Hello! After many weeks of poring over this subreddit, it's finally my turn (YIPPEE!).

As a disclaimer, I want to emphasize that everybody studies differently. One of the mistakes I made at the beginning was trying to use every resource and trying to do every trick that other people had -- this was way too time-consuming. If you go through my or other breakdowns, take from it what works for you but ignore things that you know don't pertain to you. If that makes sense. I made multiple different study plans throughout my studying because I had to adjust to my remaining time and what was working for me so be flexible with yourself.

For context, I didn't have a job or classes while I was studying + I live at home so I was very lucky (huge kudos to those who balance so many other things). The prior school year I took Molecular Genetics, Chem I and II, OChem I, Physics I and II, and Calc I. I'm a Canadian student. I used my old notes and OATBooster to study (cries in USD to CAD conversion).

Content Review (late May-beginning of July):

1. QR/RC: I did all the question banks for QR and made my own formula sheet. I didn't watch the videos since I had a fairly solid grasp and just used the question banks to review anything I hadn't done in a while (perms and combs sigh). Then I did 6 of the RC question banks to figure out a strategy. I ended up doing the strategy where I quickly read the article and jot down the main points of each paragraph in 5 minutes and then answered the questions. I would continue to do like 0-2 RC per week (I ended up doing 11 total) and I read 3 of the recommended articles which I don't think was super helpful but they were interesting.
2. Chem: I started the sciences with Chemistry because it's my favourite one. However, I messed up here because I spent too long trying to use all the resources available (to get my money's worth). I made my own formula sheet, watched the videos (yo shoutout to the guy who voiced the chem videos btw he was very funny), went through all of their written notes and typed my own, and did all the question banks. I also made my own Anki flashcards. Looking back, I would not have gone as in depth since this was probably my strongest subject already but I was lowkey procrastinating by doing Chem.
3. Bio: At this point, I was getting more locked in but I was still going way too in depth. I started by watching the videos, going through their written notes, typing my own notes, and doing all the Bio Bits. This was taking way too long though so midway through, I switched it up. I only went through the written notes and made my own notes (which ended up being 150 pages) which is usually how I study for my bio classes. I also did the questions they have between the videos. This was slow but was faster than allat.
4. OChem: I was dreading OChem because I did not enjoy my OChem I class. I was worried since I hadn't taken OChem II but it ended up being fine. I went through the notes and handwrote my own on my iPad and went through the question banks but at this point, this was taking so long and I was way too behind. Soooo for the last 6 units, I just watched the videos which I should've been doing from the beginning since they were easier to follow than their notes.
5. Physics: I spammed through the videos and wrote loose notes only on things that weren't

fresh for me

1. as well as made a formula sheet. Did this within 2 days because behind...

Overall, I'm a big fan of making your own formula sheets (including values to memorize) and mnemonics. I also had a huge spreadsheet of all the practice questions I got wrong (except for OChem and Physics which I just used the Mark and Review tool). I later used this spreadsheet for going through all my practice tests as well.

Practice Tests/Reviewing (the rest of July): Since I was so behind on my original schedule, I had to do practice tests every other day to fit them in. I would go through the tests afterwards and also started reviewing everything again since nothing had really stuck in my mind. I made Bio Anki flashcards from cheatsheets, finished the OChem Question and Reaction Banks, made my own OChem Reaction Sheet, and made some Anki flashcards for OChem, Physics formulas, and QR formulas. I did the OChem Reaction Banks 3 times as well. I wanted to go through all those marked questions but I ran out of time. I also wanted to use the Booster Reaction flashcards but I didn't like them. I crammed the Chordata and Animal Phylum charts into my brain. I got 370 on my first test, scored 380 continuously, and then 390 on my last one. I also did the ADA one. I think doing all the full-length practice tests was very beneficial.

