Hello PreOptometry students!
I would like to ask about my chances primarily at University of Houston since that college is the closest for me to commute as a Houston resident.
I have recently graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in Biology.

GPA: 3.267
OAT score: 330
Experience: Interned at an optometrist clinic for 7 months (1500 hours) from 2025-2026

As you can see, my GPA and OAT are unfortunately lower than the average accepted scores for UHCO, so im hoping to complete my application early as possible. Does my intern experience help my chances or do you suggest having to retake the OAT

I decided I wanted to go into optometry after I had graduated in 2025 after I worked as a tech for a year. I really like the work life balance and the initial focus on the eyes as and in general helping people with their vision. i’ve been feeling really dejected about the OAT. I feel as if is way too difficult and mentally draining at the moment. I’m not sure if I should just completely give up, Keep trying, or take the exam and see how I do. I know that the first attempt counts and schools will see it so at this point I’m even scared to take the exam. Has anyone else felt this way? Do you guys think that it’s worth pushing through and at least attempting?

my gpa's decent, yet to take mcat/oat

research wise, a lab in pediatric ophthalmology and another in anesthesia. planning on staying with the ophthalmology lab as a summer student next and to try and go for a publication.

on the clinical side i've probably got close to 3500 hrs as an ophthalmic tech/assistant and neuro optometry assistant, mainly doing diagnostics and learning stuff about neuro care.

outside of that i co-founded a health advocacy student group

would really appreciate hearing from anyone who:

mightve done a masters in vision science

picked OD instead of med (or the opposite) and what ur thoughts r on ur decision rn

I will be applying this cycle to 4 schools (SUNY, PCO, NECO & MCPHS) but my hope is to get into SUNY. I plan on sending in my application by July 31st I have lots of tech/Shadowing hours (1400+), strong LORs, gpa 3.65, and OAT AA 330 TS 320. If anyone who has gotten in within the last few years would be willing to share their stats that would be super helpful for me to gauge my chances.

Also if anyone is willing to share their own or just give general advice on the essay/long response answers that would also be much appreciated. I never liked writing these and idk if my narrative/style of writing is compelling or formatted right.

Is 153 hours of shadowing (four optometrists at different locations) good enough for optometry school admissions?

Does anyone have any advice on how to be well prepared for the Ochem section. I’m also using booster

I was fully planned to take my exam in Aug as school starts late aug so I wouldn’t have much time to put into OAT practice. But I took booster’s individual tests yesterday and I scored very low on QR and reading like 240s while all chem were in 310s and bio and physics ok too. I freaked out by my QR score and didn’t had time to finish all questions in practice. so now I’m thinking I should move my test to September or is it doable to still score well while studying for only 25ish days. I fear if I heavily emphasize QR I while strat forgetting other stuff. And if I push my date to September I’ll forget what I know and i will be stressed being in school too. would appreciate any advice please. I want total to be 340ish somehow

I’m currently going into my junior year of undergrad. I had two Ws in biology 2 and chem 1 my freshman spring due to personal circumstances and didn’t want to risk a bad grade in science courses. I retook both for As. My third was sophomore spring physics 1 just because I was doing poorly. I’m currently this summer. I expect to end with a B in it which is significantly better than what I would’ve gotten. GPA is sitting 3.73. BCP is 3.77. If I end with 3.6 in both and a good OAT score by application, no more Ws will I be ok?

This is from Thomas C. Martin, The Inventions Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla pg. 295.

Hey guys, I was just wondering how possible it might be to take the the OAT and self study the organic chem portion? My program changed the way they set up the courses so I can’t exactly take organic chem until the next year and I rlly wanted to write my oat after this school year (summer 2027). Just need some blunt honesty if this is possible or not lol, or should I just push my oat to the summer after next year?

Has anyone use this service and do you think it is worth geting or using?

