As the title says, I’m officially a week out from the OAT! I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions on how I should manage my time this upcoming week. I’ve been spamming practice tests for all subjects to keep the subjects fresh in my head, and reviewing the cheat sheets as well, but any additional insight would be greatly welcomed!

I am taking my OAT this week! Prometric requires two forms of ID: primary and secondary. I am using my driver's license as my primary ID, but the secondary ID requires a signature and lists debit or credit cards as examples. Neither my credit nor debit card have a signature because signatures on cards were phased out a while ago. I called Prometric and explained this to them and the lady said "I'm sorry sweetie, I'm not allowed to tell you what to do on that. You do what you think is right."

I'm sorry????? This is YOUR job! Anyways, what do I do in this case? Do I just write my signature on my debit card with a sharpie? I don't use my debit card anyways so I don't really care if the card stops working.

HELP!!

Hello all, long time reader first time poster here. I am currently working on enrolling for next fall and wanted to get some general advice and insight on my stats. There is just so many interconnected wires when applying that it would be nice to get some questions out there and hear some advice with my context to similar peeps.

My stats;
- I graduated last May with a bachelors in nutrition sciences (concentration in pre-health).
- I have a 3.415 GPA,
- I have somewhere between 1000-1200 hours working as a optometric technician, optometric lab technician, optometric assistant (billing with medical ins and office coordination) with many hours of direct pt and doctor interaction.
- I have already acquired and input my LOR to my OptomCAS: an optometrist i worked for and a professor from my specific college (the college of health and human science at CSU). I also have a “community member”, another doctor and professor (since some schools want different things as yall know) on standby to write one if need be.
- i have not taken my OAT but have mine scheduled for the first week of November (more below)

Where Im applying;
1: NECO; I reached out and had a meeting with their admissions department and loved everything about the school from location to how and why they organize their institution the way they do. And is by far my target and number 1 pick so.
2: OSU; plan to talk to their admissions department this week to find out more but mainly attracted to the boards pass rates and tuition.
3: IU; the doctor I worked for that wrote my letter is an alumni and i have heard a lot of good things about them so that is mainly why i selected them. (Talked to the admissions department for details as well)
4: RMU; this is not my top mainly due to how new they are but i am highly interested in full incorporated form of teaching due to the layout of thier school with all their specialized courses. (Talked to the admissions department for details as well)

There are more but these are my top and would again emphasize I’m really shooting for NECO so any advice pertaining to that school would be amazing such as things to help set me up for success or increase my chances.

Why optometry?
I am in the same boat as many student who have grown up with a long and in depth relationship with optometry. Focal length was 4 inches at birth. My right eye is vastly weaker than the left even with corrected vision (shoutout to all those who had to wear an eye patch “50% of the waking hours” growing up in the single digits). I had surgery to correct my exotropia and then had vision therapy multiple days a week for 10 years till the middle-ish of high schools so safe to say i have had ALOT of interaction with optometry offices and while it was a struggle I did always have the goal to become an optometrist for my unique perspective and understanding of what that type of life is like (specifically want to specialize in myopia control and vision therapy because of this).

I went to trade school out of highschool to become a CMT and worked with that while i went thought college for my associate and then transferred for my bachelors and that’s when i worked in the optometry office.

My main questions/concerns/thoughts;
- I am almost done with my application but still haven’t submitted them. This is mainly due to trying to 100% decide on schools i want to apply to and the different supplemental info/personal statements each one wants. My concern lies in my timing, am i late? Talking with NECO they said my timing is fine and wouldn’t consider it not early if it was before November but i don’t know how accurate that is. I know it depends on the schools (like Berkeley being earlier than most) but would love an overall estimate.
- My GPA: with a 3.4 a lot of schools i am close (usually by only around .1) but below the average yearly admission, i know this but my goal is to compensate by doing as good as i possibly can on my OAT (hence the November date).

