Interview Tips

Well, I haven’t really posted much in a very long time. I have been working on putting some stuff together for a mock interview day that we are going to be having with our Pre-Optometry Club after Spring Break, so I thought I would put it up here for anyone who is interested. Most of the questions just came from various websites, but some I remember them asking in my own interview. I also put some tips at the end to hopefully help some people out. Good luck to any of you who will be starting the exciting process of getting into optometry school soon! I know that with the semester’s end coming up much faster than most of us planned, the daunting OAT is coming up fast for some of you!

Mock Interview Sample Questions

• What got you interested in optometry?
• What is your overall goal with optometry?
• How did you prepare for the OAT?
• How do you connect with the mission statement of our school?
• What is something you have learned during your time at Missouri State?
• Why do you want to be an optometrist?
• Tell me about yourself.
• What are some of your strengths?
• What are some areas you would like to improve on?
• How do you handle conflict?
• Tell me about some of your volunteer experiences. What would you say impacted you the most?
• Tell me about some of your extra-curricular involvement.
• What are some of you hobbies/stress-relievers?
• Who is the most influential person in your life?
• What course did you find to be the most challenging in your undergraduate career?
• What do you think being an optometrist entails, outside of just seeing patients?
• What makes a good optometrist?
• What optometry procedures have you seen in your shadowing experience?
• What did you like/dislike about some of the places that you shadowed?
• What kind of learning style do you have and how can you use that to be successful in optometry school?
• What do you think is the most pressing issue in optometry today?
• What are the responsibilities of an optometrist to his or her patients?
• What do you think of the current state of healthcare in the United States?

 

Tips for a Successful Interview

1. Do your research. Look at any material you have from the school, check out their website, and talk to anyone you might know who goes there. This will help you get a feel for the school, as well as give you some things to talk about when they ask you why you want to go there. See what classes are going to interest you in their curriculum so that you can talk about that if they ask. If you can get any information on the people you will be interviewing with that can be helpful too because it will help you connect with them.
2. Look over sample questions and think about how you would answer them in advance. Don’t try to wing the interview because this is the time when the school gets a real first impression of you. An optometrist doesn’t just need to be smart, they need to be personable as well.
3. Dress appropriately. Guys usually wear suits or at least slacks and a tie. Girls should wear something modest and professional.
4. Be yourself. It’s normal to have anxiety, but try not to stress out so much that you aren’t able to share your real personality with the interviewers. They want to see that you are going to be a pleasant student and that you are going to fit in well with their staff and student body.
5. Make sure you have some questions to ask the interviewers as well. They will most likely give you a few minutes at the end to ask them any questions that you might have. This could be really awkward if you don’t have anything to ask. This is where knowing a little bit about the school and interviewers can really come in handy. Maybe you saw a certain class or organization that you are interested and can ask how to get involved with it. Maybe there’s another school you’re looking into that offers something not advertised by this school and you want to know if they have it too. Even if it’s just a little question, it shows the interviewers that you have done your research and really are interested in their school.

6. Follow up. Whether it’s sending a thank you card to your interviewers for the opportunity, or just emailing someone who works in student services, make sure they remember who you are and know that you are still interested in the school after the tour/interview experience.

Also, here’s a handy notes form I found that you can use to think of some of your own questions for the interviewers:  Interview notes form

OptomCAS Advice (from someone who’s doing it NOW)

Hey everyone!

So the OptomCAS for the 2015-2016 application cycle opened up July 1st and I’ve been working on it for the past two weeks or so. I just wanted to make a quick post with some tips while they were fresh in my mind. It’s a pretty lengthy process, but I did a few things that saved me a lot of hassle.

First of all, have your unofficial transcript in front of you when you sit down to put all of your classes in. It makes it so much easier to glance down at a paper than to keep clicking back and forth on your computer and scrolling all around. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal, but it kind of took forever.

Secondly, write your personal statement before the application even opens. The prompt doesn’t really change much from year to year. Basically tell the schools you’re applying to why in the world you want to be an optometrist. Try to avoid being too cliche because they are reading hundreds and hundreds of these things and you want to stand out. I really hope this isn’t the first time that you’ve stopped to think about why you want to do this, so it shouldn’t be as intimidating as it sounds. Also, the essay is limited to 4,500 characters and spaces count! One of my biggest challenges has been cutting mine down because I am not a concise writer at all. I like long sentences with lots of words. It’s just the way I talk and write.

