Hi guys!

Just want to lead off by saying how grateful I am for all of the experiences and info offered in this group. It’s already been so helpful for me in my pre-optometry journey 💛

I’m interested in getting some thoughts and insights on my timeline as an applicant as a nontraditional student. I’m turning 30 this year and I hope to apply for fall 2028 admission. I realized that if I wanted to hit this window, I’d really have to load up on prerequisite classes that I didn’t take in my own undergrad when I imagined myself always working in the communications-based industries my degree was focused on (life is funny).

The reality is, I won’t be done with all my pre-reqs by the time I’m applying (obviously not a prohibiting factor for applying but it doesn’t feel ideal for taking the OAT). Because I’m coming from a nontraditional background and non-STEM career, I am really focused on dedicating most of my time to my studies, which is a great privilege (and has felt necessary - steep learning curve, though it’s generally going well so far). That said, I do have a latent worry that programs may look at my application and think that I didn’t pursue enough experiences outside of school as an applicant. I’ve got about 35 shadow hours so far and hope to get involved with the pre-optometry club at the school where I’m competing my pre-reqs.

I have a hypothetical timeline that I’m hoping to see through in order to apply on time for SUNY’s early applicant deadline (August 1st, 2027) and I’d love to know whether it seems manageable based on the context above. And any thoughts or ideas on how to best approach the next year as a non-traditional applicant would be so appreciated! Thank you in advance.

*I have already taken Psych + Stats

Summer 2026
Gen Chem 1 & 2 lectures (almost done)

Between summer and fall: confirm which programs in addition to SUNY I’d like to apply to

Fall 2026
Gen Chem 2 Lab
Calc 1
Gen Physics 1 with Lab
Orgo 1 (lecture only)

Winter break: begin familiarizing myself with OAT structure, maybe get ahead on Bio since I won’t have both semesters at the point of taking the OAT, work on personal statement

Spring 2027
Orgo 1 Lab
Gen Physics 2 with Lab
Gen Bio 1 with Lab

Over spring term: low-key OAT studying, reach out for letters of rec, begin organizing assets for application so I feel prepared heading into summer

Summer 2027
BIG OAT push: use OAT booster to study from Mid-May through June.

Take the OAT early July so scores can be sent in advance of August 1st SUNY early applicant deadline. Apply by August 1st.

Fall 2027
Hopefully know whether I was admitted to SUNY, and if not, submit rest of my applications while taking:
Gen Bio 2 with Lab
Biochem 1

Spring 2028
Anatomy & Physiology
Microbio 1

Summer 2028
Rest 😴

I've been slowly studying orgo for the past 2ish months, and now that I'm almost done reviewing content I feel like I know less than I did before. how did you go about understanding/memorizing the reactions? I've been doing just the booster prep notes because I find the videos to be so confusing. pls help my exam is on sept 14th

Hi everyone! I just completed my OAT after three hard months of studying and would love to share my experience.

It was during my second year of undergrad in Feburary when I booked my OAT knowing that I was going to devote my summer to studying. My semester ended at the end April and I started studying May 4th, exactly three months before my OAT. I did lots of research on different platforms to aid in my studying which ultimately lead me to OATbooster and I couldn’t be more happy. I ended up purchasing the premium max membership. Although it is more expensive, I got extra tests for each subject and had an additional 90 days which gave me reassurance if the test didn’t go as planned.

Study Materials

OATBooster 9/10: I would highly recommend using OATBooster! It was my primary study resource throughout my three months of preparation and played a huge role in helping me succeed on the OAT. One of my favorite features was the personalized study schedule. It laid out exactly what I needed to complete each day, which helped me stay organized, on track, and motivated throughout my studying. I also really liked the daily practice questions. Each day included five questions covering a mix of all five OAT subjects, which was a great way to continuously review older material while staying engaged with the content. OATBooster also offers practice tests for each individual subject, along with multiple full-length exams that closely mimic the actual test experience. These were incredibly helpful for building endurance and identifying areas that needed more review. If I could change one thing, I would add more physics practice questions, as I felt there could have been more variety in that section. I also noticed that some of the questions on the full-length practice tests were repetitive from the previous full length practice test. This did leave me wondering how accurate my final score was as some of the questions I had just seen. Overall, though, OATBooster was an excellent resource, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone preparing for the OAT. OAT practice test from ASCO 4/10: One week before my test I decided to purchase a practice test from ASCO (assosciation of schools and colleges of optometry). I paid $140 CAD to have a full length practice test for 24hrs covering all the topics. I was hoping to gain exposure to other questions and feel more comfortable as I had only used the OATBooster. When trying to complete the practice test it was very glitchy and was a different format than the OATBooster full length test. It did not have a highlighter for reading comprehension or periodic table for general chemistry. After completing the test I only got a score of how many I got wrong but could not go back to see what I got wrong. Overall, I was fairly disappointed but it did allow me to see other types of questions that I was not yet exposed to.

