Optometric Education experienced a 2.2% decrease in applicants compared to the previous application cycle. There were 2,472 applicants who submitted a total of 12,746 applications. For applications, OptomCAS experienced a 4.4% decrease in applications submitted compared to last year. On average, applicants applied to 4.75 schools and colleges. A full report on the 2018-2019 application cycle will be available at the end of the year.
Applicants apply through OptomCAS, the Optometry Centralized Application Service, which just recently launched on June 27 for application cycle 2019-2020. All 23 ASCO member schools and colleges in the United States participate in OptomCAS.
For answers to questions about the applicant pool and OptomCAS, visit http://www.optomcas.org or contact Paige Pence, ASCO Director of Student and Residency Affairs, at ppence@opted.org.