Application Requirements and Procedure

Applications are strongly recommended to be submitted as early in the application year as possible, even if all admission requirements have not been fully completed. While the deadline for submission of the application form is March 1st (unless an extension is provided by the Director of Admissions), the Committee on Admissions begins to make decisions much earlier in the year. 

Your application for admission will be considered if:

1. A letter of recommendation must be prepared and sent by the Pre-professional Committee at the undergraduate school where you completed the majority of your pre-professional courses. If a Committee exist and can not submit a letter of recommendation, a letter from that Committee indicating why, is required. If there is no such committee at that undergraduate school, you must then also submit up to 3 letters of recommendation of your choice. Two of the four letters of recommendation must assess academic performance in the science areas.
2. Official report of all Optometric Admissions Test (OAT) scores is provided. You are advised to take the OAT no later than the Fall of the application year;  OATs written after March 1 of the calendar year in which you wish to enroll will not be accepted for Rolling Admissions applicants. The OAT will be offered at a Thomson Prometric (previously Sylvan) Center. For more details about the OAT and where to take it, go to their website at https://www.ada.org/oat/index.html
3. Official report of all scores achieved on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), if taken in high school, are to be submitted directly to SUNY optometry. If you took the American College Test (ACT) instead of the SAT in high school, please have these scores submitted. We will accept SAT and ACT scores submitted on an official high school transcript.
4. Official transcripts of all college courses taken to date are submitted by the institutions.