Kaplan Preparedness & Study Tips

[BradleyROD]

Hi everyone,

My scheduled test date is September 20th, just 2 weeks away. I have completed Kaplan's on site prep class and its online required materials. I have also bought the OAT destroyer, of which I am slowly going through all their questions/ solutions with an emphasis on Biology and Physics.

I have a few questions. For those of you who have taken the test already if you could go back and study all over again, what would you have done differently? Particularly those who have taken Kaplan's course and who have already taken the OAT, what would be your best advice for really doing well on the test? I want a 400!!!!

Any and all advice is welcomed and greatly appreciated! Here are my scores thus far;

Kaplan; Midterm Final

Bio 320 320
Chem 300 310
Ochem 320 350
Phy Sci 230 310
Reading Comp 270 290
Quantitative Reasoning 270 330

I am looking to do the best I can, no score in particular. Any past experience with Kaplan's scores vs. real scores on the test would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and for everyone studying good luck and I hope this thread gains everyone some insightful knowledge!

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[bluexparadise]

Hey I recently took the Kaplan course and scored a 340 on TS and AS
My overall grade was a bit higher than my overall grades for Kaplan's test. However, the subjects that I scored higher on the actual OAT were different from the subject tests I scored higher on Kaplan. So in a way, it balanced each other out and in the overall scheme of things, it was about the same overall score.

I would've tried to memorize as much as I can from the Kaplan book for biology and not focus too much on memorizing their answers from practice exams. the questions on the OAT for bio was very different from Kaplan's
Chem and Physics were easier on the actual OAT so I think if you do well on Kaplan's questions, it will prepare you well for the actual OAT.
For Math, review your trig a lot. That's what I would've done if I had to do it over again.
For reading, all I can say is that at the moment of the test, you just gotta keep head focused on the passages and go through them as quick as possible, wasting no time. Give it your all and hope that you get a score in the 300s at least. my reading scores were similar to yours for kaplan and I was really afraid that that would happen on the actual OAT. But that day, I focused a lot and just kept moving through the questions without spending too much time on the questions that stumped me. I ended up with a 320 which isn't fantastic but it was better than my usual 290's. I was very relieved.

Good luck!

 

[luckyfeet]

How did you increase your physics score??

 

[BradleyROD]

Thank you Bluexparadise.

Your response was the exact thing I was looking for. The gist of the forums elude to the fact that Kaplan Bio prep is not sufficient but rather reading and memorizing, to the best of your abilities, their Bio chapters in the book is the best way to go. Im planning on taking 5 more practice tests before the 20th, 2 more from Kaplan and 3 from OAT achiever. In between taking all of them I will do my best to master the Bio chapter. I just took another practice test this morning and got raped by the Natural Sciences Section. It was Practice test 1
Bio 270
Gchem 290
Ochem 320
Physics 310
RC 310
QR 340

My opinion was that the natural sciences section was just ridiculously hard, compared to one prior. How did your scores compare for midterm, final, practice 1, 2, and 3?

Thanks again for the input it means a lot.

 

[BradleyROD]

How did you increase your physics score??

For the most part my physics score went up, along with everything else, due to the fact that I was able to finish the sections with a little time to spare. I went at snails pace during my midterm and it was something I worked on immediately. I was spending to much time guessing and not getting to the questions that I could answer due to time restraints.

Hope that helps and Happy studying!

 

[belizaire]

Hi everyone,

My scheduled test date is September 20th, just 2 weeks away. I have completed Kaplan's on site prep class and its online required materials. I have also bought the OAT destroyer, of which I am slowly going through all their questions/ solutions with an emphasis on Biology and Physics.

I have a few questions. For those of you who have taken the test already if you could go back and study all over again, what would you have done differently?
!

If I could do it again I would study quantitative reasoning more, as in do a lot more problems, and then I would have memorized my OChem reactions a lot earlier in my schedule. In real life, if I remember my scores correctly, I got a 340 on each. I thought having a familiarity with the OChem rxns would be sufficient, but turns out I should have flat out memorized them.