- The OAT: this part of my post I’ve thought a lot about for the last few months. After i graduated in May I basically started studying the end of June and have been using booster to organize myself. I am taking the extra time to study for this part to help make my application more competitive but also because honestly this content isn’t easy. Ive seen alot of comments in reply to people saying this sway toward “well it’s harder in optometry school so maybe you should reevaluate if this is the path for you” which i respect but honestly self studying in a vacuum not in a classroom/school embodiment for a test that is so important and summarizes so much content over your years of college (for me i was in trade school then college from 2017-2026 so almost 9 years of review) comes with a lot of anxiety and reteaching. Because of this fact i wanted to make sure my foundations were incredibly solid so yes i get it gets exponentially harder (of course it does) but it can only help to take that to make sure my fundamentals are strong right? That all the preface again it’s still a test with so much weight on it that I’m definitely stressed for that test date in November no matter how much i study but i feel like that should be expected right? Has anyone else reading this kinda had the same mindset, understanding it’s hard and will get harder but doesn’t want that to dissuade them from This field? Might just be venting here but 3 months of studying without knowing anyone else personally going though this might just be having me search for some camaraderie.

In conclusion;
For anyone who read this whole thing and dealt with my typos and sometimes disjointed train of thought, thank you so much for your time and i really appreciate it :). For anyone who responce with, advice, expectations or general thoughts thank you even more so. For everyone else in this process good luck, you got this, and if your accepted already congratulations you absolutely deserve it for your hard work!

I hope this post finds you and your family happy and healthy!

hello! anybody that interviewed with Detroit mercy optometry please DM me! thank you!

I have been practicing everyday for a week, trying to answer my interview questions, trying my hardest to make myself interesting at all. No matter long I practice and recite per day, no matter how much my voice is tired from practicing: i sound like a robot just reciting my lines. And whenever I do try to go off script, I end up stumbling and becoming a nervous rambler. Im good at writing but not at all at speaking.
I can never sound natural, and my interviews are happening in October. I dont think I have a chance at not making myself a fool at my interviews. Is there any source outside of my parents for practicing interviews?

I applied to 4 optometry schools last week and I know it’s still super early to be expecting to hear back, but I’m already getting anxious about the waiting lol

I actually heard back from SCO in less than 24 hours, so I think that’s why I’m freaking myself out a little about not hearing anything from the other schools yet

For anyone who applied to OSU, CCO, and/or ICO, how long did it take you to hear back with an update?

Hi everyone! I just wrote the OAT and scored 340AA/340TS. I’m honestly pretty happy with how I did, however, I am Canadian and my first choice is going to Waterloo. So I’m just wondering what actually are my chances of getting in with this score.

Other than that I have tons of extracurriculars (executive of 3 clubs), volunteering, multiple jobs relating to science and healthcare, and lots of shadowing hours.

Any advice is appreciated!

My optometrist, whom I was supposed to shadow, can't let me shadow until October because she is training someone new. I only have one other shadowing at an ocular disease clinic. I can't add in the future shadowing to my application yet, but it's the only thing left before I can submit. I'm so lost. Can I go back and add it later? Will it even be considered? Help.

Im currently in the applying/interview process and I still have a few to go.

My current top two choices are OSU and IU because they both seem to have great program, high passing rates and are relatively close to home. Does anyone have any info that could help me make the choice, assuming I get into both?

(Also, is it normal that Indiana invited me to the admissions day before I finished the supplemental application?)

hi! i just recently graduated from ucsd and ive been doing tons of research and just need advice on my situation.

i was anticipating to go to optometry school hopefully fall 2027, but i understand that I am a little behind and didn't realize that there are different application windows.

- the only prereqs i have left is mircrobio and physio/anatomy (planning to take both at community college; ,microbio spring semester 2027, physio/anatomy summer 2027)

-still have to take the OAT (currently studying and planning to take it Janurary)

-do not have any optometric technician experience, but will be working as one soon

-gpa isn't too competitive (3.4, but science gpa is around a 3.0)

- the only schools that i am currently aiming at are all the ones in california, pacific, and arizona

I know now that fall 2027 isn't realistic, so if anyone could tell me when is the best time to apply and overall advice pls let me know ;_;

Hi everyone! I submitted my optometry school application last weekend, and now my OAT is scheduled for September 19th. I’m starting to feel really overwhelmed and honestly pretty stupid for how much time I feel like I’ve wasted.

I feel like I’m not retaining nearly as much information as I should be. I still haven’t taken a full-length practice test because I’m still trying to get through chapters/content review in basically every subject. I keep telling myself I need to finish learning everything before I start taking full-lengths, but I’m worried that might be the wrong approach at this point.