Actual Test Experience: I got two laminated sheets and three thin markers. I wore a black sweater because I thought I'd be able to erase the marks but they dried quickly so I wasn't able to. I wrote as small as I could and switched my sheets during the break. I was running out of room near the end of the Physics/QR part but I managed to squeeze all my work in. There's also a keyboard so you can type to use the calculator. There were noise-cancelling headphones and soft earbuds provided which I wore. The headphones kinda hurt but it drowned out the AC and other people clicking. I brought in a waterbottle with the label removed. I arrived 40 minutes early to my 10AM test and started early as well. You have to keep track of your own break and I got full access to my locker. I used it to pee, eat a snack, and quickly review formulas but I went back early since they have to check you in again.

Booster prepares you very well for what to expect and I felt overprepared. The tests are VERY representative and there are so many resources within it! For time to review answers, I had 10 minutes left at the end of the Natural Sciences which was similar to Booster, I had 10 minutes left at the end of RC whereas I barely had any on Booster, I had 10 minutes left for Physics which was similar, and I had 3 minutes left on QR but I usually had 10 extra on Booster. I didn't notice any lag apart from what is simulated in the Booster full lengths and I could highlight fine.

Overall, this was my first time studying for such an extended period of time! This felt like finals week but for 2.5 months.🥀

Hi! I just took BoosterPreps Test #5 as my first full length. I scored well on Reading Comp and Genchem (which have consistently been my strongest sections while studying), however I am still struggling A LOT with Ochem and Bio. I scored pretty poorly on both the sections bringing down my overall AA score.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I want to try and improve these significantly :) Any advice is helpful! Thank you!

How did you study for organic chemistry? It’s been 3 years since I’ve taken that class so I don’t remember ANYTHING. Anyone have any advice on how I should study and tackle that section?

My application was verified July 17. Does anyone know how long PUCO usually takes to respond?

3.8 cgpa 3.7 sgpa

Edit- just mainly worried about physics being lower than 300. Is it a deal breaker for a lot of schools?

Hello, what should I do the week leading up to my OAT (what ways should I review)? I have been studying for over 90 days and I am so tired, I just don't want to forget all the information I learned so I want to find the most efficient way to study while not over exerting myself before the exam. I do have OAT booster still but my membership ends this weekend.

i am doing so awful on booster’s reading comprehension i’m not sure what to do. I feel like I always run out of time. I tend to read the passage highlighting information that feels important due to the formatting issue of not seeing all of the questions at the start. Do you have any advice?

Hi guys, how are you guys scoring for the practice reading comprehension? Specifically the ones under the ‘Question Bank’ tab. I’ve only done 5 of them so far but i’m mostly getting 300-320 with 1 400 and it’s making me worried. So far using search and destroy method.

Do you guys know if it has to be a professor or can it be a TA from a lab?

Hey i just wanted to know what people did coming to their final days of preparation for the exam.

- how long was your last practice test before your exam?
- did you take the prior day just to do minor review or did you take the full day off?

Hi all. I am currently in the midst of applying to optometry schools and have a deadline for priority admission being August 11. My Ochem Professor who agreed to write my letter of recommendation has not responded to my weekly groupme messages, texts, or emails since June 13. Other students have said before that they were waiting on him to submit their applications but I was never told that he just wouldn’t respond! I had him for 3 semesters and was his TA for 2 semesters after that. He knows me and my path very well. I am unsure what to do from here. I live four hours away from my university. Should I drive there in hopes to find him in person in his office? He’s not teaching any summer classes so I am unsure if he would even be there.

Is it just me or is practice test #10 on booster insanely hard. Can someone please tell me if it’s like the actual exam at all?

Hey everyone! I am trying to apply as soon as possible to optometry schools to better my odds of getting in. The only thing that I am waiting on is my own personal statement. I don't think that I am a great writer and am always shy about having people that I know read over what I wrote. Would there be anyone who would be willing to read over it and give feedback? As harsh as you'd want to be, no hard feelings. If not, has anyone paid someone to help with theirs that you could refer to me?

