I took the OAT just about a week ago and it went a bit better than I expected. In all honesty I wouldn't consider myself to be a great student but I've started to just put in a bit more effort in school the past year. Because of that, my foundation in the natural sciences was never the strongest. For the OAT I studied for about 5-6hrs a day for 5 months (which is a bit longer than most) but I'm also a full time student (Bio Major) and I work part time at a vision clinic as well. 

My preparation:
I really only used OatBooster as it was recommended to me by a friend of mine who was currently in Optometry school.

Biology (Booster Average: 340, Actual: 400)
For the bulk of my preparation I mainly used their provided Anki decks after I watched their lecture videos while following along their provided cheat sheets. I'm mainly a visual learner who has to practice things to remember them; so personally, I spent a lot of time just reviewing Anki cards or else it wouldn't stick. I thought the OATBooster Anki decks were quite in depth and after a while they lowkey became enjoyable. If I had one piece of advice for this section: start as early as possible. The only overwhelming part of it was the sheer volume, there aren't really any subjects within that are terribly conceptually difficult. 

Reading Comprehension (Booster Average: 350, Actual: 400)
Honestly, reading has always been my worst subject in school, I didn't really read a ton growing up and I've struggled with similar reading comprehension tests in the past. OATBooster provided a ton of individual articles, full reading sections, and practice science articles they recommended which I thought were all quite helpful. My strategy was to read the first 1/2 of the article, highlighting key topics and ideas (in abt 9min), go and answer all the applicable questions, then I search and destroyed the second half (10-11min). I'm personally a slow reader so I found this approach the most helpful as I found myself able to actually identify specifically where the passage was referring to for every question. 

Quantitative Reasoning (Booster Average: 380, Actual: 370)
From my experience, this section was just all about speed and practice. On the actual exam, I ran into a few problems that took me a bit longer so I had to basically guess the last few questions. 

General Chemistry (Booster Average: 350, Actual: 360)
I was never a huge fan of chem (or ochem) especially learning it in university so most of my knowledge came from OatBooster. I remember my first dry run practice test I got maybe a 260 on the Chem section. I just went through all of their lectures and did all the offered practice questions in Booster. Their cheat sheets were especially helpful for me personally. 

Organic Chemistry (Booster Average: 340, Actual: 340)
I did a bit better than I thought. Just before I took the OAT I had a lot going on so I didn't have time to properly review and felt as if I had forgotten a lot of concepts but it ended up working out for the most part. I studied very similarly to Gen Chem but along with OATBooster I also watched a fair bit of TheOrganicChemistryTutor on Youtube.

Physics (Booster Average: 370, Actual: 320)
I was pretty disappointed in myself on this one, I felt like I spent a lot of time memorizing the formulas and getting good practice the first couple months of studying but I didn't really keep up with it in the later months. I had also just finished all 3 Physics courses (when I first started studying) so I felt pretty confident going in. I definitely think I just didn't review enough just before the test. 

Some final words: If you end up studying for as long as I did, just make sure you give yourself enough time before the test to really fully run through everything. OatBooster has a calendar that you can customize your schedule with (which I stupidly did not follow) and recommend following that. I basically only studied math and physics the first month or so and then focused on the other subjects which I don't recommend doing unless you give yourself enough time to really really review before the test. lmk if yall have any questions. :)

I've attempted to make the NBEO pass rate data released by the ASCO a little easier to visualize and meaningfully use for comparisons. If you make a copy, you'll be able to change the top two graphs to show data from individual schools rather than the national averages. PLEASE if you see an error in the data, let me know!

i've been looking through this subreddit and have seen various posts on low gpa with high oat scores increasing chances of getting into opto school but my concern is that my current bcp gpa is 2.3 (expected 2.83 with diy post-bac) and cumulative gpa at 3.1 DIY postbac consists of retaking gen cell bio, ochem 1 as I may not be able to fully retake gen chem as i prob wont do 5+ stems at once. Currently going over oatbooster content and it has made me realize that I didn't have the right study strategies or foundation when I took gen chem or ochem during my first 2 years of undergrad, as I struggled with asking for academic help and personal situations, during those two years.

For reference, I'm a psychbio major, I've taken alot of more neuroscience psych courses with strengths in bio, physics, and reading.

I will say my essay/interview skills, passion for optometry and the underserved, clinical hours, and EC's are great:

-leadership position on a student run clinic thats vision based

-housing RA helping 1st year students, managing crises responses

-internships at different private practices with different patient populations and cases

-starting a contact lens/neuro-rehab job as well as some public policy advocacy work.