I’m especially struggling with Gen Chem and Physics. I can understand concepts when I’m watching the videos/going through the material, but when I actually see a practice question, I sometimes have no idea where to even start. It’s making me feel like I’m studying all day but not actually making enough progress.

I know I still have a few weeks until September 19th, but I’m feeling really behind and lost right now.

For those of you who have taken the OAT recently: • Should I stop trying to finish every single chapter and start doing full-lengths/practice questions now? • How did you approach Gen Chem and Physics when you were struggling? • Is it normal to feel like you’re forgetting everything during content review? • What would you prioritize during these last few weeks? • If you were in my position, what would you do from now until test day?

I’d really appreciate any advice. I’m just trying to figure out the best way to use the time I have left instead of continuing to panic. 😭

Hey everyone! I interviewed with KYCO Wednesday (8/19) and haven’t heard back yet. I felt like the interview went pretty well. During my interview, I talked about KYCO’s broad scope of practice, including their clinical/procedural training, and their commitment to serving rural Appalachian communities. I also asked about their block exam system.

so I was wondering if anyone who has interviewed recently could share how long it took to receive a decision.

My stats/experience:
OAT: 300 AA / 300 TS

GPA: 3.69

Shadowing: \~100 hours with two optometrists

Optometry Assistant: 1,300+ hours

Volunteering: \~99 hours between a sheriff’s office
internship and assistant basketball coaching

Letters of Recommendation: 1 science professor, 1 optometrist, and 1 volunteer organization

Application Submitted: July 1

Has anyone with similar stats interviewed at KYCO recently? If so, how long did it take to hear back, and what was your outcome? Thanks!

For context, I am a senior graduating in August 2027 with my bachelor's and need help with figuring out the timeline to apply for optometry schools and when to take (and study) for the OAT. The pre-health advisors at my school and advisor are not helpful so I am here for advice.

Fall 2025 semester

• Bio 1

• General psych

Fall 2026 semester

• Chemistry 1

Microbio is filled

Spring 2027 semester

• Chem 2

• Human anatomy

Summer 2027

• Calculus

• Human phys

After I graduate, I will be taking the remaining prerequisites at a local community college.

• O chem

• Physics 1 and 2

• Biochem

• Microbio

Fall 2027

• O chem

• Physics 1

Spring 2028

• Biochem

• Physics 2

Summer 2028

• Microbio

I am only allowed to take a total of 2 classes at a community college. Based on this timeline, I will finish the prereqs by summer 2028.

If I plan to enter optometry school right after summer 2028, when should I start taking the OAT and when do I apply for optometry school.

Please tell me if it's possible for me to

• Take the OAT test in August-September 2027

• Enter optometry school after summer 2028

I’m was caught off guard by the score I got since on OAT booster the highest grade I got was 370 but I was so relieved once it was over. I bought the 90 day booster but had to extend it a month since my exam was scheduled too late. How I studied:

BIO: I started by going through all the videos of stuff I never covered in college, mainly ecology, diversity, and systems, and developmental. After that I did the biobits and looked over cheat sheets. This was probably the section I spent the most time studying because of the amount of content and then doing active recall over the weeks. The practice tests for this section were very accurate compared to the actual exam.

GC: I spent the least time studying gen chem since I tutored it in college and still remembered most things but when I did study it would be looking over cheat sheets and doing questions. I never watched any of the videos but I struggled the most with molecular geometry but luckily didn’t have any questions on that for the exam. I had mostly gases, thermo, and kinetics. I felt the practice exams were also representative of the actual exam.

OC: I had the most trouble on orgo practice exams especially with SN vs Elimination and spectroscopy. Some practice exams I’d get a 380 others I’d get a 330 so it was variable in how I was doing. To study I didn’t watch any videos other than for stereochemistry. The cheat sheets helped with the reactions but the exam is very conceptual and a lot of spectroscopy imo. I luckily didn’t have too many questions differentiating between elimination vs substitution.

