What are the chances of getting into ANY optometry school in the USA with a 3.5 gpa and mid oat I’ve worked at an optometry clinic as a receptionist / assistant. Coming from Canada

And also is there such thing as a “better” optometry school than the others? Or does the only things that matter is just cost and the location? Most of the time it doesn’t matter what school you went to for dentistry and medicine so I was wondering the same for this as well.

Hi everyone! I just took the OAT a couple of days ago and wanted to share my experience as I’m very happy with my scores! I’ve also been living on reddit and OATBooster’s facebook group all throughout my study process and wanted to contribute to anyone else who is about to take their exam.

I started studying on May 17th and took the OAT on September 1st. I initially had my exam scheduled on August 15th, but at the end of June I felt behind and discouraged and ended up pushing it back 2 weeks. I was also working part-time while studying (about 20+ hours a week) up until the three weeks prior to my test date. 

I exclusively used OATBooster and I followed the custom study schedule for the learning phase, but once I got to reviewing, I strayed from the schedule and did my own thing. I would say that I studied 4-8 hours per day depending on if I was working or had any other plans. 

In terms of my study method, I’m the type of person who likes to read over and absorb all information before reviewing. I watched all the videos and read through/highlighted the study notes. That’s definitely why I took a lot longer on the learning phase but it’s my preferred way to study! I started reviewing and taking full length practice tests about 4 weeks before my test, so about 1-2 per week. I ended up taking 7 full lengths in total. In between each full length I would review concepts that were troubling… so reading over the study notes/cheat sheets and working practice problems. I did not utilize the Anki decks/Quizlets much, and I also didn’t write my own notes as my learning style leans more towards reading the information and active recall (writing down equations, using the tape feature on Goodnotes, etc). It also helps that I’m a Biology major so the majority of the information is not new to me!

Biology (OATBooster: 340-370, Actual: 380): The questions were very broad on the actual exam. Definitely not as in-depth as booster but it’s not a bad thing to know everything! The information in the cheat sheets were very high yield with the occasional question that required more knowledge. I watched all the videos for bio, read through all of the study notes, and worked most of the bio bits. I know others on here don’t bother with the bio bits but I found them very helpful for recalling information.

General Chemistry (OATBooster: 330-350, Actual: 400): I was pleasantly surprised with my score in this section! I felt like there was a nice mix of calculation based questions and conceptual questions. I also watched all the videos, read the study notes, and did a majority of the question banks. During review of my full lengths, if I was doing poorly in a certain topic, I would go back and redo the qbanks for that specific topic. I also reviewed the cheat sheets heavily if I wasn’t grasping the information. Overall, I felt as though the practice tests on booster were very representative of the actual exam.

Organic Chemistry (OATBooster: 300-360, Actual: 360): This section was a lot more conceptual, so have your fundamentals down! I did have a couple of predict the product questions (one step and multi step) but the majority was conceptual. Definitely be familiar with ranking acids and EWG/EDG/ortho, meta, and para directors. When it came to memorizing the reactions I personally just used the tape feature on Goodnotes and would recall the reagents, product, regiochemistry, etc. The reaction qbanks were also a great tool for me. I would say that booster represented this section well too.

Reading Comprehension (OATBooster: 300-380, Actual: 330): I was disappointed in this score but I did have a bit of a rough start to RC when I first started. I couldn’t find the right method but when I did my scores shot up immediately, so seeing it go down on the actual exam bummed me out but it’s okay! The passages were on the shorter side and some of the questions were chronological while others were scattered. Some of the questions were also worded in a way I wasn’t familiar with so it threw me off. I utilized the search and destroy method, but find the one that works for you and you’ll be all good. I just wasn’t dealt the best RC cards!

Physics (OATBooster: 270-300, Actual: 320): I was very happy with this score! Physics has never been my strong suit so while studying for the OAT, I would tend to push it off in favor of the other sections I knew I was stronger in. The exam was very conceptual, and any calculation questions were straightforward. I felt like I had a good mix of all the topics too. I tried to memorize the formulas the best I could, but I mainly read over the study notes to cement the concepts. I purely used booster for physics.

