Hey guys,
I'm currently a third year undergrad and would like to go on to optometry school the fall right after I graduate, if possible
I was wondering, what are your recommendations for the best way to prepare the OAT? Are prep courses worth it? The only one close enough to me is Kaplan, and I have heard that they are not that helpful - they just force you to study.
If I were to take a course, I am planning on doing the one from mid January - March, and then taking the soon after in April-ish. Is this
too late (because I should save room for a 2nd try?)
Otherwise, what are some good self-study materials I can use? Again, how is the Kaplan OAT prep book? I also hear about the "Crack the OAT" bundle on the computer - any comments before I invest?
Thank you!
I took the Kaplan course and it worked great for me. It was worth every penny I invested too, because my score has helped me get scholarship offers for more than the cost of the course.
It is kind of true that they just force you to study - but the big thing is that the materials (which are only available through taking the course - you need the online access to get the most of what they offer) they have are awesome. I started out around a 300 or 310 when I began prepping, and ended up with a 380 AA.
The hard copy materials you get through Kaplan are: a lesson book for the class (only a little helpful), a big book of "lecture notes" (SO helpful), flashcards for all sections (SO helpful), and slicks with concise notes for each section (I never used these, but they're pretty =P). As you can probably tell, I mostly just used the lecture notes (read the book cover to cover) and flashcards (memorized them all).
The class itself wasn't all that helpful to me. Go to it still - the teachers usually have helpful tips and tricks (especially for reading and math). There's just too much science information to fit it into a class.
The online stuff is the benefit that you can't get without the Kaplan course. There are workshops that are definitely helpful tutorials on certain themes (I only used the natural science and physics ones). Each of those then has an associated quiz - helpful practice questions. There are subject tests and section tests - the subject tests are harder than what you will get on the OAT and might require that you look at the notes in order to remember some of the stuff. But it pushes you to really master the material. The section tests are just a stand alone full-length section like a real OAT (so just a natural science or math or physics or reading section by itself, but timed and scored). Lastly, you have 5 full-length practice tests. This was SO helpful, because it's in the same format as what you will see on the screen for the real OAT - same interface, same buttons, etc. Having those timed sections really gave me a chance to get used to pacing myself and using all the stuff that was available to me during the exam. In addition, you get to track your score and have a good idea about where you will be on test day (although all my scores but math went up on my real OAT...math went down because I think I was just burnt out by that point in the test and didn't finish the section).
If you take the Kaplan course, I would sign up for the class well before you plan to take the actual test. I know they want you to push it up against your test date so you "don't forget material," but it's not the classroom material that you need to memorize most. I took my course in February, then did my seriously independent studying through July and August, and took my OAT at the end of August. Plan so that you can have a month or two to really study the material a lot on your own using the Kaplan materials. But also talk to Kaplan to make sure that you have access to your online stuff for that long - there's an expiration date but they can adjust that if you talk to them about it early.
I felt like Kaplan materials prepped me incredibly well for biology and gen chem (got 400 on both). I also think it was great for reading strategies (all I did was use the strategies I learned in the classroom day we covered reading, and then practice those strategies on the online tests). I probably should have used more of the math quizzes and tutorials - I only practiced math on the full length practice tests. I was getting 400 every time, so I didn't feel like I needed to practice more. But my real OAT had a lot more multi-step problems and I just ran out of time. So do practice plenty with the math just so you come into contact with every kind of problem and know how to solve it fast. As for physics and organic chem, I just crammed those into my last week or two of studying and didn't spend as much time on them. They were my lowest scores. I think the physics materials are pretty good - especially the flashcards for memorizing formulas. I'm iffy on whether the organic was that helpful. I ended up supplementing it with other companies' OAT prep materials...but never really spent a lot of time on any one book (probably why I didn't score well
).
I think Kaplan is totally worth it if you are ready to put in the time (it takes a LOT...several hours per day for at least a month if you want to get the most out of it).
