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I just took the OAT yesterday and here are my scores
Biology 370
General Chemistry 390
Organic Chemistry 400
Reading Comprehension 400
Physics 400
Quantitative Reasoning 400
Total Science 400
Academic Average 390
Needless to say, I am elated. Here is how I studied for the exam.
I began studying a few hours a day for a month over winter break hoping I could take the exam in February, but I was not ready after a while. I primarily studied Kaplan's OAT Review Book. Then, once classes began I would study around 4 hours a week when I would be working at a library. I didn't have much time as my classes took up a lot of time and I had two part time jobs.
I realized that the Kaplan material didn't seem catered to the OAT, so I looked at the official topics covered by the OAT and went through them one by one. I think this helped quite a bit since I used many resources including Kaplan's huge book, my old textbooks and the Examkrackers MCAT books. The Examkrackers books gave great advice but the material was not all relevant. After I finished finals two weeks ago, I finished up reviewing all the topics covered and started taking practice exams. I took Kaplan's subject tests and used Topscore.
Kaplan's subject tests are much more specific than the actual OAT but I believe that they help a lot. They really show what you need to focus on and I would recommend them strongly. Do not worry if you are not doing well, as they are not a good indicator of your actual score, just what you need to work on.
Topscore was pretty useful but again more specific and harder than the OAT. My Topscore scores were around 340, so again they were not a good indication of how I was doing.
A few days before the exam, I took the old OAT exam that comes with the OAT guide. This mirrored the actual OAT best and was probably most useful. My score was a 370 on this test.
Here is what I did for each section.
Biology
This is the hardest section. I am biology major and there are a few questions on the OAT that I do not understand how anybody can know unless they remember everything from upper level courses. Two days before my OAT, I realized that this was my weakest section and I saw that somebody recommended the Campbell book, which I used for intro Biology. So the past few days, I pretty much went through the entire book figuring out almost every diagram and doing the questions at the end of the chapter. I believe if I had done this more thoroughly, it would have been more useful, but it did help. To do well on this section, know almost EVERYTHING from intro biology. A thorough understanding of each topic covered also helps to figure out questions. It really helped me that I had taken microbiology, biochemistry, and comparative physiology. Taking Human Physiology, Cell Biology, and Human Anatomy also probably would be very useful
General Chemistry
Know stochiometry and periodic trends very well. I thought that the Kaplan book was sufficient in this aspect but I also used the Examkrackers book because it teaches it much better. My old textbook was neither useful nor needed. There is not that much material covered or it least it didn't feel that way. This goes for physics as well, but know your units and be able to derive equations based off units. There are some equations and manipulations that I was not able to remember, I just figured out how to do it based on the units they gave you.
Organic Chemistry
I struggled in my organic classes but I thought that this was much simpler. The actual exam was more heavily focused towards first semester and a lot of basic questions were asked. Know everything about isomers, Substitution/Elimination Rxns, and what makes stronger acids and bases. The Kaplan book covers everything, I wouldn't focus too much on individual rxns, just know the basic mechanisms for every type of reaction. This helps figure out some questions and why things happen. It helped to look over my textbook for mechanisms.
Reading Comprehension
The questions were more straightforward than the Kaplan Subject Tests. Most questions can be found in the reading directly. I read every passage first taking my time. It helped that I found the passages interesting. I would recommend taking your time and really understanding what the passage is about. When I had to answer the questions, I knew most of them and/or could find them in the passage directly. For me, this method worked a lot better than skimming the passage, or just looking for the answers. I thought there was plenty of time to read the passage and answer each question. I also took a 5 second break between passages, which Examkrackers recommended. This helped me stay focused while reading the passage.
Physics
One thing that pissed me off about Kaplan is that they cover things like A.C. Circuits, which are not going to be the exam. The OAT guide specifically mentions only D.C. circuits. In terms of questions asked, make sure you know how to solve every type of frictionless plane question possible. Know where forces act and draw free-body diagrams. I thought this section mirrored class questions most similarly. Examkrackers Physics book was pretty useful. I have not taken mechanics for almost four years now and Examkrackers really helped a lot. Know Simple Harmonic Motion, springs, DC circuits, lenses and refraction. Kaplan covers it all but I feel like they go a little too far on some topics. This is where knowing units is really helpful.
Quantitative Reasoning
This is the section I studied for least, as math has always been my best subject. I did need to review some equations. Doing practice exams really helped. I thought that there was plenty of time for this section and I finished early, but I can see how many people don't. I think the questions calculations are easier on the actual exam. My biggest advice would be to skip questions that are long and you do not understand. You can miss many questions and still get a 400.
Although I would agree with many people who say that the test is not that hard, I don't think that means you should study for it any less. It is supposedly as important or more important than GPA so considering most people study their butts off each round of finals, people should be studying a lot for this exam. Wow, that was really long. I hope this helps people.