 

[BradleyROD]

Thanks for the input it means a lot. I'm doing my best to memorize more bio information from the Kaplan big book and going to start memorizing all the ochem rxns. Also I have the OAT destroyer package and will get to those QR questions but its one of my best subjects so I keep putting it off.

Thanks again, any and all advice is nice to hear.

 

[belizaire]

Yeah def focus on what you're weak in. But fyi, I don't know a single person that has actually finished the QR portion. Time goes by super quickly. I think I didn't finish 4 or 5 of the questions

 

[Eyecandy09]

Hi everyone,

My scheduled test date is September 20th, just 2 weeks away. I have completed Kaplan's on site prep class and its online required materials. I have also bought the OAT destroyer, of which I am slowly going through all their questions/ solutions with an emphasis on Biology and Physics.

I have a few questions. For those of you who have taken the test already if you could go back and study all over again, what would you have done differently? Particularly those who have taken Kaplan's course and who have already taken the OAT, what would be your best advice for really doing well on the test? I want a 400!!!!

Any and all advice is welcomed and greatly appreciated! Here are my scores thus far;

Kaplan; Midterm Final

Bio 320 320
Chem 300 310
Ochem 320 350
Phy Sci 230 310
Reading Comp 270 290
Quantitative Reasoning 270 330

I am looking to do the best I can, no score in particular. Any past experience with Kaplan's scores vs. real scores on the test would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and for everyone studying good luck and I hope this thread gains everyone some insightful knowledge!

I memorized everything in the giant Kaplan book for Biology and was still completely caught off guard. If I could redo it, I would have used undergrad material from Biology 2, and studied more on specificities with the human body. I had a lot of A&P on my exam, I felt at least.

I personally struggled a lot with ochem in undergrad but did very well on the exam only using Kaplan material. I think Kaplan does their chemistries well,(gchem) preps you to be ready for conceptual questions as well as calculations.

Kaplan physics is terribly hard. Just try your best and soak everything up that you possibly can. Its harder than the real exam, but the real exam isn't exactly cake either. I scraped through a 300 in that.

Reading Comprehension was a lot easier in my opinion on the real exam than in class. In my Kaplan class we would read about neuroscience and hormones and on the real exam I remember alligators and firecrackers. I might have just lucked out, but overall it was a lot more relaxed. Don't use Kaplans method if you are uncomfortable with it, find a method that suits your analysis style.

& I felt prepared with Kaplan's QR as well, there weren't any surprise equations that hadn't been mentioned at all.

Just don't get discouraged with Kaplan scores, they tend to be a little lower than the real thing. And get some supplemental material for biology! Best of luck!

 

[BradleyROD]

Thanks for the heads up. Everyone has said that Kaplan's Bio is insufficient so I have been studying my ass off. But to add I have only been memorizing the big book?!? I hope I am not doomed.I feel like its a decent Bio resource and as I am a Biology Major hopefully Ill be okay on the real thing.

At least for Bio I have increased dramatically by studying their big book. Here are my Practice test 2 & 3 scores.

Practice Test 2/3
Bio 310/400
Chem 310/300
Ochem 300/290
Physics 310/ 360
RC 310/ 290
QR 330/ 360

In the days to come I will ease off of biology and really work on chem and ochem and hope the reading comp on the real thing is easier to get through.

Once I take the real test on Thursday I will post my scores on an excel spread sheet. Then everyone using Kaplan can really see what to expect.

Thanks for your advice and comments!

 

[Papasmurf1234]

I took the OAT yesterday, you can read on what my views on the Bio section was:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=951387

But to add to it, the blue book covers just the basics. A lot of the questions require you to dig deeper. While it's not impossible to answer the bio questions, it will require you to think a lot more and recall you to remember very specific details. Genetics and evolutionary traits seem to be on nearly every test so i would definitely learn those. And I'm talking about trisomy, monosomy, aneuploidy, etc. Not the punnette square stuff.

 

[BradleyROD]

I read your post and I must say it kind of freaked me out. My test is thursday so I dont have much time to prepare differently. When you say trisomy, monosomy, aneuploidy and not the punnette square stuff do you mean know examples of them? Like trisomy 21 causing down syndrome...that trisomy and monosomy are types of aneuploids?

