Non traditional optometry students?

[raus]

Hello I have completed a pretty poor first undergrad in business at York and was considering doing a second undergrad to keep my chances alive for med school in Canada and in the States but I would liket to keep optometry as a good back up...

 

I was wondering a couple things?

 

1) How does waterloo look at non trad applicants... also if I do the prereqs at Athabasca is that fine (even if they dont use it for gpa calculations)

 

2) What about going abroad to the states to become an optometrist? I read the stats and they clearly have a lot more students entering with lower GPAs and OAT scores... Will it be a big hurdle to come back and practise in Canada?

 

Please let me know or give me some feedback on my situation.

[champ]

Hello I have completed a pretty poor first undergrad in business at York and was considering doing a second undergrad to keep my chances alive for med school in Canada and in the States but I would liket to keep optometry as a good back up...

 

I was wondering a couple things?

 

1) How does waterloo look at non trad applicants... also if I do the prereqs at Athabasca is that fine (even if they dont use it for gpa calculations)

 

2) What about going abroad to the states to become an optometrist? I read the stats and they clearly have a lot more students entering with lower GPAs and OAT scores... Will it be a big hurdle to come back and practise in Canada?

 

Please let me know or give me some feedback on my situation.

 

I can only answer one of your questions,, they do accept athabasca course credits/grades at waterloo. I know from experience I took one class from there to satisfy one of their pre reqs for admission. It wasnt an issue. The bigger issue is to make sure u have a full course load when doing this.

[Intotheblue12]

I recently inquired at Waterloo about gaining admission as a non trad student and one problem I have run into is they said I would not even be considered for admission because I only have 1 year of my undergrad where I did 10 courses in a year. Apparently they only look at full time course work so this is very disheartening as it appears my only option would be to go to an American school.

[SmokedSalmon]

Hello I have completed a pretty poor first undergrad in business at York and was considering doing a second undergrad to keep my chances alive for med school in Canada and in the States but I would liket to keep optometry as a good back up...

 

I was wondering a couple things?

 

1) How does waterloo look at non trad applicants... also if I do the prereqs at Athabasca is that fine (even if they dont use it for gpa calculations)

 

2) What about going abroad to the states to become an optometrist? I read the stats and they clearly have a lot more students entering with lower GPAs and OAT scores... Will it be a big hurdle to come back and practise in Canada?

 

Please let me know or give me some feedback on my situation.

 

 

 

Can only assist you on Question #2.....

 

Doesn't seem to be a problem if folks head down the US for optometry school and return to Canada to practise, I know at least 2 people who did so.

 

This link can also help you find 20 American schools recognized by the Canadian Association of Optometrists: http://opto.ca/optometry-in-canada/becoming-an-optometrist/

 

Good luck

[LeBronto2019]

im in a similar boat. upon graduating from undergrad, i plan to do an MPH in Global Health then see whether med or optometry would be suitable for me (i want a clinical profession to complement the projects and research i hope to do via global health).

[Intotheblue12]

I find U of Waterloo extremely frustrating with how strict there entrance criteria are. For people who did not know they wanted to be an optometrist and completed a degree in another field, completed a degree without full time course loads, you basically cant apply. I completed my first degree taking 4 courses per semester (instead of 5) for a few years and basically that makes me ineligible to apply. It would be the same for an older applicant who is trying to work part time and go to school part time - can not apply.

 

When will their admissions start to reflect society more and allow students from different backgrounds and paths. It is so common to change careers these days and Waterloo is definitely not helping those people out in any way with the overly strict admission criteria focused purely on academics.