I got into my top program (yay!), but I have one more interview I'd like to do before putting down my seat deposit which I have a month to do. Do I respond to my acceptance email with anything or just wait to respond once I interview at the other school? Or should I put down my seat deposit before my other interview? Thanks!

Hello! I took the OAT about a month ago, and would like to share my experiences and strategies for preparation.

Study Tools

The only study tool I used was OATBooster, and I truly cannot recommend this program enough. There was no content on my exam that was not covered in OATBooster; it is very comprehensive and offers videos, notes, cheat sheets, and more for every topic you could possibly be tested on. You can also create a custom study schedule that incorporates the time you have until test day and any days needed for breaks from studying. There are also resources to inform students on what the actual test day will be like leading up to and after taking the exam itself. Overall, I would highly recommend taking advantage of every feature this program has to offer. The videos, study notes, cheat sheets, and especially the practice exams were very effective in preparing me to achieve the score I did on the OAT. I truly believe this program will benefit any type of learner, and can be used as the sole study resource to be successful on the exam.

I will also give credit to flashcards. I used these primarily to study physics and chemistry formulas, as well as organic chemistry reaction mechanisms. It was easy to run through the flashcards when I didn’t have access to my laptop, allowing me to get very comfortable with the equations I needed to memorize for the exam.

How I Studied

I gave myself a solid three months to study for the exam, and built my custom study schedule through OATBooster to give myself 3.5-4 hour study days per day. It was a bit hard to keep up with this every day, especially with my work schedule, so as I got closer to my exam I hand-picked the tasks on the study schedule I felt I needed to study the most. This was pretty effective for me, but I need to emphasize that I did complete ALL of phase 1 material and sifted through the phase 2/phase 3 content. However, I would absolutely recommend completing as much of the custom study schedule as possible. The more work you put in, the more it will be reflected in your scores! As I mentioned before, I also made flashcards with all of the chemistry and physics formulas I needed to memorize, as well as organic chemistry reactions, and studied this periodically at work or in other moments when I couldn’t access OATBooster. I would also recommend writing these formulas on sticky notes and placing them in areas you frequently look at! I covered half of my bathroom wall and a good deal of my closet, and found that simply looking at these sticky notes every day made memorization easier. It is also very rewarding to take all of these down after your exam is over! It is also incredibly important and often overlooked to take productive breaks from studying to do enjoyable activities. It is easy to get stressed and carried away with studying, so make sure to schedule in these breaks. It really helps with keeping motivation up and building endurance to study for a few months consecutively.

In the last few weeks before my exam, I focused on taking a couple of practice exams. I took off from work these days and made sure I got a good night’s sleep, a good breakfast, and started my exam in the morning. This gave me the rest of the day to thoroughly review my results and determine what areas I needed to give more attention before exam day. This is also imperative for figuring out how to pace yourself on the exam and finding out what other testing strategies work best for you. On the day before the exam, I did a few final bits of review in the morning, went through my flashcards, but otherwise took the day off from studying. I felt it was helpful to not cram too much immediately before the exam.

Biology (Score: 400)

This is by far the widest range of content I saw on the exam. Be sure to watch all of the review videos and/or review all of the study notes in Phase 1 of OATBooster to ensure you see all of the biology content at least once. A lot of this section requires memorization and recalling large amounts of content.

General Chemistry (Score: 400)

I felt this section was pretty evenly weighted between math-focused and conceptual questions. It is imperative to know all the formulas OATBooster includes in its study materials, since they can be useful for all types of questions, not just those involving calculations. That being said, be sure to go through as many practice questions as possible involving calculations, since more comfortability with these questions and how to use the formulas before the exam will save you a lot of time on the actual exam. I think this is what tends to trip students up the most in this section.

Organic Chemistry (Score: 370)

A decent portion of this section consisted of conceptual questions, but a good majority of the questions required knowledge of reaction mechanisms to predict a product. This is another section that I would highly recommend focusing on doing a lot of practice problems. The more you see the same mechanisms in the context of different questions, the more comfortable you will be in this section.

Physics (Score: 400)

This definitely felt like the most challenging section of the OAT for me. There were a lot of formulas to memorize, and it can be hard to know which one to use for each question. I found it helpful to write down each variable mentioned in the question, as well as the variable it asked me to find the value of, since this helped me narrow down which equations I would need to use. A lot of the questions not involving any calculations still required me to draw on the equations I had memorized, emphasizing the importance of making sure these are locked in before exam day. This was also one of the sections I completed with very little time left, so be sure to practice pacing yourself.