I am a biology major so most bio stuff comes to me easily/ naturally but if it is purely factual information youre talking about I don't see the time to memorize more information than is already present in the Kaplan OAT Review Notes book.

Thanks for your input it means a lot!

 

[BradleyROD]

Also! I know you cant go into specifics, so dont, but should I really spend a lot of time memorizing the ecology stuff. There is just so much and I don't believe it is a subject that is tested heavily on in the bio section. Am I wrong? I am spending way more time doing A&P problems. Thanks again!

 

[Papasmurf1234]

What are A&P questions?

Also, in regards to your question, no matter what - you will be caught off guard.
You can read my breakdown here from yesterday:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=951387

Kaplan's exam questions on the bio section - for all their tests - are significantly easier and simple compared to the OAT. I usually finished the Bio section within 10-15 minutes of the Kaplan tests and got 400 most of the time. (including individual subject tests).

Kaplan also asks the same questions over and over again so you start to just recognize answers rather than thinking about them (which is bad). I think I had one ecology question.
The bio section was very random...I had like 1 on endocrinology, 1 on bone, 2 on ecology (pretty basic topics though), and one on the lineages of evolution.

I thought I got a 310-320 AA but I didn't, so you will probably do better than you'd think to.

I'm also taking my DAT on thursday so good luck to both of us!
What time is your test?
Mine is at 8 a.m. -_-
I'm going to alter my sleeping pattern (8p.m.-5 a.m.) from tonight so I can actually get some sleep tomorrow before the big day lol

 

[BradleyROD]

Anatomy and Physiology= A&P

I guess I will just have to work on timing then because while I normally finish Kaplan Bio within 20 minutes, I need the extra time for Gchem and Ochem. Hopefully the fact that there are less calculations for Gchem it will balance out.

How did you timing compare from the Kaplan practice tests to the real thing. I normally finish the Kaplan Natural Sciences section with just a few minutes to spare and go over a few questions or so. Im worried that the "longer" Biology section will really slow down my pace for Gchem and Ochem.

What are your thoughts? And thanks so much for posting! You're done and you did great! Its really nice you're still on here helping other people out. Thank you

 

[BradleyROD]

.
I'm also taking my DAT on thursday so good luck to both of us!
What time is your test?
Mine is at 8 a.m. -_-
I'm going to alter my sleeping pattern (8p.m.-5 a.m.) from tonight so I can actually get some sleep tomorrow before the big day lol

Thats funny, my dentist wanted me to take the DAT just because. Im not though, Im optometry through and through.

My test is at 11:45am so I get to sleep in/ look over some material before hand.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

Anatomy and Physiology= A&P

I guess I will just have to work on timing then because while I normally finish Kaplan Bio within 20 minutes, I need the extra time for Gchem and Ochem. Hopefully the fact that there are less calculations for Gchem it will balance out.

How did you timing compare from the Kaplan practice tests to the real thing. I normally finish the Kaplan Natural Sciences section with just a few minutes to spare and go over a few questions or so. Im worried that the "longer" Biology section will really slow down my pace for Gchem and Ochem.

What are your thoughts? And thanks so much for posting! You're done and you did great! Its really nice you're still on here helping other people out. Thank you

Ah...i see i see.
Ya, make sure you know anatomy...i think I had 2 questions on that. (KBB is sufficient IMO).

It's different...can't really say since I was nervous when taking the OAT. It makes a huge difference. I went through once with about 6 minutes to spare. Then I went back to all the non answered questions and tried to do them fast as I can. (Ended up guessing on about 4-5 of them). As long as you're calm and you don't look at the clock after every question you should be fine. The Ochem was pretty basic and so was Gchem but they throw random questions at you that you've never encountered in Kaplan.

The bio section isn't EXTREMELY wordy. It's not like they give you a paragraph to read for every question. IT's just some of the terminology they use is foreign from having done Kaplan for majority of my prep. As long as you have a fairly good grasp on bio overall you should be able to get most of them. I had quite a few extremely basic questions like - "which of these structures are homologous to each other".