Finally, start identifying who you might ask for a letter of recommendation months before you start the application. It’s good to give them a head’s up because you can’t submit/finalize your application until all of them have been sent in. It also gives you an option to give them a deadline, which I found most of the people I asked to evaluate me wanted. It gave them some sort of timeline for when to have it done.

So basically…

1. Use your unofficial transcript to fill in your classes.

2. Get that personal statement out of the way so you have plenty of time to edit it. (Also, shout out to everyone who has helped me cut mine down!!)

3. Figure out who you want to write those letters of rec and ask them early.

Hope this helps!

JB

PA 7 Cultural Competence

One of the foundations of my university is cultural competence. It is something that they strive to incorporate into every course. I think that in this setting competence is the focus, not necessarily culture. Competence implies that you have the knowledge and ability to deal with whatever situation is at hand. Culture is a much more vague concept. We are surrounded by so many things that could be considered to be a part of our culture from the food we eat, to the movies we watch, to the kinds of transportation we use. I think that competence is the focus of the university- to teach students how to deal with people of any culture in a non-offensive way. I think that this is a really great thing for the university to emphasize because it creates a culture of competent people. The students at this university will (hopefully) be more tolerant, culturally-sensitive individuals.

This idea is very applicable to pre-optometry students because they will find themselves working with people from all kinds of different cultures. I work at an eye clinic right now, and even though we are located in a very non-diverse city we see patients from many different cultures. It is important to always treat every patient with respect so that they will return to your practice.

Another way that cultural competence can be beneficial to pre-optometry students is through teaching them how to be interdisciplinary. This term refers to people of different jobs or industries working together to get a job done. In a way each job can be thought of as its own “culture.” In optometry this is a very important concept. Optometrists have to work with many other doctors because they are able to diagnose conditions that need more intensive treatment such as glaucoma, cataracts, high blood pressure, diabetes, and macular degeneration. They also have to work with contact lens manufacturers, opticians, and office managers. Optometry is a very special field but it cannot stand alone. I think the same is true of people in general. Each culture is significant on its own, but it is necessary for there to be many kinds of cultures to fit everyone’s need to belong to something bigger than themselves.

Thanks for reading!

JB

PA6- What it means to be an optometrist in today’s society.

Hello Everyone!

Today I have been assigned to talk about my civic identity and the community that I see myself as helping in my future career.

My civic identity right now is that of a student. I am expected to work hard, make good grades, volunteer, and be involved with organizations on campus. In the future I plan to be an optometrist- someone who makes a good living, treats disease, and helps people see. I want to give back to my community a lot when I’m an optometrist. Going to the Dining in the Dark event that I went to last weekend really opened my eyes to all of the amazing things that optometrists and ophthalmologists can do for their community. A big part of that is making health care affordable. I don’t understand all of the politics behind healthcare right now, but I do know that if I own my own clinic one day, I want my patients to know I care about more than just the check I’m getting when they walk out the door. I want to help people who cannot afford proper vision care. I know I still have to make a living, but I hope that I will remain humble enough to be generous once I start making money. I think that greediness is a terrible quality to have. I also know that there are a lot of opportunities for missions trips in optometry. Organizations such as the Lion’s Club collect used glasses and distribute them. There are also a lot of other ways to be help and serve people through this profession, so I am looking forward to that.

I keep talking about this community that I want to help, but I have to stop and ask myself, “Who is this community?” Right now that question is kind of hard to answer. I’m not sure where I want to go to optometry school yet, and after that I’ll have to make the decision of where to practice. I know that wherever I go there will be people who need help and can’t afford it. I hope to help those people in whatever way I can. More than that though, I dream of helping the global community. I mentioned the Lion’s Club and their missions trips that they go on. I would love to be a part of those. I would like to go all over the world and help as many people as I can. Some people may wonder why I want to do this, especially if it is costing me money. They may think that I deserve something in return. Honestly, I think that going to bed each night knowing that you have helped someone and made a difference in their life is priceless. I think that’s the greatest reward.