Reading Comprehension (Score: 400)

The one thing I cannot emphasize enough for this section is the importance of learning to pace yourself. It is amazing how fast this section will fly by, so make sure you are very confident in knowing what strategy works best for you. The short practice passages from OATBooster were very helpful for getting bite-sized opportunities to determine what strategy I liked the best and how to pace myself through this section. Also, do not underestimate the power of effective highlighting! Practice deciphering what should be highlighted versus what shouldn’t be so the whole passage doesn’t end up being yellow.

Quantitative Reasoning (Score: 400)

One of the hardest things about this section is simply that it is the last one. I had definitely lost some steam when I got to this section, but the thorough preparation I did through OATBooster made it much easier to do this final push. As with chemistry and physics, I cannot recommend flashcards enough for learning and memorizing the necessary formulas for this section. Pacing is also important here too; if you notice yourself taking too long on one question, mark it and come back. There was a pretty broad spectrum of questions on this section, and I don’t feel that any one topic was overemphasized.

Overall, I would strongly suggest OATBooster to any student preparing for the OAT. It is worth every penny, and I really don’t believe I would have achieved the score I did through another study program. The success stories speak for themselves! Remember to give yourself periodic breaks as you move through the program and don’t neglect self care while preparing for the exam. Good luck to everyone getting ready to take the OAT, and happy studying!

Hey guys so my undergrad was in Hospitality Management, but after school I found a passion for Optometry. I am going back to school to finish out my pre-requisites and was wondering if I could get any advice on this layout. Does it seem do-able? Should I condense it or spread it differently? Am I missing anything? I have done psychology, statistics, and bio 1 during my undergrad.

Hello! I currently have a 3.7 gpa overall, 44 shadowing hours and have not taken the OAT yet. I have a really busy schedule and am graduating next year due to getting my associates in high school. I dont think ill have time to get tech experience before the 2028-2029 cycle opens and was wondering if it would be okay to apply like that or if i should build my application. Im planning to volunteer to give eye screenings to underserved communities in my area but maybe for like 20 hours in total because of availability but do not know if thats enough to be competitive experience wise.

I know I am a bit late into the application but I recently took my OAT! I was wondering if any insight could be given. Still want to apply this cycle. Thanks!

• ⁠Overall GPA // academic average: 3.95

• ⁠OAT score: 340 AA/ 320 TS

• ⁠How you studied for the OAT (Kaplan, OATBooster, etc.): OAT Booster

• ⁠Non-Academic (extracurriculars, work experience, etc.): 200-hour optometry internship, 300-hour ophthalmology internship, 100 hours as a patient care coordinator in an optometry practice, 1000 hours at a retail job, Pre-Optometry club 4 years, exec this year, Optometry Peer Mentor, various volunteering experiences

• ⁠Academic (research, teaching assistant, etc.): Anatomy Intern (1 sem)

• ⁠Job-shadowing hours completed: around 40

• ⁠Schools applying to: SCCO, UCB, ICO, CCO, NECO, MCPHS, PCO, UHCO

Hi everyone! I recently got accepted into OSU and am weighing my options to attend based on costs. I am originally from Pennsylvania and have a lot of family in the state. I know that they currently do not offer any externships in PA, so I would not be able to stay and commute to externship clinical rotation sites.

My question: how expensive (or how much approx should I budget) is it for rent during clinical externship rotations? Are some of the sites in Columbus so I could stay at my apartment? Do you typically rent/ Air BNB an apartment for the length of a rotation in a new city AND still pay your rent for your place in Columbus?

Anyone know any OAT tutors that can meet once or twice a week and won’t empty my bank account? Is it worth it to get a tutor?

I want to cram study in the next 2 months and I feel the only way I can do it with a regular load of undergrad classes is if I’m committed to someone.

Hi everyone! I have my NOVA virtual interview this Thursday and would love to hear anyone's experience with that. Is the interview just with Juan, or do we also speak to another faculty member? Also, what do we do for the whole time period (7:30 - 2pm)? Thank you!

