OAT vs MCAT

[HOPEOPT]

Almost the same materials are for OAT AND MCAT , general chem, organic chem , general physic , reading, I took the OAT and my score was above the average ( 350), I am thinking to take the MCAT: Do you think the MCAT is much harder then the OAT and Do you think I will get the averge score on the MCAT according to my statistic on the OAT. Anybody took both.

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[EyeWitness]

Almost the same materials are for OAT AND MCAT , general chem, organic chem , general physic , reading, I took the OAT and my score was above the average ( 350), I am thinking to take the MCAT: Do you think the MCAT is much harder then the OAT and Do you think I will get the averge score on the MCAT according to my statistic on the OAT. Anybody took both.

If you wanna be an optometrist, why would you take the MCAT? Seems like with decent OAT scores you think you have a shot at decent MCAT scores and would prefer medical school. My advice is to take the MCAT and apply to medical school so those who really want to be an OD have a better chance when they apply.

 

[fluffinski08]

Almost the same materials are for OAT AND MCAT , general chem, organic chem , general physic , reading, I took the OAT and my score was above the average ( 350), I am thinking to take the MCAT: Do you think the MCAT is much harder then the OAT and Do you think I will get the averge score on the MCAT according to my statistic on the OAT. Anybody took both.

Even though the science subjects are the same on the OAT and the MCAT, the types of questions asked on the MCAT are sooooo different from those asked on the OAT. What you get on the OAT is NOT a good representative of what you could get on the MCAT, in my opinion. Why do you want to take the MCAT anyway??

 

[achirum]

I've taken both, the MCAT August 25th and the OAT September 20th.

I wouldn't draw any correlation between the two if I were you. Same subjects, way different test format.

 

[HOPEOPT]

I've taken both, the MCAT August 25th and the OAT September 20th.

I wouldn't draw any correlation between the two if I were you. Same subjects, way different test format.

If you do not mind what was your score on both tests?

 

[HOPEOPT]

If you wanna be an optometrist, why would you take the MCAT? Seems like with decent OAT scores you think you have a shot at decent MCAT scores and would prefer medical school. My advice is to take the MCAT and apply to medical school so those who really want to be an OD have a better chance when they apply.[/quote]

What do you mean by this? If I apply to medical school I should tell them that I was before want to go to optometry school then I changed my mind, or I should not tell them?

 

[jc812]

If you wanna be an optometrist, why would you take the MCAT? Seems like with decent OAT scores you think you have a shot at decent MCAT scores and would prefer medical school. My advice is to take the MCAT and apply to medical school so those who really want to be an OD have a better chance when they apply.[/quote]

What do you mean by this? If I apply to medical school I should tell them that I was before want to go to optometry school then I changed my mind, or I should not tell them?

What (s)he means by this is that you shouldn't treat the OD path as a back up plan. Please, if your desire is to become an MD then just do it so that there's more space for us non-MD, OD aspiring students.

Seriously, if you want to become an MD, then just make it happen. If your true passion lied in optometry, you wouldn't even want to take the MCAT..

 

[EyeWitness]

If your true passion lied in optometry, you wouldn't even want to take the MCAT..

I agree. The DAT is similar to the OAT, more so than the MCAT, why not take that test too. Keep your options open. : /

 

[HOPEOPT]

I agree. The DAT is similar to the OAT, more so than the MCAT, why not take that test too. Keep your options open. : /

To be honest with you my true passion is towards medical school but I heard that applying to medical school is so hard requires strong application, that is why I took the OAT and applied to the optometry school in my state, it is hard to me to relocate to different state, the medical school in my state requires high scores for GPA (3.8) and MCAT ABOVE THE AVG (32+). Moreover, my english is a second language, my gpa is 3.4. Graduater student with Microbiology major. I am stressout

 

[cjf]

Seriously, if you want to become an MD, then just make it happen. If your true passion lied in optometry, you wouldn't even want to take the MCAT..

The thing is, it's extremely hard to get into medical school. And maybe in general he just likes the field of health care and would like to be any type of doctor.