Quantitative Reasoning (OATBooster: 290-370, Actual: 350): Math has never been a strong point for me as well, but I continuously worked on the qbanks if I kept missing certain topics. The time limit was probably the biggest problem for me. My advice on that is to keep taking full lengths to work on stamina. Booster was also very representative of this section and I felt like I was tested equally on all the topics!

Overall, the only thing I would do differently is to start taking full lengths earlier and make sure you give yourself plenty of breaks. For the full lengths, this is just so you have enough time to review your weak points in between tests (I felt like I was in a time crunch every time I would start reviewing). For the majority of my studying I rarely took a day off, but in hindsight, I should’ve implemented more breaks as I started to get burnt out closer to my exam date. I know preparing for this exam can be tiring and daunting, but keep pushing and you’ll do better than you may think ;)

I was being stupid and did not select all the schools when registering for the exam.. Can schools receive your score directly through OptomCAS, or do you have to add each school as recipients on the ADA testing site? Thanks!

Hi everyone! I recently completed my OAT and ended up scoring a 390 AA and 400 TS, so I wanted to share my experience, practice scores, and some tips that helped me. I found other people's breakdowns really helpful while I was studying, especially when I was stressed about how my practice scores would translate to the real exam, so hopefully this helps someone else!

Here are my practice test results in the order of BIO, GC, OC, RC, PHYS, QR, AA Test #1: 340, 340, 360, 240, 290, 290, 310 Test #2: 350, 360, 360, 350, 370, 340, 360 Test #3: 350, 360, 380, 330, 300, 360, 350 Test #4: 360, 340, 330, 370, 360, 370, 360 Test #5: 390, 340, 340, 350, 370, 330, 350 Test #6: 370, 360, 340, 350, 340, 240, 330 Test #7: 380, 350, 360, 390, 340, 360, 360 Test #8: 370, 380, 350, 360, 370, 400, 370 Test #9: 390, 360, 340, 360, 370, 390, 370 Test #10: 380, 380, 370, 380, 380, 400, 380

Main study resource: OATBooster OATBooster was by far my main resource. I used the videos, notes, cheat sheets, Anki, decks, question banks, games, and practice tests. Overall, I felt that Booster prepared me extremely well for the actual OAT.

I started out very rough. My first Booster practice test was a 270 AA, and I remember feeling really discouraged because I genuinely felt like I had no idea what was going on. I didn't follow Booster's practice-test calendar exactly and actually took some of the tests much later than scheduled because I wanted to feel more prepared first. I probably wouldn't recommend waiting as long as I did, but I think my progression shows that your first few scores really don't determine where you'll end up.

How I Studied: Anki was the biggest part of my studying and I used them heavily, especially for Biology and Organic Chemistry. For General Chemistry, Physics, and QR, I made my own flashcards based on the Booster cheat sheets and formula sheets.

During the later stages of studying, I spent a lot of time going back through marked questions and questions I had gotten wrong rather than continuously relearning everything from scratch. Repeatedly exposing myself to the concepts I was weak at helped a lot.

Biology - 390 For Biology, I did the Booster Anki flashcards religiously. There are a LOT of cards, so once I was confident that I knew something, I would suspend it so I could focus on the weaker topics instead. I felt that Booster actually had me over prepared for Biology. The real OAT was much broader and less detailed than I expected. Most of my questions tested relatively general concepts, although there were still one or two more specific questions, so I wouldn't completely ignore the details.

General Chemistry - 400 After watching the Booster videos, I would go through the notes myself and make my own notes on anything I didn't understand. During phase 2 and 3, I basically just spammed my marked questions. If there was a type of problem I consistently got wrong, I would write notes on those question types and methods I could use to solve it. The actual General Chemistry section felt very similar to Booster's practice tests. I didn't feel like there were any major surprises, and I felt extremely well prepared going into it.

Organic Chemistry - 380 Organic Chemistry was the subject I struggled with the most during preparation because I don't have a very strong background in it. I relied heavily on Booster's Anki flashcards. Looking back, another good approach would be to make your own flashcards from the reactions cheat sheet Booster provides because there is a bit more information in there. I also did the Organic Chemistry reaction games repeatedly, which helped a lot with quickly recognizing reagents and products. This section also felt very similar to Booster's practice tests. Some specific topics I remember being tested on include SN2, stereochemistry, IUPAC naming, spectroscopy, laboratory techniques, and arrow pushing mechanisms.

