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I took my OAT end of February 2015, and was accepted to SUNY first week of march(my first choice). Here is how I studied...
Materials Used: AP Cliff's, Campell's Biology textbook, Oat Destroyer books, Chad's videos for organic chemistry, general chemistry and physics, OAT destroyer math, Princeton OAT Physics book
I studied for 3 months, with most emphasis on the last two weeks before test day, averaging 10-13 hours a day.
Biology: Read Cliff's AP notes, and that was it. Heavily relied on my undergrad bio knowledge, which isn't saying much, since I took bio 4 years ago so didn't really remember much, but time was of the essence. I know some people who actually read the WHOLE campbell's Biology textbook, but that to me sounded insane. I only used that book as a reference if something in Cliff's was not clear to me. I also watched Bozeman Science biology videos (free online), which were great and helped me on actual test day. His videos on body functions were amazing, highly recommend that. I also did about 100 questions from the OAT destroyer biology section. If you have time, I would do all those questions( its about 600 I think), they are great practice and give you explanations of what you got wrong in the back.
General Chemistry and organic chemistry: I watched Chad's gen chem videos and did all the OAT destroyer chem questions to refresh. Since I had a solid background in chemistry I didn't spend much time preparing for it. I did the same for orgo, Chad is very good at refreshing you with what you might have forgotten but again, I didn't really study much for orgo since I thought my college provided me with sufficient knowledge and heard from others that OAT orgo is not as intense as a college level organic chemistry course ( and they were so right!)
Physics: By far the most hated section of all. I devoted most of my studying time to physics 1 material (projectile motion, kinematics, torque, etc..) by using Princeton's OAT book, which I thought did a good job of simplifying subjects I thought were really complicated while taking the actual course in my undergrad. I watched Chad's videos right after I would read a section from Princeton and that I thought helped cement what I just had learned. I also used princeton and chad for physics 2. I know an optics question would be asked so I actually went back to my college notes for that. For practice, I did the OAT destroyer Physics questions which I thought were pretty challenging but I finished them all. (it's a small book).
Reading Comprehension: I DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR THIS SECTION. I always was a slow reader, so I didn't think 3 months was enough time for me to increase my reading skills, but one tactic I learned and that was all that I took with me to test day was to read the question first and then skim the article for the answer. Names, years, italicized words were key. I decided to focus my attention on the sciences, hence payed this section NO ATTENTION.
QR: I was always good in math but not fast. For the OAT, I knew I had to step up my game. I did all the math problems from the OAT destroyer and wrote down all the formulas that I didn't know in a separate notebook. I didn't really study much for this section.
5 days before the actual OAT, I decided to take a practice exam from OAT Achiever. I scored below a 300 on EVERY section. So obviously I had a panic attack. I wasn't pacing myself enough but at that point couldn't really do much so I decided to just keep calm and carry on with studying whatever I thought I was weak on. Day before the exam I was watching netflix and relaxing but went to bed at 10pm.
TEST DAY OMG
I arrived at the center at 8am for a 9am test. Make sure to bring two forms of identification, and lunch. I was super nervous and shaking, forced myself to eat breakfast. I used the 15 min that they give you to watch the tutorial to calm myself down. (It worked).
Biology: OK, I had no clue what to expect in this section. I was worried they would give me a question on taxonomy (which I didn't have time to study) but thank gd my exam did not have that. I scored a 350 on this section by some miracle. I guess studying plants and knowing the body functions as well as some evolution payed off.
Gen Chem+ ORGO: I was pleasantly surprised at how easy/fair these questions were. I mean really. Just by watching Chad's videos one should be able to answer at least 80% of these questions, the other ones required some actual thinking. If you did well on your college level gen chem and orgo courses then I would suggest not to worry about a thing. I finished these sections with enough time to review the sciences at least one more time. I would have to say the OAT destroyer questions were spot on for these sections. Even harder, but again its better to be challenged than have easy material to study from.
Reading Comp: I was really nervous for this section but took it one story at a time. Gave you 3 articles of various subjects. I first read the question and then skimmed the passage for any key words from the question. I skipped the questions that required to much time to find the answer for( I guessed those) but felt pretty good at the end of the section.
Break: 15 min break, ran to get my lunch, had to run back in and do another check in (which took 7 min) and then ran to my station and noticed that the physics section had already started! Yeah, I freaked out.
Physics: The check in time really messed me up. I had to calm myself down, and regroup. The types of questions asked were very fair, not much calculations, more conceptual. I was on question 15 out of 40 when the timer told me I had 5 min left. Yep, I guessed every answer right after. It's better to answer every question than leave it blank.
QR: I don't even want to talk about this section. Completely ran out of time yet again. So i gave up and began guessing after completing half the questions. The calculator definitely helped though.
Finally my score report:
QR: 310
Reading comp:340
Gen chem: 370
ORgo: 360
physics: 300
total science: 350
AA: 340
So, overall I was happy with my scores but upset that I did so poorly on physics since it was the subject I spent most of my time on. QR also wasn't too hot. Anyways, I was invited for interviews in every school that I applied to but canceled them once I was accepted to SUNY ( my dream school).
What I learned: The actual OAT exam is much easier than any practice exam you will ever take. If there is a question you do not know, don't dwell on it, keep going. I dwelled a lot on one type of question for physics and QR and it showed on my score report. I didn't get to do the questions I actually knew. Learn how to pace yourself well.