 

[HOPEOPT]

The thing is, it's extremely hard to get into medical school. And maybe in general he just likes the field of health care and would like to be any type of doctor.

That's true you understand what I mean.

 

[achirum]

I don't know what I got on the MCAT yet. I thought it went rather well. Either way however, if I got a good score or bad score, I'm not applying to medical school. I want to go to optometry school.

I can provide you my statistics once I get my scores back. (I think Sep 29 for the MCAT)

 

[HOPEOPT]

I don't know what I got on the MCAT yet. I thought it went rather well. Either way however, if I got a good score or bad score, I'm not applying to medical school. I want to go to optometry school.

I can provide you my statistics once I get my scores back. (I think Sep 29 for the MCAT)

• Let's say you got very good score on the MCAT you still will not apply to med school, and you prefer optometry over,
  
  why or in another way why do you prefer optometry.

 

[achirum]

• Let's say you got very good score on the MCAT you still will not apply to med school, and you prefer optometry over,
  
  why or in another way why do you prefer optometry.

I've shadowed both. I know a little bit about both, and I know that optometry is what interests me. I do not want to study medicine, nor do I want to live that kind of lifestyle.

 

[blysssful]

What (s)he means by this is that you shouldn't treat the OD path as a back up plan. Please, if your desire is to become an MD then just do it so that there's more space for us non-MD, OD aspiring students.

Seriously, if you want to become an MD, then just make it happen. If your true passion lied in optometry, you wouldn't even want to take the MCAT..

I understand where you're coming from--this is a field that you're passionate about, and you feel that everyone who you're competing with should be just as passionate, if not more so. And of course that optometry is in its own right a demanding field and shouldn't be seen as a "second class" career. I agree.

Many (if not the majority of) students in med schools, or aspiring to be medical doctors are unsure about what specialty they want, and there's no stigma surrounding this. Personally, I've known for several years that I want to work with vision and eye health, but I didn't make the concrete decision between shooting for optometry versus ophthalmology until more recently. Before I made this decision, I was contemplating taking both the OAT and the MCAT. Now would you say this means my true passion isn't with optometry?

Having a back up plan shouldn't be seen as an insulting thing. Because of the lower supply of aspiring optometry students, optometry schools ARE less competitive to get into than medical schools, and maybe even dental schools, generally speaking. Whether you like it or not, there are going to be students in optometry school who settled because they couldn't make it in somewhere else. It might be frustrating, or even infuriating... but at the end of the day, you'll be loving your career while they probably won't be.



To hopeopt: if you're at a point where you're unsure what field you want to study in the future, you should probably take some time out and maybe shadow different professions. If you're not passionate about optometry (which it sounds like you're not, just from your posts), you may end up figuring out your true passion after entirely too much wasted time, effort and money (not to mention taking the place of someone else who truly desires to go into optometry). Would you really want to spend thousands of dollars and potentially four years of your life towards a profession that you won't enjoy?

 

[cjf]

I've shadowed both. I know a little bit about both, and I know that optometry is what interests me. I do not want to study medicine, nor do I want to live that kind of lifestyle.

I love the optometrist lifestyle too. I'm just scared of the job outlook though

 

[HOPEOPT]

I understand where you're coming from--this is a field that you're passionate about, and you feel that everyone who you're competing with should be just as passionate, if not more so. And of course that optometry is in its own right a demanding field and shouldn't be seen as a "second class" career. I agree.

Many (if not the majority of) students in med schools, or aspiring to be medical doctors are unsure about what specialty they want, and there's no stigma surrounding this. Personally, I've known for several years that I want to work with vision and eye health, but I didn't make the concrete decision between shooting for optometry versus ophthalmology until more recently. Before I made this decision, I was contemplating taking both the OAT and the MCAT. Now would you say this means my true passion isn't with optometry?

Having a back up plan shouldn't be seen as an insulting thing. Because of the lower supply of aspiring optometry students, optometry schools ARE less competitive to get into than medical schools, and maybe even dental schools, generally speaking. Whether you like it or not, there are going to be students in optometry school who settled because they couldn't make it in somewhere else. It might be frustrating, or even infuriating... but at the end of the day, you'll be loving your career while they probably won't be.



