College of Optometry

Letters of Recommendation

•	Optometry Admissions Test (OAT)
•	Letters of Recommendation
•	Official Transcripts
•	Pre-requisites
•	Application
•	Interviews
•	International Students

HOW MANY LETTERS ARE REQUIRED?
The Centralized Application Service center will require three letters of recommendation to be submitted through that service. Our supplemental application will request that if one of those three is not an optometrist, that you submit the name of one optometrist who is not related to you and who will be writing a letter on your behalf. We hope this is an optometrist you’ve had the opportunity to shadow on more than one occasion or for whom you’ve had the opportunity to work.
WHO SHOULD WRITE MY LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION?
We recommend that one letter be written by an optometrist for whom you have worked or shadowed (see above). College instructors, academic advisors, and employers may write the remaining three letters. However, you do not have to have four letters, as long as one of the three submitted through the Centralized Application Service is an optometrist who is not related to you. If your university uses a committee process to provide a letter, we accept that as three letters (however, you will still need the supplemental OD letter, see above).
WILL YOU ACCEPT LETTERS DIRECTLY?
We prefer all letters of recommendation go through OptomCAS process. However, we understand that sometimes a letter needs to be mailed directly to us. It must come directly from the letter writer on that person’s stationary, including envelope.