How to begin studying?!?!

[Pittsburgh90]

Hey all,

I'm feeling a bit overwhelemed with the wide variety of ways to study and prep. I just checked out Kaplan and paying over $1000 for those courses seems a bit ridiculous to me... is it necessary/is Kaplan that good of a way to prep that I should make the investment? If so, I will but wondering from others what thoughts are on to best prepare for this test?! THANKS!

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[FocusOD]

What materials are you currently using to help you study? Or have you started studying yet? I took my OAT last September using just Chad's videos and that still wasn't enough for me so now I am going to bit the bullet and pay for Kaplan's on-site course which is three months and you can split the payments up and pay at the end of each month. I start my course in April until June and then I'll take my exam the end of June and then apply early cycle. After my course ends I will update on how much it helped me.

BTW, since I have a while before my course starts, I'm currently going over Chads videos daily, especially the Gen Chem, Ochem and Physics videos which are amazing. For math I bought the Math Destroyer is also great if math is your weakness. I would start there and then possibly do Kaplan if you have the extra money.

 

[Optedirectioned]

Assuming you had a good undergraduate education, almost everything should be review (except maybe the biology on plants...)

Personally, I used the Big Blue Kaplan Book (bought on amazon) and the OAT Destroyer. I spent around $300 on these two things. It's important to know what the test is like and how in depth you need to know something. For example, the physics part is VERY conceptual. Instead of asking you questions that require you to calculate the velocity of the ball 5 seconds after it was launched at a 45 degree angle with an initial velocity of 25m/s, they'll ask you something like, you throw a ball straight up, what is its velocity when it reaches the peak?

Regarding the other parts of the OAT, practice on your timing with QR and RC. Both are not hard if you had all day, but gets pretty nerve wracking when you are timed and you're down to the last 5min.

So focus on what you need to know and don't fret over the little details. I would say the section that required the most straight up memorizing was the organic chemistry part. I've always sucked at chemistry and all those chemical reactions are a pain in the behind.

Regarding the OAT destroyer, try to do everything. You'll feel discouraged because those questions kick your ass, but you'll definitely learn and reinforce your knowledge. I wasn't too confident after doing the OAT destroyer, but I scored a 390AA/380TS

 

[xshinigami]

Hey all,

I'm feeling a bit overwhelemed with the wide variety of ways to study and prep. I just checked out Kaplan and paying over $1000 for those courses seems a bit ridiculous to me... is it necessary/is Kaplan that good of a way to prep that I should make the investment? If so, I will but wondering from others what thoughts are on to best prepare for this test?! THANKS!

Money was definitely an issue for me. I didn't have $1000 laying around.
This is what I used to prepare:

1. Chad's Videos $100 for 3 months (just google it)
2. Barron's AP Biology $15 (look on amazon)
3. Anki Flashcard FREE (http://ankisrs.net/)
4. OAT Destroyer + Math Destroyer Combo $199.95 (http://www.orgoman.com/products.html#oat)
5. OAT Achiever $69.99 (http://www.3tquest.com/index.php?module=products&id=2)

This is a sample of my studying schedule for 3 months:

Monday:
- Watch Chad's Videos for General Chemistry 1.1-1.6
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for General Chem 1.1-1.6
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 1
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Tuesday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for Organic Chemistry 1.1-1.7
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for Organic Chem 1.1-1.7
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 2
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Wednesday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for Physics 1.1-1.5
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for Physics 1.1-1.5
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 3
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Thursday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for QR 1.1-1.9
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for QR 1.1-1.9
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 4
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Friday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for General Chemistry 2.1-2.5
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for General Chem 2.1-2.5
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 5
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Saturday:
- GO THROUGH ALL FLASHCARDS
- Take a break, go have fun

Sunday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for Organic Chemistry 2.1-2.6
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for Organic Chem 2.1-2.6
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 6
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Monday:
- Repeat. You get the idea.

Keep in mind that I was also working my job during all of this studying (I mostly work night shifts that usually start around 4pm-5pm). So I found it easier to wake up at 7am everyday and go for a jog to get some blood running through my brain. Start studying at 8am. Take a lunch break at 12pm. Work at 5pm. That gives me less than 8 hours a day of studying. Each "block" of Chad's videos ranges from 2.5-3.5 hours to watch and do quizzes. Reading a chapter a day of Barron's AP Biology should take 1-2 hours. Doing all previous flashcards should take 1-2 hours depending on how much you remember. So it is very do-able. And I took a BREAK FROM STUDYING every Saturday to just relax and have fun. It's very important to take breaks every now and then to avoid burning out.