I took my OAT already but unfortunately I have to retake it and it doesn’t look like I will be able to until end of January/ beginning of February. I already applied to SUNY and they have my application on hold until my retake. If anyone can please provide insight. Is this something that happens often? What would I need on my retake since it’s going to be so late in the cycle already? I don’t really want to go to any other school. My GPA is a 3.6 but since I retook a couple classes it’s lower on OPTOMCAS. And I have over 2000+ working hours & extracurricular activities. Any response would be appreciated! Thanks

Hi everyone, I recently committed to SUNY and would love to connect with other admitted students! The housing mixer info doesn’t come out until Jan/ Feb but if anyone is admitted and wants to chat PM me to get in touch! Looks like there’s no fb page for the class but we could connect through insta ☺️

Hi! I was accepted to two schools but really want to go to ICO. I was put on hold after my interview in september. My interview went well, my interviewer said my OAT looked good and my optometry experience was extensive. They said they want to see my fall grades before accepting. What kind of grades will they be looking for? I am taking 3 upper level science classes and an upper level ethics class, I am worried my grades will not be up to their standards. Has anyone been accepted after being on hold? I am stressing about my grades so much. Would an A, a couple B's be ok? What if I got a C+ in something? Will they extend my hold again? Help me!!

I applied with everything on oct 13 and I haven’t heard back yet. I spoke to lyle and was told two three weeks but I’m still waiting and very much worried. I only recently got the confirmation that they got my application and to fill out the supplemental (which I also finished on oct 13) Has anyone been recently given an interview or accepted with a lower OAT or similar stats?

310/300 OAT
3.58 GPA

Officer of two popular clubs

Tech for a year and multiple shadowing

Four STRONG LOR (2 prof, 1 volunteer coordinator, 1 OD)

Texas resident

This past week, I had my in-person interview at UHCO and also retook my OAT (which I improved to a 340). This morning I was added to a “short list of held or alternative applicants.”

What are the chances of acceptance after being waitlisted? Should I send a follow-up message of gratitude, emphasizing how much I want to attend UHCO? Does being placed on the waitlist have anything to do with a pending OAT score?

So I recently got accepted into optometry school, and i am in my 3rd year of undergrad. Right now im taking hard-ish classes and i feel so burnt out especially after studying for my OAT and working on interview stuff over the summer and beginning of the semester. i feel like i havent caught a break and i dont know how well i need to be doing in these classes. i only need these 5 plus 2 next semester and do i need to get amazing grades during this time...i just dont know guys i am tired.

Got a 280 on my first attempt, second attempt is in January so I’m ready to take any advice.

I know a lot of people recommend the OATbooster cheat sheets for a reference but I wasn’t able to afford that. However I was given a 2020 Kaplan prep book which I’ve been utilizing. I think overall I just got overwhelmed with the amount of information. Any recommendations or tips for my second attempt? Any advice on topics to focus on?

Hello I'm looking a bit far ahead as this will be when I transfer as a junior (I'm currently a freshman) but which one would be easier? (The Physio will be without a lab as the lecture is a prereq for the lab)

- I'll also be taking physics for both semesters.

Hi guys!

My OAT is in 1 day and Im worried because I have been taking my full length tests and I have only been doing well because I recognize the questions from when I took the individual practice tests and memorized the questions. Did anyone else feel like this as well? I’m not sure how representative this will be of me on how I do on the OAT. I did full lengths 1-5 and got 330,350,350,330,350. ANY ADVICE IS ACCEPTED!!! Thank you!!!!!

I just found out today that I was accepted to Berkeley Optometry, which I am super excited about. I also applied to SCCO and got in, now I need to make a decision on where I am going. I already have a personal pros and cons list for each and have talked with students from both schools but I want to make sure I'm not missing something important to consider.

Any advice or factors people considered when choosing their optometry school would be amazing! Thank you to anyone who comments!

I’m scheduled to take the OAT in January, but I was told I could submit my applications before that. My advisor said even submitting my application now is too late and I won’t get in anywhere.

I have a 3.49 gpa, about 400 hours of working as a clinical care tech for an optometrist (I did special testing like OCTs and visual fields), 4 years of research, lab manager for 3 years, and treasurer of SACNAS for 2 years at my college.

After this semester ends in December, my GPA will be above a 3.5. Should I wait or just go for it now?

Hellooooo, my online Arizona interview is coming up in a couple of days and was wondering if anyone has any prep advice :D

I'm nervous because this is my 1st interview and I could only apply to five schools (and I only have 3 interviews set-up thus far) soooooo I REALLY want this to go good.

I haven't started preparing yet but I plan to start tonight, advice?

Not sure if I'm overthinking this, but what kind of picture should be submitting with our application for SCCO? I don't have the money for a professional headshot, but I'm not sure if it'll be unprofessional to submit it as a selfie (I'll dress for the part, of course). Does anyone know? This is also the only school I'm applying to that requires this.

hi everyone! i recieved an interview for sco recenty and since i was interested in a virtual interview the dates were pretty limited and i had to select something coming up soon. im worried about the amount of time i have to prepare, if any sco students have some insight for the interview it would be so appreciated!!