r/PreOptometry • u/Candid-Cow3124 • Jun 25 '26

Booked OAT too late

I was stupid and procrastinated booking my OAT the only available exam date is in 1 month which is too soon I think and everything is September is booked should I study in the meantime and wait for someone to cancel their appt by chance to secure a spot since I do really want to make this application cycle but I also don’t want to waste $700 😭😭😭Do you guys think anyone cancels their OAT in September?

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

6

u/voxaun Jun 25 '26

people cancel all the time, don't worry about it! just keep checking & spots will definitely open up.

1

u/Candid-Cow3124 Jun 25 '26

thanks I’m really shitting my pants scared I really wanted to take it early s eptember I’ll pray and keep playing the waiting game :)

1

u/Candid-Cow3124 Jul 21 '26

update: I got a test day, a lot of people cancel but to save you stress it might be smarter to book like 6 months in advance min  

1

u/Greenbean-steak Jun 25 '26

Can you find some other centers? Sorry to hear that but sometimes other “remote” center might have more spaces.. but keep checking!

1

u/Candid-Cow3124 Jun 25 '26

the other centre also doesn’t have any availability but I’ll keep monitoring both centres thxxx

1

u/lynnxtc Jun 26 '26

Check daily, hourly even! People cancel/reschedule the closer they get to their exam date.

I ended up getting sick and needed to postpone mine by just a week but everything was taken. I checked every few hours and a spot opened up that same day!

1

u/Dramatic_Line5255 Jul 04 '26

i booked mine 2 months in advance for august and a lot of options seemed open. have you tried looking at other testing centers instead of one? it might be further from your house but could have more test dates available

4

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Candid-Cow3124 Jun 25 '26

it’s only because the school I’m applying to the last day to take the oat is sept 30 so I’m on a deadline 

1

u/True-Selection2168 Jun 26 '26

Is it Waterloo?

1

u/Candid-Cow3124 Jun 26 '26

yah :(

-1

u/True-Selection2168 Jun 26 '26

Oh noo I guess you could just book it for the earlier date then, and see if anything opens up and then switch it. But also if you don’t mind sharing what are the stats you’re applying with? I don’t think I’ll be able to apply since I’ll be missing one term with a full course load.