My First Attempt - OAT

[VisionsFinest]

Hey All,

I am new here and upon reading many other threads, I am unsure if my chances are ruined for getting into SUNY/NECO/UCB.

I have taken the OAT once and I scored the following:

Biology: 200
G-Chem: 230
O-Chem: 270
Reading Comprehension: 290
Physics: 240
Quantitative Reasoning: 300

Total Science: 230
Academic Average: 260

The reason for these low scores is that I studied about 8 weeks and rushed myself just to meet the deadline for a school. Unfortunately, I scored low and must re-take. This time I plan on scoring very high. My goal is a 350+ on each section.

The materials that I used were the following:

• OAT Destroyer

• Chad's Videos

• Kaplan Book - Did not use it since I had Chad's Videos for understanding the concepts.
  

1. For Biology, I did about 300 multiple choice questions from the OAT destroyer. I made sure to not only memorize but to understand the big picture. However, I scored very low on this section and spent about 8 weeks studying, 7 days a week for about 6-8 hours daily. During the OAT, I remember seeing questions that I never had expected. They were very tricky and it was my first section, so the anxiety was kicking in.

2. For G-Chem, I watched Chad's Videos and took notes. I then did questions for G-Chem from the OAT destroyer. I spent a lot of time on this section as well, 7 days a week, for about 6-8 hours daily. I found the questions on the OAT destroyer really difficult for G-Chem and at times I would lose motivation while studying.

3. For O-Chem, I watched Chad's Videos and took notes. I tried working on the OAT destroyer questions, however, I found it really difficult and so I ended up trying to memorize the reactions and understanding the reactions through Chad's Videos. During the OAT, I ended up scoring higher in this section compared to Biology where I spent much more time studying on. Why? I ran out of time and ended up guessing like 15 questions for O-Chem and still ended up scoring higher than Biology.

4. For Reading Comprehension, pretty much I didn't study and during the OAT I simply jotted notes for each paragraph.

5. For Physics, I watched Chad's Videos and took notes. I did as much Physics OAT destroyer questions, but once again, found it really difficult and ended up using Chad's Videos and practiced his set of Physics questions. During the Physics section on the OAT, I realized that most of the Physics questions were conceptual rather than plug and chug, and so I was surprised on why we needed to memorize as many Physics formulas.

6. Lastly, for Quantitative Reasoning, I watched Chad's Videos and took notes. I worked out about 150 OAT destroyer questions and felt prepared for this section and I guess I scored average on it, a 300.

In summary, my question for those that have scored well on the OAT is what do I really need to do to make sure I score 350+ on each section?

I'm sorry for the long thread that I have posted here, I wanted to be as detailed as I can so that I can receive some feedback. Thanks in advance! Hope to hear from you guys soon!

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[Eye4Eyes]

Hey All,

I am new here and upon reading many other threads, I am unsure if my chances are ruined for getting into SUNY/NECO/UCB.

I have taken the OAT once and I scored the following:

Biology: 200
G-Chem: 230
O-Chem: 270
Reading Comprehension: 290
Physics: 240
Quantitative Reasoning: 300

Total Science: 230
Academic Average: 260

The reason for these low scores is that I studied about 8 weeks and rushed myself just to meet the deadline for a school. Unfortunately, I scored low and must re-take. This time I plan on scoring very high. My goal is a 350+ on each section.

The materials that I used were the following:

• OAT Destroyer

• Chad's Videos

• Kaplan Book - Did not use it since I had Chad's Videos for understanding the concepts.
  

1. For Biology, I did about 300 multiple choice questions from the OAT destroyer. I made sure to not only memorize but to understand the big picture. However, I scored very low on this section and spent about 8 weeks studying, 7 days a week for about 6-8 hours daily. During the OAT, I remember seeing questions that I never had expected. They were very tricky and it was my first section, so the anxiety was kicking in.

2. For G-Chem, I watched Chad's Videos and took notes. I then did questions for G-Chem from the OAT destroyer. I spent a lot of time on this section as well, 7 days a week, for about 6-8 hours daily. I found the questions on the OAT destroyer really difficult for G-Chem and at times I would lose motivation while studying.

3. For O-Chem, I watched Chad's Videos and took notes. I tried working on the OAT destroyer questions, however, I found it really difficult and so I ended up trying to memorize the reactions and understanding the reactions through Chad's Videos. During the OAT, I ended up scoring higher in this section compared to Biology where I spent much more time studying on. Why? I ran out of time and ended up guessing like 15 questions for O-Chem and still ended up scoring higher than Biology.