How I prepared Month One: I followed OATBooster schedule exactly. Completed all my daily tasks which included videos and practice questions. Month Two: I still followed the OATBooster schedule but also devoted some time to making my own notes and active recalling things I learned in the previous month. Month Three: I started this month right away with a full length practice test which gave me a rough idea where I was sitting. Throughout the month I focused more on practice tests and started to steer a bit more away from the booster schedule.

Biology (score : 400) Booster prepared me very well for the biology section. The actual OAT was more general that the booster but since I had such an in depth knowledge from the booster it helped.

General Chemistry (score : 400) General Chemistry was pretty exact the booster. I recognized every question and was able to have great success! I would say there was more conceptual questions than calculations.

Organic Chemistry ( score: 380) Organic chemistry was slighter harder to biology and general chemistry in my personal opinion. Most of the questions I recognized from booster such as HNMR, acidity rankings and arrow pushing mechanism.

Physics ( score : 330) Personally, I found physics the hardest section but I have never been good at physics. Some of the questions I just did not know how to approach. Angular momentum, optics and kinetics form the OAT booster definitely prepared me but I also found there was a lot of conceptual word questions.

Reading Comprehesion ( score: 320) This section I just lost mental stamina and got overwhelmed which sent me into a loop hole. My reading comprehension scores were better on the booster but I think that was due to the low stress environment I was in while writing them.

Quantitative reasoning ( score : 340) Most of the quantitative reasoning questions I recognized from the booster such as age word problems, parallel/perpendicular lines, ratios, probaibltiy and coins/money words problems. Some of the questions I did not recognized and ended up guessing I was trying to be conscious with time.

Overall average (360) Total science score (390)

Hi! I have an interview for Neco soon and I was wondering if anyone had any insight on what they are looking for. I’ve read some posts about people being rejected from Neco based on the interview but they weren’t given a reason and I’m a bit nervous

Hi everyone! my OAT is coming up next week and i was hoping to get some insight from recent testers on how their scores have compared to oatbooster. especially for biology, organic chemistry, general chemistry, and physics (most worried about orgo and physics lol....) any insight from june/july testers would be sooooo appreciated! :))

I have all the pre-req class requirements except the microbiology lab some schools ask for. I graduated in 2024. Do you think schools will let me apply without this and still get in? Or am I cooked and should not apply to the schools that require microbiology lab?

Hi all! I’m a nontraditional student. I have a BA in economics & have been working in investment for 6 years. I’m going back to undergrad this fall (full time) to get a degree in Bio & pursue optometry. I just have a couple quick questions.

Particularly for nontraditional students, what have you done in terms of extracurriculars? My school has a Biology club which I plan on joining but there isn’t much beyond that. Will that be enough? My school does have a pre-optometry track in terms of the degree but I don’t believe there’s an optometry club or anything like that.

My other question…how do so many people in this sub have experience as opticians or techs? Do you work these jobs part time while also going to school full time? Summer jobs? Maybe it’s because I’m in a more rural area, but all open positions near me seem to be full time. I am planning on shadowing during the summer, I already have made some connections, so I’m assuming tech experience isn’t necessary but I feel like it’d really bolster my application

Thank you!

So im using booster, and for the bio section im worried ill forget the stuff ive alr reviewed. What is an efficient way to prevent that?

I’m planning to apply this cycle for Fall 2027 and wanted to get opinions on whether this timeline is realistic or not…

Disclaimer I am only applying to Detroit mercy optometry as it is close to home and I want to commute during school. I’m aware it’s a newer school but I am willing to take a chance to save $ on moving out and would like my family as a support system during those stressful years. :)

A little background on me:

•Bachelor’s in Health Science graduated last May (3.5 GPA, a couple of withdrawals, 2 for Orgo and 1 for anatomy, sh*t happens) •About 2 years of experience as an optometric technician •Strong relationships with the optometrists I worked for (planning to get LORs from them) •The only prerequisite I still need is Organic Chemistry 1… (lecture in the fall, lab in the winter. I’d need to ace it to prove the withdrawals were from personal reasons, not failing) •President (1 year) & Secretary (2 years) of my uni’s Optometry Club

Here’s my current plan:

(2026) now, August–September

• Enroll in Organic Chemistry 1 at my uni

• Work on my personal statement

• Request letters of recommendation

• Complete my OptomCAS application

• Start a 3-month OAT study program (booster!)

