This is a question asked on SCCO’s Facebook Group for Pre-optometry Students (http://www.facebook.com/groups/SCCOadmissions/).  Bulleted, you will find answers from both SCCO students and Facebook Group members:

Is it possible to just buy the simulated OAT practice exams instead of the entire course? Has anyone tried something like this before? 

• You can purchase OAT practice exams, like the OAT Destroyer and the Kaplan book, without having to purchase a course. There are a lot of books out there that offer OAT practice exams with content material. I’d recommend searching around pre-optometry groups for people selling their prep books. In terms of a simulated computer-based OAT exam, I think most companies require a course purchase. You can always call Kaplan or one of the test prep companies to see if they offer tests for sale if you’re looking for something like that.
  Grace Liao
  SCCO Class of 2016

Sorry I didn’t clarify.   I meant the simulated computer-based OAT exam. The old Kaplan books are perfect for reviewing material but I need to also prepare for the computer and timing aspect of it. I will ask a Kaplan representative. ^_^ Thank you for your help!

• 🙂 I’m pretty sure you need to sign up for one of the Kaplan courses (either the completely online version or classroom version) however, I also practiced with this online simulator:
  http://www.3tquest.com/index.php?module=products&id=2 they have a free trial you can download (i only used the free trial) 🙂
  hope that helps!!
  Dayna Yim
  Student Ambassador c/o 2016

How closely related was the OAT achiever to the actual exam? Did the OAT achiever have a similar format as well, such as highlighting features, simple calculator, etc?

• I do believe it had similar features such as the calculator. Since I only took the free sample, I can’t quite remember if the questions were on the same “level” as questions on the OAT. Sorry!
  I would also check out the prometrics website. There is a tutorial (not OAT related) that lets you see the exact format of the test (where the buttons are, what the calculator looks like on the screen and how to “mark” questions which I found very helpful) Let me know if you have any other questions!! 🙂
  Dayna Yim
  SCCO Class of 2016
• You can get the Crack the OAT software. You can mark questions and it has an on screen calculator you can practice with. Plus each question has text and video solutions so you can see where you went wrong. The only downside is that it doesn’t have a physics section. Overall I found the material to be pretty similar to my exam, especially the QR section. Good luck!
• Crack the OAT is really nice because it is formatted and timed like the real OAT. The OAT achiever seems to be really similar except it is cheaper because it consists of 3 OAT mock exams. Anyone know which software is better?