<p>So lately I have been thinking of pursuing Optometry school, especially here at Berkeley. I was wondering if UC Berkeley Optometry favors Berkeley undergrads or if is actually a disadvantage to come from the same school. Also the average GPA is a 3.55, but I was wondering if Berkeley Optometry takes into account the rigor of the classes as I assume they know about the difficult of Berkeley science classes in comparison to say Chico state.</p>
<p>hmm… good question.</p>
<p>I don’t think they really favor/not favor Berkeley students or if they take into account the rigor. It’s a challenge to even complete all the pre-reqs AT berkeley especially in light of the budget cuts. I think they favor in-state. UCBSO is holding a presentation soon, it was advertised through foresight and then there’s a day in October where they let you talk with faculty members/current students/etc.</p>
<p>It just so happens that this year’s freshman class is ~1/3 Berkeley graduates while other years, it’s much lower (~7/60 students)</p>
<p>Hmm do you think there is an advantage if you do optometry research here at Berkeley seeing as there are only 2 optometry school in CA so people in other schools aren’t exposed as much to optometry research?</p>
<p>Most of the optometry research done on campus that undergrads can participate in is geared more towards molecular/cell biology or psychology. It’s OD/PhD research, if you’re not interested in getting a PhD after OD, then it really isn’t worth it. </p>
<p>A lot of the interviewed students do the same thing - pre-opt club officer, research, volunteering, working w/ an optometrist, etc. Try to do something that’s different but you really enjoy. You will def. need to get LORs from an optometrist though.</p>