Should I mention not seeing the calculator during my OAT?

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rxh172

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I made the champion stupid/airhead mistake of not noticing that there was a calculator at the upper right hand corner of the screen during my OAT. So despite scoring above 80-90th percentile for all my sciences and reading, I scored in the 30th percentile for math. I would not be surprised if they asked me to explain. Is my mistake too embarrassing to bring up? Should I make up another reason, or just be honest?

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I can understand why you would want to explain that you didn't know there was a calculator but I also would be nervous to tell them that you didn't do any research on the OAT before taking it (anyone who took a practice test or read a practice book would know that there is a calculator for the OAT). I definitely wouldn't "make up another reason" though. If you have taken any math courses at your university, they will be able to see that you scored well in your classes. If that is the case, they might not even bring it up. Assuming you really did score 80-90th percentile in everything else, you have a super competitive OAT score and they will be impressed by that. Good luck!
 
That is the last section of the test, so it is reasonable to think that you just ran out of steam. I know plenty of people who had scores under 300 in that section who got into schools (That was my lowest section, I got a 280). The test is long! I wouldn't worry too much about it, I interviewed at SCCO and UC Berkeley and the subject never came up! If you have any other questions feel free to message me!
 
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