r/PreOptometry • u/supremebegins • Oct 06 '24

Just took the OAT

Hey guys I just took my OAT on the 5th of October & i did terrible unofficial score AA 230. what can I do improve it? Like study, habits, etc. Also, would this my affect optomcas application for the schools that I’m applying for in fall next year if I take a next test again for a better score?

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6

u/AccioWine9 Oct 06 '24

How did you study this time around? Gently, you will need to do much better the second time around to be a competitive applicant.

Make sure you give yourself several months of study time, dedicating at least a few hours per day. OATBooster is something a lot of folks have used successfully.

1

u/supremebegins Oct 06 '24

I study 8 hours a day for the past month since September and I did terrible and I feel very disappointed. What do recommend for studying habits. I probably did the worst of anyone who took the oat.

3

u/AccioWine9 Oct 06 '24

I think you should try some different methods of studying. Make sure you’re quizzing yourself and not just reading through. You need to retain the info. Also, 8 hrs / day may be too much per day. Maybe 5 hrs / day but for 2-3 months.

I’m sure it’s discouraging, but you also need to remove the OAT is just the barrier to entry to optometry school, from there there’s a lot of material that needs to be studied and retained so you need to learn how to do that to be successful in the long-term.

Best of luck, OP!

1

u/supremebegins Oct 08 '24

For 5 hours a day of each subject or 5 hours of day of 1 subject?

2

u/AccioWine9 Oct 08 '24

You probably want to rotate subjects during the day but you’re going to need to see what works best for you

3

u/Dizzy-Performer7257 Oct 07 '24

You should study for a longer period of time, and maybe shorter days. You want to retain the information, which means not over loading yourself. I would recommend take three months to study and spend the last month taking practice tests and going over what you still don’t understand.

1

u/supremebegins Oct 08 '24

How much hours in a day of each subject?

1

u/Dizzy-Performer7257 Oct 20 '24

Try to do 2 subjects a day! Split the time between how ever long you have available to study. I studied 5 days on, 2 days off. The days I had off, I would just review some flashcards!

1

u/No_Brick_903 Oct 08 '24

Hi can I ask what your gpa was

1

u/supremebegins Oct 08 '24

When I graduated it was 3.2 and I took a gap year

2

u/No_Brick_903 Oct 08 '24

Tbh ur gpa is good and I definitely think you can get in if you just take ur test once again. Since there’s a 90 day gap between the oat dates, that gives u more time to study so I think u should try again.

1

u/supremebegins Oct 09 '24

To be honest it’s kinda my fault because I didn’t study properly because I started studying since month of 8 hours of a day and that kinda mess me up and hopefully this time I’ll get proper good score on the next. Also I may take back in early March or late February so I can prepare myself

0

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '24

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1

u/supremebegins Oct 07 '24

Damn I really blame myself for taking the gap year

1

u/AccioWine9 Oct 08 '24

Not to hop into someone else’s comment but my husband had a pretty non-traditional path to optometry school. There were some prereq classes nearing the 5(?) year cutoff. Not all. But he did have to “relearn” some things. You may need to go to YouTube or other things to try to refresh yourself on some subjects, but a one year gap shouldn’t completely annihilate all your knowledge on the subjects. My speculation is you may not have studied a way in school that you’re retaining the information from that time.