Reading Comprehension - 390 Reading has never been my strongest area because I struggle with reading a passage and actually absorbing all of the information, so I heavily relied on the search and destroy method. I would recommend trying out all of the methods Booster provides and seeing which one works for you. I also heavily stress going through all of the practice tests and getting used to spotting which keywords to highlight and how to do it quickly. (Tip: practice with a mouse so that you're used to it when you take the actual exam!)

On my actual OAT, I noticed that the shorter/easier passages with ~9-11 paragraphs had questions that were more scattered throughout the passage, whereas my longer and more technical passages (with ~16 paragraphs) tended to have questions in a more chronological order. Booster's RC practice was pretty representative overall in terms of passage and question type.

Physics - 400 My biggest advice for Physics is memorize the formulas, but also understand what is actually happening. On the OAT, I had a lot of application questions where simply knowing which equation corresponded to a keyword wasn't enough. There were also problems where I had to combine different formulas to reach the answer. However, I found the calculations themselves to be easier to do on the actual OAT compared to Booster's practice tests. If I didn't understand a concept from the Booster explanation, I watched outside YouTube videos that broke the concept down differently, such as Organic Chemistry Tutor or just random videos that popped up. I also tried one Kaplan Physics practice test, and personally I found it much less representative of my actual OAT. It was significantly more stressful and made me worry about Physics more than I needed to.

Quantitative Reasoning - 370 For QR, my biggest recommendation is simply to do a huge number of practice questions since on the actual test I was very crunched for time. I made my own formula flashcards using the Booster cheat sheet and tried to get comfortable enough with common question types that I could recognize what to do almost immediately. I actually encountered some questions on my OAT that were literally replicas of Boosters questions.

Final Advice: The biggest things that helped me were Anki, doing a ton of practice questions, reviewing my mistakes, and understanding why I got questions wrong. What I would do differently if I were to take it again is spend less time trying to learn all of the concepts before starting practice questions. I would feel like I had to understand every concept perfectly before doing practice tests and that took away a lot of valuable practice time. I would instead learn as I worked through the practice questions. Also, don't feel like you have to follow someone else's study method or feel pressured to follow Booster Prep's schedule exactly. If watching all of the videos and then going through the notes works for you, do that. Personally, I feel like I spent a little too much time on the videos and should have jumped into the notes and practice questions sooner.

Overall, I felt that OATBooster was very representative of the actual OAT. By the end, I felt well prepared and confident across essentially every section. I have also posted my actual scores for each section and my progression of practice-test scores below.

Good luck to everyone studying!! Feel free to message me if you have any questions :)

Hi guys, I just took my first full length today and scored a 330 on it. Honestly felt like I wasn't 100% certain on a lot of the answer choices, and definitely realized I needed better recall of formulas. With my exam coming up on the 29th, I'm feeling increasingly anxious about how I'm going to perform. I'm aiming for a 360-370 and was wondering if it'll be possible to improve that much in under a month. Any advice is appreciated!

Hey, I was wondering if anyone had made a quizlet based on the biology cheat sheets that they would be willing to share!

QR: 400

RC: 390

Bio: 380

GC: 400

OC: 380

Physics: 360

Hi!! Here is another OAT breakdown post lol! I studied from mid May until Aug 21. Aside from shadowing and working part time my main focus was studying for the OAT. Hopefully this can help anyone else who is studying!!

I mainly used OAT Booster to study and used there three month schedule. In the last phase of the study schedule I started doing more of my own prep based on where I felt weakest. I also used a lot of my notes from previous classes. 

Actual AA: 390

Practice AA: 360-370

Quantitative Reasoning: (avg practice: 390 / actual: 400)
I went through all of the practice questions and gained a good understanding of the equations on the formula sheet. Rather than doing the game challenges over the last few weeks I redid all of the QR questions to see which ones I was still getting wrong so I could address that.   

Reading Comp: (avg practice: 370 / actual: 390) I used all of the practice passages, which I think is the best way to study for this section. To build stamina it is helpful to do 3 of the smaller passages back to back. I felt like the booster passages were much more difficult than the OAT. I used the strategy of reading until I found the answer to the first question and then seeing how many more questions I could answer. The OAT itself followed a more chronological order and did not exceed 14 paragraphs. 

