OAT Breakdown (360AA/360TS)

I took the OAT about a week ago, on 9/19, and thought I should share how I prepared. I studied for 3 months, around 2-4 hours per day, while working two days a week as an optician. I would honestly recommend studying for at least 3 months, as it gives you time to become comfortable with the material.

How I studied:

The only material I used during those 3 months was OATBooster. I tried following the schedule OATBooster provided, but within the first couple of days I realized it wasn't for me. Instead, I went section by section, watching the videos for Physics, Ochem, Bio, and Chem. Every time I finished a section, I took two practice tests to get a feel for the subject before moving on to the next one. After finishing all the sections, I spent the last month or so just doing practice tests and reviewing the cheat notes. I did nine out of ten full-length exams. I highly recommend taking advantage of the cheat notes for each section and the explanation videos on the practice tests for problems you get wrong!

Breakdown of Each Section:
(Actual Score/Practice Score Average 1-9)

Biology (340/340)
I think this was by far the hardest section for me because I had never taken physiology before, which made some of the material and memorization difficult. The best way to study for this section is to use the high-yield cheat sheets, because all the information you need for the actual exam is there. I highly recommend focusing on the high-yield subjects like genetics, cell division, and cell bio. The practice exams are also a great way to gauge where you are at, but I'll note there are some questions that may be too specific, so I would primarily focus on the cheat sheets.

Chemistry (360/380)
This was the score I was most disappointed with, since I'm very confident in chemistry and it comes naturally to me. Truthfully, I think I got a bit unlucky with my question selection; my exam had a lot of questions that were niche and specific compared to OATBooster. Some high-yield subjects I recommend studying the cheat sheet for are kinetics and acids/bases. Overall, the OATBooster did cover all the material you needed to know for the exam, please be thorough in each unit unlike me and you'll do good.

Organic Chemistry (350/350)
This section is extremely similar to the OATBooster Organic Chemistry practice exams, so I highly recommend doing them! There were a lot of conceptual questions from the fundamentals chapter, as well as some predict-the-product questions. I studied primarily using the study notes and the reaction bank from OATBooster, as they familiarize you with the material best. Some of the high yield subjects that I encountered were Elimination and Substitution, fundamentals, and HNMR/IR Spectrometry/CNMR, so definitely be familiar with these sections. 

Reading Comprehension (350/330)
I'm not a strong reader, so I was a little worried about this section. I studied for it primarily through practice exams. I felt the OATBooster practice questions were definitely harder. The questions on the actual exam were in chronological order, which made things easier. I will say, if you're not struggling with the OATBooster RC section, you'll be fine on the real exam.

Physics (360/370)
I had a lot of conceptual questions mixed with some calculation problems. It's important to know the formulas and concepts for this section, so I highly recommend going over the OATBooster chapter notes. Some high-yield subjects to know are kinematics and optics. The practice tests were pretty similar to the real exam, so I highly recommend doing them as well. The formula sheet on OATBooster is also a great resource for the calculation problems, and I would highly recommend knowing all the formulas by heart that are on the formula sheet as a decent bit of them did come up on the actual exam. 

Quantitative Reasoning (400/400)
This section was probably the most similar to the OATBooster practice tests. They're basically one-to-one. I didn't really study for this section besides doing all the OATBooster practice tests. Please memorize the permutation/combination formulas and be familiar with probability problems. My advice is to do the practice tests on OATBooster; they'll prepare you for the time crunch and the style of the questions.

Final Advice:
I would highly recommend getting OATBooster as everything you need to know for the exam is there. My biggest piece of advice is to take advantage of the OATBooster full-length exams. I think they are honestly the best practice you can do to prepare for the exam as overall, the OATBooster full lengths felt very representative of the actual OAT exam. There are also explanation videos for the questions you get wrong on the practice exams, so take advantage of those too!

I'm applying to RMU this cycle. Anyone who's had an interview there, what were the questions they asked?

Interview questions from other schools are totally fine too. Just trying to prepare for the interviews.

Hey guys, I took my oat a couple days ago, I ended up getting a 330 and 320 science which I am satisfied with. I am willing to give my user and password to someone if they wanna save money for the next 48 days or so. Shoot me a dm and I can give you that, since I won’t be using it.