If you have any questions please feel free to message me! Good luck.
Materials Used: AP Cliff's, Campell's Biology textbook, Oat Destroyer books, Chad's videos for organic chemistry, general chemistry and physics, OAT destroyer math, Princeton OAT Physics book
I studied for 3 months, with most emphasis on the last two weeks before test day, averaging 10-13 hours a day.
Biology: Read Cliff's AP notes, and that was it. Heavily relied on my undergrad bio knowledge, which isn't saying much, since I took bio 4 years ago so didn't really remember much, but time was of the essence. I know some people who actually read the WHOLE campbell's Biology textbook, but that to me sounded insane. I only used that book as a reference if something in Cliff's was not clear to me. I also watched Bozeman Science biology videos (free online), which were great and helped me on actual test day. His videos on body functions were amazing, highly recommend that. I also did about 100 questions from the OAT destroyer biology section. If you have time, I would do all those questions( its about 600 I think), they are great practice and give you explanations of what you got wrong in the back.
General Chemistry and organic chemistry: I watched Chad's gen chem videos and did all the OAT destroyer chem questions to refresh. Since I had a solid background in chemistry I didn't spend much time preparing for it. I did the same for orgo, Chad is very good at refreshing you with what you might have forgotten but again, I didn't really study much for orgo since I thought my college provided me with sufficient knowledge and heard from others that OAT orgo is not as intense as a college level organic chemistry course ( and they were so right!)
Physics: By far the most hated section of all. I devoted most of my studying time to physics 1 material (projectile motion, kinematics, torque, etc..) by using Princeton's OAT book, which I thought did a good job of simplifying subjects I thought were really complicated while taking the actual course in my undergrad. I watched Chad's videos right after I would read a section from Princeton and that I thought helped cement what I just had learned. I also used princeton and chad for physics 2. I know an optics question would be asked so I actually went back to my college notes for that. For practice, I did the OAT destroyer Physics questions which I thought were pretty challenging but I finished them all. (it's a small book).
Reading Comprehension: I DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR THIS SECTION. I always was a slow reader, so I didn't think 3 months was enough time for me to increase my reading skills, but one tactic I learned and that was all that I took with me to test day was to read the question first and then skim the article for the answer. Names, years, italicized words were key. I decided to focus my attention on the sciences, hence payed this section NO ATTENTION.
QR: I was always good in math but not fast. For the OAT, I knew I had to step up my game. I did all the math problems from the OAT destroyer and wrote down all the formulas that I didn't know in a separate notebook. I didn't really study much for this section.
5 days before the actual OAT, I decided to take a practice exam from OAT Achiever. I scored below a 300 on EVERY section. So obviously I had a panic attack. I wasn't pacing myself enough but at that point couldn't really do much so I decided to just keep calm and carry on with studying whatever I thought I was weak on. Day before the exam I was watching netflix and relaxing but went to bed at 10pm.
TEST DAY OMG
I arrived at the center at 8am for a 9am test. Make sure to bring two forms of identification, and lunch. I was super nervous and shaking, forced myself to eat breakfast. I used the 15 min that they give you to watch the tutorial to calm myself down. (It worked).
Biology: OK, I had no clue what to expect in this section. I was worried they would give me a question on taxonomy (which I didn't have time to study) but thank gd my exam did not have that. I scored a 350 on this section by some miracle. I guess studying plants and knowing the body functions as well as some evolution payed off.
Gen Chem+ ORGO: I was pleasantly surprised at how easy/fair these questions were. I mean really. Just by watching Chad's videos one should be able to answer at least 80% of these questions, the other ones required some actual thinking. If you did well on your college level gen chem and orgo courses then I would suggest not to worry about a thing. I finished these sections with enough time to review the sciences at least one more time. I would have to say the OAT destroyer questions were spot on for these sections. Even harder, but again its better to be challenged than have easy material to study from.
Reading Comp: I was really nervous for this section but took it one story at a time. Gave you 3 articles of various subjects. I first read the question and then skimmed the passage for any key words from the question. I skipped the questions that required to much time to find the answer for( I guessed those) but felt pretty good at the end of the section.
Break: 15 min break, ran to get my lunch, had to run back in and do another check in (which took 7 min) and then ran to my station and noticed that the physics section had already started! Yeah, I freaked out.
Physics: The check in time really messed me up. I had to calm myself down, and regroup. The types of questions asked were very fair, not much calculations, more conceptual. I was on question 15 out of 40 when the timer told me I had 5 min left. Yep, I guessed every answer right after. It's better to answer every question than leave it blank.
QR: I don't even want to talk about this section. Completely ran out of time yet again. So i gave up and began guessing after completing half the questions. The calculator definitely helped though.
Finally my score report:
QR: 310
Reading comp:340
Gen chem: 370
ORgo: 360
physics: 300
total science: 350
AA: 340
So, overall I was happy with my scores but upset that I did so poorly on physics since it was the subject I spent most of my time on. QR also wasn't too hot. Anyways, I was invited for interviews in every school that I applied to but canceled them once I was accepted to SUNY ( my dream school).
What I learned: The actual OAT exam is much easier than any practice exam you will ever take. If there is a question you do not know, don't dwell on it, keep going. I dwelled a lot on one type of question for physics and QR and it showed on my score report. I didn't get to do the questions I actually knew. Learn how to pace yourself well.
If you have any questions please feel free to message me! Good luck.
