APPLYING APPLYING TO OPT SCHOOL, oh god

[123cecet]

Hi guys,

I recently took my OAT and needed some advice on what I should do to boost my application because I REALLY REALLY want to go to SCCO (Ketchum). I'm currently a 4th year at uni and do plan on taking one gap year after I graduate to finish up my pre-reqs at a community college.

My OAT was okay. I have a 3.3 GPA right now, and am really going to bust my butt off so that my GPA goes up when I graduate. Last year, I got straight A's (some A-'s but still) every quarter so I'm hoping to keep the momentum going to show them I've got my stuff together.
For my OAT (I took it 9/22) I got:
AA: 340
TS: 320
Bio: 310
GC/OC: 300
Phys: 350
Quant: 400
RC: 350

I have opt experience (and I plan on staying there in my gap year) as well as leadership involvement in my org. I'm still working on the professor letter of rec, but other than that I have one from my boss at work and the optometrist I work for. I haven't started my personal statements for next year, but have some ideas as to what to say.

So my questions for you all,
- How are my chances looking for SCCO? This is literally my dream school and I really want to go there. I'm planning on applying to Western, ICO, and perhaps Berkeley as well..
- If I didn't take a gap year, as in I apply THIS cycle, would I stand a chance?
- Do I need to retake my OAT for SCCO (I know they like their OAT to be high, esp when the GPA is not) I'm worried that my Natural Sciences is really low

Also let me know if you have any questions, I've been using this network a lot and would love to give back to the community

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[mar2018]

wow amazing scores! would you mind breaking down how you studied?

 

[confident]

Hi guys,

I recently took my OAT and needed some advice on what I should do to boost my application because I REALLY REALLY want to go to SCCO (Ketchum). I'm currently a 4th year at uni and do plan on taking one gap year after I graduate to finish up my pre-reqs at a community college.

My OAT was okay. I have a 3.3 GPA right now, and am really going to bust my butt off so that my GPA goes up when I graduate. Last year, I got straight A's (some A-'s but still) every quarter so I'm hoping to keep the momentum going to show them I've got my stuff together.
For my OAT (I took it 9/22) I got:
AA: 340
TS: 320
Bio: 310
GC/OC: 300
Phys: 350
Quant: 400
RC: 350

I have opt experience (and I plan on staying there in my gap year) as well as leadership involvement in my org. I'm still working on the professor letter of rec, but other than that I have one from my boss at work and the optometrist I work for. I haven't started my personal statements for next year, but have some ideas as to what to say.

So my questions for you all,
- How are my chances looking for SCCO? This is literally my dream school and I really want to go there. I'm planning on applying to Western, ICO, and perhaps Berkeley as well..
- If I didn't take a gap year, as in I apply THIS cycle, would I stand a chance?
- Do I need to retake my OAT for SCCO (I know they like their OAT to be high, esp when the GPA is not) I'm worried that my Natural Sciences is really low

Also let me know if you have any questions, I've been using this network a lot and would love to give back to the community

I actually think you have a decent chance of getting in SCCO especially if your undergrad school is one of the UCs. If you are to apply this cycle, better do it ASAP. The first round of interview already ended. Since the school is on rolling admission, the sooner you apply, the better your chances are. Good luck!

 

[123cecet]

wow amazing scores! would you mind breaking down how you studied?

Hi yes!! of course, I don't mind. So I actually took the Kaplan Course for the OAT (I won it in a raffle otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford it) I personally didn't think the lessons were THAAT helpful, but they had a lot of resources (like the question bank) which really helped me practice as well as time myself for the actual OAT.

I had the OAT destroyer books, but didn't use it except for Physics. For physics I basically used the OAT destroyer (i did like 40 problems) and that's it. The Kaplan Bio was very accurate in the information it gave and tested you on. The level of difficulty resembled the OAT quite closely. I used Chad's Videos for OCHEM ($10 a month but I split it)... I literally used it the week before my OAT because I was too cheap to buy it sooner but I REGRET IT. I wish I bought it sooner. I learned so much!!!!

In terms of studying, I made my own flashcards. I did problems, and anything that was new, I made it a flash card. After my day of studying, I reviewed said flash cards so that I could have that concept at least a little more familiar to me. I typed my bio stuff so that I could ctrl find anything I wanted to clarify, and add to the concept. Then I printed the bio packet a week before my test to make flash cards for that as well (but only for the concepts I didn't feel to strong in).

To be honest, I left 3 months to study for my OAT but I didn't study study until a month before. I spent about 4 hrs studying for like 3-4x a week so it's so possible to do well and not study 12 hrs a day for 4 months. I know I read a lot of posts like that before and it freaked me out, but tackle it how you would tackle a really hard class and you should be okay!

 

[123cecet]

I actually think you have a decent chance of getting in SCCO especially if your undergrad school is one of the UCs. If you are to apply this cycle, better do it ASAP. The first round of interview already ended. Since the school is on rolling admission, the sooner you apply, the better your chances are. Good luck!

Hey Confident,

Thanks for the reply! I thought about it a lot and because my GPA isn't the greatest, I wanted to take time on my personal statements to really solidify them as well as my letter of recs!!! But I really appreciate the reassurance, it helps a lot, especially since I see so many people with a lot crazier OAT and GPAs post on here haha

 

[mar2018]

Hi yes!! of course, I don't mind. So I actually took the Kaplan Course for the OAT (I won it in a raffle otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford it) I personally didn't think the lessons were THAAT helpful, but they had a lot of resources (like the question bank) which really helped me practice as well as time myself for the actual OAT.

I had the OAT destroyer books, but didn't use it except for Physics. For physics I basically used the OAT destroyer (i did like 40 problems) and that's it. The Kaplan Bio was very accurate in the information it gave and tested you on. The level of difficulty resembled the OAT quite closely. I used Chad's Videos for OCHEM ($10 a month but I split it)... I literally used it the week before my OAT because I was too cheap to buy it sooner but I REGRET IT. I wish I bought it sooner. I learned so much!!!!

In terms of studying, I made my own flashcards. I did problems, and anything that was new, I made it a flash card. After my day of studying, I reviewed said flash cards so that I could have that concept at least a little more familiar to me. I typed my bio stuff so that I could ctrl find anything I wanted to clarify, and add to the concept. Then I printed the bio packet a week before my test to make flash cards for that as well (but only for the concepts I didn't feel to strong in).

To be honest, I left 3 months to study for my OAT but I didn't study study until a month before. I spent about 4 hrs studying for like 3-4x a week so it's so possible to do well and not study 12 hrs a day for 4 months. I know I read a lot of posts like that before and it freaked me out, but tackle it how you would tackle a really hard class and you should be okay!

oh wow! thank you so much. would you mind sharing your bio notes?

 

[123cecet]

oh wow! thank you so much. would you mind sharing your bio notes?

I actually don't have them anymore they were on my work google drive but because i don't work there anymore i don't have access to the drive or the account... sorry abut that!