Admissions Requirements

One must be from an optometrist, one must be from a professor, and the third letter is from someone of your choice.

Official transcripts sent from each post-secondary school you have attended. Please note: You can only send updated official transcript materials to OptomCAS until February 1. After that date your updated transcripts should be sent to:

• The Ohio State University Professional Admissions P.O. Box 182004  Columbus, OH 43218-2646
• Electronic transcripts can be sent to gpadocs@osu.edu. 

Applicant must have 10+ hours of shadowing at two optometric practices.

Admission requires completion of the prerequisites listed below or their equivalents from any accredited college or university. At least one year of this work should be completed at a baccalaureate degree-granting institution. Students are encouraged to complete a bachelor’s degree prior to matriculation in our program. However, some high-achieving students are admitted with three years (90 semester hours) of undergraduate coursework. The number of courses listed below is provided as a guideline. In assessing course content for equivalency, actual numbers of courses may vary for your institution. In some cases, multiple courses may be needed to fulfill prerequisite coursework.

• English Composition (1 Course)
• Inorganic Chemistry, with laboratory  (Usually 2 courses)
• Organic Chemistry, no laboratory required (1 Course)
• Biochemistry (1 or 2 courses) If your institution divides biochemistry into a two series course, you need to take both courses to meet our course content requirements.
• Physics, with laboratory (2 Courses) Physics course work should cover mechanics, heat, light, sound, electricity, magnetism and modern physics.
• Mathematics – Calculus (1 Course)
• Biology, with laboratory (2 Courses)
• Physiology (1 or 2 Courses) Physiology course work must cover all of the systems of the body.
• Microbiology, with laboratory (1 Course)
• Introductory Psychology (1 Course)
• Humanities (2 – 3 Courses)
• Social Sciences (2 – 3 Courses)

Specific prerequisite classes for Ohio State undergraduate students:

ENGL 1110; CHEM 1210 & 1220; CHEM 2510; BIOCHEM 4511 or PHR 3200; PHY 1200 & 1201; MATH 1151; BIO 1113 & 1114; EEOB 2520 or PHYSIO 3200 or PHR 3100; MICRO 4000; PSYCH 1100; 2 – 3 Humanities; 2 – 3 Social Sciences

The Optometry Admissions Test (OAT) is an assessment of your academic ability and knowledge in six sections: biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, math (quantitative), and reading comprehension.

The OAT is offered throughout the year at Prometric Testing Centers. You should plan ahead for taking the OAT and schedule a testing date several weeks in advance. Information about registering for the test can be found at: https://optometriceducation.org/. You must submit your OAT scores by March 1 preceding the autumn term for which you are applying.

The OAT can be retaken once every 90 days. In addition to registration instructions and materials, the OAT website (https://optometriceducation.org/) also provides a tutorial, test preparation materials, and a sample test.

You will receive an individual score for each of the sections as well as an Academic Average score (the average score for all six sections) and a Total Science score (a recalculation of the science sections only). The test is scored from 200 (minimum score) to 400 (maximum score).

The average score for an admitted Ohio State student generally falls between 320 – 340 for each section and for the Academic Average and Total Science scores. Scores below 300 are less competitive.

In some cases, we will consider the acceptance of other graduate /professional school tests such as the GRE, MCAT, PCAT and DAT.  Please consult our office if you have questions related to the acceptance of tests other than the OAT.

*Open to Ohio State undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences

The BSVS is for highly motivated, well qualified Ohio State students who want to fast-track their Optometry education.  Students pursuing this option would be able to complete both a Bachelor of Science degree and a Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree in a total of seven years, reducing both the time to career entry and total cost of education by one year.  Candidates would complete the General Education Requirements for a Bachelor of Science and the OD prerequisites in the first three years of their undergraduate career. Then, if admitted to the Ohio State College of Optometry, the courses taken in the first year of the OD program would be applied to the BSVS and the degree would be awarded in the spring of that year, thus allowing students to graduate with their undergraduate cohort. Students would then complete the remaining three years of the OD program.

Students interested in pursuing this option should work with the pre-health advisors in the College of Arts and Sciences on the following steps:

1. Declare a major of your choice in the College of Arts and Sciences for the first three years
2. Make a plan to complete all Bachelor of Science general education requirements and the Doctor of Optometry prerequisites in three years
3. Apply for the Ohio State Doctor of Optometry (OD) program in the second year of undergraduate education.
4. Once admitted to the OD program, declare BSVS major

Please note:

• Admission to the Ohio State Doctor of Optometry program is not guaranteed and students must follow all standard admissions requirements and procedures.
• This option is only available for Ohio State students in the College of Arts and Sciences and admitted to the Ohio State College of Optometry.
• Students who are not admitted to the Doctor of Optometry program in their third year can continue in the College of Arts and Sciences to earn a bachelor degree and are welcome to re-apply to the OD program the following year under the traditional track. 

Additional courses in physiology and anatomy are highly recommended. Other beneficial electives may include: introductory statistics, ethics, histology, sociology, scientific terminology, and small business management.

Ohio State Optometry accepts Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) credit as long as those credits were accepted at your undergraduate institution. All laboratory coursework must be completed in person. We do not accept online laboratory coursework. The lecture portion of coursework can be completed online and is considered on a case-by-case basis.

The Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions at Ohio State offers free coursework evaluations for students attending other institutions to provide assistance in selecting and taking coursework that meets our prerequisite requirements. For more information, visit the graduate and professional admissions webpage or call 614-292-9444.

Due to continuous advances in the scientific field, the Admissions Committee requires you to demonstrate recent competence in science prerequisites. Therefore, if any of your science prerequisites are older than 10 years, you must either repeat course work in that specific area or submit convincing evidence of current mastery in the appropriate science to the Admissions Committee.

Due to the specific course work in our program, admission with advanced standing from other optometry programs is not possible. A student at another optometry program who wishes to apply would need to meet the customary competitive admissions requirements and also provide a letter from a Student Affairs officer at the former optometry program attesting to their good academic and disciplinary standing currently or when they exited the program.

Coming soon