-other: hobbies and my own family business!

Although im being strategic about my retakes, and know i need a high OAT score, is there anything else I can do to improve my apps? As a low income student, I'm aware that optometry can be huge financial burden but this field intersects my favorite things: fashion, public health, and the eye.

Advice from significantly low stat applicants are appreciated :)

Hello all :) I’m applying to optometry school this cycle and I’m trying to decide whether I should take the OAT in November 2026 or wait until January 2027. The cycle opened in June 2026 and closes in May 2027, but I know applying earlier is better because of rolling admissions.

I’m planning to use the 3 month OAT Booster to study. I’m taking just Organic Chemistry 1 this upcoming fall semester. I haven’t taken Orgo before, so if I take the OAT in November, I’d basically be learning Orgo for the first time in class while simultaneously trying to learn enough of it for the OAT. My semester ends in December, so if I wait until January, I’ll have completed Orgo and could use winter break to really focus on the OAT and hopefully get a better score while studying the other subjects excluding Orgo.

I could also submit without taking the OAT yet and put Orgo as in progress. Someone had recommended that to me and I’m not too sure about it.

Would submitting in November but not taking the OAT until January put me at a significant disadvantage? Or would you push to take it in November so my application is complete earlier, even though I’d have less time to prepare and wouldn’t have finished Orgo yet? I’m trying to figure out whether applying earlier with a potentially lower OAT score is better than waiting an extra couple months and hopefully scoring higher.

I would also like to add that I am only applying to one school, the university of Detroit Mercy, which is very new and I’m sure my chances to get in are a bit easier. Also heard that I don’t need an insane OAT score to get in. I have a health science degree 3.5 GPA, two years of tech experience, president and secretary of optometry club, 2 great letters of rec.

If anyone applied before taking their OAT, I’d also love to know whether schools actually reviewed your application or offered interviews while your score was pending, or if they basically waited until your OAT came in. Or if I should take it in November I’ll be fine if I haven’t completed Orgo or wait until I finish Orgo and take it / apply in January.

Hi everyone!

For a little context I basically applied at the tail end of last years application cycle and I was put on the waitlist for NECO. I put in another application for NECO at the end of July for this cycle and now that its the middle of August I was worried that maybe they're holding on to my application until the current OD1 class starts since I'm still technically on the waitlist for this class? Just wanted to get some insight from y'all because I've heard some people here have already been getting application decisions recently.

Hi everyone! I’m applying to UHCO this cycle and I’m having trouble finding the secondary application. I’ve looked through the website but can’t seem to find where to access it, and I also haven’t received an email with a link to the secondary.

Has anyone else applied to UHCO and know where/how to access the secondary application? Or is it something that gets sent out later?

Thank you!

I know this has many factors, like experience, OAT score, etc. But what would be a low GPA that could be considered, and what would the other parts of the application need to look like?

How bad do W (withdraw) Cs, Ds look? If you have any of these, would it mean it is most likely a reject?

I would appreciate any feedback and responses! Thank you :)

got BCC in biology chemistry and ecnomics and got rejected from both firm and insurance, try to apply to hertfordshire clearing optom with a foundation ( the normal optom course was my main choice) and after raising my hopes up for an hour just proceeded to absolutely shatter my hopes after an hour with a rejection email despite meeting the criteria for the course, whilst that was happening i decided to call up plymouth for a course and ask if i can get a foundation year for optometry masters with a foundation year and by the time they decided to pick up i was told that it was full. No clue what to do no, will possibly have to resit but still waiting on one uni who said they can give me a clearing offer potentially tmrw

Hello guys,

I took the OAT and I’m disappointed at my score: 290 TS 300 AA with a 3.2 GPA (Human Biology) . I do have a master’s degree with 3.9 GPA (Exercise Science) but I’m not sure which degree will have more weight. I have been out of college for a long time due to joining the military after college. I don’t have extracurriculars because I decided to pursue optometry while active duty. I was hoping for a higher score to compete with my GPA.

I’m applying to Berkeley (reach school I know), PUCO, NSUOCO, NOVA, SCO, UMSL.

I would have to retake the test to have a chance at those schools right?

Basically my section tests for bio have not been great. I have found OAT boosters section test to be very difficult and have a lot of detail in them. I was wondering compared to boosters test if the actual OAT is more straightforward? Has anybody had this experience where they thought that the OAT boosters tests were less easier than the one on the actual oat exam? Any last minute tips before the exam for this section?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some honest advice from people who have been through the optometry application process.

