Pre-Optometry

To be an optometrist, you’ll need to be accepted into an accredited optometry school after at least three years of undergraduate study — and many schools prefer the bachelor of arts. In the last five years, 100% of Augustana pre-optometry students have been accepted to optometry schools upon graduating.

That’s not all. Once in optometry school, Augustana graduates find they are extremely well prepared for their professional training.

At Augustana, your pre-optometry track will prepare you for the Optometry Admission Test (OAT) and other requirements to satisfy almost all of the country’s optometry schools. You’ll choose a major in any field (most choose biology), and take selected coursework in the sciences, psychology and mathematics, plus humanities courses.

You’ll develop your skills and technique through clinical experience, and your liberal arts background will build the communication skills, empathy and cultural awareness that are so important in health care.

If you’re interested in pre-optometry, contact the program’s advisor, Dr. Dara Wegman-Geedey, early in your first year at Augustana.

Distinctions

• Augustana College has a 3:4 articulation agreement with Illinois College of Optometry (ICO), the largest and oldest optometry school in the country. In this 3:4 agreement, students may apply to the program during spring of their first year at Augustana. By maintaining a minimum GPA over the next two years and scoring above the average OAT score of the prior year's incoming ICO class, students enter ICO’s optometry program after three years at Augustana. After the first year at ICO they receive the B.A., followed by the doctor of optometry after finishing three more years at ICO.

• Class sizes are small, and no classes are taught by teaching assistants. Professors teach both the lecture and lab portions of classes, ensuring continuity and connection between theory and practice.

• Augustana’s pre-optometry advisor helps students find excellent clinical placements, often through connections with alumni in the Quad Cities.

• Augustana’s internship program in Sydney, Australia, is another good option for pre-optometry students to gain clinical experience through internships. Many students use their Augie Choice $2,000 to help cover expenses.

• Among the laboratories in Augustana’s Hanson Hall of Science are individual labs for anatomy and physiology, cell biology, genetics, and human cadaver dissection — a rare opportunity for undergraduates.

Recent grads

Grace Sigler '21 took advantage of Augustana's 3:4 agreement with the Illinois College of Optometry and is in her second year at ICO.

Olivia Zolnik ’18 is pursuing a Doctor of Optometry at Indiana School of Optometry in Bloomington, Ind.

Macy Koepke ’18 is pursuing a Doctor of Optometry at Illinois Eye Institute in Chicago.

Jake Rancic '17 is an optometrist at Pearle Vision in Red Wing, Minn.

Hailee Brayton '14 is an optometrist with Aurora Ophthamology, Sheboygan, Mich.

Renae Reynolds '13 is an optometrist at Barri Eye Care in Groton, Conn.

Alyssa Anderson '13 is an optometrist at Virdi Eye Clinic in the Quad Cities.

Alexandra Piper '13 is an optometrist at Premier Vision Associates in Coal City, Ill.

Krista Mathson ’11 is an optometrist at Village Eyecare – Keratoconus and Orthokeratology Center in Chicago.

Erik Mothersbaugh ’08 is the dean of student affairs at Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago.