Career Success Pre-Professional Advising

Optometry Applications

Application Opening Date

OptomCAS opens June 27, 2024.

  • You should plan to submit your application in July or early August if at all possible.
  • Applicants should be aware of individual school deadlines and apply well before these.

Our Timeline (below) will provide you more information about all the other things that need to be done leading up to your application.

Summer Before Application Year
  • Make a plan for how you will prepare for the OAT.
    • Students who do well typically spend 300-400 hours preparing.
    • This needs to include several full-length timed practice exams.
    • Consider in your planning how you will pay for the test--it costs $500+.
    • If you need fee assistance, a partial fee waiver for the OAT is available. You must apply for this before signing up to take the OAT. Apply well in advance.
  • Think ahead about who will be writing letters of recommendation.
    • Research schools where you intend to apply to be sure that you are planning to collect appropriate letters.
    • Make a plan for obtaining letters if you don't yet know who to ask.
    • Optometry applicants generally have 2-4 letters and an optometrist is typically one of those letters. This guide shows school recommended letter types.
  • Research programs.
    • Make a list of what is important to you in a program--do not over apply.
    • Use individual school websites as well as the ASCO (Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry) Optometry Programs Admissions Directory.
  • Plan ahead for application costs.
    • Optometry school application is expensive. Research fee assistance in advance to see if you qualify for it. You must be granted fee assistance before applying, they will not reimburse you after you have already applied.
    • Even though you are not applying for medical school, the FIRST financial resources through the AAMC are a good place for information on financial planning and funding a medically-based education.
  • Look over the OptomCAS Applicant Help Center (application instructions) so that you know what your application will entail.
  • Start gathering notes on your activities.
Before you apply--Fall semester/Early Spring Before Application
  • Check with individual schools about any questions on coursework.
    • For example, will they accept CHM 12901 (for 8 hours of general chemistry) or SCLA 10100 (for English)?
    • If you need to make sure that one of your classes will be counted for their required credits, check early.
    • Also make sure you know how to verify that they have approved a course during the application process.
  • Plan for letters.
    • Verify that the letters you intend to get will meet the needs of the school at which you intend to apply BEFORE you apply to those schools.
    • Meet with and ask letter writers for letters no later than spring break.
  • Register early for the OAT.
    • Apply very early for any accommodations you will need for the OAT. This can be a long process to obtain approval.
    • Ideally you will take the OAT only 1 time. It is a lot of preparation time and it is EXPENSIVE.
    • Think carefully before taking it again. Do you have the time to put into studying again? Di you give your best effort to studying the first time? What can you change the next time? Talk to a school and see if they think you should retake it again. Talk to a PPA advisor.
    • Remember you must wait 60 days before you can retake the OAT.
  • Become familiar with the application process ahead of the application opening.
  • Research whether any of your schools require the CASPer exam (a situational judgement exam). Currently only Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University requires it.
Spring Before Application--Pulling it All Together
  • Request your letters (ideally around Spring Break)
    • Ask your letter writers if they can support your application by providing a POSITIVE letter of recommendation.
    • Ask in person if possible.
    • Provide a resume and anything else that your letter writer might need to help them write the letter including information about how, when and where to submit their letter.
  • Start drafting your "personal statement." This question is required at all schools in the Program Materials tab of the OptomCAS application.
    • Plan on more than one draft.
    • This essay is an important element of your application and will take more than one draft.
    • Focus on 2-3 main points you want to make.
    • Write clearly and concisely.
    • Be descriptive and provide concrete examples.
    • Make sure the essay represents who you are and your reasons for pursuing dentistry.
    • The required OptomCAS question allows 4500 characters including spaces.
  • Review your required OptomCAS question.
    • Have trusted friends, faculty, and advisors provide comments on your personal statement. You want a range of people reading and commenting on it as different people will react differently to it.
    • Discuss any writing difficulties with The Writing Lab.
    • If you want the Pre-Professional Advisors to read your draft and provide comments, please email it as a Word attachment to preprofessional@purdue.edu
    • We will email comments back to you.
  • Finalize your list of schools.
    • Think about what you value: Location (area of country; urban/college town/rural setting; relatively close to home; far from family, etc); curriculum structure; school's mission; etc.
    • Be aware of that school's admission credentials and in-state admission (for state schools) policies. This process is expensive. Don't throw away money by making poor decisions.
    • Draft your personal statement
  • Organize for your application.
    • Make a database with items such as contact information, any additional requirements you still need, extra application requirements, types of letters they prefer, etc. It will help in your decision-making.
  • Submit fee assistance application early if you decide to apply for it.
  • Clean House.
    • Make sure your social media is professional.
    • Make room on your phone for a school to leave a message if needed.
    • Be sure your phone message is professional.
Summer of Application
  • Submit early.
    • Apply in July or early August if possible.
  • Follow-up on your application.
    • Make sure all elements of your application arrive to the application service (OptomCAS) and at your schools.
    • Once you have submitted your application, check your email and junk mail folders regularly to make sure that you do not miss any communications from schools.
  • If you qualify, begin to gather materials for the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
    • Most students pay for optometry school with Federal Student Aid. You will need to apply for this even before you have been admitted.
    • You can decline it if you do not attend in your application year.
  • Start preparing for interviews.
    • Research how your schools do interviews.
    • Look at the PPA website for information on how to use Big Interview which is free to you as a Purdue student.
    • Request practice questions from preprofessional@purdue.edu
    • Once you have practiced with these tools and have an interview scheduled meet with our PPA graduate assistant for a mock interview.
  • Practice patience.
    • There will be a lot of hurry and get this part turned in. Then a lot of waiting to hear something. The waiting time can be extraordinarily difficult. Your advisors in Pre-Professional Advising understand this and are here if you want to chat.
Plan Ahead
  • Remember that we are here for you after you graduate!
  • You have worked amazingly hard to get to this point! You should be very proud of all that you have accomplished!
    • As you probably realize, optometry school application is a hyper-competitive process.
    • Instead of submitting your application then kicking back to see what happens, now is the time to start adding to your application.
    • Think about any gaps in your application. Where should you add to your application?
    • How could you be a stronger applicant the next time around if you had to apply again? We all hope that isn't necessary, but if it is you need to be proactive about that now. If you wait, you may not have time to add new activities before it is time to reapply.
  • If you have been on the early end of receiving good news (Yippee! We would love to hear about it), it is time to get in that FAFSA (if you qualify) and start making plans. Get in touch with your school's financial aid office if you have questions or need assistance.
    • Make sure you are watching for any and all communications from your program. Keep up with anything they need you to do.
    • Keep up your final semester grades. All admissions are dependent on you finishing your degree in good standing. They can revoke that offer if senioritis gets the better of you.
    • Same goes for not getting in trouble (we have faith in your decision-making and not letting that happen).
    • Look for a place to live in your new community.
    • Celebrate--safely!
    • Let us know (please!) what you will be doing and let Purdue know by filling out the Next Steps Survey when asked. This is important data for the University and helps younger Boilers learn about what opportunities they have by seeing data on what students have done with their major. (Plus people will call you over and over again if you don't just fill out the survey.)
Reminder: Early Application Helps Your Application!
  • One of the easiest things you can do to help your application is to apply early.
  • Try to submit your application within a month to a month and a half of the application opening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Optometry Admission Test

