OAT Attempts

[Tims201]

Hi ,

I'm planning on writing my OAT late August. However, text anxiety is definitely kicking in and making me anxious about it. I'm going to 3rd year and not applying till next summer, would it be best to wait and write it next summer? Do schools care about the number of times you've written it ? I know for some med schools, they average out the attempts. Do the optometry schools in the states do that as well ?

Thanks

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[Kat3H49]

Hi ,

I'm planning on writing my OAT late August. However, text anxiety is definitely kicking in and making me anxious about it. I'm going to 3rd year and not applying till next summer, would it be best to wait and write it next summer? Do schools care about the number of times you've written it ? I know for some med schools, they average out the attempts. Do the optometry schools in the states do that as well ?

Thanks

Hello! To the best of my knowledge- Optometry schools look at your most recent OAT attempt and do NOT average out the attempts. If you are not applying until next summer, then it might be a good idea wait until next summer to write- especially if you haven't taken courses such as micro, genetics, physiology, physics, both organic chems etc- because depending on what you are taking this fall/winter those courses will end up helping you on the OAT. And if you have already taken those courses then coodos to you lol. However, I would also say to maybe stick with writing the OAT- since you already paid for it right?, and honestly, you can treat this one as a "practice test". If you dont do as well as you like - no sweat- you can always re-write it next year. And if you do great- even better- you'll only have to do it once. I think it probably best to stick with it if you already booked it, and just treat it as a practice round, to get a feel for the test- this way you should feel less anxious and less pressure if you don't do as well. Speaking from my own experience- I wrote the OAT this year just because I wanted to get a feel for how it is and how to study for it. I new if I did ok- I would use it and apply- and if it didn't go well- I would just wait until next year to re-write it and apply then. I am really happy with my decision to treat it like "practice" though because I get really bad test anxiety too- and I felt so good and calm and not pressured the day I went in to write it- and that probably helped me to score higher than if I would have gone and been so worried. Hope this helps a bit?

 

[Tims201]

Hello! To the best of my knowledge- Optometry schools look at your most recent OAT attempt and do NOT average out the attempts. If you are not applying until next summer, then it might be a good idea wait until next summer to write- especially if you haven't taken courses such as micro, genetics, physiology, physics, both organic chems etc- because depending on what you are taking this fall/winter those courses will end up helping you on the OAT. And if you have already taken those courses then coodos to you lol. However, I would also say to maybe stick with writing the OAT- since you already paid for it right?, and honestly, you can treat this one as a "practice test". If you dont do as well as you like - no sweat- you can always re-write it next year. And if you do great- even better- you'll only have to do it once. I think it probably best to stick with it if you already booked it, and just treat it as a practice round, to get a feel for the test- this way you should feel less anxious and less pressure if you don't do as well. Speaking from my own experience- I wrote the OAT this year just because I wanted to get a feel for how it is and how to study for it. I new if I did ok- I would use it and apply- and if it didn't go well- I would just wait until next year to re-write it and apply then. I am really happy with my decision to treat it like "practice" though because I get really bad test anxiety too- and I felt so good and calm and not pressured the day I went in to write it- and that probably helped me to score higher than if I would have gone and been so worried. Hope this helps a bit?

Thank you ! This does help relieve a bit of the test anxiety
That's true I might as well write it and get a feel of it this year. How did the test go for you this year? Also, do you have any study tips, since you wrote it already so you probably know what helped and what didn't when it comes to studying.

 

[Kat3H49]

Thank you ! This does help relieve a bit of the test anxiety
That's true I might as well write it and get a feel of it this year. How did the test go for you this year? Also, do you have any study tips, since you wrote it already so you probably know what helped and what didn't when it comes to studying.

I'm glad it helped a bit. I got a 310, which I know isn't a very good score, but considering what was happening for me at the time and the amount of studying I was able to put in- I was happy with my score lol. I'm just glad that it was over a 300. Personally, I would recommend that you try to memorize the physics formulas- that was something I didn't really do- and it cost me lots of time on the exam day. I would recommend the Kaplan study guide- it has a great overview of all subjects covered by the OAT, and the online practice OAT's that come with the book are great- they really help to give you an idea what the timing is like. I wish I would have focused a lot more on bio- I am a bio major and I think I underestimated the bio section. There was a lot of genetics I found, and not as much ecology as I had prepared for. Hope this helps a bit. Good luck with everything! Let me know how the OAT goes!!

 

[deleted853480]

I found the oat really easy after taking the mcat. Plus chemistry/math are my strong areas. Good luck you can do it!!