By the time you finish ALL of Biology, watching ALL of Chad's Videos, and doing ALL of Chad's Quizzes, then it is time for the Destroyer. Keep in mind that the Destroyer is MORE DIFFICULT than the actual OAT, so only use the Destroyer as a learning tool, not a gauge of how well you understand the information.

According to my studying schedule, I finished all of Chad's Videos + Quizzes and Barron's AP Biology in about 1.5 months (Weeks 1-6). So now I have about 1.5 months left before test day (Weeks 7-12):

Week 7: Complete 50 Math Destroyer problems, 50 Physics Destroyer problems, 50 OChem Destroyer problems, 50 GenChem Destroyer Problems, 50 Biology Destroyer problems.
(It's up to you how many you want to do a day, as long as you do 50 of each by the end of the week. If it were me, I'd do 10 of each subject everyday in order to keep all subjects fresh in my head. Mark all the problems that you missed, don't dwell on it, flip to the back and learn how to do it correctly, and attempt to do these problems again the next day)
Week 8: Do the next 50 of each subject
Week 9: Do the next 50 of each subject
Week 10: Do the next 50 of each subject
Week 11: Do the next 50 of each subject (by the end of this week you should've finished the whole Destroyer)
Week 12: Since there are only 3 OAT Achiever tests, spread them out this week. Make sure to take a day of break in between testing (trust me, you'll be drained). Go over all the incorrect and correct problems. Try to give yourself 1-2 days of relaxing before your test date.

Keep in mind that the OAT Achiever is MORE DIFFICULT than the actual OAT, so don't feel discouraged if you score below a 300 in any subject, look at it as an area for you to touch up on before test day.

This is just how I planned my studying schedule. Personally, I wasn't able to finish the Destroyer like I had planned since I was in an accident and had to do months of physical therapy (I only completed like 90 questions each from GenChem, OChem, QR and Physics. I didn't have time to do Biology Destroyer at all) and I was so tired of studying that I just wanted to get the test over with, but I still scored AA: 330 TS: 350. So imagine how high YOU can score if you did more than me lol.

I hope this helps somebody! The best things in life don't come easy. All of your hard work will pay off in the end. Good luck studying and don't worry, you'll do fine.

 

[member1992]

I used Chad's videos, kaplan big blue book for bio (which I don't think helped at all), old biology 2 notes from college for bio (helped a lot), kaplan practice tests. I got a 320/330 and only studied for a month and a half. What I did was try to finish bio and chem in 1.5 weeks, the rest for 3-5 days each, took practice exams in between, and reviewed all material and took two practice tests the week before exam.

 

[member1992]

I'm not saying to do my method, because most people couldn't. But you can try the same thing over a longer period of time.

 

[Optedirectioned]

Money was definitely an issue for me. I didn't have $1000 laying around.
This is what I used to prepare:

1. Chad's Videos $100 for 3 months (just google it)
2. Barron's AP Biology $15 (look on amazon)
3. Anki Flashcard FREE (http://ankisrs.net/)
4. OAT Destroyer + Math Destroyer Combo $199.95 (http://www.orgoman.com/products.html#oat)
5. OAT Achiever $69.99 (http://www.3tquest.com/index.php?module=products&id=2)

This is a sample of my studying schedule for 3 months:

Monday:
- Watch Chad's Videos for General Chemistry 1.1-1.6
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for General Chem 1.1-1.6
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 1
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Tuesday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for Organic Chemistry 1.1-1.7
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for Organic Chem 1.1-1.7
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 2
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Wednesday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for Physics 1.1-1.5
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for Physics 1.1-1.5
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 3
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Thursday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for QR 1.1-1.9
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for QR 1.1-1.9
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 4
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Friday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for General Chemistry 2.1-2.5
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for General Chem 2.1-2.5
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 5
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Saturday:
- GO THROUGH ALL FLASHCARDS
- Take a break, go have fun

Sunday:
- Go through all of previous flashcards
- Watch Chad's Videos for Organic Chemistry 2.1-2.6
- Do all Chad's corresponding quizzes for Organic Chem 2.1-2.6
- Make flashcards
- Read Barron's AP Bio Chapter 6
- Make flashcards
- Go through all of today's flashcards

Monday:
- Repeat. You get the idea.