Most schools require the OAT in the U.S. and Canada.

The Test has 4 Sections

  • Survey of Natural Science (Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry)
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Physics
  • Quantitative Reasoning

When and Where?

  • The test is offered through Prometric Test Centers
  • Schedule 60-90 days in advance
  • While the test is available most days, test dates do fill up
  • You must have 60 days between tests if you choose to repeat the test

Accommodations: You can apply for accommodations. This does take time to apply for and receive--plan ahead. See the OAT Guide (below)

Fee Waivers: Some partial fee waivers are available. This does take time time--plan ahead. See the OAT guide (below)

Scoring:

  • Scores range from 200-400
  • 300 in the national average
  • Unofficial scores are available immediately following the exam
  • Scores are generally valid for 2-3 years depending on the school
  • Competitive scores range from 330-350

2024 Optometry Admission Test Candidate Guide

 

Some optometry programs offer combined degrees.

Depending on your future goals, you may want to consider earning an additional degree to provide further career opportunities in research, optometry education, business, public health, and other fields.

In addition, School of Optometry often offer non-OD graduate degrees.

ASCO Optometry Career Guide

Non-OD Graduate Programs

Optometry Programs Admissions Directory with combined degree degree search ability

 

Optometry Application Resources
General Information

Optometry Career Guide

Non-OD Graduate Programs

Information about Schools

Optometry News & Resources

 
Applicant & Enrollee Data

Annual Student Data Reports

Applicant Data

 
Prometric Testing Center Test Day Information

OAT Prometric Testing Day Tutorial

Prometric Biometric Check-In

 
Letters

Provide your letter writers our Letter Writer Guide to help them with the letter writing process.

 
OptomCAS Customer Support

Fastest assistance is to use the chat function in the application

optomcasinfo@optomcas.org

Phone:617-612-2888

M-F, 9am-5pm ET