Biology 370
General Chemistry 390
Organic Chemistry 400
Reading Comprehension 400
Physics 400
Quantitative Reasoning 400
Total Science 400
Academic Average 390
Needless to say, I am elated. Here is how I studied for the exam.
I began studying a few hours a day for a month over winter break hoping I could take the exam in February, but I was not ready after a while. I primarily studied Kaplan's OAT Review Book. Then, once classes began I would study around 4 hours a week when I would be working at a library. I didn't have much time as my classes took up a lot of time and I had two part time jobs.
I realized that the Kaplan material didn't seem catered to the OAT, so I looked at the official topics covered by the OAT and went through them one by one. I think this helped quite a bit since I used many resources including Kaplan's huge book, my old textbooks and the Examkrackers MCAT books. The Examkrackers books gave great advice but the material was not all relevant. After I finished finals two weeks ago, I finished up reviewing all the topics covered and started taking practice exams. I took Kaplan's subject tests and used Topscore.
Kaplan's subject tests are much more specific than the actual OAT but I believe that they help a lot. They really show what you need to focus on and I would recommend them strongly. Do not worry if you are not doing well, as they are not a good indicator of your actual score, just what you need to work on.
Topscore was pretty useful but again more specific and harder than the OAT. My Topscore scores were around 340, so again they were not a good indication of how I was doing.
A few days before the exam, I took the old OAT exam that comes with the OAT guide. This mirrored the actual OAT best and was probably most useful. My score was a 370 on this test.
Here is what I did for each section.
Biology
This is the hardest section. I am biology major and there are a few questions on the OAT that I do not understand how anybody can know unless they remember everything from upper level courses. Two days before my OAT, I realized that this was my weakest section and I saw that somebody recommended the Campbell book, which I used for intro Biology. So the past few days, I pretty much went through the entire book figuring out almost every diagram and doing the questions at the end of the chapter. I believe if I had done this more thoroughly, it would have been more useful, but it did help. To do well on this section, know almost EVERYTHING from intro biology. A thorough understanding of each topic covered also helps to figure out questions. It really helped me that I had taken microbiology, biochemistry, and comparative physiology. Taking Human Physiology, Cell Biology, and Human Anatomy also probably would be very useful
General Chemistry
Know stochiometry and periodic trends very well. I thought that the Kaplan book was sufficient in this aspect but I also used the Examkrackers book because it teaches it much better. My old textbook was neither useful nor needed. There is not that much material covered or it least it didn't feel that way. This goes for physics as well, but know your units and be able to derive equations based off units. There are some equations and manipulations that I was not able to remember, I just figured out how to do it based on the units they gave you.
Organic Chemistry
I struggled in my organic classes but I thought that this was much simpler. The actual exam was more heavily focused towards first semester and a lot of basic questions were asked. Know everything about isomers, Substitution/Elimination Rxns, and what makes stronger acids and bases. The Kaplan book covers everything, I wouldn't focus too much on individual rxns, just know the basic mechanisms for every type of reaction. This helps figure out some questions and why things happen. It helped to look over my textbook for mechanisms.
Reading Comprehension
The questions were more straightforward than the Kaplan Subject Tests. Most questions can be found in the reading directly. I read every passage first taking my time. It helped that I found the passages interesting. I would recommend taking your time and really understanding what the passage is about. When I had to answer the questions, I knew most of them and/or could find them in the passage directly. For me, this method worked a lot better than skimming the passage, or just looking for the answers. I thought there was plenty of time to read the passage and answer each question. I also took a 5 second break between passages, which Examkrackers recommended. This helped me stay focused while reading the passage.
Physics
One thing that pissed me off about Kaplan is that they cover things like A.C. Circuits, which are not going to be the exam. The OAT guide specifically mentions only D.C. circuits. In terms of questions asked, make sure you know how to solve every type of frictionless plane question possible. Know where forces act and draw free-body diagrams. I thought this section mirrored class questions most similarly. Examkrackers Physics book was pretty useful. I have not taken mechanics for almost four years now and Examkrackers really helped a lot. Know Simple Harmonic Motion, springs, DC circuits, lenses and refraction. Kaplan covers it all but I feel like they go a little too far on some topics. This is where knowing units is really helpful.
Quantitative Reasoning
This is the section I studied for least, as math has always been my best subject. I did need to review some equations. Doing practice exams really helped. I thought that there was plenty of time for this section and I finished early, but I can see how many people don't. I think the questions calculations are easier on the actual exam. My biggest advice would be to skip questions that are long and you do not understand. You can miss many questions and still get a 400.
Although I would agree with many people who say that the test is not that hard, I don't think that means you should study for it any less. It is supposedly as important or more important than GPA so considering most people study their butts off each round of finals, people should be studying a lot for this exam. Wow, that was really long. I hope this helps people.
