The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) administers the Optometry Admission Test (OAT). You must take the OAT in order to gain admission to a college of optometry. Many Prometric Test Centers administer the OAT. However, your application must be approved before you can schedule your test. After submitting your application, you will receive notification via email. Once your application is accepted, you have 12 months to schedule your testing appointment. If you do not test within that time period, you must resubmit your application and start the process again. 

The OAT score informs colleges of your general ability in academics as well as your aptitude and knowledge of science specific information.

The subjects tested include:
●Biology
●Chemistry
●Organic chemistry
●Reading comprehension
●Physics
●Quantitative reasoning. The test presents questions in a multiple-choice format, and there is no penalty for guessing. 

In order to be eligible, you should have at least one year of college. However, most examinees complete two or more years of college prior to taking the OAT. Your college course load should include courses in biology, physics, and general and organic chemistry.

The four main sections in the OAT include the following:
●Survey of natural sciences
●Reading comprehension
●Physics
●Quantitative reasoning.
●The test takes 280 minutes to complete. 

While you can take the OAT as many times as you wish, you must wait at least 90 days between exams. The OAT costs $226. This fee includes sending official OAT scores to up to five optometry schools of your choice. Upon completion of the test, you also will receive an unofficial copy of your OAT score for your own information and record keeping before you leave the test site. This test report will include your standard score as well as a percentile. 

You can find valuable information at the organization’s official website, www.opted.org.