To hopeopt: if you're at a point where you're unsure what field you want to study in the future, you should probably take some time out and maybe shadow different professions. If you're not passionate about optometry (which it sounds like you're not, just from your posts), you may end up figuring out your true passion after entirely too much wasted time, effort and money (not to mention taking the place of someone else who truly desires to go into optometry). Would you really want to spend thousands of dollars and potentially four years of your life towards a profession that you won't enjoy?

Thank you for your advise I will start shadowing doctors in the two fields then decide which field intersts me more and fits my lifestyle.

 

[achirum]

I love the optometrist lifestyle too. I'm just scared of the job outlook though

I don't know, the optometrist that I shadowed told me she felt the job outlook was perfectly fine. The only thing she said she didn't like was all of these retail stores housing optometrists.

 

[Eye]

Yeah, the optometrist's name attached to the banner of a retail store kind of makes it look bad for the optometrist, like they're unprofessional, or just for an easy buck. I see them a lot here and it just...doesn't put them in a good light. Many customers think optometrists and opticians are the same because they do the same things in a retail store.

 

[gochi]

Mcat + 1 = oat.

 

[gochi]

Yeah, the optometrist's name attached to the banner of a retail store kind of makes it look bad for the optometrist, like they're unprofessional, or just for an easy buck. I see them a lot here and it just...doesn't put them in a good light. Many customers think optometrists and opticians are the same because they do the same things in a retail store.

Just curious, at the end of the day, when you are about to go home, does all this really matter? Not trying to change the original topic, just wanted to see how many people magnify this issue when it is not one to begin with.

 

[blysssful]

Mcat + 1 = oat.

What does this mean?

 

[achirum]

What does this mean?

Hah I wondered the same thing.

 

[Kaya12]

Yeah, the optometrist's name attached to the banner of a retail store kind of makes it look bad for the optometrist, like they're unprofessional, or just for an easy buck. I see them a lot here and it just...doesn't put them in a good light. Many customers think optometrists and opticians are the same because they do the same things in a retail store.

If may offer up a personal opinion on this matter; since I was in 5th grade I have been seeing an optometrist through Wal-Mart. He was an incredible doctor, and I don't think that any of his customers (most of whom did not find out about him through wal-mart anyways) thought any less of him for being affiliated w/ the retail store. He was listed just like every other Dr., and it made no difference whether he was in Wall-e world or some posh office. Now, since I have moved to Florida for school I have had to see an optometrist in one of these posh offices... and he is terrible. This is just my experience, but I doubt that affiliation with a retail store is that much of a "blemish" to your reputation as a doc. Additionally, think about all of the very educated and talented pharmacists that are all stuck working at CVS or Walgreens.... I think if you are happy with what you do, and a competent and talented doc, you will have not look unprofessional REGARDLESS of where your office is physically located....

 

[Absolute Vision]

Hopeopt,

I would definitely shadow both careers and see what the pros and cons for each profession before you decide to take any exam...be it OAT or MCAT, and spend your money on applying to either medical school or optometry school. Just make sure you will enjoy what you're going to do in that profession, or else you're going to regret it later. I have many friends who are in the healthcare field...most of them are MDs who wished they had known what they were getting themselves into before it was too late. Now in their mid 30s, they realized that medicine wasn't for them; however, they've gotten themselves in too deep with loans... that in their minds, it's too late to change careers. Work to them is a total grind, and they hate it. Hopefully after more shadowing experiences, you won't think of optometry as a alternative career choice if you cannot get into med school, but one where you're really passionate about. If you find out that optometry isn't for you, and still feel that medicine is what you're really passionate about then pursue that. My cousin was rejected from all of the med schools she applied her first year, and then the next year she improved her application and got into a medical school...she's now a oncologist/radiologist. She really loves what she is doing now.
I definitely agree with the previous posts about OAT and MCAT being two different tests. On the OAT, the questions are like the stand alone questions on the MCAT. The MCAT questions are mostly passage-based. Good luck with whatever you decide.