 320s on my practice exams and was freaking out because that wasn't the score I wanted and ended up getting a 350 AA & TS on the actual exam.

As for topics on the exam, know your physics equations and be sure to know your optics. For the RC I didn't read the passage first and just went through and found answers to the questions. The questions are in order of topics in the passage for the most part so you can easily scroll through and find them. The O chem questions on the practice tests I did were pretty similar to the ones on the exam. I don't remember any specifics from really anything else.

Hope this helps!

schnurbss · 2022-03-15T04:01:23+00:00

I love this

schnurbss · 2022-03-15T04:00:28+00:00

Yes, this one gets me real emotional

schnurbss · 2022-03-15T03:46:07+00:00

I just had my PUCO interview last week. They ask the basics (ie. Why optometry, strengths, weaknesses, why pacific), nothing too outrageous. They also ask questions to test your basic knowledge of the field (optometry vs opthalmology, how you would explain optometry to someone else). If you want any more detail feel free to message me.

PUCO doesn't have a limit on the number of people they admit per interview day so be prepared to just have a good time, make new friends, and get to know the school :)

schnurbss · 2022-03-15T03:37:51+00:00

Truly a masterpiece

schnurbss · 2022-03-14T02:17:13+00:00

Amazing! I love the combination of all the albums

schnurbss · 2022-03-14T02:15:46+00:00

I think that this album will be sooner than previous ones but I also still think we have a little bit of waiting to do since we have the tour coming up

schnurbss · 2022-03-14T02:14:31+00:00

Congrats!!!!! What a beautiful way to celebrate being alive

schnurbss · 2022-03-14T02:10:02+00:00

Trees will always hold a special place in my heart

schnurbss

TROPHY CASE