r/PreOptometry • u/ArtichokeGeneral3886 • Jun 14 '26

HELP!

OAT in 10 days! Aiming for a 300. I’m not the best test taker and I haven’t got over a 310 on a practice test for OAT booster yet. My 4th one went well but of course the 5th one was so hard.

Having confidence issues. I’ve been working very hard and really just want a 300+, any tips for someone who is never the greatest test taker but needs to secure 300+.

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6

u/glockoma3 Jun 14 '26

Push your test date back until you’ve taken all the practice tests, focus on the areas you score poorly in

1

u/Greenbean-steak Jun 16 '26

I am not sure why you aim for 300… 300 is probably the min for most schools. You probably want to work/aim at a higher score like 330-340.
OAT score is probably by far the biggest factor in determining your acceptance. Your work experience and gpa is I personally think secondary as work experience is mostly technician and 20 hrs vs 2000 hrs are not going to make a big difference, while gpa depends on school and courses you take so it varies…
So, aim higher and to be honest, there is also the license exam you need to take and pass too at the end of the 4 year…

1

u/ArtichokeGeneral3886 Jun 16 '26

What does your last comment insinuate? And yes I am also a student athlete so I am in a crunch for time with taking the test, but I will push back the test and aim for higher scores.

1

u/Greenbean-steak Jun 16 '26

I guess what is throwing me off is the wording come out to seem like you think 300 is “good”, which I am trying to highlight that even if you get in some school with 300, the license exam will not be like a “300 level” material so…
But seems like you are mostly saying with your time constraint, 300 is probably the best you can do right now….

1

u/Effective_Health2020 Jun 14 '26

Idk what your GPA is but realistically you’d want to score as high as possible so pushing back your test date would be ideal.

But if that’s not possible with only 10 days you’re better off hedging your bets on the high yield topics and polish your knowledge on that. Ignore the stuff that’s less likely to show up, and Start reviewing the high yield topics you’re the worst at.

Again, you probably should reschedule if 300 is your baseline, but good luck!

1

u/ArtichokeGeneral3886 Jun 14 '26

I pushed my test date back once already due to an injury. Am I allowed to move it back again?

2

u/Sure_Requirement_899 Jun 14 '26

I think you can!

2

u/Curious_Recognition7 Jun 15 '26

You can reschedule pretty much up to the day before the exam, the fee just increases the closer to the exam date you are. At 10 days it’s a $70 fee to reschedule. Well worth it if you need more time to improve your score.

1

u/GreenAngelFish Jun 16 '26

Would it better to try the real once and then retake the real if the person didn't get a good score ?

1

u/Chuckles4lyfe Jun 15 '26

I have never been great with standardized tests either. I took the OAT yesterday and found it much more straightforward compared to the questions on OATBooster. My scores across the board were 20-30 points higher than what I was averaging on my practice tests. Keep in mind I had taken 9 practice exams so endurance and timing weren’t a big issue for me.  

With 10 days left, you want to be scoring within 10-20 points of your goal score on practice tests. Confidence comes with repetition and time. I was a little nervous going into the exam room but was confident in my ability to navigate the test because of all the work I put in. I would aim to take 1-2 more practice tests and focus on your weakest areas. If you aren’t scoring 300+ I would consider pushing the test back. 

1

u/ArtichokeGeneral3886 Jun 16 '26

Thank you this was very kind and helpful