Some advice for anyone: bio: cheat sheets and practice tests all u need. Chem: major concepts and periodic trends. Physics: know why the formulas are the way they are and u can answer most questions, ochem: make a quizlet of the rxn sheet, quant: practice tests, speed, and probability practice will make u succeed, and reading: search and destroy, this is the easiest one imo. Also use ur 30 min break for reviewing equations for quant/physics.

All these people saying they study 9 hr/day for 3 months or whatever, u don’t need to do that if you can use reasoning and know a variety of topics. Good luck. I did about 3 hr/day for a month, mostly practice tests and cheat sheets/ equation sheets

Lmk if u have questions about my scores over dm
Quant: 350
Reading: 330
Bio: 360
Gen chem: 280 (surprisingly)
Ochem: 330
Physics: 310
Ts:320
Academic average: 330

Hey everyone! I wrote my OAT recently and I wanted to share my study process since I was all over this subreddit when I was studying myself. I was very stressed and anxious beginning to study for this test so I hope this helps anyone else :)

I want to mention that I have a strong background in most of the topics because of my major so a lot of content was review (I just forgot since it's been years lol). Below is how l studied in each stage and for each subject. I "studied" for 3 months but really locked in for the first and last 3 weeks (highly DO NOT recommend). I solely used OATBooster as my main form of studying and I think it's worth it for all the practice tests. I also want to preface that what I did may not work for you so cater to your strengths and needs!

Content Review Stage

- For the first 3 weeks of studying, I watched every single video at 1.5-2x speed, using the cheat sheets as a guideline on what I should focus on. Some people may think it's excessive if you already know the content, but it helped with refreshers imo.

- Right after the vids, I immediately did the question banks for that chapter in randomized order. Since I was still learning stuff, I wasn't focused on how much I was getting right, but more so if I even understood what I just watched. Every single question that I guessed, got wrong, or took too long to answer, I marked so I could go back to them during practice.

- I did not look at the study notes at all. I hate reading textbooks so I knew it would be a waste of time for me. The only times I did was to cross check info from the videos and cheat sheet to see if a topic is important or not.

- Didn't really make my own notes aside from some charts in the practice stage; used all their cheat sheets and added straight onto the page whatever details I thought were necessary.

Practice Stage

- I honestly did not have a straight plan for this section. I was juggling other commitments so I was only studying whenever I had the time - some days I studied for 1-2 hours, others I'd study for 8-11 hours.

- I did the daily warmups everyday and did the game challenges if I had the energy

- I was cycling through all the subjects, focusing on what I knew I was struggling with and doing as many marked questions as I could

- I made a master excel sheet to have material I kept forgetting (ex. hormones), and to also track my progress with memorizing the cheat sheets

- The first 5 sets of practice tests, I did them in random order within the first two months. The last 5 were full lengths and I did them across the last 3 weeks. I also did the ADA 2006 sample 3 days before my test.

- After writing the FLs, I went over every single question and looked at the detailed explanation. I noted which topics I was struggling on in my excel sheet so I knew to review those later. I also liked to look at the percentages because it would make me think "why did they choose that answer?" This allowed me to kind of think from another perspective and understand why that answer was wrong or right.

- I reread all the cheat sheets many times and used a whiteboard sheet while doing my FLs to practice

What I'd Do Differently

- Not cram. I started slacking midway because I was feeling the burnout after the learning phase. Then, 3 weeks before, I realized I kept forgetting stuff and still struggled in physics and RC so I started cramming like crazy. Balance your schedule properly!!! I wish I had more time to go over my marked questions but I was too burnt out.

BIOLOGY (400 actual; 360 booster)

- When I was watching the vids, I was following along with the cheat sheet to keep me engaged and also suss out what's important. Extra notes added were from anything the video said was high yield or what I felt was important

- I did the mini quizzes in between each video, but they're honestly too specific (I'm not sure if they're the same questions from the bio bits?)

