OAT exam

[NYCBlues]

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Hi all!

I have a couple of questions. Please help me answer them if you know anything about it. Thanks in advance!

Some optometry schools do not require organic chemistry II as their pre-reqs. For those of you that have taken the OAT, does the organic chemistry II material appear on the OAT? Will I do ok on the OAT without taking organic chemistry II? Should I take organic anyway even though it is not required?

I also took some of my pre-reqs over the summer. Will it affect my chances of admission to optometry school?

For those of you who had gone through the admission process. Please give me your advice! I really appreciate it!!!

 

[r_salis]

Hi NYCBlues --

Taking classes over the summer makes no difference to the admissions committee -- they just want to see that you took and passed (hopefully did better than passing 🙂 ) their pre-reqs. If anything, it's more challenging to take a summer class because of the compressed schedule.

I took orgo II (as a summer class, actually) before the OAT in October, so I can't say definitively if I would have done well in the orgo part of the OAT without it. I think as long as you reviewed an MCAT review orgo section you'd probably be fine with just Orgo I. I seem to remember the bulk of the OAT was orgo I material, but there were a few types of reactions from Orgo II.

Welcome to SDN! 🙂

 

[eyedream82]

NYCBlues,

I would definitely suggest you take Organic II before you take the OAT. Yes, some of the questions on there do cover Organic II stuff like Spectroscopy (NMR, IR, etc.), Hoffman rxns, carboxylic synthesis, as far back as i can remember. These i don't think you cover in Organic I, so better safe than sorry.

Besides, taking Organic II would definitely make you look better than the other applicants that didn't take Organic II. I took O-chem I, II, and then Biochemistry. The committee members were real impressed with that during my interview. But if you definitely hate chemistry, don't take it if you know you'll end up with a bad grade...

Like r_salis suggested, you definitely want to study the OAT using MCAT material. Great comprehensive reviews and problem settings that you can practice. Don't buy the thin Lippincott Williams & Wilkins review book, it's a waste of your money. If you really want to see the real OAT, buy the scholarware CD which have 3 exams actual OAT you can practice.

Well, hope that helps you out a bit there. If you want to see comments about the application process, interviewing process, and all that good stuff, scroll back to the earlier forums.

Good luck 😎

 

[SuzQ120]

NYC-

Personally, in your position I would feel more comfortable taking Orgo II. Unless you can study well yourself and use either an orgo book or review book, I would consider taking it. Personally, I took I and II as well as biochem.

I agree with what was said earlier, taking a summer class with a faster paced schedule shouldn't have a negative effect at all. It might even show some more determination to finish classes etc depending on your situation when taking them over the summer.

As far as advice on the application process, I would say try to get it in as early as possible, why wait?! I only went on one interview because it was at my first choice school and I was accepted before my other interviews were scheduled. The interview at NEWENCO went great and from speaking to others that day, it seemed that pretty much everyone else felt the same!

Good luck! 🙂