4. For Reading Comprehension, pretty much I didn't study and during the OAT I simply jotted notes for each paragraph.

5. For Physics, I watched Chad's Videos and took notes. I did as much Physics OAT destroyer questions, but once again, found it really difficult and ended up using Chad's Videos and practiced his set of Physics questions. During the Physics section on the OAT, I realized that most of the Physics questions were conceptual rather than plug and chug, and so I was surprised on why we needed to memorize as many Physics formulas.

6. Lastly, for Quantitative Reasoning, I watched Chad's Videos and took notes. I worked out about 150 OAT destroyer questions and felt prepared for this section and I guess I scored average on it, a 300.

In summary, my question for those that have scored well on the OAT is what do I really need to do to make sure I score 350+ on each section?

I'm sorry for the long thread that I have posted here, I wanted to be as detailed as I can so that I can receive some feedback. Thanks in advance! Hope to hear from you guys soon!

I think the best thing to do when studying for any standardized tests is to do as many practice exams as you possibly can. Of course, knowing the content is important, but it's definitely essential for you to master the test itself. There are some free Kaplan practice tests offered online that mimics the actual OAT. Since you said timing was an issue for OChem, maybe this would be helpful. Also, the ASCO has a sample test that I felt was the best indicator of my score since the set up and the content was really similar. Maybe you can try that.
https://www.ada.org/oat/index.html

Best of luck studying!

 

[VisionsFinest]

Hello Eye4Eyes,

Thank you for your response. I forgot to mention. In my schedule I had dedicated the last week for practice exams. I had two full length Kaplan exams and the sample OAT practice exam from the ASCO website. During the last week, I was cramming and I would actually work out all the problems on the practice exams and re-try if I got it wrong after completion of the practice exams. Basically, I made sure to use the practice exams to see if I mastered the concepts. I found that the level of difficulty for Biology on the real OAT was not similar to the practice OAT exam from the ASCO website. It was more difficult compared to the practice exam.

 

[sya]

I was overwhelmed by the OAT prep books and went to the library and got the (ochem, bio, physics etc) for dummies books or any high school subject books. It was dumb down enough that I could get through it quickly and get the basics down and easy reference. I then went back to Kaplan books to cover more material and worked on practice problems. To do well you need to understand concepts or pure memorization. I didn't get 350+ but I improved significantly with this method.

If you have the money get the OAT Achiever. The problems may be harder and probably irrelevant on the OAT but will point out your weakness and prepare you for the computerize test. My problem was I never took a computerized test and spent too long on one problems and could have used it to do problems I actually knew. Use the Achiever to get use to managing your time.

 

[VisionsFinest]

Hello Sya,

Thanks for your response. There is way too much material out there. The Kaplan course, Kaplan books, Princeton course, Princeton Books, Chad's Videos, OAT Destroyer, OAT Achiever, MCAT Exam Crackers and I bet there are more resources out there to do well on the OAT.

I heard that if you subscribe to the Kaplan course, you get like 10 full length practice exams. So are these exams worth it or the OAT Achiever?

Money is not an issue for me, but I feel that if I have too much materials, I will feel overwhelmed and absolutely unorganized. It is best to stick with one set of material and to master it. Authors have different ways of instructing the concepts in different books.

 

[optoapp2012]

Hello Sya,

Thanks for your response. There is way too much material out there. The Kaplan course, Kaplan books, Princeton course, Princeton Books, Chad's Videos, OAT Destroyer, OAT Achiever, MCAT Exam Crackers and I bet there are more resources out there to do well on the OAT.

I heard that if you subscribe to the Kaplan course, you get like 10 full length practice exams. So are these exams worth it or the OAT Achiever?

Money is not an issue for me, but I feel that if I have too much materials, I will feel overwhelmed and absolutely unorganized. It is best to stick with one set of material and to master it. Authors have different ways of instructing the concepts in different books.

I think the Kaplan course is the best investment if money isn't an issue. That's what I did. I think the classroom part is only minimally helpful, but the only things are fabulous.

You get 5 full-length tests that are timed and use the same interface as what you see on the actual OAT. There are also Section Tests and Subject Tests beyond the full-length ones. The Section Tests are like an isolated Natural Sciences or isolated Quantitative Reasoning - each one the same time and difficulty as one section on the actual test, but you don't take them back-to-back like a full-length test. You get 2 of those per section, so it's like having 2 more full-length exams broken up into pieces. The Subject Tests test the depth of your knowledge on different parts of each subject. So for example, there might be one about photosynthesis for the Biology section, or one about nomenclature for O-Chem. There isn't one of those for EVERY subject of every section, but it covers the big ones. You can only take the full-length and section tests ONE TIME each. The subject tests you can take over and over again. For everything you take, Kaplan gives you a really detailed score report that shows your areas of weaknesses (like maybe it's elimination reactions in Ochem or respiration in biology or electricity in physics). So every time I took one of those tests, I spent a lot of time looking at my weak areas and then went back and studied those again.

I think one huge key is to cover a subject over and over again. It's not enough to cover it once and then move on, because you will forget it fast. I took the subject tests like 5 times each...maybe more! I read all the chapters in the big Lecture Notes book they give you *multiple times* (especially if I continued to be weak in a section). I spent about the same time studying as you, but I think the Kaplan resources give you lots of good feedback in order to really direct your studying to the areas that need it most.

I used Kaplan almost exclusively. I didn't use it as much for O-chem, but rather used some other random book that wasn't associated with OAT prep because I liked the format better. O-Chem was tied for my worst section in the end though, so maybe I should've used Kaplan more! I also think Kaplan's flashcards are wonderful. I memorized all the physics, biology, and chem ones forward and backward and that helped lots with the random facts you have to know (like equations, definitions, etc.).

I got a 390 TS / 380 AA and hadn't even taken Biochemistry, Microbio, or Physics 2 lab yet. So I think the Kaplan resources are well worth the time and money! Plus I felt like they really prepared me well for the exam by the time I had really exhausted the information in both the books and online resources.

Good luck!

 

[optoapp2012]

One last thought...I agree with what someone else posted on here that you need to understand the basics first. I really don't know much about the non-Kaplan OAT resources, since that's all I used. But a lot of things I have seen just give you practice questions. That's really not that helpful to study from, because when you miss one, you don't have a resource to learn WHY you missed it. You just see what the correct answer is. You will never see that exact question on the real OAT. There might be similar questions, but that's why it's important to make sure you get a teaching resource (like with chapters of information to read). Just using practice tests will not really teach you anything you don't already know. They should just be used to gauge your progress on what you have learned.

 

[VisionsFinest]

Hello optoapp2012,

Your detailed response is really motivating me to use Kaplan. So the advantage of the Kaplan course is the timed 5 full length exams that you can only take once via computer. Then at the end it gives you a score report and lets you know what are your weakness/strengths. This is what I need and am thinking now in pursuing.

However, you mentioned that the lecture classroom was not that helpful. Did you feel that during the classroom you didn't learn the material well from the instructor or was it just that you teach yourself better on your own? I have the Kaplan laminated flashcards, the Kaplan Review Notes and the Kaplan subject flash cards with me, so would you recommend that I use these Kaplan materials on my own since the lecture classroom was not that helpful? Then I can use the OAT Achiever for the timed practice tests.

I see that you were using Kaplan for the concepts. I was using Chad's Videos for the concepts. I just want the right organization and the right material to study from and do well the second time around. I don't see the money as an issue but would hate wasting my time and not doing well.

 

[optoapp2012]

Hello optoapp2012,

Your detailed response is really motivating me to use Kaplan. So the advantage of the Kaplan course is the timed 5 full length exams that you can only take once via computer. Then at the end it gives you a score report and lets you know what are your weakness/strengths. This is what I need and am thinking now in pursuing.

However, you mentioned that the lecture classroom was not that helpful. Did you feel that during the classroom you didn't learn the material well from the instructor or was it just that you teach yourself better on your own? I have the Kaplan laminated flashcards, the Kaplan Review Notes and the Kaplan subject flash cards with me, so would you recommend that I use these Kaplan materials on my own since the lecture classroom was not that helpful? Then I can use the OAT Achiever for the timed practice tests.

I see that you were using Kaplan for the concepts. I was using Chad's Videos for the concepts. I just want the right organization and the right material to study from and do well the second time around. I don't see the money as an issue but would hate wasting my time and not doing well.

You can't get the Kaplan online resources without purchasing the class, so that kind of stinks. I think the classroom was helpful for a couple things, but there's just way too much information to cover in those short classes. I mean, I think it's maybe a total of 6 classroom hours on biology - with how much studying you put in for yoru first OAT, you can appreciate how little time that is in the long run. The benefit to the class is that your instructor will often have good tips to share about how to remember certain big point-getter concepts. All instructors had to get at least in the 90th percentile I *think*. Anyway, I went to all of the classes except the math one and I don't regret going. I just feel like I learned a lot more on my own.

The 5 timed tests are definitely a big advantage. I think having it in the real OAT interface was another really helpful thing. Because on test day, I freaked out less since I had already seen that a ton of times. Also, I forgot to mention that there are some "workshops" - like slide shows with audio - for various subjects. I guess that's akin to Chad's videos (it sounds like at least, but I never used those). I think Kaplan dumps a lot of money into researching the exam, so I feel like you get the closest experience to the real thing by using them. I did have a couple questions that threw me for a loop on test day, but it was mostly things I had already seen. Yes, the score reports are also amazingly helpful. It saves you lots of time from trying to track your own progress on practice tests or try to figure out your weak areas. Also getting to take the subject tests over and over again helped me....especially when I was taking one a couple weeks after I learned a topic and that was helping refresh the most important concepts.

I still think getting the Kaplan course is worth it, even though you have lots of the hard copy materials right now. I spent so much time on the computer-based resources that I don't think it's the same experience to use just the hard copy stuff. I have no idea how Chad's videos or OAT destroyer are. Lots of people on here loved them, but I still think Kaplan is the best overall package. I feel like if you put the same amount of time into the Kaplan materials (online stuff included) that you put into your first round of studying, you can't help but significantly improve. You've got the right study habits going as far as how much time you need to spend on it. Just make sure to cover the same material over and over again so you don't forget it once you move onto something new!

 

[VisionsFinest]

Which Kaplan course is worth the investment? They have a few options. The Classroom, the live classroom via computer or the online on demand option where you can watch the lectures 24/7 via computer. With all 3 options, you get the same materials to use, including the 5 timed practice tests.

In addition, do you think that the private tutor option is worth adding to the package? They have the tutors available for 15 hours, 25 hours or 35 hours and you get access to the classroom, the on-line on demand course and all the materials.

 

[optoapp2012]

Which Kaplan course is worth the investment? They have a few options. The Classroom, the live classroom via computer or the online on demand option where you can watch the lectures 24/7 via computer. With all 3 options, you get the same materials to use, including the 5 timed practice tests.

In addition, do you think that the private tutor option is worth adding to the package? They have the tutors available for 15 hours, 25 hours or 35 hours and you get access to the classroom, the on-line on demand course and all the materials.

Mehhh...it's up to you on the tutor. I don't really think it's worth it (and I actually worked for them as a private tutor for the ACT/SAT tests). That's just because there's SO much information to cover. It could be worth it if you were at a 350 and wanted to push it higher by refining a few set skills, or if you were rocking every section but one (in which case a class that broadly covers everything is simply not helpful that way). However, if you feel like you would benefit from the one-on-one help from someone that could maybe explain a certain set of the topics to you, then go for it. I think that would most likely benefit you on the high-skills section (like math, reading, and maybe some of the science sections regarding using formulas), and not so much on the high-knowledge sections (like biology). It's really whatever your learning style is. I just think the majority of the learning is spending hours and hours reading, re-reading, and quizzing yourself over the material...then doing that all again.

Do all the classroom formats cost the same? If so, then probably either the in-person or the on demand. I've seen those two types, and just heard about the live classroom. I think the benefit of the in-person one is getting to ask the teacher questions and for tips that may or may not be officially part of the Kaplan curriculum (like my teacher gave us print-outs he made to help with certain important enzymes in the body, hormones and where they are made in the body, some math formulas, etc). I thought that was nice. And it wasn't like he was a bad instructor - there's just way too much material and no one could cover it all. The down side to that is that you have to travel to wherever the class is and make sure to be there on each of the class days. The benefit to the On Demand is that you can watch things on your own schedule, plus they are probably the best of the best teachers doing those videos and you don't have to deal with any classmates raising their hand and asking super off-topic questions that are totally unrelated to the test (we had a girl like that in my class and it drove everyone nuts). The down side is that there's no teacher to ask a question to if something comes up that you really don't get. The live classroom has benefits and drawbacks just like the others - you WOULD have a live teacher to talk to, but you still do have to get online at the designated time. I don't know how big of a pain it would be to have people asking questions that way or typing them or whatever they do. And I just think you learn more in the physical presence of someone rather than through an online conversation with some power points...but that's really up to your learning style! If you have the time to commit on the schedule they set, I say go for the in-person class. The teachers will usually give their personal contact information and be happy to field your questions even after the end of the class.

Also, I took my class Feb 2011 and didn't take my exam until Aug 2011. I spent all of July and August studying on my own. If the class runs for around a month and a half or two months and you don't have anything to do in between but study, then you'd probably be fine to take the test right after you finish the class. I knew I wasn't going to have time to hit the books hard until later, so I skipped taking all the online tests other than the diagnostic so that I could use them to practice with closer to my actual exam date (they will arbitrarily say you should take your midterm at a particular date, then your final on a different date...but you don't lose the tests if you don't take them then). The other important thing is to talk to them BEFORE paying to see if you can get your online resources for an extended time. Usually they expire somewhat soon after your course ends, but that clearly wasn't going to work well for me, so I got them to extend it until after my test. I would just make sure to line that up before they have your money, because then you are in a good bargaining position

 

[VisionsFinest]

Thank you all for your detailed responses. I really can't explain how much I appreciate it. So how should my studying schedule go, if let's say I take the Kaplan in-classroom course which is from 06/11/2012 - 07/30/2012, Monday and Wednesday for 7 weeks? I am thinking about also incorporating the OAT destroyer along with the Kaplan course as practice questions. So if you guys were to set up a study schedule, how would it look like?

I would like to take my exam around the 2nd week of September for the 2013 application cycle. Is this still considered early into the cycle?

 

[KHE]

Hey All,

I am new here and upon reading many other threads, I am unsure if my chances are ruined for getting into SUNY/NECO/UCB.

I have taken the OAT once and I scored the following:

Biology: 200
G-Chem: 230
O-Chem: 270
Reading Comprehension: 290
Physics: 240
Quantitative Reasoning: 300

Total Science: 230
Academic Average: 260

The reason for these low scores is that I studied about 8 weeks and rushed myself just to meet the deadline for a school. Unfortunately, I scored low and must re-take. This time I plan on scoring very high. My goal is a 350+ on each section.

Studying for 8 weeks is more than enough time. If you are actually producing scores that low, I don't think any Kaplan/Destroyer/whatever course is going to help you. You need to learn the basic material better before you start worrying about test prep courses.

 

[optoapp2012]

Thank you all for your detailed responses. I really can't explain how much I appreciate it. So how should my studying schedule go, if let's say I take the Kaplan in-classroom course which is from 06/11/2012 - 07/30/2012, Monday and Wednesday for 7 weeks? I am thinking about also incorporating the OAT destroyer along with the Kaplan course as practice questions. So if you guys were to set up a study schedule, how would it look like?

I would like to take my exam around the 2nd week of September for the 2013 application cycle. Is this still considered early into the cycle?

Kaplan will actually give you a study schedule to follow during the class. I would follow that while you are in the course, but remember not to take the full length tests or the section tests, since you only get to use those once. I was taking the Kaplan course while enrolled in a number of pre-req's, so I couldn't keep pace with their schedule and my other classes. I kind of did bare bones or next to nothing during the course (probably a piece of why I came out thinking it was rather useless ). But if you do all the reading they tell you to do and follow along with the quizzes, that will give you a really good first run-through of the material.

What I did when I started studying hard core leading up to my test (months after I took the course) is that I dedicated a week or two to a particular subject. So let's pretend you go in the order Biology, Chemistry, OChem, Physics (I didn't really do much with the reading or math....hit those hard during the in-person course...maybe set aside a week to study math on your own, but I think your reading will improve by using Kaplan's methods for that section). During the first week of studying on your own, you read and reread all the biology sections in the big book (you should have already read these while you were taking the course, so this is complete review, but read it like you're reading it for the first time). Take all the quizzes in your book. Do all the workshops online. Take all the subject tests online. Take them day after day until you're getting a perfect score because you KNOW the material, not because you have memorized the answer. Do the flashcards over and over again until you have them memorized (Separate out the cards you know well from the ones you are missing, and concentrate on the ones you are not doing well on). At the end of the week, take a full-length test. Spend a lot of time reviewing your score report and looking through the explanations for all the questions you missed. Identify where you are lacking and write those subjects down. Spend one more day reviewing those sections again and see if you have learned the material to answer the questions you missed. Then move on to Chemistry and do the exact same thing.