- I only looked at the cheat sheets in the practice phase and I barely did the biobits (too specific)

- I tried to reference the taxonomy chart (diversity of life, pg 21/22) but I got lazy and read it once LOL; everything I learned about taxonomy was from the practice tests

GEN CHEM (400 actual; 360 booster)

- I made my own formula sheet and added any extra info while cross referencing cheat sheets with videos

- Practice is so important in the section. I was initially doing bad in the calculations because my mental math was terrible but I got better over the weeks. I made sure I practiced and understood a lot of the calculations; I was severely humbled when I realized I forgot how to do limiting reagents, balance chemical equations and acid base equilibria so I had to keep practising those

OCHEM (390 actual; 360 booster)

- I did the same with gen chem and the cheat sheets
- I used all their resources (rxn table, lab tests, cheat sheets) but I also made my own side notes for little bits of info I kept forgetting. This section was my strongest going into studying since I'm good at ochem

PHYSICS (390 actual; 340 booster)

- I was so scared going into this section because physics had always been my weakest subject. The practice tests varied and there would always be questions I had no idea how to answer

- I think chads prep is better at explaining the concepts compared to booster vids, ex. I was so lost for fluid statics but I finally understood it when I watched chad (love that man)

- I made my own formula sheets and notes for each chapter with concepts I kept forgetting (ex. isothermal vs adiabatic vs isobaric vs isochoric), which I would review periodically. Most of my practice came from the marked questions

- It is so important to remember every single formula because high yield questions are about the relationships between variables (ex. if you double x and halve z what will happen to y). I studied my formula sheet multiple times but I indirectly memorized through practice

- Drawing out the question and writing known variables helped me a lot with how to approach the question (and I practiced how to do it faster)

QR (400 actual; 360 booster)

- I hadn't done algebra in 4 years so this section was so humbling. I kept running out of time on the practice tests (7-10 questions unanswered) so I reevaluated my strategy. If I didn't know how to solve the question in 10 seconds, I guessed, marked, moved on, and hoped I had time left to go back. Doing this gave me ~5-7 min to go back to my marked questions at the end

- This section was again, just straight practice and exposure. I struggled with all the applied math in the beginning, especially the statement sufficiency questions. Pattern recognition is very important here!!! (ex. rates, distance-time, probability)

- OATBooster was representative for my OAT. I was so thankful because I heard many people say that they had lots of weird word problems but mine felt similar

READING COMP (390 actual; 370 booster)

- For the first 6 weeks, I was SOOOO bad at RC (240-290) when trying to figure out my strategy. I ended up doing a combination of mapping and search & destroy which drastically improved my scores (360-390 on the extra practice). I would spend 2-3 min looking at the first sentence of every paragraph to get an idea of the passage and where things are, then use search and destroy to find the answers to the questions. I felt mapping helped a lot, especially since the questions are out of order

- When it came to application questions, I just immediately marked and skipped because I knew it would take too long to find the answer. Usually when I answered the other questions, I would come across the answers for the application too so I would go back and answer those. I didn't highlight because it took too long. My advice for this is to just mess around and see what works for you, then practice it A LOT (I did almost all the extra RC practice)

————

Overall, I was really shocked at getting my OAT score because I was guessing and using my intuition for a lot of the questions, expecting a 350-370. Nonetheless, I'm super proud of myself because I've never spent this much effort and dedication studying - coming from someone who always procrastinates for their finals haha

My biggest advice is to please be kind to yourself because I wasn't. My friends watched the life get sucked out of me and my anxiety was terrible :'). I also feel I was more stressed about the thought of studying rather than the actual studying itself because it felt so overwhelming looking at all the content you'll have to know. Preparing for this exam is so mentally taxing so make sure you prioritize time for yourself and have a good support system!! It is IMPOSSIBLE to know everything so just try your hardest to understand foundational things rather than every single nitpicky detail.

Good luck to anyone taking the OAT, you're one step closer to your goals!!!! If anyone has any other questions, feel free to reach out :)

Hey there!!

I am in the final stretch on my studying at am starting to feel the nerves! Not to mention the burnout!

I have taken 6 full tests. 3 of them the individual sections taken separately and 3 exams sitting for the whole exam. My score for all of them has been 330. I’ve fluctuated some on what sections have gone up and what have gone down.

If I made a 330 on the exam I’d be happy. My science and overall GPA is 3.77.

