Would really appreciate some OAT advice :-)

[apollo310]

Hi Everyone,
Okay so i've taken the OAT a few times now and can't seem to figure out how to study or prepare myself well...I just keep getting the same score over and over and it's not great ... Anyone who has struggled and found a way to learn the stuff well...or even people that just did well, I'd REALLY appreciate any study advice you have (materials used, time spent, HOW you studied, etc.). I'm kind of at a loss at this point, but not ready to give up! Thanks ahead of time guys- I really appreciate any advice... I just want to get a hold of this test! (The section I need the most help on is Physics), but would like to improve in the biology and general chemistry also!

Thanks!

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[weiss]

Very hard to give advice w/out knowing some specifics. What have your scores been in each section? What aspects of the test are you poor at? (content?, timing?). PM me if you'd like

 

[socal2014]

Hi Everyone,
Okay so i've taken the OAT a few times now and can't seem to figure out how to study or prepare myself well...I just keep getting the same score over and over and it's not great ... Anyone who has struggled and found a way to learn the stuff well...or even people that just did well, I'd REALLY appreciate any study advice you have (materials used, time spent, HOW you studied, etc.). I'm kind of at a loss at this point, but not ready to give up! Thanks ahead of time guys- I really appreciate any advice... I just want to get a hold of this test! (The section I need the most help on is Physics), but would like to improve in the biology and general chemistry also!

Thanks!

I think its clear that you are not ready for graduate school. If you cant pass a basic exam, how will you learn the didactic material that is normal in optometry school?

My advice would be to look at other allied health fields.

 

[mintyjulep]

Hi Everyone,
Okay so i've taken the OAT a few times now and can't seem to figure out how to study or prepare myself well...I just keep getting the same score over and over and it's not great ... Anyone who has struggled and found a way to learn the stuff well...or even people that just did well, I'd REALLY appreciate any study advice you have (materials used, time spent, HOW you studied, etc.). I'm kind of at a loss at this point, but not ready to give up! Thanks ahead of time guys- I really appreciate any advice... I just want to get a hold of this test! (The section I need the most help on is Physics), but would like to improve in the biology and general chemistry also!

Thanks!

Don't listen to socal, he likes to pretend that he's really "smrt" because it seems he got into to Western, but he took a 5th year of undergrad, repeated courses only to obtain mediocre grades, and had a crappy OAT score from the looks of it, too. He just doesn't want competition in the profession because of his insecurities.

Keep your nose to the grindstone and study your heart out for the OAT. Be disciplined; don't go out with friends, take a rain check on work priorities, and get some good study materials for the test (I recommend Kaplan, personally).

 

[SIUE optkid]

I think its clear that you are not ready for graduate school. If you cant pass a basic exam, how will you learn the didactic material that is normal in optometry school?

My advice would be to look at other allied health fields.

I think its clear that YOU are not ready for graduate school. please stop giving adice to people you fraud!!

 

[SIUE optkid]

Hi Everyone,
Okay so i've taken the OAT a few times now and can't seem to figure out how to study or prepare myself well...I just keep getting the same score over and over and it's not great ... Anyone who has struggled and found a way to learn the stuff well...or even people that just did well, I'd REALLY appreciate any study advice you have (materials used, time spent, HOW you studied, etc.). I'm kind of at a loss at this point, but not ready to give up! Thanks ahead of time guys- I really appreciate any advice... I just want to get a hold of this test! (The section I need the most help on is Physics), but would like to improve in the biology and general chemistry also!

Thanks!

what i did was the kaplan study book and i studyied that notes from my classes in those areas. study hard and memorize formulas. a key one in physics being the kinematic equations. as for biology i felt it was very random and unstudyable although i studied my notes of various bio classes for it. good luck!!!

 

[thecgrblue]

Hi Everyone,
Okay so i've taken the OAT a few times now and can't seem to figure out how to study or prepare myself well...I just keep getting the same score over and over and it's not great ... Anyone who has struggled and found a way to learn the stuff well...or even people that just did well, I'd REALLY appreciate any study advice you have (materials used, time spent, HOW you studied, etc.). I'm kind of at a loss at this point, but not ready to give up! Thanks ahead of time guys- I really appreciate any advice... I just want to get a hold of this test! (The section I need the most help on is Physics), but would like to improve in the biology and general chemistry also!

