What are my Chances...

[medhopeful64]

Hi guys! So I'm very new to this, being a pre-med for most of my undergrad, I've decided that I should really explore other healthcare options, like optometry. I have looked at Waterloo's admissions stats page, and I still have a few questions that I hope some of you can help me out with:

 

1) GPA. So I understand Waterloo calculates it based on your percentage...is this just a simple straight-up average? What if I have some letter grades on my transcript? (i.e. am currently at York and they don't use percentages, only letter grades. Previously though I was at a different school and they used percentages). Also, I believe summer courses count as well? Do they look at my percentages year by year or do they just crank out a single number that averages ALL your undergrad courses and use that?

(for perspective, my OMSAS GPA is pretty low; will be sitting at ~3.6x cGPA by the end of this year, though I have an upward trend).

 

2) OAT - looking at sample questions it looks like its very similar to MCAT. I'm a bit worried with the Reading comprehension though, if its anything like MCAT Verbal (which I have continually struggled with). I haven't scheduled a test though and understand I need to write it before July 30th of this year - what's a good time to prepare for this? (is the scope/depth of the material similar to MCAT? I will be studying for MCAT anyway so I think it won't be too hard studying for both).

 

3) I am not 100% sure if I will like Optometry as a career. I guess the only way I can figure this out is through shadowing?

 

Sorry for the noob questions...but if anyone could help me out here that would be great, thanks!!