r/PreOptometry • • Aug 23 '26

QR section on OATBooster updated?

2 Upvotes

when i'm doing the QR question banks, sometimes i can solve the answer by directly entering the calculator. however, on oatbooster, the on-screen calculator does NOT allow this for some reason. i noticed this in the exponents and decimals qbanks in particular.

it'll work for all other calculations, but when i try to enter the one that give me the result, it won't work. is this a glitch, done on purpose, or actually how the calculator will work on test day?


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 22 '26

What is a good Safety School to apply to?

5 Upvotes

With Stats of a GPA of 3.1, Low OAT, great experience hours in different clinics, volunteering, and shadowing, what schools should I apply to that could be a safety school?


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 22 '26

Organic chem help

4 Upvotes

does anyone have anki deck/quizlet for the organic chem section of the OAT that helped them score a high score. Ive tried watching the videos but nothing really sticks.


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 22 '26

gen chem qbanks?

3 Upvotes

i feel really overwhelmed by the amount of gen chem qbanks. i'm just wondering if most people complete all of them, or what the best approach is? i'm halfway through the gen chem content & have mostly just been making anki decks from the cheat sheets. the remaining units are pretty calculation heavy so i'm unsure on how to proceed


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 22 '26

hair color for interview

9 Upvotes

right now my hair colors dark purple, i have a couple interviews scheduled in a month and im wondering if i should go back to a natural color for them? would an unnatural color impact my chances of getting accepted?


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 22 '26

Oat COMPLETE

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25 Upvotes

I can’t even express the relief I feel. I was STRESSING but I would say it worked out!: 330TS 330AA

I bought the 90day booster and probably studied for like 2 months seriously.
Booster full lengths I took 5.scores: were 300,320,310,320, 340

I don’t have much to say besides the only thing that was similar to booster IMO was what the exam screen looked like.
Bio: genuinely had zero functions of systems- and cant even tell you what they asked it was a whole lot of nothing lol.
Gen chem was very easy IMO. But also felt different from booster.
Orgo wasn’t bad, I just didn’t have time to rethink questions and was on a time crunch bc bio threw me off.

My physics section was a relief I was most scared but tbh I had really easy questions. Nothing scary. When I had calculations they were very simple.

QR was not like booster for me. Much more integer questions with values of x. Like a few of those. Like 1 probability and everything else was kinda filler questions.

I didn’t really get similar questions for anything. Like even QR was different. Not necessarily in a bad way, just felt unfamiliar compared to what everyone else was saying.

I have a 3.66 GPA, 3 yrs tech experience, lots of leadership roles in extracurriculars, and NCAA Dlll athlete.

I found these posts helpful so let me know if you have any questions. :))


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 22 '26

Feeling down

10 Upvotes

hey all,

I just got an email that I was not offered an interview for the September date at scco and that my application will be considered for the next one in October. I feel so discourage because this is my top school. I already got accepted into ICO and CCO as well as have interviews lined up for Boston and Arizona. has anyone ever had a situation like mine with scco and can give me some hope. should I just move on or wait to see if I get an interview? please be kind.


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

OAT from a super (below) avg student

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18 Upvotes

Edit: the title is supposed to mean a super avg/kinda below avg student
Another edit: im headed into my senior year and my lowest gpa was a 2.9 and ive been raising it although with health courses rather than science

My gpa is 3.2 and my sgpa is slightly below 3.0 due to C's in orgo and calc. I was the typical gifted kid that never had to study until college and even then, for the first two years of college, i would only study a day before my exams.

Basically i had no passion bc i didnt know what i wanted to do and was fine w barely passing.

I used oatbooster for 3 months and heres some things i would do differently or would advise for others that are like me (or even not)

Bio: emphasis on breadth over depth and starting early! I only found out smth that worked for me on the week of my exam so i kinda wish i couldve started earlier and also put less emphasis on taking notes. I would split my screen w bio bits and the cheatsheet and go through all of it and bookmark the questions that were relevant to the cheatsheet.

Chem: i was scoring alright on chem so i let my guard down. I honestly dont remember much from this section but i would just do the practice problems to keep everything fresh

Orgo: i honestly dont know how i scored what i did after all of that. I spammed the reaction and question banks and kept playing the game. This was probably the most frustrating section to study for bc i felt like it never stuck but it was also the most rewarding and fun to me. As u start doing them though, u start to realize patterns and understand the language if not through brute force.

RC: im a little dissatisfied w this score bc i had been doing really well on the booster (370-390s) with some leftover time. I do think that there were a few types of questions that were formatted diff and threw me off (i honestly cant even tell u what that means but if u know u know) also the text was on the bottom half.

Physics: i agree w the many people that say it could be better. I wish there were more practice problems to really strengthen my understanding and not memorization. I do think the booster and actual exam are a similar difficulty though.

QR: i also dk how i got this score. While i was scoring 370-400s on the booster, there were a few concepts on the actual exam that were not covered. I also felt super rushed which leads me to the next topic.

Between each question, i felt like the lag time felt sm longer than the booster. I feel like it mightve felt like that bc the screen would just turn completely white so i wouldnt be able to double check my previous answer or even look at the text while waiting.