Keep in mind that I was also working my job during all of this studying (I mostly work night shifts that usually start around 4pm-5pm). So I found it easier to wake up at 7am everyday and go for a jog to get some blood running through my brain. Start studying at 8am. Take a lunch break at 12pm. Work at 5pm. That gives me less than 8 hours a day of studying. Each "block" of Chad's videos ranges from 2.5-3.5 hours to watch and do quizzes. Reading a chapter a day of Barron's AP Biology should take 1-2 hours. Doing all previous flashcards should take 1-2 hours depending on how much you remember. So it is very do-able. And I took a BREAK FROM STUDYING every Saturday to just relax and have fun. It's very important to take breaks every now and then to avoid burning out.

By the time you finish ALL of Biology, watching ALL of Chad's Videos, and doing ALL of Chad's Quizzes, then it is time for the Destroyer. Keep in mind that the Destroyer is MORE DIFFICULT than the actual OAT, so only use the Destroyer as a learning tool, not a gauge of how well you understand the information.

According to my studying schedule, I finished all of Chad's Videos + Quizzes and Barron's AP Biology in about 1.5 months (Weeks 1-6). So now I have about 1.5 months left before test day (Weeks 7-12):

Week 7: Complete 50 Math Destroyer problems, 50 Physics Destroyer problems, 50 OChem Destroyer problems, 50 GenChem Destroyer Problems, 50 Biology Destroyer problems.
(It's up to you how many you want to do a day, as long as you do 50 of each by the end of the week. If it were me, I'd do 10 of each subject everyday in order to keep all subjects fresh in my head. Mark all the problems that you missed, don't dwell on it, flip to the back and learn how to do it correctly, and attempt to do these problems again the next day)
Week 8: Do the next 50 of each subject
Week 9: Do the next 50 of each subject
Week 10: Do the next 50 of each subject
Week 11: Do the next 50 of each subject (by the end of this week you should've finished the whole Destroyer)
Week 12: Since there are only 3 OAT Achiever tests, spread them out this week. Make sure to take a day of break in between testing (trust me, you'll be drained). Go over all the incorrect and correct problems. Try to give yourself 1-2 days of relaxing before your test date.

Keep in mind that the OAT Achiever is MORE DIFFICULT than the actual OAT, so don't feel discouraged if you score below a 300 in any subject, look at it as an area for you to touch up on before test day.

This is just how I planned my studying schedule. Personally, I wasn't able to finish the Destroyer like I had planned since I was in an accident and had to do months of physical therapy (I only completed like 90 questions each from GenChem, OChem, QR and Physics. I didn't have time to do Biology Destroyer at all) and I was so tired of studying that I just wanted to get the test over with, but I still scored AA: 330 TS: 350. So imagine how high YOU can score if you did more than me lol.

I hope this helps somebody! The best things in life don't come easy. All of your hard work will pay off in the end. Good luck studying and don't worry, you'll do fine.

Wow...that's...intense

 

[xshinigami]

Wow...that's...intense

Well, optometry school isn't going to be easy lol. You're going to be studying just as much (if not more) during optometry school, except there's going to be much more to memorize AND there's going to be new material, where as the OAT only goes over concepts you already learned during your undergrad.

If you think this is bad, just wait until the boards exams come around.

Might as well get started on knowing how you study the best now, rather than a few weeks into optometry school.

 

[optometrygirl29]

I would say above all else you need to take a practice exam without studying anything and then see where your weakest areas are and focus on those first and work you way thru the material. I personally hated some of the kaplan material for important stuff like gen chem and phyiscs Chads videos are awesome in comparison he is a great teacher kaplan does have some good qualities for reading comp and quanitative reasoning but for the actual science stuff it sucks i thought... you have to learn to take the exam without freaking about a time clock counting down! then i would do as stated above with a schedule of some sort.

 

[Tonometry]

agreed with optometrygirl29, CHAD Videos + Kaplan OAT Book = enough to keep you entertained.

Do a Practice Exam first, see what your weak area is and your strong area and the type of question that is bound to show up.

Gen Chem, O Chem and physics have a "pattern" of generic questions they can ask you. So learn the principle and know how to apply it. Chad video show suffice.

Biology is very random at times, but Kaplan really did a great job on this. Its very general assuming your a bio major.

QR --> all about how fast you can logically and quantitatively crunch out numbers.

Reading Comp: i did bad in this section, so I really have no advice.

Overall the more you exposure yourself to the exam and its structure the more comfortable it will be for you to preform at your best when the real exam comes.