Pre-Optometry
Contact Information
Name: Prof. John Pellegrini (Biology) or Prof. Lisa Rovick (IPE)
In order to receive the doctor of optometry (O.D.) degree, individuals must complete a four-year program at a board-approved school of optometry. Most students interested in optometry first complete a liberal arts degree with a major in biology.
The following courses are required for admission to most schools of optometry, although each optometry school has a slightly different set of prerequisite courses. Students are advised to look up required courses at their schools of choice and to consider consulting the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (optometriceducation.org).
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 1710 & BIOL 1720 | Foundations of Biology: Diversity and Evolution with Lab and Foundations of Biology: Cell and Molecular Biology with Lab | 8 |
| Select one of the following two anatomy course sequences: | 8 | |
| Human Anatomy and Physiology I with Lab and Human Anatomy and Physiology II with Lab | ||
| Human and Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy with Lab and Human and Comparative Animal Physiology with Lab | ||
| BIOL 3210 | Biology of Microorganisms with Lab | 4 |
| or BIOL 2200 | Introduction to Microbiology with Lab | |
| CHEM 1110 & CHEM 1120 | General Chemistry I with Lab and General Chemistry II with Lab | 8 |
| CHEM 2010 | Organic Chemistry I with Lab | 4 |
| ENGL 1905W | College Writing | 4 |
| MATH 1130 | Calculus I | 4 |
| Select one of the following two physics course sequences: | 8 | |
| Introductory Physics I with Lab and Introductory Physics II with Lab | ||
| Physics for the Health Sciences I with Lab and Physics for the Health Sciences II with Lab | ||
| PSYC 1001 | General Psychology with Lab | 4 |
| STAT 1090 | Statistical Analysis (or other statistics course) | 4 |
Recommended:
CHEM 2020 Organic Chemistry II with Lab
CHEM 4400 Biochemistry with Lab
PSYC 2025 Lifespan Developmental Psychology
PHIL 3400 Biomedical Ethics