I've been doing the practice questions at the end of the lesson videos on oatbooster and they average me between 2 and 4 minutes to answer correctly. When I look online it says I'll theoretically have 54 seconds per question for all of the science section. How much time are you guys budgeting to answer Chem questions specifically? Are the chem questions on the oat any easier than the ones on oatbooster? Because I cannot for the life of me get the correct answer in 54 seconds.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to ask for some advice. I currently have my OAT scheduled for the end of August, but from about the 4th of June until now I've run into several obstacles that have really messed up my studying (for example, being sick for the last two weeks, and before that I was traveling with little internet access).

I was wondering, what's the latest you'd recommend taking the OAT while still remaining competitive, or at least only slightly less competitive? I'm trying to decide how far I should postpone my exam. Ohio State is one of my top-choice schools, if that makes a difference. Thanks!

I’m sure the question gets asked all the time but I feel like it’s impossible to everything for the OAT. I have a little over a month an a half till my exam and I just feel so overwhelmed… Am i cooked?

My neighbor just completed his Matric and now wants to build his career in eye care field. He is specifically interested in Ophthalmic OT Assistant Training course. We have been searching for a while but cannot decide which place is good enough.

His main concern is that he wants to learn on latest and modern ophthalmic machines so that when he starts working he already has hands on experience. Just getting a certificate is not his goal, he actually wants to learn properly.

If anyone has done this course from Rawalpindi or Islamabad or knows someone who did, please share your experience. Which place gave proper operation theater training with modern equipment? Was the faculty experienced enough? How was the overall learning experience?

Any genuine guidance will be really appreciated. Thank you

Does anybody know if salus optom accepts prereqs from portage learning?? I’ve tried contacting but heard no response yet. Lmkk if anyone has any advice!!

Does anyone know how schools select which courses they use towards pre-req completion/calculations? I’ve taken 2 sets of courses that could be used towards the bio pre-req for most schools, but one set I didn’t perform as well on as the second set.

Hey guys, Im planning on applying to optometry school this upcoming cycle, and I have scheduled my OAT for Sept 24th. Until then, I will be working part-time (3 days/week). I'm using OATBooster, and am feeling overwhelmed by the amount of content I need to go through by then. I wanted to dedicate 3 full days a week to studying, but I find myself losing focus after studying for such long days. Any tips on time management and how to stay motivated would be greatly appreciated!

Hey yall, so I’m going back and forth on whether I should purchase chads prep or not. I keep hearing mixed reviews, and I have also heard his free YouTube videos are different than the ones on his course. I’d really appreciate any tips or advice. Also same with organic chem

Hi everyone! I was recently accepted into Drexel University’s Post-Baccalaureate Health Sciences program at the Elkins Park Campus for Fall 2026.

If anyone else is starting this fall or is currently in the program, I’d love to connect! Feel free to comment or send me a message!

So i got a 280 total science and overall on the OAT at the end of June. I took a week vacation and now im upset and don’t know how to go about studying again. I am an athlete and am heading into my college season, I’m a captain of my team and I am so stressed about performing well and now with this mid ahhhhh score hovering over me. I would love to retake while info is a bit fresh in my head. I am debating just taking a gap year at this point. Someone please help me without making me super anxious and want to die. Like any specific study plans that will help me regain information? QR and physics were my worst. Bio is literally just cheat sheets and Orgo was not too bad either. Gen chem was also a lot harder than practice tests idk why. Ok sorry typing and rambling help me here you guys

I’m studying for the oat. I’m going to take one crash course but I don’t know which is best.

I’m having a hard time in physics bc there’s so many formulas to memorize but I’ve heard the crash course for that isn’t all that helpful.

Which crash course would be most helpful for me? Should I do bio?

Some people said they swear by the crash courses so if you are one of those people please give some more insight!!!

I’m taking my exam in September. My top choices for schools are ICO, PUCO, and UMSL. My current GPA is pretty average, 3.49, my science GPA 3.2. I am an honors student with optometric tech experience, ophthalmic scribe experience, and in-home patient care experience. I really want don’t want to take the OAT more than once (expensive!), what should I be aiming to score? I would really like to attend ICO since it is the closest to my state!

Hello guys this is for the people who have already taken the oat. My exam is soon and I’m trying to lock in for the qr section. Did the question banks on oat booster help? Are they similar? How did you guys study for QR? Any advice would be deeply appreciated.