And you're welcome I've been a lurker for a long time but I figured I should start posting now lol. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

Thats funny, my dentist wanted me to take the DAT just because. Im not though, Im optometry through and through.

My test is at 11:45am so I get to sleep in/ look over some material before hand.

Hahaha, ya, IMHO OAT is harder than the DAT just because of the physics portion (since you actually have to learn it) rather than the PAT came pretty easily for me.
Plus you get an additional 2 seconds per problem on the RC on the DAT haha. It doesn't sound much but it adds up to be an additional 1 minute 40 seconds which can make a difference between a 370 and a 380 or 390.

How do you feel about Optometry in general? I just took it because I've been studying the OAT material rather than the DAT. But i've never really had a strong desire for optometry...especially after seeing the doctors struggle in California to make money. Also, I didn't like just doing refractions all day.

 

[BradleyROD]

Hahaha, ya, IMHO OAT is harder than the DAT just because of the physics portion (since you actually have to learn it) rather than the PAT came pretty easily for me.
Plus you get an additional 2 seconds per problem on the RC on the DAT haha. It doesn't sound much but it adds up to be an additional 1 minute 40 seconds which can make a difference between a 370 and a 380 or 390.

How do you feel about Optometry in general? I just took it because I've been studying the OAT material rather than the DAT. But i've never really had a strong desire for optometry...especially after seeing the doctors struggle in California to make money. Also, I didn't like just doing refractions all day.

I think Optometry is one of the best professions there is. I am extremely biased as you can imagine. I worked in my fathers practice for the last 8 years and I am in love. Its not all about doing refractions all day! It's owning a business and everything that comes with it.

Quick few questions;

For the ochem section would you recommend learning all the names of the reactions, as to be able to name them if you saw the reaction? Or is time better spend just memorizing the reactions?

For physics would you say that you need to know every equation that Kaplan gives you on their study sheets? I know most of them without thinking but there are a few I don't/ never used.

I don't know why I am so worried now but just hearing that Kaplan is outdated and insufficient in some areas makes me think I am doomed. I am not looking for perfect 400's across the test but I would like to get 300s or better in each section and an AA of at least 320.

Thanks for your time and help! As well happy studying for your own DAT on thursday!

 

[Papasmurf1234]

I think Optometry is one of the best professions there is. I am extremely biased as you can imagine. I worked in my fathers practice for the last 8 years and I am in love. Its not all about doing refractions all day! It's owning a business and everything that comes with it.

Quick few questions;

For the ochem section would you recommend learning all the names of the reactions, as to be able to name them if you saw the reaction? Or is time better spend just memorizing the reactions?

For physics would you say that you need to know every equation that Kaplan gives you on their study sheets? I know most of them without thinking but there are a few I don't/ never used.

I don't know why I am so worried now but just hearing that Kaplan is outdated and insufficient in some areas makes me think I am doomed. I am not looking for perfect 400's across the test but I would like to get 300s or better in each section and an AA of at least 320.

Thanks for your time and help! As well happy studying for your own DAT on thursday!

Haha, I guess your answer is valid since I assume you will be taking over your dad's practice when he retires considering you get into Optometry.
Sadly, for most, this is not the case. Most people have to take multiple part time jobs to make ends meet after graduation.

It's a little too late to try to learn a whole lot now, if you've been doing fine on the ochem sections you'll be fine on the test. There are random ones Kaplan throws at you that I never even saw on the actual exam. Know HNMR and IR though.

For physics, don't worry about the obscure equations.
I actually thought I did the best on that section - except my score didn't reflect it
The concepts are basic. Nothing requiring a lot of calculations. I believe the only real calculations involved were with the first part of the Kaplan chapters (i.e. newton's laws, work, energy, heat, etc).

I didn't get any calculations that had to do with magnetism/electricity except resistance and capacitance...but everyone should expect at least one of those.

Overall, just know your Kinematics really well as it constitutes at least half the physics.