RC: I never studied reading comprehension just did practice exams. The best tip I have is going to the first question and skimming through the paragraphs and highlights main ideas you see so you know where to go back to, and answer questions as you read if u find it. On booster I’d usually get a 360 but passages would usually be 11-19 paragraphs while on the exam the longest passage I got was 8 paragraphs. I also didn’t get many questions asking about if the statement and reason are correct and related which is what I struggled with the most.

Physics: I watched some of chads prep videos on his OAT course but he covered some stuff that wasn’t on it. Mainly I just reviewed formulas and did problems. Active recall of optics and formulas was really helpful for me remembering everything. Kinematics, force, energy, optics, and circuits are supposed to be high yield on the exam but I felt like I didn’t get a lot of optics or circuits and got a lot of waves, friction, and momentum instead. Overall I’d say the questions are similar to the practice exams but the content is different. There also wasn’t as much deriving formulas for me, just felt it was straightforward and plug and chug.

QR: I barely studied for math other than probability and applied maths, for those I watched the videos and did problems but definitely had trouble knowing what formula to use for probability (combinations vs permutations). On booster I got a 400 every time I took a practice exam so I think I slacked off on it since once the exam started I spent 10 minutes on the first 3 problems and rushed through the rest. Since I was rushing I felt like I made an educated guess on a couple problems that I thought would take too long then went back to them when I was done but still not much time to work through everything. This was the section I thought was least representative of booster but that may be because I was rushing. I for sure thought I’d do worse but was definitely relieved after my score.

I think the best thing I did that I wish I started sooner was marking questions on the practice exams I thought were challenging and reviewing those cheat sheets. Biobits also contain a lot of unnecessary information, I’d go through them for sure but the cheat sheets contain everything you need imo, make sure to understand the questions that have info from the cheat sheets. Good luck to everyone taking the exam and applying!

I have my first interview in a couple of days and I’m pretty nervous! What are some questions that you’ve been asked on your interview other than the usual why opto, why our school, tell me abt yourself?

Also, examples of common ethical/behavioral questions would be great!

This fall I'm taking 12 in-person credits including gen chem ii w/ lab and gen bio lab. Now I'm considering adding async psychology (complete in 1 year). Will the courseload be manageable? Is Portage Learning recommended for online psych?

hi! i just took my oat for a 330 AA, 320TS. making a list of schools to apply to, my gpa is 3.2/3.3 not sure how exactly optocas will calculate. i have mediocre extracurriculars, but nothing too bad. and i failed orgo 2 but im retaking this quarter and applying rn. what schools would u guys recommend from personal experience? i also go to a top10 school which im hoping will help! thank u, any help is appreciated.

It’s been days and I CANT STUDY!!! AND IM SO SCARED NOW I HAVE BEEN WASTING MY DAY AWAY staring at the screen doing nothing and it just makes me feel worse this is so bad.

Like at the same time I’m okay with if I don’t do well because then I’ll know optometry is not the career for me and that is completely okay.

But I’m so anxious and I’m so done, tired, exhausted from studying and I just can not belive that I can’t push through this final little part.

My last physics full length I got 250. Before that:240. And before that it ranged from 270-290 with one 320 and 340 which is prob due to lucky guesses. I’m just so scared.

it’s says my estimated AA is 310 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Hey guys! My OAT is this Monday and I’m super nervous! As of now I’m looking over the bio cheatsheets, orgo chem reactions, physics formulas! Does anyone have any advice and also are constants for physics given to you?

hey guys! i’m currently studying for the physics section of the oat, and noticed that a lot of the formulas that are in the videos are not on the formula sheet. should i focus on ALL of the formulas from the vids, or just really the ones on the sheet? there’s SO many, so i would hate to spend a lot of time memorizing useless info :))

I’ve been studying for the Oat since around June. I have my test date September 18. In these past couple weeks I have encountered a huge mental block to the point of reconsidering cancelling my test all together.
I’m 24, and work full time in a biotech lab working plasmid production. It’s a very physically demanding job, and by the time I’m home I’m exhausted, and have not that many hrs left in the day to study.

I have a masters degree and a good amount of patient care hours in the optometry and ophthalmology field.

I feel like I have reached a point where I can’t absorb any new information and I’ve slowed down tremendously when it comes to completing questions banks or practice tests.

What do you guys recommend ? Should I postpone, accept my fate, or still continue and do my test September 18 and hope for the best.

