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What to study for OAT examination

OAT (Optometry Admission Test) is an exam conducted by the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry for admission for Optometry related courses and programs. The OAT are considered by all the universities in the US and by the University of Waterloo, Canada for admissions for Optometry. For being eligible to take up the OAT exam, the applicant must have completed at least one year of college study with courses in biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics. The exams are aimed at examining the academic knowledge and cognitive skills of the applicants and are conducted all year round at test centres operated by Prometric Inc. There is no restriction on the number of times the OAT can be taken apart from a condition of a 90 day gap between each exam.

OAT comprising of 220 multiple choice questions consists of four sections: Survey of the Natural Sciences, Reading Comprehension, Physics and Quantitative Reasoning. Survey of natural sciences, the first section, consist of 100 questions and covers topics relating to Biology, General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. The Biology test content include 40 questions on topics including cell and molecular biology, genetics evolution, ecology and behaviour, biological organization and relationship between the diverse living things, structure and functions of systems and developmental biology. The General Chemistry test content include 30 questions covering topics including stoichiometry and general concepts, theories and laws on gases, properties and functions of liquids, solids, solutions, and acids and bases, chemical equilibrium, thermodynamic and thermochemistry, chemical kinetics, oxidation- reduction kinetics, atomic and molecular structure, periodic properties, nuclear reactions and basics of laboratory use. Organic Chemistry test content include energetic, structure and substitution mechanisms, chemical and physical properties of molecules, stereochemistry, nomenclature, individual reactions of the major functional groups and combinations of reactions to synthesize compounds, acid-base chemistry and aromatic and bonding.

All the other three sections, Reading Comprehension, Physics and Quantitative Reasoning include 4 questions each The Reading Comprehension Test comprising for three scientific topic based reading passages. This section analyses the comprehending ability, and the capacity to analyse and evaluate the appropriate answer for the questions based on the passages. The Physics section covers topics including units and vectors, linear kinematics, statics, dynamics, rotational motion, energy and momentum, simple harmonic motion, waves, fluid statics, thermal energy and thermodynamics, electrostatics, D.C. circuits, magnetism, optics, and modern physics. Finally, the Quantitative Reasoning includemathematical and applied mathematical problems.

The brief of each section is only an awareness of the topics and areas of content to be covered for the OAT. However, a plan on deciding what topics need to be focused more and a lot of practice of test papers is required for cracking out the OAT. The topics that frequently appear on test papers should be completed thoroughly so that scores on these are confirmed. Practicing OAT test papers gives an indication of the weaker areas that needs to more focus. Kaplan is considered to offer the best test practices for OAT exams. Kaplan offers both free practice OAT tests and full length practice test papers. The organisation administering OAT, Association of schools and colleges of Optometry, also free online test and these test are considered to be having closest accuracy to the actual OAT exam. Only the Reading Comprehension part is not accurate as the test papers contain one passage whereas in OAT exam there are three passages. There are also some charged online test paper providers like OAT Achiever and OAT Destroyer which are quite good for a complete preparation for the OAT exams.

With complete understanding of concepts and proficiency of knowledge of the contents of exam and continuous practice on mock test papers offered by various reliable sources, OAT should be relatively much easier to score well and get admission into a desired course and college of optometry.