Optometry School - Frequently Asked Questions

You can major in whatever you want to for Optometry School, as long as you complete the pre-reqs. For the competitive schools, they may pay attention to where you completed your pre-reqs. If you complete all of your pre-reqs (science) at a JC, the competition, the rigorous course work at those institutions are not the same as a four year institution, so they may have some reservations about your ability to "carry the load" in a health profession school. It might be a better strategy to take your pre-reqs at a four-year institution, like UC Extension, SF State, CSU Hayward etc. You can enroll as a non-degree student or complete the post baccalaureate program, to fulfill the requirements.

It would be a good idea for you to review the admissions requirements (specifically the course prerequisites) of each school you are considering. The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry is a good site to check out. I also recommend you consider repeating the courses for a letter grade. This show you are competent in the subject matter and the grades will make you more competitive. Regarding your question about a substitute for the English Literature and Composition requirement, you should check with your departmental advisor or with L&S Advising at 113 Campbell Hall. They are the experts in advising courses to meet your breath requirements.

The Optometry portion of our website is pretty comprehensive so students don't have to see a counselor unless they really want to. We do strongly suggest you attend the many "preparing for health professional school" programs, panels and events that happen every semester so check our online calendar often. The OAT should be taken during a not too busy semester so your time is focused on adequately preparing to score high. Remember that the test is only offered twice a year and that scores can take 4-8 weeks to arrive so make sure you take it and receive your scores before any optometry school deadlines.

Check the Yellow Pages of the Phone book for "optometry" and make some "cold calls." Be prepared with your resume, and for questions about why you wish to volunteer with them, and what your career goals are for the future. Also look at these optometry websites: American Optometric Association, Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, American Academy of Optometry. Volunteer or paid experience with an optometrist is essential in your preparation for optometry school. First, as a prospective optometry professional, you gain valuable insight into your decision whether optometry is the career path for you. Second, you develop the opportunity to receive a letter of support from an optometry professional, a vital element of your application. Good strategies for locating optometrists to volunteer or work with are to join Foresight, the Berkeley pre-optometry club, or to make an appointment with a pre-professional counselor at the Career Center.

Chemistry (two years) - Most students take Chem 1A, 3A, 3B and MCB 102 or 100 and classify 1A / 3A as General Chemistry and 3B / MCB 102 or 100 as Organic Chemistry. Since, as you may recall, the first portion of Chem 3a contains a good amount of general chemistry. Contact the optometry schools that interest you and see if the above sequence will satisfy their requirements. Your chemistry coursework is fine for most optometry schools; most have accepted our sequence since 1991.

We do not have a Pre-optometry program here at Cal, since no specific major is required for entrance into an optometry program, instead you need to fulfill the pre-optometry requirements, and it is not too late to begin fulfilling the requirements. Here is the website that will provide you the information you will need to help you prepare and apply to an Optometry program including a time line. If you do not fulfill all of the requirements here at Cal, you can take the additional coursework at another university. A degree is not required for entrance into an optometry program, but most students earn a degree before entering the program.

The Berkeley Optometry school suggests that applicants take the test twice as they take the best score. So, taking it this fall and then next spring would be good. I do think that next fall would be the latest time you could take it and apply on time. But, I suggest you check the schools to be sure. Visit the ASCO site as it has a section on admissions and offers links to the schools where you will find the specific policies of the schools. A number of optometry schools attend our Graduate School Fair in October. A list of which ones attended last year is on our website with links to the schools.

The place to start is at OPTED there you will find links to the schools and instructions on how to apply to each one. You will need some letters of recommendations, as each school will tell you and to write an essay or two. Again, the links to the schools will provide you with what you need. Our Optometry-Applying section shows what you must do to register online for the OAT.

When it comes to meeting minimum requirements, the vast majority of schools will not give you a lot of room to play with. They want to make sure their entering class has a common knowledge base. From the UCB School of Optometry website, it looks like you can substitute harder classes for easier ones, meaning that you do not have to have the exact classes listed as their pre-req.'s. (But you need to check with an admissions official to see if your course work meets their minimum requirements.) Perhaps knowing that, you can see where certain classes you took might substitute for the stated prerequisites. For example, maybe you took a rhetoric class that could substitute for part of the Reading and Composition requirement.

If, after analyzing your course work AND speaking to an admissions officer, you still do not meet the minimum requirements, you may need to take some of the classes. You should not take more than one or two of your pre-req classes at a community college. You can take them through the university extension or through another four-year university/college. Check out more info on post-bacc programs. It does not matter if you enroll in a formal post-bacc program or just take the courses as a non-degree-seeking student.