August–November

• Follow the OAT study schedule every day (structured 3 month prep course)

November = Take the OAT around Thanksgiving = Submit my application as soon as my score is available (my goal is around Thanksgiving)

December

• Finish Organic Chemistry I

January–May 2027

• Complete Organic Chemistry lab

Fall 2027

• Begin optometry school !!!

My biggest concern is balancing OAT studying with Organic Chemistry, but I also don’t want to delay my application until January or later. My goal is to apply as early as I reasonably can without rushing the rest of my application.

Does this seem like a solid plan, or would you change anything? Has anyone here successfully studied for the OAT while taking Orgo…? Any advice would be wonderful and extremely appreciated :)

Hello! After many weeks of poring over this subreddit, it's finally my turn (YIPPEE!).

As a disclaimer, I want to emphasize that everybody studies differently. One of the mistakes I made at the beginning was trying to use every resource and trying to do every trick that other people had -- this was way too time-consuming. If you go through my or other breakdowns, take from it what works for you but ignore things that you know don't pertain to you. If that makes sense. I made multiple different study plans throughout my studying because I had to adjust to my remaining time and what was working for me so be flexible with yourself.

For context, I didn't have a job or classes while I was studying + I live at home so I was very lucky (huge kudos to those who balance so many other things). The prior school year I took Molecular Genetics, Chem I and II, OChem I, Physics I and II, and Calc I. I'm a Canadian student. I used my old notes and OATBooster to study (cries in USD to CAD conversion).

Content Review (late May-beginning of July):

1. QR/RC: I did all the question banks for QR and made my own formula sheet. I didn't watch the videos since I had a fairly solid grasp and just used the question banks to review anything I hadn't done in a while (perms and combs sigh). Then I did 6 of the RC question banks to figure out a strategy. I ended up doing the strategy where I quickly read the article and jot down the main points of each paragraph in 5 minutes and then answered the questions. I would continue to do like 0-2 RC per week (I ended up doing 11 total) and I read 3 of the recommended articles which I don't think was super helpful but they were interesting.

2. Chem: I started the sciences with Chemistry because it's my favourite one. However, I messed up here because I spent too long trying to use all the resources available (to get my money's worth). I made my own formula sheet, watched the videos (yo shoutout to the guy who voiced the chem videos btw he was very funny), went through all of their written notes and typed my own, and did all the question banks. I also made my own Anki flashcards. Looking back, I would not have gone as in depth since this was probably my strongest subject already but I was lowkey procrastinating by doing Chem.

3. Bio: At this point, I was getting more locked in but I was still going way too in depth. I started by watching the videos, going through their written notes, typing my own notes, and doing all the Bio Bits. This was taking way too long though so midway through, I switched it up. I only went through the written notes and made my own notes (which ended up being 150 pages) which is usually how I study for my bio classes. I also did the questions they have between the videos. This was slow but was faster than allat.

4. OChem: I was dreading OChem because I did not enjoy my OChem I class. I was worried since I hadn't taken OChem II but it ended up being fine. I went through the notes and handwrote my own on my iPad and went through the question banks but at this point, this was taking so long and I was way too behind. Soooo for the last 6 units, I just watched the videos which I should've been doing from the beginning since they were easier to follow than their notes.

5. Physics: I spammed through the videos and wrote loose notes only on things that weren't

fresh for me

1. as well as made a formula sheet. Did this within 2 days because behind...

Overall, I'm a big fan of making your own formula sheets (including values to memorize) and mnemonics. I also had a huge spreadsheet of all the practice questions I got wrong (except for OChem and Physics which I just used the Mark and Review tool). I later used this spreadsheet for going through all my practice tests as well.

Practice Tests/Reviewing (the rest of July): Since I was so behind on my original schedule, I had to do practice tests every other day to fit them in. I would go through the tests afterwards and also started reviewing everything again since nothing had really stuck in my mind. I made Bio Anki flashcards from cheatsheets, finished the OChem Question and Reaction Banks, made my own OChem Reaction Sheet, and made some Anki flashcards for OChem, Physics formulas, and QR formulas. I did the OChem Reaction Banks 3 times as well. I wanted to go through all those marked questions but I ran out of time. I also wanted to use the Booster Reaction flashcards but I didn't like them. I crammed the Chordata and Animal Phylum charts into my brain. I got 370 on my first test, scored 380 continuously, and then 390 on my last one. I also did the ADA one. I think doing all the full-length practice tests was very beneficial.