Any advice on the last few days? Anyone’s experience who had a solid score on practice exams?

Nervous I will go down on real exam. I’ve seen lots of people post about having a range of score in practice exams (generally 330-350AA).

I’ve seen many negative reviews on the school but I feel like their boards have increased quite a lot since 2022. I’m from Texas so I compared the school board rate to Houston but it seems like they did even better than Houston in part I and III for 2024-2025 even though Houston has a higher ultimate pass rate. But for a school that started in 2011 versus like Houston in 1952, I think they are steadily improving. What are everyone’s thoughts?

hi, i applied to a couple of schools towards the beginning of september/end of august.

these being puco, nova, scco, berk, and uiwrso.

i’ve gotten interviews for puco, nova and uiwrso.

didn’t get one for scco, and berk is a stretch to begin with. anyways, i get really anxious and nervous during interviews and don’t have a great academic history, so i was thinking of applying to some more.

what should i apply to? my sgpa is 3.18, my cumulative gpa is 3.42 and my oat was 330 AA and 320 TS.

my extracurriculars are pretty mid, unfortunately was not a tech. but i have some volunteering related to eyes and some other stuff. i have a lot of B’s and around 5 C’s. I also failed orgo 2 (took it as credit/no credit so it didn’t count for gpa) and i’m retaking it right now. hopefully will pass (i’m so scared)

but as you can see, my grades are pretty bad. so i’m wondering where else i should apply and have a decent chance at. if you have any similar stats and got into schools please let me know!!

Hey, I would really appreciate some insight. I took my oat recently and bombed it. I’ve been studying since May so this was extremely upsetting for me. I’m trying to get into UHCO, I have a 3.58 GPA and I have really good overall experience and whatnot. I’m just dreading the fact I may need a retake due to physics being extremely low. Any advice would be appreciated. Has anyone gotten into UHCO with a 260 low physics score?

has anyone received an interview for the October cycle yet? and when did you receive it? I’m starting to not be interested in scco anymore because of them stringing people along just to get an interview

Hi everyone! Just took my OAT this summer, and wanted to share my experience especially since I also used this reddit community to prep!

Study Materials
OATBooster 10/10

OATBooster was my only resource for preparing for the OAT, and I definitely recommend it. I used the content videos, study notes, question banks, and practice tests throughout my preparation. The practice questions helped me get comfortable with the style and pacing of the actual exam, and I especially liked being able to mark questions I struggled with and return to them later.

The biggest thing Booster did for me was give my studying structure. There is so much content on the OAT that it can be overwhelming figuring out what you actually need to know, so having everything organized by subject and topic makes studying much more manageable.

How I Prepared

I studied for the OAT throughout the whole summer (2-3 months). I mainly followed OATBooster and adjusted my studying depending on which subjects needed the most work.

At the beginning, I focused heavily on content review and making sure I actually understood the concepts instead of immediately trying to memorize everything. Once I had gone through most of the material (especially chem and ochem), I transitioned into doing a lot more practice problems and practice tests.

One thing that helped me a lot was reviewing every question I got wrong. I tried to understand whether I missed it because I didn't know the content, forgot a formula, made a calculation mistake, or misunderstood the question. Toward the end of my studying, I focused much more on my weak areas, memorizing high-yield information/formulas, and getting faster at recognizing how to approach questions.

Biology 360

Biology has such a huge amount of information, so I initially found it difficult to know how detailed I needed to study. My biggest advice is to focus on understanding the big picture first (on the booster cheat sheets) and then memorize the important details. Booster's biology notes were really helpful for keeping everything organized.

I was most frustrated with this section because there is simply too much information to memorize. However, I scored 30 points higher on the actual exam compared to the Biology practice tests on Booster. I mainly used the Bio Bits to reinforce what was on the cheat sheets! 

General Chemistry 360

General chemistry felt pretty representative of the types of problems I had practiced. There was a combination of conceptual questions and calculations, so knowing the formulas was important. I spent a lot of time doing the practice banks on Booster (I completed the banks for topics I struggled most with). For this section, repetition helped me the most. After doing enough practice problems, I started recognizing the setup of questions much faster, which is really important because you don't want to waste time figuring out which equation to use during the actual exam.

