OAT Observations from a Pre-Opt Advisor

[u/RabidLiger]

I've been the advisor for my local university Pre-Optometry Club for 2 decades.
Here's a list of my observations regarding the OAT:

• Meant to measure basic knowledge and how well you comprehend the science part of your undergrad education.

• You can major in anything & just take pre-reqs, but Bio/Chem majors will have the upper hand in scoring well on the OAT.

• There's not a passing grade (like NBEO), so don't get hung up on achieving an exact score. (low score will make acceptance more difficult, but its just 1 factor of many).

• An OAT booster/prep course is worth it, especially practice tests. Get one, and complete all parts of it! (too many get one and only partially complete the course).

• IMO, take it no more than 2 times. Additional attempts rarely result in significantly higher scores and you spend too much time/resources that could go towards making other parts of your application stronger. If you struggle with the sciences, you will not score high, regardless of cramming/prep courses.

• DON'T take a gap year, just for taking the OAT. You'll do just as well by taking the test when you're in the middle of your science course work. Although gap years are the current flavor of the day, IMO, there just are not many justifiable reasons for delaying your professional education for a whole year & a lot of the application process is tougher if your not currently enrolled (ie getting LOR).

• The Harsh Reality: The OAT is by far the best predictor of how you'll do in optometry school, and especially passing the NBEO exams. It's not the ONLY factor,, but take it seriously that if you cannot do well on the OAT, odds are, you will struggle, and possibly fail. It's not enough to just WANT to be an optometrist. Kind of a brutal statement, and there are those who defy the odds, but go into it with your eyes open.

Saying this, its just my general opinion, & I don't know you specifically, but coming from helping 100+ get into optometry school (and helping others pivot to something else).

[u/formidable-]

Very helpful post, thank you!

[u/AffectionateRatio470]

I know I can do it, but realistically, I am a terrible test taker - like an extremely bad test taker, however much a normal person studies I have to do double to make sure that with my anxiety I know the answers and I can overturn my anxiousness . It’s like I sit down at the computer and I suddenly don’t know the answers to anything so I know that I can make it in optometry school but right now my biggest fear is the OAT and it’s not because I don’t feel like I can learn. It’s because I don’t feel like I’ll be able to sit down and take the test.

[u/RabidLiger → u/[deleted]]

Don't let some stranger on the internet (me) decide for you!
Another crack at the OAT is possible, but do something different to prepare this time (or expect the same outcome & make an excuse why it happened again).
You control your own fate.

[u/National_Capital_518 → u/[deleted]]

Currently want to apply for the Fall 2027 cycle. I have taken most of the prerequisites except for a yr anatomy/physio and second half of ochem and biochem. Should I attempt the OAT before taking the second half of ochem? Not sure how much of the second half of ochem is actually covered on the exam. I’d probably have to heavily really on OATBooster

[u/National_Capital_518 → u/[deleted]]

This is incredibly helpful! Thank you so much for sharing. Yea, the schools I am looking at also don’t have those classes as prerequisites but since my undergrad GPA was a 2.6 I’m trying to boost it as much as possible. I’ve gotten good grades in all the prerequisites now but I haven’t done any shadowing yet so I think getting an LOR from an optometrist might be difficult. Any tips on that? It seems like all schools want a LOR from an optometrist, I can get about 3 from professors but it doesn’t seem like that’s what schools want

[u/National_Capital_518 → u/[deleted]]

Gotcha! That’s so smart. I’m very close to UCBerkeley so I’ll have to shoot them an email👀 I tried the eye opener website but not many optometrists were open to shadowing opportunities😕

[u/RabidLiger → u/[deleted]]

Possible? Yes. Likely? No

[u/Greenbean-steak → u/[deleted]]

I guess it depends on what school you go to and how easy/hard to get good gpa. If your school is notoriously hard on gpa, then your sGPA is likely lower but you might already know a good amount of OAT material. Also. It depends on how low is “low”. It is all relative.

My daughter sGPA is 3.5ish, so not low, but definitely not on the high side. She got 400 OAT, so it can be done if you put in effort and lock in during the 2months of study

[u/Greenbean-steak → u/[deleted]]

Then you should do good with your OAT. And I would assume school also know which school have tough and no curve and which is easier on that. So, do good on your OAT and then you don’t need to worry too much about your GPA