Application Overview: Regular-Status Students

Completed applications are due by our deadline of December 1, 2009.

Complete is defined as:

• The OptomCAS application has been submitted, the OAT has been taken and all Transcripts and Letters of Recommendation have been submitted to OptomCAS. Your complete online application must be submitted to OptomCAS prior to midnight Pacific Standard Time the evening of the December 1 deadline.
• The applicant has also completed and submitted the

Berkeley Optometry School-Specific Forms (see below)
which includes:

• Prerequisite Worksheet
• Worksheet for Letters of Recommendation
• Berkeley Optometry Application Fee

The Berkeley Optometry School-Specific Form must be received by the Admissions and Student Affairs Office (ASAO) by our deadline of December 1, 2009.

Berkeley Optometry is part of OptomCAS, the centralized application service for all OD programs in the US and Puerto Rico. Please follow the instructions on the OptomCAS site carefully as submitting an incomplete application will put you at a disadvantage in the admissions review process.

Berkeley Optometry School-Specific Form:

• Prerequisite Worksheet
• Worksheet for Letters of Recommendation
• Application Fee

 Click to dowload the Berkeley Optometry School-Specific Form

• To open and complete our School-Specific Form, we recommend using the latest version of Adobe Reader (Free Download). Additionally, click on "Highlight Fields" on the Prerequisite Worksheet to correctly complete each field.
• In addition to completing the Worksheets for Prerequisites and Letters of Recommendation, applicants to Berkeley Optometry will need to remit an additional application fee. Send a check or money order made payable "UC Regents" (drawn on a U.S. bank; do not send cash). If you are a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident, submit an application fee of $70. All other applicants should submit an application fee of $90. The application fee is nonrefundable and the School of Optometry does not offer fee waivers.

Applicants are encouraged to submit the Berkeley Optometry School-Specific Form as soon possible; applicants need not wait until they have completed their OptomCAS application to submit the Berkeley Optometry School-Specific Form.

Mail the UC Berkeley School of Optometry Specific Forms (Prerequisite Worksheet and Worksheet for Letters of Recommendation) and
Application Fee to:

UC Berkeley - School of Optometry
Admissions and Student Affairs Office
397 Minor Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-2020

While we do not require a specific undergraduate major to apply to Berkeley Optometry, you must have or be in the process of completing a bachelor's degree (i.e., in your senior year). This program must include the courses (or their equivalents at other institutions) outlined in the Prerequisites.

The Division of Graduate Studies requires a minimum undergraduate grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (see the Applicant Profiles).

Take the Optometry Admission Test (OAT) by Dec. 1, 2009 to be considered for admission in Fall 2010.

An applicant's most recent set of OAT scores must be no earlier than two years (24 months) prior to the opening of the current OptomCAS session. Therefore, for the 2009-2010 application cycle, we will only accept OAT scores from tests taken from July 15, 2007 until December 1, 2009.

All Transcripts and Letters of Recommendation need to be submitted to OptomCAS; do not send any Transcripts or Letters of Recommendation to Berkeley Optometry directly.

Although OptomCAS allows up to four letters of recommendation to be entered in the online application, Berkeley Optometry requires and will only review three letters of recommendation. We will ask you on the Berkeley Optometry School-Specific Form which three letters you want us to review if you have entered four letters within the OptomCAS application.  (To open and complete our School-Specific Form, we recommend using the latest version of Adobe Reader —Free Download. Additionally, click on "Highlight Fields" on the Prerequisite Worksheet to correctly complete each field.)

The three required Letters of Recommendation are critical to your application. Suggested sources would include:

• •an optometrist who can state through documented experience that you know what the profession of optometry entails.
• a professor with whom you have done personal work (such as assisted on a specific project), or with whom you took a prerequisite course.
• an employer or extracurricular activity advisor who can comment about your maturity, diligence, and conscientiousness.

Some Pre-Health Advising offices compile academic/ personal information and will also coordinate the collection of letters of recommendation in order to provide a "Committee Letter" for pre-optometry students. Please note that Berkeley Optometry does not accept Committee Letters.

All applicants will be asked to provide a response to this essay topic: "Please describe what inspires your decision for becoming an optometrist, including your preparation for training in this profession, your aptitude and motivation, the basis for your interest in optometry, and your future career goals."

Additionally, applicants to Berkeley Optometry will be asked to provide a response to this essay topic, also within the OptomCAS application: "Please discuss how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey, and why the optometry program at UC Berkeley would be a good fit for you."