All schools and colleges of optometry require candidates to submit OAT scores for admissions.
The OAT is designed to predict general academic ability and measure the two skills needed by future optometrists: Scientific knowledge and analytical ability. It does this by testing your knowledge of physics, chemistry, and biology; your reading comprehension ability; and your quantitative reasoning skills.
When you purchase one of the courses below through Kaplan, a representative from Kaplan will contact you by e-mail within 7 to 10 business days, to provide you with information to set up your student portal, which gives you access to the selected test preparation course.
Note: prices shown on the Kaplan website do not include the Texas State discount and class times are listed in central time.
To view course dates, view the OAT Limitless Prep - Schedules page.
The OAT is given a scaled score of 200-400, 300 being the median representing the 50th percentile. Separate sub scores are reported for biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, reading comprehension, physics, and quantitative reasoning.
Each question within a section is worth the same amount, and there is no penalty for guessing. That means you should always answer every question. Never let time run out on any section without selecting an answer choice for every question.
Your score report will tell you (and optometry schools) not only your scaled scores but also your percentile ranking. Students often ask: what is a good score? Much depends on the strength of the rest of your application (if your transcript is first-rate, the pressure to strut your stuff on the OAT isn't as intense) and on where you want to go to school (different schools have different score expectations).
The content on the OAT is broken down into four test sections that comprise the exam:
