High OAT and low GPA, chances? And my OAT experience

[hellooo_123]

Hey everyone!

I just took my OAT this morning and I was pretty surprised. I read as much as I could about other OAT experiences beforehand and I had wished that there had been more people posting about their experiences. So, I'm going to post about mine! And also would appreciate advice/feedback from anyone about my score/GPA.

My OAT Experience
My test appt was at 7am, got to prometric around 645. There was already a line of people outside the doors when I got there, at least 10-12 people. They hadn't opened yet. Anyways we just waited for the proctors to show up and then they started signing us in. I didn't actually get seated until almost 8am, which was a bit anxiety-inducing. There was one proctor checking us in at the front who was super on top of everything but the people actually checking us into the testing rooms (there were two at my location) were super incompetent... Maybe its because I was nervous and just wanted to get started but I felt like considering the situation, I was being very patient and understanding. It took more than 30 min from me being checked in at the front desk (6:58am) to get into the room where they make you sign your name/check your IDs/give you scratch paper. When the proctor went into the room to do a security check of my station and start the test, she came back out and had to reset it. When it didn't work again, they moved stations. After another 15 or so min I FINALLY got seated to take my test. (tl;dr apparently the OAT recently changed their software and its been glitching more often on prometric computers)

I sat down and tried to calm my nerves, used the tutorial which was helpful because it was a little different than the program Kaplan used in terms of the different things you could do with the mouse (i.e. highlight, strike out, etc). Had about 5 min left after I got through the tutorial and decided that I was ready. Clicked next and started bio.. To be completely honest, I don't remember what was on it. If I'm trying really hard, I vaguely remember some questions about nucleic acids and organelle funxtions.. I know that doesn't help much but for the life of me I can't remember. The consensus seems to be that it's a bunch of random stuff and it completely was. Gen chem took up the bulk of my time, it's one of my weakest subjects so I knew I wanted to spend a little more time on it. I know there were a number of calculations that had to be done (rate laws, specific heat, acid/base chemistry). I only had about 30 min left by the time I got to ochem. Know your reagents and what they do, know specific names of reactions, SN1/E1/SN2/E2, redox, etc. I was so brain dead by the end of Natural Sciences...

Reading comp was actually my easiest section, in terms of how confident I felt. I would highly recommend not reading the entire passage.. I know most people don't but yeah definitely don't. Skim passages, highlight key words and just get to the questions. I had 10 min leftover and used that to go back and review marked questions that I hadn't been 100% sure about.

15 min break - TAKE THE BREAK! My stomach started growling towards the end of RC so I used this time to get some water and eat my banana and a granola bar. I think my brain thanked me for it.

Sat back down and readied myself for another weak spot of mine, physics. Pretty much, know your shiz. I didn't know as much as I should have and it reflected in my score. It seemed like calculation and conceptual questions were pretty equal in distribution. Kinematics, conservation of energy, momentum, optics, all things I remember seeing.

Home stretch, QR! I didn't study much for QR because when I took my diagnostic test it was one of my better sections and I decided that I wanted to focus more time on the sciences. If you struggle with QR, I would suggest Kaplan's materials. They have a good overview of a lot of basic concepts that I briefly skimmed.

Okay, literally the scariest moment of my life. I had a minute or two after I finished reviewing my QR stuff where I contemplated whether or not to prolong the waiting but I just went for it. Anyways, these are the scores that I received on my unofficial report:

QR: 350
RC: 380
Bio: 400
GC: 400
OC: 380
Physics: 320
TS: 380
AA: 370

I literally almost screamed. This is considering that my highest score on any of the 5 Kaplan practice tests I took was a 330.... (I only used Kaplan to prep) Here's a breakdown of my practice tests:

Bio/Gen Chem/OChem/Physics/RC/QR/AA

1: 340/280/230/230/330/330/290
2: 270/300/280/230/350/340/300
3: 310/300/320/300/310/340/310
4: 340/300/340/280/320/320/320
5: 310/280/370/300/370/330/330

As you can see, they're kinda all over the place. I had heard that Kaplan was harder than the actual OAT so my goal was an 350 AA. I spent the last two days just reviewing everything. I know people say to relax on the day before but there was no way I could do that. I pretty much just did flashcards for bio and reviewed all of my old tests and the questions I got wrong. Flashcards obviously helped a lot for bio.

Anyways, I am so so happy! I literally could not have forseen this outcome at all. Considering my physics practice test scores, I was happy with the 320.

HELP???
So now, my question is this: my GPA is pretty low 3.05~ or so which is why I studied so hard for this test, will my OAT score offset this in any way? Will I actually get interviews anywhere? And is it worth applying to the "higher ranked" schools like SUNY and NECO? So far, planning on applying to SCCO, PUCO, Western, NOVA, and Midwestern. I think the dream is SCCO but I've always wanted to go to the east coast. Anyways, thanks for reading all of this if you did and sorry if it was excessively long.

I would appreciate any advice/feedback anyone has to give! Thank you!

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[undecisiveone1]

Hi I'm taking my test next week and I'm so nervous. I'm only using Kaplan materials as well. How exactly did you prep and how long did you study?

As for your question, I heard oat scores does top off gpa and if you have lots of shadowing and relevant experience then I say you're set

 

[hellooo_123]

Hi I'm taking my test next week and I'm so nervous. I'm only using Kaplan materials as well. How exactly did you prep and how long did you study?

As for your question, I heard oat scores does top off gpa and if you have lots of shadowing and relevant experience then I say you're set

I do have a lot of shadowing experience and I've been working at an office for almost a year now, so hopefully that helps! Thanks

I reviewed lightly for about a month or two before.. like very lightly, 1-2 hours for a couple days a week reading random chapters and doing some flashcards. I was taking physics at a CC at the time which was surprisingly time consuming along with work. Anyways, when I finished my class, which was on June 8, I gave myself exactly one month to hardcore study. 7 days a week for 6-10 hours a day. Literally sat in my room for a month straight - it was quite boring but I knew that I had to do it. I just went through everything Kaplan had to offer, literally every single resource. The workshops, quizzes, practice exams, etc. And would go over it again if I needed to. Didn't use the huge book much, only to clarify certain things that I wasn't clear about. A week before my test I just focused on my weak areas which were physics and gen chem. Good luck, you'll do great!

 

[undecisiveone1]

I do have a lot of shadowing experience and I've been working at an office for almost a year now, so hopefully that helps! Thanks

I reviewed lightly for about a month or two before.. like very lightly, 1-2 hours for a couple days a week reading random chapters and doing some flashcards. I was taking physics at a CC at the time which was surprisingly time consuming along with work. Anyways, when I finished my class, which was on June 8, I gave myself exactly one month to hardcore study. 7 days a week for 6-10 hours a day. Literally sat in my room for a month straight - it was quite boring but I knew that I had to do it. I just went through everything Kaplan had to offer, literally every single resource. The workshops, quizzes, practice exams, etc. And would go over it again if I needed to. Didn't use the huge book much, only to clarify certain things that I wasn't clear about. A week before my test I just focused on my weak areas which were physics and gen chem. Good luck, you'll do great!

Oh wow thank you! I'm in the exact same position, thinking I could handle school and studying and scheduled it in July. Although I supposedly gave myself three months to study, it's only actually one since I couldn't study with school. You gave me hope!

And dw you will definitely get accepted somewhere

 

[ac12345]

You did a great job on your OAT. I'm sure you will get into a great school. If I were in your position I would apply to a few good schools that are your top choice and some back ups as well just in case as a safety net. Your OAT scores should definitely outweigh your GPA. I scored lower and had a lower GPA and got accepted into Indiana University and MCPHS this last admission cycle.

 

[hellooo_123]

Oh wow thank you! I'm in the exact same position, thinking I could handle school and studying and scheduled it in July. Although I supposedly gave myself three months to study, it's only actually one since I couldn't study with school. You gave me hope!

And dw you will definitely get accepted somewhere

Thank you!! Haha best of luck!!

 

[hellooo_123]

You did a great job on your OAT. I'm sure you will get into a great school. If I were in your position I would apply to a few good schools that are your top choice and some back ups as well just in case as a safety net. Your OAT scores should definitely outweigh your GPA. I scored lower and had a lower GPA and got accepted into Indiana University and MCPHS this last admission cycle.

Awesome! That's good to know! Thanks for your input

 

[Groucho Marx]

Great job! I think that some top schools might be interested in you with those scores.

 

[curioustina]

Congrats on your score and for getting the OAT over with!! I just had a question about Ochem and Physics, how did you study for it? I know you mentioned Kaplan for Bio and flashcards, but would you recommend anything else (specifics for each subject) ? I've been trying to study, but it's really hard to read and study for such a long period of time in a day... :/ I do take breaks too, but I just want to know if it was effective to hard core study and lock yourself in your room? (That's my method at the moment as well..just not sure if it is working out for me )

 

[hellooo_123]

Congrats on your score and for getting the OAT over with!! I just had a question about Ochem and Physics, how did you study for it? I know you mentioned Kaplan for Bio and flashcards, but would you recommend anything else (specifics for each subject) ? I've been trying to study, but it's really hard to read and study for such a long period of time in a day... :/ I do take breaks too, but I just want to know if it was effective to hard core study and lock yourself in your room? (That's my method at the moment as well..just not sure if it is working out for me )

Thank you!

For bio, I really think the flashcards are the best tool since its literally just a very large volume of facts that you need to memorize. For ochem, flashcards and those cheat sheets they provided in the back of the book helped. It's important to know reagents and products so again, memorization. However, for ochem, which in college was one of my worst subjects, I feel that a large part of understanding what they're asking is knowing the definitions of certain terms (i.e. ether vs ester or Lewis acid vs BL acid). At least for me, that was probably one of the biggest source of mistakes so once I clarified those things everything came much easier. If you know what they're asking, it's pretty easy to eliminate at least one or two of the answer choices and then go from there. Writing out reactants/reagents/products helps too. That takes a lot of time though which I didn't have so I mainly stuck with the flashcards. The quizzes were really helpful too and I retook them as needed. If I did badly on one I would restudy the material and retake it. Given, you kind of remember some of the answers the second time around but I found that actually helped me with recall on the actual test. Repetition is key!

And yeah, I totally feel you about the locking yourself in your room. How long do you have til your test and how ready do you feel? It's not an easy thing to do and if it's not efficient for you then maybe you need to find a different way. Perhaps studying for two hours straight and then taking a break and repeating? I just kept trying to remind myself that however much it may suck for the time being, it'll be worth it when you score high and get into school! Just focus on the prize. Also , towards the end when I was getting a little stir crazy, I started watching tv episodes as breaks. I think I got through all 3 seasons of orphan black... haha but yeah whatever helps you. I just needed a break from the monotony and to let my brain relax for a little. It seemed to work for me. Anyways, let me know if you have any other questions and good luck

 

[stewie4]

Hey everyone!

I just took my OAT this morning and I was pretty surprised. I read as much as I could about other OAT experiences beforehand and I had wished that there had been more people posting about their experiences. So, I'm going to post about mine! And also would appreciate advice/feedback from anyone about my score/GPA.

My OAT Experience
My test appt was at 7am, got to prometric around 645. There was already a line of people outside the doors when I got there, at least 10-12 people. They hadn't opened yet. Anyways we just waited for the proctors to show up and then they started signing us in. I didn't actually get seated until almost 8am, which was a bit anxiety-inducing. There was one proctor checking us in at the front who was super on top of everything but the people actually checking us into the testing rooms (there were two at my location) were super incompetent... Maybe its because I was nervous and just wanted to get started but I felt like considering the situation, I was being very patient and understanding. It took more than 30 min from me being checked in at the front desk (6:58am) to get into the room where they make you sign your name/check your IDs/give you scratch paper. When the proctor went into the room to do a security check of my station and start the test, she came back out and had to reset it. When it didn't work again, they moved stations. After another 15 or so min I FINALLY got seated to take my test. (tl;dr apparently the OAT recently changed their software and its been glitching more often on prometric computers)

I sat down and tried to calm my nerves, used the tutorial which was helpful because it was a little different than the program Kaplan used in terms of the different things you could do with the mouse (i.e. highlight, strike out, etc). Had about 5 min left after I got through the tutorial and decided that I was ready. Clicked next and started bio.. To be completely honest, I don't remember what was on it. If I'm trying really hard, I vaguely remember some questions about nucleic acids and organelle funxtions.. I know that doesn't help much but for the life of me I can't remember. The consensus seems to be that it's a bunch of random stuff and it completely was. Gen chem took up the bulk of my time, it's one of my weakest subjects so I knew I wanted to spend a little more time on it. I know there were a number of calculations that had to be done (rate laws, specific heat, acid/base chemistry). I only had about 30 min left by the time I got to ochem. Know your reagents and what they do, know specific names of reactions, SN1/E1/SN2/E2, redox, etc. I was so brain dead by the end of Natural Sciences...

Reading comp was actually my easiest section, in terms of how confident I felt. I would highly recommend not reading the entire passage.. I know most people don't but yeah definitely don't. Skim passages, highlight key words and just get to the questions. I had 10 min leftover and used that to go back and review marked questions that I hadn't been 100% sure about.

15 min break - TAKE THE BREAK! My stomach started growling towards the end of RC so I used this time to get some water and eat my banana and a granola bar. I think my brain thanked me for it.

Sat back down and readied myself for another weak spot of mine, physics. Pretty much, know your shiz. I didn't know as much as I should have and it reflected in my score. It seemed like calculation and conceptual questions were pretty equal in distribution. Kinematics, conservation of energy, momentum, optics, all things I remember seeing.

Home stretch, QR! I didn't study much for QR because when I took my diagnostic test it was one of my better sections and I decided that I wanted to focus more time on the sciences. If you struggle with QR, I would suggest Kaplan's materials. They have a good overview of a lot of basic concepts that I briefly skimmed.

Okay, literally the scariest moment of my life. I had a minute or two after I finished reviewing my QR stuff where I contemplated whether or not to prolong the waiting but I just went for it. Anyways, these are the scores that I received on my unofficial report:

QR: 350
RC: 380
Bio: 400
GC: 400
OC: 380
Physics: 320
TS: 380
AA: 370

I literally almost screamed. This is considering that my highest score on any of the 5 Kaplan practice tests I took was a 330.... (I only used Kaplan to prep) Here's a breakdown of my practice tests:

Bio/Gen Chem/OChem/Physics/RC/QR/AA

1: 340/280/230/230/330/330/290
2: 270/300/280/230/350/340/300
3: 310/300/320/300/310/340/310
4: 340/300/340/280/320/320/320
5: 310/280/370/300/370/330/330

As you can see, they're kinda all over the place. I had heard that Kaplan was harder than the actual OAT so my goal was an 350 AA. I spent the last two days just reviewing everything. I know people say to relax on the day before but there was no way I could do that. I pretty much just did flashcards for bio and reviewed all of my old tests and the questions I got wrong. Flashcards obviously helped a lot for bio.

Anyways, I am so so happy! I literally could not have forseen this outcome at all. Considering my physics practice test scores, I was happy with the 320.

HELP???
So now, my question is this: my GPA is pretty low 3.05~ or so which is why I studied so hard for this test, will my OAT score offset this in any way? Will I actually get interviews anywhere? And is it worth applying to the "higher ranked" schools like SUNY and NECO? So far, planning on applying to SCCO, PUCO, Western, NOVA, and Midwestern. I think the dream is SCCO but I've always wanted to go to the east coast. Anyways, thanks for reading all of this if you did and sorry if it was excessively long.

I would appreciate any advice/feedback anyone has to give! Thank you!

My OAT score was essentially identical to yours and my GPA only slightly higher. I applied to PUCO, SCCO, SCO, UHCO and I got into all four. I would say with and OAT score like that you have a chance anywhere.

 

[hellooo_123]

My OAT score was essentially identical to yours and my GPA only slightly higher. I applied to PUCO, SCCO, SCO, UHCO and I got into all four. I would say with and OAT score like that you have a chance anywhere.

That's so awesome! I just submitted my app a couple days ago.. Decided on SCCO, Western, PUCO, ICO, and Salus. Thanks so much, you've given me hope

 

[JoshDunc]

That's so awesome! I just submitted my app a couple days ago.. Decided on SCCO, Western, PUCO, ICO, and Salus. Thanks so much, you've given me hope

Good luck! I am pretty confident you will get several interviews and acceptances!

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