I am so excited to one day be on the “doctor-end” of great events and trips that impact people by helping them see. I have had just a few encounters in my own community through an organization that works with the Lion’s Club to provide vision screenings for kids at schools, and I have had a chance to help with that event I mentioned earlier. I am the President of the Pre-Optometry Club, so I have been networking with these organizations to find out more about how we can help and set up volunteer opportunities. I hope that all Pre-Optometry students see what an amazing impact they can make on the lives of others, and don’t just pick this profession for the money.

Thanks for reading! Let’s change the world!

JB

PA5 Getting Ready to Graduate

Hello Again!

I just wanted to write today to tell you all a little bit about what it is like to be me right now. I am a Junior, so I only have two more semesters until I graduate. That is so crazy! I am preparing to take the OAT and looking into schools. Right now I’m thinking I would like to go to UMSL or NOVA Southeastern University. They both look like amazing schools, and I think I would be really happy at either of them. I am at the point where I am working on my resume and trying to present myself as a well-rounded individual. It takes a lot of time and energy to juggle all of the things that make you a competitive applicant for optometry school. I am working on getting in volunteer and shadowing hours, working to support myself, presiding over the Pre-Optometry Club on campus, doing undergraduate research, and keeping up with my coursework. It’s a lot, but I enjoy all of these things and am so thankful for the opportunities I have been blessed with. I know that all of these things will show the admissions counselors that I am a hard worker and that I am passionate about what I do.

I want them to see that not only am I excited about optometry, but I love science in general! I have a minor obsession with birds, so I am taking an ornithology class right now, and I love it! The other day we got to learn about birds’ vision and I was just so excited- my two favorite things in one class period! I definitely nerded out a little bit, but oh well.

I also want them to see that I am involved with my community. I think it’s important for optometrists to give back to whatever community they are in because they have a skill that can help so many people. Last night I had an opportunity to help with this really cool event for the Vision Rehabilitation Center, and it was so cool to see how many optometrists came to the event and supported their cause. I hope that by being involved in the community now I’ll be able to keep that mentality as a graduate and give back to the people around me.

I have loved my experience in college so far, but I am definitely read to graduate and move on to optometry school. One of my friends just got accepted and has been telling me so many awesome things about her class and all of the things they are doing to make the next four years a good experience. She has shared a lot of insight into the whole process of interviewing and applying, and I am so thankful for that. I am really just excited to start doing all of those things myself and hopefully be accepted next fall!

Thanks for reading! Keep up all the hard work!

JB

PA4 Choosing an Undergraduate Major

Hello fellow students!

I’m not sure where all of you are at in your journey towards Optometry school, but here’s a post to help you out if you are in the “I’m about to go to college and I have no clue what this thing called a major is and what I should choose” phase.

I remember it well… I remember putting “Pre-Optometry” down as my major on all of my college paperwork before I started school. I didn’t really understand that that’s not technically a major. Once I figured out what I was doing I chose to major in Biology. Personally, I have found it to be challenging, fascinating, and my perfect fit.

Biology is a really great major for any student who wants to go to optometry school. You meet pretty much all of your pre-requisites, learn all of the important information for the OAT, and get to know a lot about the world around you. Even classes that don’t seem related to optometry will have small connections here and there.

I’m also minoring in Chemistry, which is difficult but so worth it. I have a love/hate relationship with chem. I have always struggled to understand it, but a good foundation in chemistry will take you far in as a biology and/or pre-optometry student. I only needed to take one extra chemistry class to have a minor with all of the chemistry classes I was required to take for my major, so I decided to take it on. (Plus, that extra class was a pre-req for optometry school, so that’s a win-win!)

To major in Biology, you definitely have to be a science person. I know that a lot of what I read online when trying to decide my major encouraged people to pursue degrees in the humanities, just to make them stand out as a different kind of applicant. My advice is–don’t! You will have to work really, really hard to understand everything for the OAT if you do that. I think that most people who want to go into optometry are already interested in science, so I highly recommend picking either biology, chemistry, or even physics. Biology just happens to be the science that I am the most interested in. I actually really enjoy all of the electives I get to take for it. (Nerdy, but true!)

So, this is the major that I have chosen, and I’m a little biased, but I think it’s the best. If you major in Biology you will be exposed to so many interesting things, and you will easily meet your pre-requisite requirements for Optometry school and the OAT. Plus, I GOT TO DISSECT A PIGEON TODAY! How many majors let you do that??

It’s tough, but it’s worth it. If I had to do it over again, I’d still choose biology.

Thanks for reading!

JB