Abstract: Objective To investigate the application of cyclopentolate in candidates of flying cadets with low myopia. Methods A total of 61 male participants (122 eyes) aged 17-19 (17.54±1.65) years old were randomly selected from Grade 3 (2015) students in teenager aviation schools. The best corrected visual acuities of all the participants were greater than or equal to 1.0. Compound tropicamide (TR) eye drop and 1% cyclopentolate (CY) eye drop were used for mydriasis in the same individual on two separate days, and the spherical equivalent (SE) related to these two drugs were calculated and compared. The difference and correlation of SEs using TR and CY were tested by Wilcoxon rank-sum test and Spearman correlation test separately. Results The SE and spherical power using CY was significantly higher than that of TR (P< 0.05), and the difference was -0.125 D. The correlation of SEs, spherical power and cylindrical power using CY and TR were of statistically significant difference (r=0.894, P=0.000; r=0.896, P=0.000; r=0.709, P=0.000, respectively). Grouping by results of TR, the myopia group and hyperopia group had higher SEs using CY than TR (P< 0.05). According to the standard of medical selection, there were 18 eyes exceeding the myopia standard using TR(99% CI, -0.834 - -0.622 D), but they were qualified using CY. Conclusion The cycloplegic effect of cyclopentolate is stronger than that of tropicamide, with little difference and good consistency, which has certain application value in the selection of candidates of flying cadets with borderline refraction.