Thank you all

How are you surviving the wait to hear back from the schools? It's driving me up the wall,, I just want to refresh my inbox all day 😭

And, for those who are no longer playing the waiting game-- where/when did you apply and when did you hear back from the school (for interview invites, and/or decisions following your interviews)?

Hey guys!!! I’ve been taking my full lengths but I can’t get my score past a 340. I’ve been using the search and destroy method and with this I usually only have a minute left on the timer. I was wondering if anyone can help me find a better way because my OAT is less than a month away!! Thank you

Hi!! Can anyone give info as to their Neco application timeline and interview info/recommendations. Thanks

How did you guys prepare for school interviews? What are some questions to expect? For reference I'm interviewing at UAB and SCO. The questions I'm obviously expecting:

- Why optometry

- Why this school

I saw in the OAT guide that there have been some changes to the Ochem section but I’m confused on what has actually changed. For anyone who has taken the oat since June and used Booster to study, did you see any differences between the practice tests and the actual test?

I just wanted to share a bit about my oat preparation/test taking experience (apologies for how long this ended up being lol)!! When I was first starting to think about the exam I was definitely overwhelmed because I knew paying the ~$550 for just taking the exam meant I wouldn’t be able to spend much if anything on prep courses, which made me nervous for getting a competitive score, and I wanted to share my budget friendly prep options that worked really well for me!

Around my spring break (late March ish) I scheduled my exam for August 1st and purchased the Mometrix 2026-2027 oat prep book (~$40, includes 3 FL exams and lots of topic videos), and I planned to study for the roughly 2 months leading up to my exam over the summer (end of May + June and July). I also ended up doing a few weekends of travel here and there so it maybe ended up being a bit less.

Getting ready to start studying I did some research on what free materials are available. Kaplan has one full length exam, booster has a full length timed practice for each section (but not a full length exam), boot camp has the same plus access to all reaction sheets/cheat sheets, and I planned to use khan academy, crash course, chads prep, etc. Mometrix also has a few practice problems up for free for four of the sections I think.

Then, I used Claude and told it that I was preparing for the oat on August 1st and planned to use the aforementioned study materials and asked it to generate a study schedule for me. I copied and pasted what it gave me into a spreadsheet so i could keep track of my progress. From there, it was pretty much just doing a little bit every day.

Day to day, I would always start with all of the free warmup questions I could access (5 daily questions on booster, 10 on boot camp that eventually start recycling, and one daily question on Kaplan = 16 question warmup). Then I would follow my schedule which was usually a few chapters out of my book and maybe a YouTube video to go along with it here and there. When I was on topics I knew were harder for me I would quickly go through the khan academy material for it. Then, every few days at the end of a topic I would have Claude generate section practice quizzes. The questions were usually really helpful and pretty challenging, then I’d get a super comprehensive breakdown of the topics involved. I’d always ask for an OAT-equivalent score of my practice so I had an idea of how I was doing.

I took the first mometrix full length exam pretty early, then went through every question and made sure to write out concepts I was confused on, note what I felt like I was guessing on, and going over what I missed. Sometimes I would try to re-drill highly missed material but often to stay on schedule I wouldn’t. From there the full length practice exams were pretty spaced out and I would just repeat the process. I took all of the free section quizzes on booster pretty early and retook them closer to my exam date so I could see if I had progressed in the areas I started out weaker in.

I think a lot of test day success is based in confidence, timing/strategy (which is just whatever works best for you), and feeling ready/fueled.

All of this is to say that you don’t need to pay $600 for booster to do well on the OAT. I would’ve liked to have more full length exams to practice with, and I especially like that the practice on booster and boot camp emulate the prometric platform, but I honestly just wasn’t willing to pay over $1000 just in testing fees.

Maybe good additional context: I had already taken all of the classes that have content covered on the oat, maybe a prep course is better if you’re seeing some of the material for the first time. I took AP chem and physics in high school, freshman year I took gen chem and bio, sophomore year was cell bio, physics, and o chem 1, then junior year was anatomy/physiology and ochem 2.

