Professional Optometry Degree Program (OD)
Preoptometry Requirements
- Pre-optometry requirements must be completed by the time the student enters the School of Optometry.
- Students must take their pre-optometry course work at an accredited institution and earn a grade of C or higher.
- Up to 10 credit hours of on-line courses may be taken with ALL labs completed in a classroom setting.
- Up to 60 credit hours of Community/Junior/Technical College course work are accepted.
- Up to 10 credit hours of Advanced Placement (AP) course(s) for the prerequisite(s) are accepted provided you received the appropriate number of credit hours. The courses must appear on your official college transcript and show you received college credit for the course(s). If your college or university does not show this information on the official transcript, you will need to provide a letter sent to us from the Registrar's Office documenting the credit awarded for the AP course(s).
- All preoptometry requirements must have been completed within 10 years from the time when the student hopes to start the Doctor of Optometry program.
- Applications must be submitted to OptomCAS (www.optomcas.org) July 1.
- For addtional details, please visit IU School of Optometry's How to Apply web page.
Students entering with a bachelor’s degree must have completed the following courses:
| Subject Area | Min. sem. cr. hrs. req'd. |
Comparable IU courses |
| Biology/Zoology | ||
|
4 | L 112 and L 113 |
|
3 | ANAT-A 215 or PHSL-P 215 |
|
4 | M 250/M 315 or M 380/M 315 |
| Chemistry | ||
|
3 | C 341 (C 342) |
|
8 | C 117/C 127 and C 118 or N 330 |
|
3 | CHEM-C 383, CHEM-C 483 or BIOL-M 350 (For Microbiology majors only) |
| Mathematics | ||
|
3 | Any course or courses fulfilling IU Math modeling requirements |
| Physics | ||
|
8 | P 201 and P 202 |
| Statistical Techniques and/or Experimental Design |
3 | STAT S 300 or S 303, PSY K 300 or K 310 SPEA K 300 or Econ E 370 or Math K 310 |
| Psychology, Introductory | 3 | P 101 or P 155 |
| Writing Skills - two courses; English Composition and an additional course with a strong writing component |
6 | W 131 and the Intensive Writing Requirement |
Students entering the Indiana University School of Optometry without a bachelor’s degree must have completed the following courses in addition to the above:
| Subject Area | Min. sem. cr. hrs. req'd. |
| Arts and Humanities | 6 |
| Foreign Language | 6* |
| Social and Historical Studies | 6 |
| Additional Credits | as needed |
| Total Credits | 90 |
Of the 90 credit hours, at least 12 must be at the 300-400 level. A maximum of 60 semester hours may be taken at a community college.
*Two years of a foreign language in high school will fulfill this requirement.
None of the required courses may be taken on a Pass/Fail basis. The credit hours required in the individual subjects are considered absolute minimums, which must be met or exceeded. If the credit hours in any subject total fewer than the minimum specified, the student should complete the next higher course in that subject. Quarter hours convert to semester hours by the following scale:
3 quarter hours = 2 semester hours4 quarter hours = 3 semester hours
5 quarter hours = 3.33 semester hours
6 quarter hours = 4 semester hours
For further information, contact the Office of Student Administration, School of Optometry, Indiana University, 800 E. Atwater Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405-3680; (812) 855-1917; e-mail iubopt [at] indiana [dot] edu.