Budgeting

So I took out a loan to pay for the first quarter of optometry school. I maxed out my allowance for Stafford loans by taking out $40,500. That looks like a lot of money, but after budgeting the other night, I am $10,000 short on what I need. I've calculated rent, basic necessities such as food, transportation, personal hygiene, and I am still short 10K. I am pretty stressed about it because I did not expect to be short. So BUDGET before you do anything, and double check your budgeting. Before taking out this loan I did budget, but apparently it was not accurate. Not it is too late. But I still plan to apply for scholarships and work about 8-10 hours per month during school.


Bottom line: use your school's standard budget as an outline for your own budget and work from there. Taking out loans is serious. It is NOT income nor Free money. So BUDGET!!!!

Try Excel spreadsheets if you prefer to be electronically organized.



Medical Insurance

Most of you will find that you are no longer eligible under your parent's medical insurance by the time to reach 23-25 years of age. Being in optometry school, you must have health insurance in case of any unexpected accidents or injuries that may occur.
So this is my recent bump in the road to Optometry school : searching for affordable premiums that provide good coverage.

OAT

OAT

Most students study for the OAT during their last year of college , I did not. I wanted to focus of my finals finishing off with a strong GPA. It is up to you. Find out what works best for you. Since I took the year off after I graduated, this was the time for me to study for the OAT. I used a lot of different study guides to try to refresh my memory. The OAT itself if not difficult. I think that was something I could not get over. I was so scared of it that it became difficult. It is a very straight forward test that covers a lot of material. If you took all your general bio, chem, and physics, you should really go over all of that material. It took me a long time to study because I was relearning material that I had forgotten. A lot of students average about 6 weeks of studying time. It took me about 8 weeks. I divided the subjects into 2 weeks. There are 6 sections on the test, O. Chem, Physics 1&2, General Chem ( 1&2), Biology ( 1,2,3, Biochem, Human Embryology, Micro, Comp. Anatomy, etc.), Quantitative Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension.
I studied the least on Biology, because that was my major, and I am familiar with the material.

What I used over the 8 weeks:

Took a free Kaplan OAT test; I registered online www.kaplan.com/tests

this really helped me gauge where my weaknesses were. You get to keep the practice tests, so you can go over them!

I also bought the OAT Destroyer (www.orgoman.com), Kaplan OAT book from Barnes and Noble, and Top Score CD ( it has three practice tests that are TIMED)


First 2 weeks: Physics - OAT Destroyer for practice problems; Kaplan practice tests; old physics book from school for basic formulas

the OAT will manipulate the formulas in text, so KNOW YOUR FORUMLAS

Second 2 weeks: O. Chem
OAT Destroyer was so advanced for this...but the answer key helped with the basics like the NMR, and IUPAC naming. Kaplan practice tests were good but the answer keys weren't as detailed.

Fifth week: Reading Comprehension
This one...well I made copies from my Kaplan book of the reading passages and timed myself. It is TOUGH to answer that many questions efficiently in a timed environment, but with practice, it can work. The more I practiced, the faster I became. Topscore was the best for a real OAT simulation because it was on the computer. Unfortunately there are only three tests, so use them wisely!

Sixth and Seventh week: General Chemistry
OAT Destroyer helped me here because there were so many practice questions and they were categorized my theory. Remeber the questions are simple but they are manipulated and designed to test how well you know the material.

Last week: Bio and Review
I found biology the easiest for me so I saved it for last. I only went over the questions in the OAT destroyer, there's about 320 questions, which gave very detailed explanations. I took one more practice Kaplan test at a free event and the rest of my Topscore Tests.

STILL NERVOUS......? YOU CAN RESCHEDULE YOUR OAT FOR A LATER DATE!

Just don't post-pone it for too long, because your memory might not be as fresh.
Don't take it if you're not ready!

Experience and Networking

Shadowing Experience

If you are interested but you have not shadowed a doctor yet, you NEED to! You can't base your career decision from one eye exam with a doctor. Personally, my total hours of shadowing was 50. I shadowed optometrists in different modes of practice. Optometrists will practice in a number of settings, depending on the lifestyle you choose and the type of patients you want to see. There numerous modes of practice offered to Optometrists : Hospital, Military, HMO, Corporate, Solo Private, Group Practice, Retail, Clinical (Opthalmologic), and Academic.

You can write a letter asking an optometrist if you can shadow them, or arrange a date to ask them personally. Most Optometrists are more than willing to help you!
Most schools don't require a log of hours; it goes by an honor system. Besides your only cheating yourself by lying. This is for your own experience figure out if this is the correct field for you and also which practice setting you would prefer. For some, you might have to shadow 100+ hours to narrow down which setting you would prefer, and for others, like me, maybe 50 hours is sufficient.

Work Experience

I think the main reason why I did not have a lot of shadowing hours is because I worked so much! I first became an Optometric Technician in the spring semester of my 2nd year at UTSA. I worked for about 20-24 hours per week and I was also a full-time student
(16-17hours). Sounds like a lot to some, but it was very doable. I was able to take part in other extra curricular activities as well. Optometry school's like to see a well-rounded student. This helps the school determine whether or not you will be able to handle a greater course load during optometry school.

My suggestion, be an Optometric Technician before becoming working in retail!!! I think if you start off working in retail, it might deter you from the field. Right now, I am enjoying my year off before I start Optometry school in August. During this time, I have been working in sales at Lens Crafters. Although I can still pre-test patients, it is not the same experience as when I was pre-testing patients in a private setting. I will go into that more if anyone has any questions about retail.

Networking

Living in San Antonio, made it easier for me find a job. I worked at the doctor's office next to Eye Masters in North Star Mall for 3 years. While I worked there, I got to know a total of 5 doctors very well. You build relationships when you work with the doctors and you being to network. When you finish optometry school, if you plan to practice in the same city, you can find jobs more easily.

First Note

Hi Everyone,

So I have decided to document my transition from a Pre-optometry student to an Optometry student. I got my inspiration to start this from this website : http://www.optstudent.com/ .
I just want to take this opportunity to help anyone who is interested in the field and those who are considering Optometry as a career.