Retake or no?

[20/15]

Hi all!
I just wanted to know just how badly is it frowned upon to take the OAT more than once. My pharmacy friends say that for them they usually advise taking the PCAT once. Would this be the same for the OAT? I took my test today and got 320 in AA and TS. Although I'd like my score to be about 30 points higher, I'd rather not have to go through the experience again.

Also, would the schools be able to directly give me advice on this, say, talking to the Admissions Coordinator or some such person? Thx!

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[3eb4me]

If you don't mind me asking, how did you prepare for the OATs?

I think you should retake it only if you know you can do better.

 

[PreOptMegs]

I think your score is competetive. I was told by my pre-opt advisor that they are now looking mostly at your gen chem and reading scores because "they are the best predictor of how someone will do on boards...." I personally think it is a load of crap about the predictor thing because if a person works hard enough they can do anything.....

 

[20/15]

I actually took a Kaplan course a while back but I never actually finished everything in it bc I got busy with graduations, moving back and I was out of the country. I found the subject tests to be pretty helpful and I never even used half my flashcards. The workshops were ok for topics I needed more in depth studies. The actual class was short and only mildly helpful.

Reading comp and g-chem eh? I hope so cuz I actually got a 400 in RC and I hope it will compensate for the sorry score I got in physics

 

[polkadot]

I think your score is competetive. I was told by my pre-opt advisor that they are now looking mostly at your gen chem and reading scores because "they are the best predictor of how someone will do on boards...." I personally think it is a load of crap about the predictor thing because if a person works hard enough they can do anything.....

actually, I think the RC score/board score correlation has been proven statistically for all pre-health professional exams.

 

[PreOptMegs]

Maybe you are right, but according to my ACT score, I wasn't predicted to score as high on the OAT as I did. Hard work will get you through anything.

 

[3eb4me]

Maybe you are right, but according to my ACT score, I wasn't predicted to score as high on the OAT as I did. Hard work will get you through anything.

Is there anyway our official score will be lower than the one computerized by the testing center?

 

[scalded]

Maybe you are right, but according to my ACT score, I wasn't predicted to score as high on the OAT as I did. Hard work will get you through anything.

So how did you score in your statistics class?

All these tests do is give a correlation between scores and outcomes. It isn’t accurate for everyone, there will always be people who perform better on the boards than their test scores would indicate, but for the majority of people a higher test score means a greater likelihood of passing the boards. That’s why schools use them. They don’t care about individuals (no matter what your guidance counselor told you). They care about numbers. You admit 100 people with OAT scores of 300 and 100 people with OAT scores of 400, guess which group will have a likelyhood of a greater board passing rate. Better rates make the school look good, hence increasing recruitment of highly qualified applicants and the cycle repeats.

 

[PreOptMegs]

Exactly... the tests are predictors and it is obvious which one would be more LIKELY, but you just validated my point that there are exceptions, and the way I made myself an exception was by HARD WORK.

This reminds me of my friend Stephanie who scored a 32 on the ACT and was accepted to Pharmacy school, but didn't study or put any time in because she thought she could cruise through classes and ended up lasting 4 weeks in pharmacy school. She now works at Best Buy. All of the STATISTICS in the world would have said that she was well on her way to becoming a Pharmacist, but she was an exception wasn't she.

By the way jack, I have aced all stats classes.