OAT Retake Policy: 60-Day Wait, 3-Attempt Rule, and Permission Process

You must wait 60 days between Optometry Admission Test (OAT) attempts, with a maximum of 4 attempts in any 12-month period. After 3 attempts, you must request written permission and prove a recent optometry school application. After a fifth attempt, you may test only once per 12 months. The policy is not subject to appeal.

If you are planning to retake the Optometry Admission Test, or just planning ahead, the retake rules shape your entire timeline. Get them wrong and you can lose a full application cycle. This guide lays out the current policy exactly as published in the official OAT Candidate Guide, plus how to use the waiting period so your next attempt is your best one.

One warning up front: outdated third-party pages still say the wait is 90 days. The current official policy is 60 days. Trust the Candidate Guide over any blog, including ones older than this one.

The Current Retake Rules, Step by Step

Rule 1: The 60-Day Wait

You must wait at least 60 days between testing attempts. There are no exceptions and no appeals. If you test on March 1, the earliest you can test again is roughly the end of April.

Rule 2: Four Attempts Per 12 Months

You may take the Optometry Admission Test a maximum of 4 times in any 12-month period. If you use all four, a fifth attempt is impossible until 12 months have passed since the first of those four attempts. This rolling window is why spacing attempts matters: four fast failures can freeze you out for months.

Rule 3: Permission After Three Attempts

After your third attempt, you must apply for permission to test again. The process:

1. Submit a written request to OATexam@ADA.org.
2. Include proof that you have applied to optometry school within the previous 18 months (the Candidate Guide lists acceptable forms of evidence).
3. Repeat this with each subsequent application to test.

The intent is clear: the program wants repeat testers to be actively pursuing admission, not collecting attempts.

Rule 4: Once Per Year After the Fifth Attempt

After your fifth OAT attempt, you may retest only once per 12-month period. Combined with the permission requirement, the practical message is: make attempts one through three count.

What Counts as an Attempt

An attempt is not just a completed exam. Per the Candidate Guide, a testing attempt is any administration where you are seated at the test center computer and electronically agree to the confidentiality statement. Sit down, click agree, and the attempt counts, even if you walk out ten minutes later.

The Financial Reality of Retakes

Each attempt requires a new application and a new $520 fee. The fee is non-refundable and non-transferable. Add the 60-day wait, and every retake costs you money and calendar time. This is why the "take it once, ready" approach is not motivational fluff; it is arithmetic.

For what the fee covers and what else you might pay, our registration guide has the full breakdown.

Every Attempt Is Reported

All of your scored attempts are reported to the programs you designate, and scores cannot be voided after testing. Admissions committees see the history, not just the highlight. One weak attempt followed by a strong one tells a comeback story. Three similar attempts tell a plateau story. Before you re-register, be sure the next score will move.

How to Use the 60 Days

The wait is a rebuild window, not a penalty. The students who turn retakes into jumps treat it like this:

1. Diagnose immediately. You get an unofficial score report at the test center. Within 24 hours, write down your section scores and your honest read on what went wrong: content gaps, timing, or nerves.
2. Change one major element. A new resource, a new schedule, or a new method. Retaking with the same plan that produced the first score is how students collect identical scores.
3. Spend about 70% of your time on your weakest sections. Keep strong sections fresh with maintenance work, but the gains live in your weaknesses.
4. Front-load full-lengths. Six or more in the retake window, each with a full review day. Our practice test guide covers the review protocol.

If your score was far below your practice range and nerves were the cause, the fix is simulation volume and test-day routine, not more content. Our score recovery guide walks through the full emotional and strategic reset.

When You Should NOT Retake Yet

Do not re-register just because the 60 days are up. Retake when these are true:

• Your recent representative practice scores are at or above your target.
• You can name exactly what failed last time and what you changed.
• The 60 days contained real, logged work, not anxious waiting.

Retaking on hope alone burns an attempt you cannot get back.

Our Recommendation

A retake needs a different system, not more of the same. Find a prep platform that gives you enough full-lengths to simulate the real experience, detailed score breakdowns to diagnose your gaps, and custom drills on your weakest topics. We've built ours around exactly those principles, but the important thing is that you change something meaningful between attempts. The policy is simple but strict: 60 days between attempts, 4 attempts per 12 months, written permission after the third, and once per year after the fifth. Every attempt costs $520 and is reported to schools. Use the wait to rebuild deliberately, and let your practice scores, not the calendar, tell you when to test again.