Jul 28, 2026 · 12 min read
The Optometry Admission Test is a 230-question, computer-based exam administered at Prometric centres and required by every optometry program in the United States. Testing time is 4 hours 5 minutes; with the tutorial, the optional break and the post-test survey, plan for a 4.5–5 hour seat.
Survey of the Natural Sciences — 100 questions, 90 minutes. One timer covering Biology (40), General Chemistry (30) and Organic Chemistry (30). You can move freely between the three, which matters more than most students realise: you are not locked into 36 minutes of biology. Budget roughly 54 seconds per question and bank time on the questions you can answer instantly.
Reading Comprehension — 50 questions, 60 minutes. Three passages of dense scientific prose, roughly 16–17 questions each. No outside knowledge is required or rewarded. This is a search-and-verify task, not a comprehension task.
Physics — 40 questions, 50 minutes. No calculator. Formula recall is the binding constraint for most students, not conceptual understanding.
Quantitative Reasoning — 40 questions, 45 minutes. A basic on-screen calculator is provided. The arithmetic is deliberately clean; the difficulty is in setup and time.
Each section is reported on a 200–400 scale, mean about 300, standard deviation about 20. You receive scores for Biology, General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry individually, plus a Total Science score across all 100 SNS items, plus Reading, Physics and Quantitative Reasoning. The Academic Average is the average of the six, excluding Total Science.
Roughly: 300 is the 50th percentile, 320 is around the 80th, and 340 puts you near the 95th. Most matriculants land between 320 and 350.
Weeks 1–4: content. Watch lessons, read the high-yield notes, do untimed topic drills immediately after each chapter. Do not take a full-length test yet — you will learn almost nothing from a score that mostly reflects material you have not covered.
Weeks 5–8: question bank. Timed sets of 20–40 questions by subject. The review is the study session, not the questions themselves. For every question you miss, write one sentence naming the specific fact or step you lacked. If you cannot write that sentence, you have not finished reviewing it.
Weeks 9–11: full-lengths. One per week, Prometric mode, same time of day as your real exam. Review takes as long as the test — budget the whole day.
Week 12: taper. Formula sheets, flagged questions, weakest subtopics. No new material. Sleep.
Track your misses by subtopic, not by subject. "I'm bad at chemistry" is not actionable. "I lose points on buffer calculations and Ksp common-ion problems" is a two-hour fix.
The free tier includes all six cheatsheets, 300 questions and a full-length test in Prometric Mode.
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