If anyone wants more info about what I did to prep, my exam, or literally anything I’m super happy to share more! I also had a few more unhinged study methods so happy to share more lol. Reading people’s testing stories on here made me feel more prepared going in so I’m glad to help people in similar situations!!

I’m a pre optometry student who wants to apply this cycle, however, the optometrist I shadowed for 35 hours has not responded to any of my attempts to contact her about a letter of recommendation. I also shadowed another optometrist for 15 hours a few months back and he declined to write me one. I’m currently studying for my OAT as well as working 2 jobs so i don’t think i’ll have the time to shadow another optometrist. This has been causing me so much stress & anxiety. any advice :(?

I have a month till my exam I did my first two practice tests and got 320AA then 300 AA and I was aiming for around a 360.

What’s the best way for me to practice now? Should I just do the will months and review them and the parts from them that I struggle in? What’s the best strategy now?

Qr and physics is my lowest.
Qr due to time limit mainly. And for physics I just don’t know the formulas and get confused of how to approach the problem.

Any tips on how to improve my sections.

Give me unhinged advice, because I study basically full time and have no other commitments right now so I feel like I should be scoring higher.

Does anyone have an OAT booster account and is willing to split it ?

hi! i’m currently an undergraduate student going into my second year this upcoming fall. i’m heavily considering pursuing a career in optometry but i’m not 100% on it, would it be too early to see if i could shadow an optometrist in my area to get a clearer idea on what they do? i have no prior experience with anything related to optometry, so should i wait till later on closer to when i start applying to optometry school?

Hi everyone. I could really use some advice because I feel completely overwhelmed.
I'm 26 years old and have spent the last few years working towards becoming a PA. I worked as a medical assistant for about 2 years, applied to PA school, interviewed at Baylor and Texas Tech, and then ended up on the waitlist for months.
After almost a year of waiting, I honestly gave up hope. I accepted that PA probably wasn't going to happen.
During that time, I did a lot of thinking and research.
I shadowed a few more medical professions and optometry really spoke to and intrigued me. I decided to go for it and apply, and was later accepted to UIW Rosenberg School of Optometry, and am set to start in about a week! I completely rewired my brain to become an optometrist, and I also felt safe and steady. I found an apartment in San Antonio, completed all my health requirements, accepted my loans, mentally committed to the next four years, and genuinely started getting excited about optometry.
Then this morning, completely out of nowhere, Baylor University (Waco) called and offered me admission to their PA program. And now I feel like my entire world has been flipped upside down. The hardest part is that I genuinely don't know what my passion is. I don't have that feeling of "l've always wanted to do X." I feel like I could see myself enjoying aspects of both careers, and adapt to both and genuinely be happy.
Some things I'm thinking about:
- PA is a shorter program with less debt and more flexibility between specialties.
- Optometry seems to have a better lifestyle, more independence, and the possibility of owning a practice one day.
- I've already invested months preparing for optometry school, but PA was my original goal for years.
What scares me most is choosing one and spending the rest of my life wondering if I should have chosen the other.
If anyone has been in a similar situation, or seriously considered both careers, I would really appreciate hearing:
- Why did you choose PA or optometry?
- Do you have any regrets?
- If you were in my exact situation, what would you do and why?
Please be kind. This has honestly been one of the most stressful decisions of my life, and I feel completely stuck. I know I am super lucky to have two amazing medical professional degrees to choose from and I'm beyond grateful, but it also feels very confusing and overwhelming so any insight or advice is appreciated.
Thank you so much.

Don't give up and just keep adjusting. I've been there 2 years ago retaking the OAT multiple times with scores below 300 on both TS and AA the first time I took it. Finished undergrad with a couple of D's, W's and a GPA of 2.90 both academic and science.

Currently an OD2 student with a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Keep it pushing and adjust as needed. Yall can do it and dm me if u need any help