So I just got my results back and I finally passed the AOA exam on my second try. Honestly felt like I was losing my mind after failing the first time because I genuinely thought I'd studied enough. First attempt I scored a 71 — passing is 75 — so I was devastated but knew I was close.
What made the difference the second time around was ditching the textbook-only approach and actually drilling with an AOA practice test site that mimics the real format. Timed sections matter way more than I realized. I also found a solid AOA study guide that broke down the opticianry math (Prentice's rule, transposition, vertex distance) into bite-sized chunks instead of just walls of formulas.
My biggest exam tip: don't sleep on the dispensing and lens design questions — that section wrecked me the first time. I spent about 3 weeks, roughly 45 minutes a day, focused almost exclusively on those topics before the retake. Anyone else here currently prepping or gone through this recently?