SERIOUSLY needs some advice

[hopestogetinopt]

Whoa, didn't mean to make it this lengthy but I'm a detailed kinda person. Any advice is very much appreciated!!!

I have never been so stressed out in my life. I can feel the gray hairs multiplying by the second. I don't feel like a very competitive applicant compared to others' stats that I've read in this forum. My overall gpa is pretty low- 2.9 (mainly due to "freshmanitis" and not taking school seriously when I first started), but my science gpa is 3.3. So I know I need to do really well on the OAT to have a chance. I really want to go to PCO. But also NOVA or ICO and I will apply to SCO and maybe UH just to have more schools. I intended to apply for 2011. I started studying for the OAT in August in which I initially planned to take in October. I took most of the science prereqs years ago when I was a bio major but then I changed my major and got a degree in psychology. I remember NOTHING from those science classes. I knew it was going to be tough since I had to re-teach myself all of the science courses to prepare for the OAT. I invested 1000 bucks (ridiculous!) in the Kaplan online course, and a couple more hundred in other supplemental books to help me prepare for the test. When I started studying I was extremely overwhelmed with all the information that I had to re-learn. How the heck am I going to master the concepts, and at that, solve them in a timely manner? As I said before, I knew it was going to be tough, but it's taking me longer than I expected to refresh my memory. Well, "refresh" isn't the word because its been so long all this stuff is new to me again.

My social life has been non-existent for the past few months but I work 35-40 hrs a week, plus I took a class this semester (only have two prereqs left to take), so that took alot of studying time off. I definitely wasn't ready to take it in october so I scheduled for december 29. That's in three weeks!! and I still don't feel prepared!! It's just waaaay too much information to learn in such a short period of time. By the time I finish one subject, I move on to the next, and forgot the last!

Now, this is a sh**ty predicament to be in. I haven't even turned in my application yet because I was trying to get my LORs together and wanted to take the OAT first (and maybe i'm putting it off because i'm not too confident). I have a low gpa but decent sgpa, totally not prepared for the OAT so have no idea how I will do, no volunteer work or extracirricular activities, but I have been working as an optical lab technician for the past 6.5 years, shadowed a couple of optometrists and ophthalmic technicians, and I'm pretty sure I have some strong LORs. BUT the OAT is the hinderance. Should I still try and take it on the 29th and half-ass it and hope to get lucky?? Or should I study a few more months and be well-prepared and take it early next year? Do you think taking it in february or march is too late for 2011? Do I even have a chance of getting an interview before I take it with my stats?? What if I took the OAT and did really bad, would I still get an interview? Or should I just forget all the stress and wait to apply for 2012? I really don't want to wait another year since I am in my late 30s and really want to start my future. However, I don't mind getting my life back and losing a few of these gray hairs.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[sunnydecember]

well first i think you should submit your application. like asap. because the earlier you apply the better. and since you don't need your OAT score or LORs (just need to assign them) to esubmit, i think you should just apply. like right now. finish it and submit it. There's still a chance for you to get into schools so why wait for next year? If you don't get in this year you can just apply again. yea it's a handful of money but honestly the opportunity/chance outweighs the cost. (also they will probably tell you what you need to improve so you know what you can fix to be an even better applicant next year...that's IF you don't get in..and you' won't know unless you submit right?) okay now for your OAT. Trust me everyone panics and has the exact feeling you have right now a few weeks before the oat. but in all honesty, if it's scheduled on the 29th, you have 22 days to study! that's seriously a lot. esp if you have already been studying. when you're studying, it seems like it's going to be tough and you wont remember anything but when you take it, you're gonna see that it's really not that bad. the 29th is also a good date since if you submit your application soon, it will be around that time when optomcas actually processes/verifies it and starts sending it out! so it'll be good timing. all in all, keep that test date. submit your app. and try not to worry so much. if you make it a later date, it's not going to change this feeling of panic and nervousness. that feeling will always be there before a big test. so just take a deep breath. concentrate on the now and just do your best. you can do it! you can try and fail but don't fail to try

 

[kkice]

I agree with the above poster.
Apply now! It takes 1-2 weeks for OptomCAS to process your application. They will verify your transcripts and calculate GPA.
The application doesn't have to be complete to be considered.
Apply as soon as possible. You have a strong optometric experiences and your science GPA is good enough. You still have a chance.
Especially for PCO where the class size is as big as 160, you do have a good chance! (I actually got the acceptance letter from PCO today, I loved the school after the intervew! )
I know your feeling, and I felt the exact same way as you when I was preparing for OAT. But don't be too scared of it.
I thought OAT would be really hard.
I did the practice problems from the thin blue Kaplan book, and I got about half right.
I was so frustrated and I thought I would never be able to go to school.
But the real OAT is soooooooooooooooo much easier than those practice problems. Probably about 10 times easier.
Download the sample test from Opted. Those are the closeast to the real one.
So just try your best to study, and be confident about yourself.
OAT is really not bad at all.
Plus, I got really helpful tips from SDN for the day of OAT.
Try to use them, or send me a message if you have no time to search.
Good luck, and you can do it!!!

 

[cocolove]

hi i cant find the opted sample test you mentioned. can you link it to me? the other threads provided links but they dont work. if it doesnt show can u just email the link to me at [email protected] please?!! thank you so much!!

 

[BrownIris]

hi i cant find the opted sample test you mentioned. can you link it to me? the other threads provided links but they dont work. if it doesnt show can u just email the link to me at [email protected] please?!! thank you so much!!

The website is http://www.ada.org/oat/oat_sample_test.pdf

Hopefully that works for you! I found it really useful

Edit: Okay, you can't get to it by clicking on it, but if you type it into the address bar, it should work.

 

[Mewcakes]

I agree with previous posters, I would apply riiiight away.

Your prereqs: I don't know if you've already done this or not, but please make sure they're still valid! I've heard a few things about prereqs older than 10yrs old not being valid at certain schools (or maybe all schools? I can't remember). So just make sure your within that time frame

The OAT: Be honest with yourself. Is a couple months really going to make a difference to you? Will you ACTUALLY sit down EVERY day and study? You have a full time job and if you're going to be taking prereqs next semester, then it's not going to change from this semester. You already delayed it 2 months since your initial exam date, how much more prepared are you right now than you were in October? That said, I think you should just bite the bullet and take the exam later this month. It will give you an idea (albeit an expensive one) about what you need to improve in and you'll be able to experience being timed. And then at least you'll have a complete application.

Interviews/Acceptances: The OAT is usually the one component that students get the most leeway on. "Take the OAT again, if you get a higher score, we'll let you in" is something I hear fairly often. They may offer you this stipulation if you have a low OAT score and the rest of your app is promising, but they definitely won't offer it if you don't take the OAT. So get on it and see what happens.

 

[hopestogetinopt]

Thanks for the advice everyone...yall are right. Most probably i will still be taking it on the 29th. But I'm not going to overstress myself about it. If I don't do well, then i'll just take it again. btw, I made a typo...i meant i was in my late 20s...not 30s...haha...Thanks again!