Thanks!

Well what is your score and what is your GPA? If Socal can get in, so can you.

 

[socal2014]

I think its clear that YOU are not ready for graduate school. please stop giving adice to people you fraud!!

Haha, fraud!

That is refreshing

In all seriousness though, its impossible for the OP to receive adequate scores on the OAT.

The OAT is a very basic exam, similar to any knowledge test. If one doesn't posses the knowledge to pass the examination, than he or she should study more, in order to attain the relevant information. However, if this person, after absorbing the relevant information, fails to perform on the actual examination, more than once, than basically this person just doesn't have the necessary exam taking skills.

You could "try" to improve your exam taking skills, but I highly doubt it would be effective in light of the mighty OAT! Try the link below.

http://www.testtakingtips.com/test/gentest.htm

 

[Hoffy]

"The mighty OAT." - hahaha

 

[SIUE optkid]

from basic test to mighty oat...
I think he is right with his actual advice though, perhaps you should try to improve your test taking skills. if you feel like you suffer from test anxiety you could look it up online, im sure theres some techniques out there that will help you, as for what he suggested ill outline a few that i feel are really important.

-Keep a positive attitude throughout the whole test and try to stay relaxed. If you start to feel nervous take a few deep breaths to relax.
- Don't stay on a problem that you are stuck on especially when time is a factor.
-If you don't know an answer, skip it. Go on with the rest of the test and come back to it later.

 

[Hoffy]

Agreed! As much as I wanted to feel smart and answer all the questions correctly (yeah right) the MOST important thing I had to keep reminding myself of was to SKIP questions. Skip skip skip and mark your questions if you aren't dead certain on how to solve right away, then go back. Don't let your ego get in the way of trying to work hard to solve a problem (most of them don't require that much work anyhow). I think my practice kaplan book that I bought even said that haha. But it's true. You really need to budget your time - try timing yourself doing practice questions so you can get used to thinking quickly and answering questions efficiently. How have you studied thus far?

 

[ClubAmerican]

I recommend Kaplan study books and take the course if you keep having a rough time on the test.
Set aside a good few months (at least) to study and use most of your time for that.

Also, don't listen to trolls, you wouldn't believe the people who got crappy grades at first and then improved vastly by putting aside the time and resources needed to do well.

 

[apollo310]

Thanks guys for the advice! So far I have used some MCAT/DAT books and bought the OAT achiever program for a few practice questions/tests for the last time that I took it. I just bought the Kaplan study book from a friend but does anyone have advice on a program or book or both that I could buy that has a bunch of practice questions/tests? OK so I found a few different things that I was thinking about buying but just wondering if anyone has any experience with any of them before I buy them? Top Score Pro OAT, OAT achiever, OAT destroyer...and if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know! The online kaplan stuff seems great (like the online class version where you get all the materials too) but it's $1200....!! I mean if that was the only thing that is worthwhile I'd buy it but if anyone has used something else and found it helpful please let me know! Since I really struggle with physics I figured I'd get a tutor for that section Thanks guys!!

 

[schak7]

The Kaplan OAT class is definitely worth checking out. If you're struggling to pay the $1200 fee, you might qualify for tuition assistance. I got a $100 discount just from taking a free diagnostic exam with them at my university. My score and confidence has definitely gone up since I started reviewing with kaplan.

 

[Bioflare]

Don't bother with the Kaplan course. If you need someone to organize material for you then it'll seriously impair you during graduate school when there is no one doing it for you.

I'd say for background reading, use MCAT for physics, and DAT books for everything else since the OAT is administered by the same people that make the DAT.

OAT Destroyer gives you a ton of questions to practice on. This may help you with the calculation type questions as the more questions = more exposure.
I also "hear" OAT Achiever is quite difficult so it may be detrimental if you're one of those people that doesn't handle failing well.

This may sound like advice you've had from all your professors in school. Draw mind maps, they help you make connections and relate concepts (relates mainly to bio).

Time yourself in all your practice tests, make sure you are on time / ahead. REMEMBER SKIPPING A QUESTION IS OKAY. You're not expected to get all the questions right, avg entry OAT only requires you to know like 60% of the info.