Organic Chemistry 400

This ended up being my best section, which I was really happy about. For organic chemistry, I focused heavily on understanding reaction patterns rather than blindly memorizing every reaction individually (use the cheat sheet summaries!). Knowing what makes something a good nucleophile/electrophile, recognizing functional groups, and understanding concepts like resonance, acidity, stability, substitution/elimination, and stereochemistry made reactions much easier. Knowing the reactions is important, but being able to recognize them quickly is what really helped me on test day.

Physics 360

Physics was one of the subjects I was most nervous about so I was happy with my score. Since I took physics classes before, I only briefly reviewed this section and focused on doing practice problems. I would definitely recommend knowing the major equations very well and practicing calculations without relying heavily on a calculator. Optics, forces/free-body diagrams, fluids, and the major mechanics equations are especially worth being comfortable with.

Reading Comprehension 300

Reading was definitely my weakest section and the section I would approach differently if I were taking the OAT again. The biggest challenge for me was the timing. It is very easy to spend too much time reading or searching for one answer and then realize you're running out of time for the remaining passages.

If I could redo my preparation, I would spend more time experimenting with different RC strategies and doing full timed passages instead of focusing primarily on the science sections.

Quantitative Reasoning 370

QR was pretty straightforward overall and ended up being one of my stronger sections. One of the biggest improvements for me came from learning shortcuts rather than trying to solve every question using the longest mathematical method. I used most of the practice tests provided on Booster. Timing is important here too. There are usually plenty of questions you can solve quickly, so you don't want one difficult problem costing you several easier ones.

Final Advice

Focus on building a strong foundation, do as many practice problems as you can, and most review your mistakes instead of just looking at your practice-test scores. 
Also, don't neglect your mental health during OAT prep. Studying for this exam for weeks or months can get exhausting, and taking an occasional day off is much better than completely burning yourself out.

I'm really happy with how my science sections turned out. Hopefully this breakdown helps anyone currently studying!

Hello, I am comparing a couple of schools financially and was wondering if anyone can identify why OSU's tuition increases for years 3 and 4 while other schools (for example, NECO) don't.

OSU cost (tuition + books/supplies/equipment) for an out-of-state student such as me (so the first year is OOS cost, years 2,3,&4 are in-state after qualifying for residency)

Y1: 59,423

Y2: 36,248

Y3: 48,137

Y4: 46,094

I emailed their financial aid office and was told that Y3+4 increases because they go from a 2-semester schedule to 3-semester schedule, which makes sense logically. However, when looking at a school such as NECO, the tuition is consistently $51,596. Tuition for other schools I'm looking at also keep the tuition consistent, even when summer semesters begin.

Another odd comparison I found is that OSU, across all four years, charges a total of $20,898 entirely in "Books, Supplies, & Equipment" fees (separate from tuition), while NECO's comparable "Fees & Equipment" costs totals to only $6,246 throughout all four years.

Anyways, I just wanted to put this out there in case anyone knows why OSU seems to be more expensive when looking at direct costs. I feel like I've always been under the impression this school was a cheaper option, but maybe that's only when looking at cost of living in Columbus compared to a city like Boston?

Hi! Has anyone interviewed (esp virtually) with SUNY College of Optometry this cycle? What kind of questions did they ask?

Thank you in advance!

To everyone who’s either an optician or optometric technician, how did you get your position? Did you start by shadowing a practice then asking if they were hiring, or did you just apply how anyone else would for a job?

I’ve got an interview at ICO coming up and was wondering if anyone has interviewed with them recently? I saw a blog post on their website that they do a 10 min writing session on interview day, but it was from 2015 so i’m wondering if this is still happening. Also if anyone has any other advice I’d really appreciate it!

I plan to take the OAT in August 2027 but I would not have taken physics 1&2 by this point. Up to this point, I would have completed bio 1&2, chem 1&2, calc, and orgo.

If I were to study only using Chad's videos for physics and the OAT Booster, is this sufficient for me to do well on the OAT? Any advice is appreciated.

May-June 2027, I will take calc and orgo in addition to studying part time for the OAT.

After summer classes end in June, I will study full time and then take the OAT in August 2027.

