Hi guys,

I have a question regarding specializing. Would it be better to specialize from life sciences, or stay in life sciences for four years? what are the advantages/disadvantages? How about prospects of getting into med/optometry/dentistry from these programs? Also, what are some other alternative options/jobs for a four year honours B.Sc? thanks.

Originally Posted by deedeexo

Hi guys,

I have a question regarding specializing. Would it be better to specialize from life sciences, or stay in life sciences for four years? what are the advantages/disadvantages? How about prospects of getting into med/optometry/dentistry from these programs? Also, what are some other alternative options/jobs for a four year honours B.Sc? thanks.

Specializations are good if you are interested in research as they usually require you to take courses to prepare you for a thesis as well as the thesis itself. You should also take into consideration that it's a lot harder to go from a general program to a specialized program due to limited seating in the specialization. You can easily transfer into general life science as there is no capacity, you just have to meet the requirements (which you should already have if you got into the specialization unless you do incredibly bad in your courses).

I never talked to optometry schools as to whether a thesis actually helps in getting admitted but I highly believe it does. It's definitely something to bring up during your interviews as you develop A LOT of skills and values during your thesis. Things like critical and in-depth thinking, patience, perseverance, etc...

For optometry, they do not distinguish between programs that specifically. When they release their admission data (talking about US schools) the most specific they go is by department. Most optometry students come from a biology background but it's probably because more biology students apply for the program. Program shouldn't make much of a difference as long as you meet the requirements and show that you would make a good optometrist through your skills and interest.

McMaster has an entire department to help you with understanding your career options as well as helping you achieve them. Career and Co-Op services in BSB right next to the academic advisors.

I also forgot take say that if you are really interested in Optometry then you should look into shadowing a couple optometrists. The more hours you put in the more it shows you are interested in the field of optometry. Also look at different types of practices; private, group, retail, vision therapy, low vision, etc...

thanks for your reply! it was really helpful. so, if i stay in Honours Life Sciences for four years and have the courses/marks, will that be okay? also, I've looked into shadowing optometrists, but it is tough to find places where they allow first or second year students to work alongside them. do you know of any certain opportunities that may help me? also, is it true that second year gets easier than first year (in terms of marks) ? thanks!

Originally Posted by deedeexo

thanks for your reply! it was really helpful. so, if i stay in Honours Life Sciences for four years and have the courses/marks, will that be okay? also, I've looked into shadowing optometrists, but it is tough to find places where they allow first or second year students to work alongside them. do you know of any certain opportunities that may help me? also, is it true that second year gets easier than first year (in terms of marks) ? thanks!

You should also get a good OAT, I think anything about 350 is good if you are average everywhere else. Some schools accept as low as 300 but you have to really make it up in other areas. GPA you'll want around a 3.4-3.5 if you are average everywhere else. Some schools accept as low as like 2.7, but again these people make it up in other areas. I would really work on GPA if it's in the low 3 though.

Shadowing and working is completely different. Optometrists should be willing to let you shadow as they've been in the same situation before. It's just a matter if they have space (if no one is currently shadowing them). I've started shadowing in the summer before my first year at McMaster. Private and group practices are probably the easiest to shadow since they own their practice where as retail settings you may need to get the store's permission as well. In the end you just have to make the calls and go suburban/rural if you have to. Of course urban areas will often generate more interesting cases (Which is why a lot of schools are located near cities like philadelphia, new york, chicago, etc...). But if you call like 5 optometrists (which probably takes like, 5 minutes each) you should be able to land a shadowing opportunity as one of them.

I personally got better marks in 2nd year than in 1st year, I think it's mostly because I tried harder though. Since 1st year was mostly review for me, I didn't take it too seriously and my grades started to suffer at the end of the terms when we started to learn some new material. I just couldn't get into the mindset of studying really hard so late in the terms. I started 2nd year on the right foot and was able to maintain a learning mindset through the entire term.

alright, that helps thanks! i see you're in salus university, i was actually considering SUNY optometry, or even waterloo (but i heard that one is very competitive). how is it like so far? if we score okay on the OAT, have a 3.4, and shadow an optometrist, is that sufficient and does it guarantee admission? thank you so much!!

Originally Posted by deedeexo

alright, that helps thanks! i see you're in salus university, i was actually considering SUNY optometry, or even waterloo (but i heard that one is very competitive). how is it like so far? if we score okay on the OAT, have a 3.4, and shadow an optometrist, is that sufficient and does it guarantee admission? thank you so much!!

I'm starting this year. I also got accepted to SUNY but decided to go to Salus since it's slightly cheaper as New York is quite an expensive city to live in. SUNY is a better school for research though, although Salus also does research which I may or may not pursue in my later years. SUNY is also tough to get into, their acceptance GPA and OAT are higher than a lot of other schools (not including Waterloo).

Letters of references are also important, I think the maximum you'll need is 2 academic and 2 optometric references. Some schools only require 1 of each or 2 academic and 1 optometric. A good score on the OAT, a decent GPA, shadowing experience (the more and difference practices the better as it shows you really know what you are getting yourself into), and those letters of references should be enough to get you an interview at most schools. A good essay is also important for the more competitive schools, otherwise you can probably get away with an okay essay. But your essay should be as unique as possible and when you are writing it, it's important to remember that they read through hundreds if not thousands of these essays each year. Then you just have to do well in the interview, which is just like any other panel interview. They just want to know who you are as a person.

Waterloo is on a whole different level...

Originally Posted by deedeexo

alright, that helps thanks! i see you're in salus university, i was actually considering SUNY optometry, or even waterloo (but i heard that one is very competitive). how is it like so far? if we score okay on the OAT, have a 3.4, and shadow an optometrist, is that sufficient and does it guarantee admission? thank you so much!!

I'm not speaking for optometry directly, but in general when applying to professional schools, nothing you can do GUARANTEES admission. You can get amazing grades, an amazing standardized test (LSAT, OAT, DAT, MCAT, PCAT, etc), but if you don't show what they're looking for in the interview, you still might not get in. Most schools don't release the exact way they combine all the different aspects of the application. Admission is never guaranteed.