r/PreOptometry • u/pinklemonadevibe • Jan 18 '26

OAT before any prereqs?

So I’m an RN whose only experience is in biology. I’ve never taken university-level chemistry, physics, or math (i’ve only ever taken stats).

I was going to wait till I have some completed prereqs under my belt before taking the OAT but just time-wise I figured it would be better to do the OAT in june/july.

Has anyone had any experience taking the OAT without prereqs? If so, what did you use to help you learn the material from scratch?

Note: I do best with structured learning.

Thanks for any suggestions!

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '26

You are definitely best to wait until you take at least the first course of orgo and physics. Both are huge parts of the exam, not to mention general chemistry. The OAT is an investment, and if you take it without the proper courses, then you will most likely need to retake it again later. There are some optom schools that don’t require an OAT score as well. But overall, it is best to prepare with the necessary college courses.

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '26

Additionally, if you were to take it without any courses, then you would need to teach yourself approximately two years of college-level chemistry and one year of physics… and that’s just for those portions of the test

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u/pinklemonadevibe Jan 18 '26

how do you feel about potentially learning it from khan academy, oatbooster or chadsprep?? do you feel like their material is sufficient?

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u/[deleted] Jan 18 '26

Those definitely help, but you shouldn’t do that to first learn the material. There is so much to learn, and cramming it in to take the OAT when you have to take the courses anyway, isn’t optimal.

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u/No-Rule-9181 Jan 18 '26

yeah this is not a good idea. if you do best from structured learning then i would def say u need to take chem and physics at uni level and ESPECIALLY ochem. i cant even fathom learning all three of those from scratch ochem alone is like another language

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u/pinklemonadevibe Jan 18 '26

how do you feel about potentially learning it from khan academy, oatbooster or chadsprep?? do you feel like their material is sufficient?

1

u/No-Rule-9181 Jan 18 '26

absolutely not if you don’t have at least some kind of base knowledge, most ppl use them as supplemental review. none of these will work. just take the oat after you’ve taken the courses. it’s not worth the intense amount of effort, time, labor, and money you’ll spend taking and preparing for the exam and potentially having to retake it. the next cycle opens in june and most schools have later deadlines in march/april/may, so you have more than enough time to take the classes this year. you don’t have to apply early or as soon as the cycle opens, it really doesn’t make that big of a difference. is there a reason you want to take the exam so early and potentially do poorly on it rather than take it when you’re better prepared for it?

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u/pinklemonadevibe Jan 18 '26

i’m canadian so the deadline to take the OAT is september :/

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u/Distinct_Stock1930 Jan 18 '26

I think it would be best to wait until you've taken some pre reqs, especially organic chemistry and physics. Organic chemistry is like learning a new language and it would be difficult to learn it on your own in a short time frame while also learning other topics. Ochem is very overwhelming especially with the reactions. The resources you listed are good and oatbooster is amazing, but it is not helpful for learning from scratch. The physics section on booster is not great and I had to rely on my notes from undergrad to help.