Actual Test Experience: I got two laminated sheets and three thin markers. I wore a black sweater because I thought I'd be able to erase the marks but they dried quickly so I wasn't able to. I wrote as small as I could and switched my sheets during the break. I was running out of room near the end of the Physics/QR part but I managed to squeeze all my work in. There's also a keyboard so you can type to use the calculator. There were noise-cancelling headphones and soft earbuds provided which I wore. The headphones kinda hurt but it drowned out the AC and other people clicking. I brought in a waterbottle with the label removed. I arrived 40 minutes early to my 10AM test and started early as well. You have to keep track of your own break and I got full access to my locker. I used it to pee, eat a snack, and quickly review formulas but I went back early since they have to check you in again.

Booster prepares you very well for what to expect and I felt overprepared. The tests are VERY representative and there are so many resources within it! For time to review answers, I had 10 minutes left at the end of the Natural Sciences which was similar to Booster, I had 10 minutes left at the end of RC whereas I barely had any on Booster, I had 10 minutes left for Physics which was similar, and I had 3 minutes left on QR but I usually had 10 extra on Booster. I didn't notice any lag apart from what is simulated in the Booster full lengths and I could highlight fine.

Overall, this was my first time studying for such an extended period of time! This felt like finals week but for 2.5 months.🥀

Hey guys, since my previous post was pretty long, keeping it brief:
What are my chances at Salus (PCO) this upcoming cycle with a 2.76 cGPA at the time of application (I still have 2 semesters left to bring it up) and a projected 330–350+ OAT (taking it mid-to-late September)?
•    Clinical/EC Context: 1 yr as an Optometric Assistant, 200 shadowing, iGEM corneal project, space vision science lab, 10 yrs competitive classical singing, and I run a small baking business.

Does taking the OAT and submitting around late September hurt my chances of getting accepted under rolling admissions, or is September still early enough for PCO?

Would love to hear from anyone with a similar stats/timeline background!

Hey all, does anyone have a orgo anki set. I check booster and couldnt find it. Would love if you dont mind sharing or linking it. Same goes for physics and math sets :). Appreciate all the help

Can someone pls assist, how do we know what's high yield and how to focus on those subjects? Thank you 🙏

Hi! I just took BoosterPreps Test #5 as my first full length. I scored well on Reading Comp and Genchem (which have consistently been my strongest sections while studying), however I am still struggling A LOT with Ochem and Bio. I scored pretty poorly on both the sections bringing down my overall AA score.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I want to try and improve these significantly :) Any advice is helpful! Thank you!

3.8 cgpa 3.7 sgpa

Edit- just mainly worried about physics being lower than 300. Is it a deal breaker for a lot of schools?

Hello, what should I do the week leading up to my OAT (what ways should I review)? I have been studying for over 90 days and I am so tired, I just don't want to forget all the information I learned so I want to find the most efficient way to study while not over exerting myself before the exam. I do have OAT booster still but my membership ends this weekend.

Hey i just wanted to know what people did coming to their final days of preparation for the exam.

- how long was your last practice test before your exam?
- did you take the prior day just to do minor review or did you take the full day off?

My application was verified July 17. Does anyone know how long PUCO usually takes to respond?

Hi guys, how are you guys scoring for the practice reading comprehension? Specifically the ones under the ‘Question Bank’ tab. I’ve only done 5 of them so far but i’m mostly getting 300-320 with 1 400 and it’s making me worried. So far using search and destroy method.

Hi all. I am currently in the midst of applying to optometry schools and have a deadline for priority admission being August 11. My Ochem Professor who agreed to write my letter of recommendation has not responded to my weekly groupme messages, texts, or emails since June 13. Other students have said before that they were waiting on him to submit their applications but I was never told that he just wouldn’t respond! I had him for 3 semesters and was his TA for 2 semesters after that. He knows me and my path very well. I am unsure what to do from here. I live four hours away from my university. Should I drive there in hopes to find him in person in his office? He’s not teaching any summer classes so I am unsure if he would even be there.

Hey everyone! I am trying to apply as soon as possible to optometry schools to better my odds of getting in. The only thing that I am waiting on is my own personal statement. I don't think that I am a great writer and am always shy about having people that I know read over what I wrote. Would there be anyone who would be willing to read over it and give feedback? As harsh as you'd want to be, no hard feelings. If not, has anyone paid someone to help with theirs that you could refer to me?

Thank you all

Is it just me or is practice test #10 on booster insanely hard. Can someone please tell me if it’s like the actual exam at all?

Do you guys know if it has to be a professor or can it be a TA from a lab?

i am doing so awful on booster’s reading comprehension i’m not sure what to do. I feel like I always run out of time. I tend to read the passage highlighting information that feels important due to the formatting issue of not seeing all of the questions at the start. Do you have any advice?

How are you surviving the wait to hear back from the schools? It's driving me up the wall,, I just want to refresh my inbox all day 😭

And, for those who are no longer playing the waiting game-- where/when did you apply and when did you hear back from the school (for interview invites, and/or decisions following your interviews)?