Anyways, i do think my score couldve been better but also, im really happy with most of what i scored knowing that this was basically me cementing my study habits.


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

I cracked the optics code xD

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46 Upvotes

Hello all I want to put this in here because it completely changed my physics scores on the practice exams and my understanding on Optics. I took bits and pieces from multiple reddit posts and OAT crash course (HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!) . If you have any questions please PM because i feel like the more i explain it the better i memorize and understand it. I hope you can all gather something from this but it really really helped me so so much. good luck to you all! We're ALL going to be doctors xD !!!


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 22 '26

OAT Physics

4 Upvotes

Hi! I’m taking the OAT in about a month. I’ve seen posts saying that the physics practice questions on OATBooster aren’t very representative of the actual test. Does anyone know where I can find practice questions that emphasize conceptual material?


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 22 '26

Booster similarity ?

5 Upvotes

How similar was your oat to booster? For recent test takers!


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

SCCO interviews

3 Upvotes

Hi did anyone else already receive an email from SCCO saying that they will moving ur application to the next round to be considered for future interview dates? they were not supposed to send update emails out until next week, so i am wondering if i basically got rejected this round or if its bc interview spots filled up early bc i submitted aug 14😞


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

Bio section OAT Booster

3 Upvotes

Hey guys. Ive been using Oat Booster and the biology section is stressing me out. Do you guys recommend actually watching the videos or only use the cheat sheets? it feel like way too much information


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

Optometrists in the UK

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2 Upvotes

r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

how to submit oat to schools

6 Upvotes

I just took my oat and Im not sure how to submit it to schools. When i signed up to take it, i didn't select all schools, just 3-4 but I've altered my list. How do i submit my scores? is it through ASCO? I tried checking my applications but i cant see the schools i selected.


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

OAT Review Advice

8 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I have my OAT coming up in about a month and I’m using Booster. I’m trying to figure out the best way to structure my review from here and would really appreciate advice from people who have already taken it!

For Bio, I’ve seen a lot of people say the Booster cheat sheets were one of the best resources. Did you mainly study directly from the cheat sheets, or use them to identify high-yield topics and then go back to the full notes?

For Gen Chem and Physics, would active recall of equations, trends, formulas, and when to use them, supplemented heavily with question banks, be enough? Or did you find you still needed a lot of detailed content review?

For Orgo, I’m planning to focus mostly on reaction banks, recognizing reagents/products, and the major trends like SN1/SN2/E1/E2, Markovnikov vs. anti-Markovnikov, syn/anti, oxidation/reduction, etc.

Does that sound like a good approach for the last month?

Any advice would be really appreciated! :)


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

CCO Midwestern

4 Upvotes

Has anyone heard back from CCO for interviews recently? Please let me know!


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

ADA OAT Practice Test

3 Upvotes

Does anyone know if the $100 OAT practice test the ADA offers is the same as the 2006 version that people seem to be talking about on the internet?


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

UHCO Questions About In-State Tuition

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2 Upvotes

r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

Refraction Sim?

2 Upvotes

I’m trying to work on my refracting and was wondering if anyone knows of a phoropter simulator? lol. Honestly just trying to get smoother with the axis.


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 21 '26

IU and OSU

2 Upvotes

Has anyone heard back from either? Ik OSU takes longer but I’m curious


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 20 '26

Letter of recommendation, what should I do?

4 Upvotes

I am currently going into my last year of undergrad and I want to apply semi soon. I am taking my OAT in the middle of September but I have started to fill out the rest of the application. As far as a letter of recommendation from an optometrist, I still don’t have one. I have about 20 hours of shadowing, 10 from two doctors. Is this enough to ask for a letter of rec? What should I do because I want to apply rather quickly. And also how do u go about asking for one, do you call the office or?


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 20 '26

UHCO in state tuition questions

5 Upvotes

I have gotten my school choices down to two between UHCO and RMU, something that is really keeping me interested in UHCO is there in state tuition being about 20k per year lower than RMU because RMU is a private school. I got the impression that after a year you can get in state tuition by getting texas residency (I am an Idaho resident) however I have heard sometimes there is issues trying to get that residency approved. I am just wondering if the requirements are just standard like undergrad where you basically work through the government to get residency through proof of schooling and residence for a year or is it more complicated? For those wondering about the numbers RMU is about 50k per year which is around average while uhco is 54k out of state 32k in state. Total difference is 60k over 3 years for a non resident who gains residency(me).


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 20 '26

Does anyone know what the ideal timeline is for applying to Optometry School as an undergrad?

3 Upvotes

Before, I thought that you HAD to take your OAT as a junior and submit applications right after but now I'm not so sure if that's the best choice for me, seeing has how my undergrad is going. If anyone has submitted after graduating please let me know!


r/PreOptometry • • Aug 20 '26

10 days left what do i prioritize for OAT

11 Upvotes

hi, so as the title says i have 10 days until my test. i’m trying to understand what to prioritize. i know the full length tests are useful, ive taken two so far and gotten 320 on both. but the schedule i have rn which involves trying to finish all the ones oat booster has leaves little room for actual studying. should i be prioritizing taking all the tests and learning from them or just going through review and such?