Information for Optometry applicants

All applicants must complete or have completed the OAT.

For September 2026 admission, the OAT must be written between August 31, 2023 and September 30, 2025. Scores do not have to be received by September 30, but this is the last day to write the OAT for September 2026 admission. You can write the OAT multiple times during this period and the highest valid score will be used. Note: there is a 60-day waiting period before you can re-write the OAT.

Applicants are responsible for directing the ASCO to distribute their OAT results to the University of Waterloo’s School of Optometry and Vision Science by the posted deadlines. Only scores received electronically from the ASCO will be accepted.

All applicants to the Doctor of Optometry program at the University of Waterloo are required to complete the Casper online assessment. Successful completion of Casper is required for admission.

Visit the School of Optometry and Vision Science website for Casper test dates and details.

Exceptions will not be made if you're unable to take Casper due to technical issues.

How to register

Visit the Acuity Insights website and register to take the Casper test as soon as possible after applying to the Doctor of Optometry program. Please direct any inquiries regarding the test to support@acuityinsights.com.

It's important to confirm your referees' availability to submit their reference by December 11, 2025.

Once your provide their contact info using the Optometry Reference Form in the Waterloo applicant portal, your referees will each receive an email with further submission instructions. It is your responsibility to follow up with your references to ensure they have received the reference correspondence from us.

In your application portal checklist, you'll be able to see if your referees have submitted their references. The status will either be awaiting or received. 

Approximately three weeks after we receive your application, you'll receive an email from us outlining the next steps. There are several forms which must be submitted by the document deadline. You're encouraged to submit your forms as soon as possible.

To access and submit your forms, you'll log in to the Waterloo applicant portal. 

Tips

Completing the pre-requisites course form

• All prerequisite courses must be accounted for, including courses you are currently enrolled in, or are planning to take in a future term. Please indicate your school’s course code and the school, term and year in which you completed the course. If you have not yet completed the pre-requisite, please indicate the term and year you plan to complete the course. If a prerequisite is not accounted for, it will be assumed to be missing.

• Some institutions include the lab as part of the overall course, and do not separate the lab grade from the course grade. If you do not have a separate lab grade for Biology 1, Biology 2, Chemistry 1, Physics 1, and/or Physics 2, please indicate N/A for the lab grade.

References

You must provide contact information for two references.

• Optometrist – Your supervising optometrist. We expect a minimum of 8 hours of job shadowing with an optometrist.
• Character reference – We accept character references from employers, supervisors, professors, coaches, or ministers.

Relatives are not accepted as referees for either reference type.

Letters on stationery and hard copy forms are NOT acceptable.

Your referees will receive a confirmation email after they have submitted the form. The application checklist in your portal account will be updated to show that we've received the reference.

Experiences and accomplishments

Fill in the applicable sections with relevant details including number of hours, employer or organization names, supporting documentation (e.g. awards, certificates) if applicable, etc.

• Job shadowing or optometry-related work/volunteer experience
• Other work experience
• Volunteer experience and extracurricular activities
• Special training
• Additional accomplishments

If the last four years of your education have not been taught completely in English, you must provide a score from an accepted proficiency test by November 27, 2025. View Waterloo’s English language requirements.

NOTE: If you were educated in English in a country outside of Canada, you may be asked to provide evidence of the language of instruction at that institution.

For admission consideration, unofficial transcripts must be submitted. Please visit the required documents web page for details.

Transcripts are required for any and all post-secondary institutions you've attended. 

High school transcripts are not required  for admission. Exception: Students who received transfer credit at university for IB, AP, or A-level courses. If you fall into this category, you may be asked to upload unofficial examination results. Your application checklist in the applicant portal will indicate if these are required.

If you are currently attending a university:

• An interim transcript including your fall and winter course enrollment is due by November 27, 2025. 
• All prerequisite courses must be completed by May 8, 2026. If you have not completed all the prerequisites by the May deadline, you will not be admitted. There are no exceptions.
• If you receive an offer of admission, we'll need an official final transcript with all final grades and courses (including winter term, if applicable).

If you have completed your university studies and all coursework at the time of your application:

• You should request official final transcript(s) be sent to us. In this case, only one official transcript (per institution attended) is required for your application.

Current and former Waterloo students  are not required to forward official transcripts because we will access a copy of your Waterloo record (including any applicable transfer credit information).

How to request and submit transcripts

Please  do not send transcripts and other documents to the School of Optometry & Vision Science. You can request your transcripts through the following methods.

• Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC)
• MyCreds® (if your school uses it): Waterloo is a registered organization with MyCreds. When sending transcripts through the MyCreds portal, please select "send my documents to a registered organization." Do not select "generate a link to my documents."
• Upload an unofficial transcript: You may upload only ONE unofficial transcript per institution in your applicant portal account.
• Mail:  official or unofficial documents can be mailed to the Registrar’s Office. The mailing address of the Registrar’s Office is
  
  Office of the Registrar
  University of Waterloo
  200 University Ave West
  Waterloo ON   N2L 3G1 CANADA

It's your responsibility to ensure all of your documents have been received. We'll be unable to consider your application if we do not receive your documents by the specified deadlines.

You can check if we've received your required documents by referring to your application checklist in the Waterloo applicant portal.

Casper

Casper test reports will be automatically sent to Waterloo but will not appear in your applicant portal account. You may view the transmission status of your Casper results through your Acuity Insights account.

OAT

You must request the ASCO to send your OAT results to us. OAT submission status will also not appear in your applicant portal account. You can check the status of your results by contacting OAT support directly.

Email address

Please ensure we have your current email address in the applicant portal. The majority of our communications to you will be via email. This should be an email you check often. You'll be responsible for all communications sent to the email address you have listed in the portal. Please include your full name and Waterloo applicant number (found at the top of your main status page in the portal) in all communications with us.