Advising Course Plan - Health Sciences Major - Optometry Interest

Those interested in pursuing a career in Optometry should plan on also pursuing a minor in Chemistry and completing a common core of prerequisite coursework (*). Some requirements may differ from the ones below, depending on the Optometry program in which you may be interested, so please make sure to look at various graduate program requirements for different universities. Therefore, you will want to begin looking at universities’ requirements during your 1st year as an undergraduate to better prepare you for graduate programs. Of course, make sure you satisfy all the Health Sciences (HLSC) major requirements listed in the course catalog (the plan below should allow you to do this).

Students will need to take the standardized OAT exam for admission to Optometry programs. More information on optometry programs, requirements, etc. can be found at:

https://optometriceducation.org/students-future-students/resources/

The average GPA of admitted students is 3.4 and the average OAT score is 325.

First Year
FallUnits
BIOL 141P1,*Introductory Biology: Biochemistry, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics1
HLSC 119VHealth and Wellness1
FSEM 1001First Year Seminar (unless transfer student)1
General Education requirement11
 Term Units4
Spring
BIOL 142P1,*Introductory Biology: Animal and Plant Physiology1
PSYC 101S1,*Introduction to Psychology1
MATH 141Q1,*Calculus I with Analytic Geometry1
General Education requirement (A, B, H, L course)11
 Term Units4
Second Year
Fall
HLSC 2011,*Anatomy Physiology I1
CHEM 141P*General Chemistry I1
BIOL 3011,*Microbiology1
General Education requirement (A, B, H, L coure)11
 Term Units4
Spring
HLSC 2021,*Anatomy and Physiology II1
CHEM 142P*General Chemistry II1
SOCI 101S*Understanding Society: An Introduction to Sociology1
General Education requirement (A, B, H, L coure)11
 Term Units4
Summer
Take the OAT exam in preparation for Optometry program applications - by the end of summer before Fourth Year. 
 Term Units0
Third Year
Fall
Junior Seminar must be taken during this year. 
CHEM 201*Organic Chemistry I1
PHYS 121P
or 141P*
College Physics I
University Physics I
1
Junior Seminar1
Elective1
 Term Units4
Spring
HLSC 4981Senior Research Proposal1
PHYS 122P
or 142P*
College Physics II
University Physics II
1
CHEM 301*Organic Chemistry II1
MATH 125QIntroduction to Mathematical and Statistical Modeling1
 Term Units4
Fourth Year
Fall
HLSC 4991Senior Research Project1
HLSC 4111Exercise Physiology1
CHEM 204*Biochemistry I1
PHIL 316VBio-Medical Ethics (or equivalent; IHSC elective; or other Personal & Social Responsibility course (R, E, W, D, J course))1
 Term Units4
Spring
HLSC elective11
Additional 200+ level Chemistry class to satisfy Chemistry minor1
COMM 108Public Speaking1
Elective1
 Term Units4
Total Unit: 32
1

Required for HLSC major.

*

Common core of prerequisite course work.