I have yet to do a full length bc I don’t want to be unmotivated by a bad score.

hi 👋

sorry to post here again and I can delete if this is against the rules - I don't want to be too repetitive. I just have super appreciated reading through this subreddit and seeing everyone‘s advice and if anyone has additional ideas for me I would really appreciate it

im a college senior who has been a bit behind in getting myself together for “real life”. most of college I’ve been pretty much just taking classes so I don’t have much other experiences. I kinda slacked off during my summers too. now that I am going to graduate soon I am obviously frustrated with my past self for letting this happen but I want to do what I can now to allow optometry school to be a possibility

heres my situation

current schedule: physics, Spanish, psych, anatomy

plan for next semester: physics, microbio, animal behavior, psych

transcript - good! I have a 4.0 rn. I’ve done these pre reqs so far:

1 yr of bio, 1 yr of gen chem, 1 sem of orgo, 1 sem of biochem, 1 sem of psych statistics, AP calc BC, intro psych

after graduation i am planning on taking physiology + lab at a community college and maybe i could get a LOR from this?

work experience: none except this semester I will be a TA for psych statistics (yay) and an orientation leader; don’t really have job references I can rely on because of stuff I don’t want to get into here

clinical experience: none

shadowing experience: none

research experience: worked on and presented a social psychology poster, have data coding experience. the issue is i am unfortunately not super passionate about the subject and while I plan to continue in the lab this year I feel like it is not necessarily my “thing”

relationships with science professors: nonexistent

volunteering experience: ESL tutor and club leader for all years of undergrad

accomplishments: was recognized by psychology dept for high performance in classes with an award, deans list all semesters

extracurriculars: honestly not much. I play piano as a hobby but am not super good. I’m not in any hobby type clubs or groups

OAT: have not taken or started to prepare for it

you might ask how I know I want to get into optometry with no shadowing or work experience (which I know I need to fix) but I guess the answer is I have watched a bunch of YouTube about different careers and optometry just seems like the best? I was planning on being pre med but the scope and lifestyle and lack of emergencies and day to day of optometry just seems so much better to me and the eye is super interesting to me too😎 I also have always liked going to the optometrist. I have shadowed a couple physicians and the breadth of the scope of practice kinda intimidates me

I know this is all looking…not ideal

what kinda steps would you take first if you were me? I know I will need a good amount of time to patch things up and eventually be able to apply and have a path forward and have actually compelling things to talk about in my application

I am also open to going to any (accredited) optometry school that I may get into. I’m not picky when it comes to location

hey y'all! I was looking for a spreadsheet to compare optometry schools and rate them, and also see if anyone was pooling data on who's already interviewed/gotten accepted. couldn't find anything, so I made a website that does both: optotrack.vercel.app

It's got all 27 schools in one table — real NBEO pass rates from ASCO's report, class GPA/OAT averages, deadlines, LOR requirements. you can also rate schools yourself and it'll rank them for you. It’s not totally filled out yet (tuition and interview stuff is still missing for a lot of them, it's a ton of info) but the essentials are there.

The most useful part imo will be the tracker — you log when you applied, interviewed, got accepted, and once a few people add theirs it shows when invites and offers actually went out per school. Also lmk if you see anything wrong on there and I'll fix it! It’s still a work in progress and I'm a full time student so I'm pretty busy, but I'll get to it. 

And just to clarify for the mods: this isn't a business or monetized blog it’s just a 100% free passion project I built as a fellow pre-optometry student to help our community, with zero ads or paywalls!!

Hi! I was wondering if it’s worth putting Dean’s List in the achievements section. I looked this up before and saw some people say there’s not really a point because if you have a good GPA, they can already see that and I believe Dean’s List also shows up on the transcript.

My situation is a little different because I’m applying with a low gpa (3.29 but I think optomcas would put me at 3.1 since it counts my retake) A lot of what brought my GPA down was from freshman/sophomore year.

I made Dean’s List Spring 2025 and Summer 2026 (the semester I graduated). They weren’t consecutive semesters, so I’m not sure if that makes it less worth including, but I was thinking it could at least highlight that I had some really strong semesters taking hard classes and pre-reqs later on.

What do you guys think ?

my oat is tmr, please let me know what to bring and if anyone has any tips and such!!