 

[BradleyROD]

Took the test yesterday and I did okay. I dropped the ball on physics and quantitative reasoning...

Kaplan; Midterm/Final/P1/P2/P3/---Real OAT

Bio 320/320/270/310/400/---370 (94.1)
Chem 300/310/290/310/300/---320 (60.3)
Ochem 320/350/320/300/290/---340 (81.2)
Phy Sci 230/310/310/310/360/---310 (69.3)
Reading Comp 270/290/310/310/290/---340 (79.6)
Quantitative Reasoning 270/330/340/330/360/---310 (69.9)
TS X/X/X/X/X/---340 (82.2)
AA X/X/X/X/X/---330 (80.7)

The test is mostly conceptual. Its almost more important that you understand the concepts rather than remember/ be able to use the equations.

I can answer any question anyone has about the test but here is what I wanted to comment about;

Bio- just about the same as Kaplan. As long as you do all the reading and the online workshops you should be fine. As most have already mentioned, their style of questions are different but not necessarily harder.

Gchem- my least favorite section. It was not hard, anyone with a good familiarity with general chemistry will do great. Kaplan gchem was a lot of math, I should have better understood the concepts.

Ochem- very easy compared to Kaplans prep. No big surprises here except that there were a lot of easy questions that I couldn't believe showed up.

Reading Comp- Way easier than Kaplans! Just practice reading/ your own style for hunting down answers.

BREAK

Physics- Kaplans physics was very different. I would say youre better off reading your undergraduate text books but using Kaplan+ your text books would get you a great grade. Very few calculations, I wasted a lot of time memorizing equations.

QR- WAY HARDER than Kaplans but still doable. I lost focus towards the end of the test and this section really beat me. Practice makes perfect so utilize all the practice questions Kaplan has and know that it will be harder on the test.

While my scores are not excellent nor amazing I felt that I did okay. I was happy to perform better on the real test than any of my Kaplan tests. So as a rule of thumb (which Im pretty sure most have reported back on) Kaplan practice tests are harder and you will most likely do better on the real thing.

Any and all questions welcomed. Everyone was super nice and informative when I had a question about the test, I am happy to do the same.

Happy studying!

 

[optomgirl578]

Nice job BradleyROD! I think your scores are good enough, you scored above 300 on each subject so you'll be fine! Are you applying this cycle, and if you are, have you already submitted your app? I also wanted to clarify, since you only mentioned Kaplan, did you use any other study materials..such as OAT Destroyer/ OAT Achiever etc? and how long did you study/prepare for the exam?

I took the test in August and used Kaplan to study and I felt the same way, QR caught me off guard and was much harder, and RC was wayyyy easier! I'm planning to retake the test though..I think I could've studied harder.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

Hey nice job man! Not too shabby!

@optomgirl578 - it really depends on the version of the test you get. You can read the difference between my DAT and my OAT experience. For instance, my OAT made kaplan's material look like ***** **** while the DAT was somewhat closer to the Kaplan tests.

 

[bluexparadise]

Thank you Bluexparadise.

Your response was the exact thing I was looking for. The gist of the forums elude to the fact that Kaplan Bio prep is not sufficient but rather reading and memorizing, to the best of your abilities, their Bio chapters in the book is the best way to go. Im planning on taking 5 more practice tests before the 20th, 2 more from Kaplan and 3 from OAT achiever. In between taking all of them I will do my best to master the Bio chapter. I just took another practice test this morning and got raped by the Natural Sciences Section. It was Practice test 1
Bio 270
Gchem 290
Ochem 320
Physics 310
RC 310
QR 340

My opinion was that the natural sciences section was just ridiculously hard, compared to one prior. How did your scores compare for midterm, final, practice 1, 2, and 3?

Thanks again for the input it means a lot.

Heyy sorry i didn't see this till now lol. I didn't get any notification u replied my post but i see u did just fine on ur OAT!! congrats!!=]

 

[optometrygirl29]

what is the big book are you referring to kaplans review notes book? i took the diagnostic kap exam and got a 240 at the midterm i got a 290 but that is far below what i need any study tips advice anyone can give that would be great