High School

[Namikaze]

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Well, I am currently a Junior in High School and I'm thinking of becoming an Optometrist for my career. So I have a couple of questions.

What kind of classes should I take?
Science classes?
I have anatomy and physics currently, and already took biology and chemistry.

Major?
I have no idea what major to choose.

What colleges?
in California.
Can I go to a community college first and then a UC?

Grades?
I just started school. And my grades the past years were okay. 🙁

Thanks everyone! I have some more questions, but I'll ask later.

 

[Sight5]

Going into college with a strong science background from high school is a plus but not necessary.

You can major in anything, as long as you fulfill the minimum requirements for optometry school. They couldn't care less what you major in. Though majoring in something like biology certainly doesn't hurt =).

They all will take community colleges classes. If you plan on going to a cc for 2 years and then transferring,that is definitely fine.

Try to maintain a GPA at a MINIMUM of 3.0. People who make it into optometry school below a 3.0 are rare.

 

[JMU07]

You can major in anything - you don't have to have a science-related major to get into optometry school. It does make life easier though, because with a science major your pre-reqs will probably overlap with classes for your major.

Also, as far as I know, most OD schools don't look at your high school transcripts (at least the ones I'm applying to don't). But don't slack off b/c of that, because the better you learn biology and what have you in high school, the easier it'll be in college.

Can't help you with the college question, don't know much about CA schools!

 

[Oogilily]

Although you can take classes at a community college, certain optometry schools (I don't remember which ones) require you to take a certain number of hours at a university. So keep that in mind when planning your classes for college.

 

[KHE]

Well, I am currently a Junior in High School and I'm thinking of becoming an Optometrist for my career. So I have a couple of questions.

What kind of classes should I take?
Science classes?
I have anatomy and physics currently, and already took biology and chemistry.

Major?
I have no idea what major to choose.

What colleges?
in California.
Can I go to a community college first and then a UC?

Grades?
I just started school. And my grades the past years were okay. 🙁

Thanks everyone! I have some more questions, but I'll ask later.

Nam...

You're not the first high schooler to post on here and it's good that you are having an eye towards your future but I think you might be putting the cart before the horse a little bit here.

What you should be doing right now is trying to concentrate on your high school studies, enjoying your junior and senior years and thinking about finding a college or a university to attend that will be a good fit for you for 4 years.

The pre-requisites for optometry school are fairly broad and you will find them at virtually all degree granting institutions so don't worry so much about that right now. There will be plenty of time for worrying about that once you gain admission to college.

 

[jc812]

It's good that you've decided to pursue the OD career, but there's many more things to think about (as KHE said) before you think about the specifics of OD school and getting into school.

I'm a fourth year college student. When I was a Jr in HS I thought that I wanted to pursue a different career but found that Optometry was right for me (after some experiences). You should enjoy your Highschool years and don't worry too much about your grades. Once you enter college, though, you want to develop better study habits and aim for a reasonable GPA (3.3) and go higher as you reach your smaller goals.

www.opted.org has some info on the profession and shows some prereqs that you need to take, but use it as a guideline once you enter college.

 

[msjang]

SCCO (CA) and SUNY (NewYork) requires high school transcripts, something to keep in mind, if you are interested in going there