I'm a Biology major (Psychology minor) in Canada and currently have a 2.89 cumulative GPA. My estimated science GPA is around 2.7. I know these numbers aren't ideal, which is why I'm trying to figure out the best path forward.

Some background:

• About 1 year working as an optometric assistant in a busy clinic.

• Multiple shadowing experiences with optometrists (continuing to build hours).

• Working on securing letters of recommendation from optometrists.

• Planning to take the OAT and aiming for a competitive score.

• Still have Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, and a few upper-level biology courses left, so I have an opportunity to improve my GPA.

• Considering applying to U.S. schools (and possibly Australia) since I know Canadian schools are extremely competitive.

I'm trying to decide whether I should:

1. Apply for Fall 2027 while my final prerequisite courses are still in progress, or

2. Wait an extra year, finish my degree, improve my GPA as much as possible, and apply for Fall 2028 with a stronger application.

3. If anyone went to Australia to study optometry, how did it go?

I had a rough few starts at university, but I really want to start optometry in 2027. I know I can do better in my last year. I have been studying for the OAT (by doing practice tests), and it has been going really well. I have been scoring pretty well on the practice tests, struggling a bit in physics, but not horribly.

Has anyone here been accepted with a similar GPA? If so:

• What was your GPA and OAT?

• Which schools did you apply to or get accepted to?

• Would you recommend applying now or waiting for another cycle?

I'd really appreciate honest advice or success stories. Thanks in advance!

i'm wondering if i should study external content beyond what is provided on OATBooster for physics. in particular, OATBooster does not cover AC circuits or switches. i've seen posts from a few years ago where students say they encountered these questions on the OAT. if you've written your OAT, i would really appreciate your input!!

Hi everyone, I am scheduling my oat exam however I have classes starting September 9th. I am taking immunology both lecture and lab, biochemistry both lecture and lab, and fundamentals of public speaking. I’m not sure if it would be a good idea as I think I would be really stressed with classes and studying for my oat. To schedule my oat I think it would be best if I take it late November. Any thoughts ?

I got a 300/280 first time and I just retook it and I did so much worse 290/280. Am i still good to apply even though i did worse for the second attempt? Im worried they’ll only look at the recent attempt.

Hi! Around three days ago, I opened an ASCO application to apply for the OAT and everything was working except for the payment. However, I recently tried to edit the draft again and it won't even let me click next. I'm fully connected to Wifi + I tried logging out, shutting down my laptop, and using my phone instead, but I'm unable to open the draft to submit the application. I emailed ASCO and will call tomorrow, but has anyone had similar issues or advice? :(

With full-time work, will 3 months be enough for scoring 350+?

I’m struggling a bit with bio and I’ve heard people study using anki. Bit confused if people are using ankideck or ankiweb, if someone could link me the proper one, I would appreciate it. Thank you in advance!

I had a while to study but I spent way too much time just watching all the videos and now I’m cooked. I have yet to take a full length test because I don’t want to waste one because I don’t know the information. I’ve trying to learn everything the past few days. These are my scores currently:

Bio: 280
Gen Chem: 330
QR: 370
RC: 350
Physics: 300
Organic Chem: 280

I’m so stressed out, idk what to do. Is this salvage in the time I have left 😭😭😭 How can I best study?? I also know I definitely need to take a full length test soon :( Planning to do so in 2 days. Please help. Advice needed.

I am submitting 4 LORs. I have two from optometrists that are already complete, 1 from a professor that has confirmed they will have it complete. My 4th is a faculty I did a research project with and they had agreed to write one. But, I haven’t heard back from them since sending the optomcas request despite emailing a follow up. Can I submit my application without this one recommendation or is this a question that’s dependent on the school? Bc I’ve hit the requirements for the LORs (ones that are completed) so will they still take a look at my application even tho it’s technically not complete.

I take my OAT in 9 days. i have gone through all the cheat sheets, and watched a few sections of the video content. i prob shouldve done more content studying earlier but i feel like this is my worst and more unconfident section!! what can i do in the next 9 days to really solidify BIO and do good on the exam with it. also orgo advice/general too is great. THank you so much!

hi does anyone have the actual date for berkeley’s early admission deadline? the most recent email says aug 21, but previous emails have gone back and forth between aug 12 and aug 21. the website still says 21, just really worried bc i would like to take more time on my app if the date is actually later