If any of you aspiring pre-opto student are reading this post, it either means you have conquered the army of prerequisite classes and extracurriculars, slayed the dreaded standardize OAT test, and synthesized a strong personal statement with the perfect story or you haven’t done any of that and are just genuinely interested in the interview process for optometry schools. But for those who identify with the former, once you hit that submit button, all that’s left to do is wait and pray to all of the divine beings in the universe that the schools you applied to will give you an interview. But, while you’re doing that, make sure you complete the supplemental application that each school sends out to you through email. 

Now, let’s fast forward a few hours to a couple days later, you check your inbox and you see an email from an optometry school you applied to saying, “Dear ‘YOU’, we are pleased to invite you to participate in our intervie-.....” 

OMMMMMGGGG!!!!  AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! LET’S CELEBRATE AND PAR…… 

WHOA THERE...hold your horses there you crazies. You just got an interview day. THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE A SHOE IN FOR THEIR SCHOOL. The interview day IS NOT the END GOAL to your optometric journey. It is just the final boss battle for the first part of your optometric journey like fighting Ansem from Kingdom Hearts I to eventually go on another journey in Kingdom Hearts II. The interview is that day where the admission teams want to know what type of person you are. Even if you have a strong application with a perfect score on the OAT, your personality and how you present yourself to the admission teams will ULTIMATELY DETERMINE their decision to admit you into their school or not. So basically, consider personal presentation into your factors for admission into optometry school.

Now, let's skip to your interview day. When I was in your shoes, I traveled from the South to the Northeast of the United States for optometry school interviews, and I learned that each school operates their interviews differently. So, to help you guys get the gist of interview day, right down below are some commonalities between the itineraries from the schools that I had applied to.

So, the biggest question we always hear, “What do Optometry schools ask during interviews?” Well… let me tell you, NEVER think of the interview as an exam (don’t procrastinate till the last second to prep)! Think of the interview as a blind date from Tinder except you’re 100% NOT going to get catfished.  

So, you’re on your blind date. You’re entering a room with one or more faculty members you haven’t even met in your life sitting behind their desk. As you enter the room, look at the faculty member(s) and always introduce yourself with a smile and a firm handshake to let them know you do have manners. Once you get cozy in the seat in front of your interviewer(s), he/she may start things off by asking you to tell him/her about yourself to break the ice. As you finish answering that first question, your interviewer will tell you about him/herself with some funny/interesting things to help lower the tension in the room. Next, as the tensions start to ease, the interviewer will most likely ask something along the lines of… (Yes what you google online is true…aside from a few very specific and secret questions…)

As you answer these questions, don’t be generic or basic. . . These interviewers don’t want to hear something like “Oh I’m here because it’s the best school ever!”  

They want to hear something original about you. Give these interviewers YOUR STORY. Illustrate your experience through college. Again, treat it like a blind date! You want to be yourself, but not so crazy that you scare them off).