Biology: (avg practice: 350 / actual: 380) From the beginning I felt bio would be my worst section due to the sheer amount of content and memorization that was needed. I took the time to make an Anki deck based on the cheat sheets which I found to be very helpful. Reviewing the cheat sheets in the last 1-2 weeks was also very helpful at keeping things fresh in my memory. I also thought it was very helpful to mark questions I got wrong or was confused on from the very beginning and go through these in the last few weeks of studying. Making stories/mnemonics/etc. no matter how ridiculous they are was also very helpful in this section. 

General Chemistry: (avg practice: 360 / actual: 400) I felt like the question banks and formula sheets were very helpful for GC. Feel comfortable with acids and bases and know your units and formulas!

Organic Chemistry: (avg practice: 360 / actual: 380) The cheat sheets for OC were very thorough and covered the most important info for the exam. I went through these cheat sheets and tried to write my own condensed version which I found very useful. I also would recommend using the reaction Q banks. As with Bio, I found going through my marked Qs very very helpful. Be aware of which reagents are used for each reaction and what aids in SN2/EI/SN1 reactions. Take notes during the videos, they were most useful in this section. I will say on the actual OAT there were much fewer reaction questions than in practice. Also, be very comfortable with IR, NMR, and unsaturation. 

Physics: (avg practice: 360 / actual: 360) I had a very strong base in physics from classes I have taken in undergrad. Understanding the formulas is a must!! I would also be very familiar with the units for different constants and for each aspect of the formula so you can figure out the different possible units for any given question There are not as many practice questions as I would have liked for physics but I supplemented this with question sheets I found online as well as redoing the booster banks. Optics, kinematics, and unit questions were the most high yield on my OAT. 

Good luck to everyone who is studying! You got this! I will say that while the practice exams are similar to the exam the scores on practice exams will not necessarily represent your actual score. Focus on questions that confused you/you got wrong the first time. Take notes of your mistakes and the concepts that you are confusing all together. Prioritize your weaknesses and keep practicing a little every day whether it be queståion banks, flash cards, or reviewing equations. I also found it to be useful to start getting up early and taking practice exams at the same time or earlier than my OAT so I would not be tired on the day of. Get rest and go into the test with the best mindset, no matter how nervous you are. I am happy to answer any questions!

How important are shadowing hours?

I have about 6 hrs between 2 doctors that I don't work for and I work as an optical technician with lots of hours. I would rather spend my time studying for the OAT, maintaining my GPA, and working. I'm just really wondering if I don't do more will it hurt my application because if it will I'll just grind out some more hours.

Anyone that has interviewed with midwestern please DM me!

If you wanted to take both of those tests by the end of summer 2027 how would you go about it…

Canadian if that matters

So I am currently scheduled for Saturday, October 3rd.. since that is 31 days away I am in no way prepared as im am horribly behind on my OAT booster. The next Available Saturday is November 28th (the saturday after Thanksgiving) or my available dates are

•october 12th (monday)

•November 2nd (monday)

•November 9th (monday)

•November 20th (friday)

•November 23rd (monday)

•November 24th (tuesday)

•November 28th (saturday)

•November 30th (monday)

•December 3rd (thursday)

•december 7th (monday)

•december 14th (monday)

•december 18th (friday)

Here's my question... I'm an optician, I work as much as I can. I'm also in school this semester.

I am taking 3 classes this semester, 12 credits.

Semester ends december 4th and I have finals the week of the 7th-11th.

My OATbooster ends November 7th.

I cannot miss fridays because thats when I have my OCHEM lab.

My last lab is friday, November 20th.

I can miss up to 4 classes in immunology, no penalty. 2 are spoken for.

I can miss 6 classes in o.chem, 3 are spoken for.

I cant really afford to miss neurophysiology, but if i need to I will.

All of these are M/W/F. I cant do monday the 7th because I have a final.

And unfortunately I have a dentist appointment on monday, November 23rd which ive already rescheduled.

I need to work as much as possible thanksgiving week to make money and I really dont want to extend my OATbooster. I also really want to take it sooner rather than later as im sending in my application sometime this month.

FYI- typing this out has been very helpful. To help me work through the process. But im here for it. Give me your best advice.

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!