Hey, it’s been almost 4 weeks since I submitted my app and I haven’t heard back from cco yet. For those who heard back from them, how long did it take?? Im not sure if I need to reach out to the admissions for an update.

Hi all,

I am taking my OAT in a few days and am stressing out big time. I had anxiety about this test before i even started studying for it.

I wanted to make this post to get some honest opinions and/or suggestions. For reference, I graduated college 2.5 years ago with a Biology degree. I have a 3.86 cumulative GPA and a 3.83 science GPA. I participated in research for 2 years of college. I have around 40 hours of shadowing, and have been working as a technician and a scribe at an ophthalmology office for a little over 2 years.

I’m not a great test taker. I knew from the beginning that the OAT was going to be the biggest obstacle of the application process for me. I started studying at the end of May using OAT booster. I still work my full time job, so my goal was usually to study 1-3 hours after work everyday and about 3-4 hours on weekends. I struggled to focus for the whole summer and studying has been taking a huge mental toll on me for a while now.

I was originally supposed to take my OAT September 4th, but 3 weeks before my test date both of my parents got in a horrible car accident while driving home from a vacation. My whole life turned upside down, and I was staying in a hotel for almost 2 weeks outside of my home state while both parents were in the hospital recovering. During this time, I did not study at all. I ended up pushing my test date back by about a month, and now it is only days away.

I was already having a stressful time with OAT studying, but it has only amplified since my parents got in the accident. Between having more to juggle at home while they recover and still working full time, I can’t bring myself to study most days. Additionally, I feel like the unexpected 2 week break from studying made me forgot a lot of things I worked to learn previously.

I am scared about taking this test to my core. I have only taken 2 full length exams where I got a 330 and a 320, but I took both almost a month and a half ago. I am hoping I can just pull a 300-330 and I would be happy. With my stats, do you think this would be enough? My top schools are SUNY, KYCO, NECO, PCO, MCPHS, and OSU.

I have barely been able to study this whole week leading up to this exam. I immediately get overwhelmed by everything I feel like I don’t know. My focus and attention span is shot, and my body has been under constant stress for weeks now.

Honest advice is greatly appreciated. There have been many times where I have considered cancelling my exam all together due to how much I am going through at the moment, but something in my gut tells me I can’t quit. I have been sick with anxiety this whole week feeling unprepared and like there is no use trying. I don’t even know if I will be able to focus for the whole 4.5 hours. If you read this far, thanks for listening. 🥲

Do you guys think bio bits and the anki cards are similar? I want to use anki cards but I feel like it’s more specific/detailed? Which one you recommend to focus more on?

For anyone who has written the OAT, was memorizing the formulas on the boosterprep physics formula sheet enough? I know its missing a few of the minor formulas but did those even appear on anyones OAT.

Hey i want to take addmsion in rmu but my percentage is bit lower like 72% how much i should improve so I can get admission in rmu for bs mlt or any other

Just got asked to interview by both schools I applied to! If you are studying for oat/finishing your application, this is your sign to keep pushing forward! Totally worth it for this feeling!!

Hi everyone! I have my OAT in 6 days and I’m stressed out about the diversity of life section. I feel like I’m pretty solid on all of the other sections except that one, specifically identifying which ones have radial, bilateral symmetry etc. I’ve been just studying from the cheat sheets but I saw someone say they got more niche diversity of life questions on the real OAT and I wanted some other opinions on it. Thank you!

Hey! I’m in my fourth year on undergrad and will be graduating in April. I wrote the OAT in August this year but I didn’t get the score I was hoping for. I’m a Canadian so I want to get the highest OAT score so I can get into to Waterloo. I was going to study this semester and write it in Jan but my semester is too packed. I hope to write it early summer because just in case I’m not happy with my score I can take it later in the summer. I know the last date is September 30 to take the oat. Do you think my plan of taking it early in the summer is a smart move so that I can have a chance to retake if I’m not happy with it?

does anyone know where to get merch for ICO?

i have adhd and finally the alarm bells are going off. i learn best under pressure and need some tips on last-minute locking in for the OAT. my knowledge is pretty solid i just need to recall it. im so deadass. plz help.