Example: (let's say you have 6 weeks of studying on your own)
Week 1: Biology (chapters in book, flashcards, online workshops, online subject tests)
Week 2: Gen Chemistry (chapters in book, flashcards, online workshops, online subject tests)
End of Week 2: Take a full-length test
Week 3: Biology and Gen Chemistry again (because these were your lowest sections - reread chapters, continue with flashcards, redo online workshops in your weak areas, take all online subject tests again. Look for outside resources on any subjects that continue to be hard. Textbooks can be helpful for this, but they contain a lot more information than you need. Skim for some good information, but don't dive too deep into textbook stuff. Google can help here too)
End of Week 3: Natural Science Section Test (this includes OChem, which you haven't started on yet, but no worries...it's good preview for what you will be studying in the next week)
Week 4: O-Chem (chapters in book, flashcards, online workshops, online subject tests)
End of Week 4: Natural Science Section Test 2, take a full-length test (if you end up using any of your full-length tests during the classroom course, skip a full-length test here)
Week 5: Physics (chapters in book, flashcards, online workshops, online subject tests)
Half-way through Week 5: Physics Section Test 1 (use feedback here to help your studying through the rest of the week)
End of Week 5: Physics Section Test 2, take a full-length test
Week 6: Review areas where you continue to be weak (what you see on score reports or quizzes where you haven't scored 100% yet), Review math, take Math and Reading Section tests for practice
End of Week 6: Take your last full-length test at least 3 days before your real OAT - you don't want to be TOO burned out, but you want the results in time to still cover whatever material you can.

That schedule only includes using 4 full-length tests...I think they want you to take your diagnostic test at the beginning of the course, which is one of your full-length tests. You should take that one then, because it will help you see your weak areas where you need to focus during the course. You've already taken one practice test and have that score report too...so feel free to take the 5th full-length test at any point during the course. Maybe you want to save it until half-way through the course or do it at the end of the course to see your progress so far...whatever!

Hope that helps! I made a million study schedules and always revised it because I would need more time in one area or another (or I got lazy and got behind). I ended up with very little time to study Ochem and Physics and felt very weak in those areas going into the test. But ehh...it is what it is! Your fine taking your real OAT in September, but be ready to enter the scores that day and hit submit on OptomCAS - and make sure to budget time to finish your personal statement and the online app...it's very time-consuming to enter all your classes into the system one-by-one.

 

[VisionsFinest]

I believe Kaplan is the overall package for the OAT. You can find a lot of practice exams for the MCAT online but not for the OAT, and this is what I will definitely need and like KHE mentioned above, I will need to learn my basics before I enter a Kaplan course. What would you guys recommend for me to do as far as studying the basics before the Kaplan course starts, which is in about less than 3 weeks? Currently I have Chad's Videos, OAT Destroyer, and the Kaplan Review Notes book with me. Sya, you mentioned section books from the library, do you have the names of those books?

Optoapp2012, thank you so much, this studying technique is what I see myself doing. So once the Kaplan course starts, I will do the diagnostic exam and the final exam at the end of the course, which will take away 2 of my full length practice exams, leaving me with 3 full length exams to practice on my own after the course ends. Would you recommend this as a safe method?

 

[optoapp2012]

I believe Kaplan is the overall package for the OAT. You can find a lot of practice exams for the MCAT online but not for the OAT, and this is what I will definitely need and like KHE mentioned above, I will need to learn my basics before I enter a Kaplan course. What would you guys recommend for me to do as far as studying the basics before the Kaplan course starts, which is in about less than 3 weeks? Currently I have Chad’s Videos, OAT Destroyer, and the Kaplan Review Notes book with me. Sya, you mentioned section books from the library, do you have the names of those books?

Optoapp2012, thank you so much, this studying technique is what I see myself doing. So once the Kaplan course starts, I will do the diagnostic exam and the final exam at the end of the course, which will take away 2 of my full length practice exams, leaving me with 3 full length exams to practice on my own after the course ends. Would you recommend this as a safe method?

Yep - I think that'll work out great. Those section tests will also help, since they are timed like the real thing but are just one section at a time. You will have plenty of experience under your belt for each section by the time the test rolls around. I'd love to hear how it works out for you! I'll be hoping you rock it

 

[ellen27]

Hello Eye4Eyes,

Thank you for your response. I forgot to mention. In my schedule I had dedicated the last week for practice exams. I had two full length Kaplan exams and the sample OAT practice exam from the ASCO website. During the last week, I was cramming and I would actually work out all the problems on the practice exams and re-try if I got it wrong after completion of the practice exams. Basically, I made sure to use the practice exams to see if I mastered the concepts. I found that the level of difficulty for Biology on the real OAT was not similar to the practice OAT exam from the ASCO website. It was more difficult compared to the practice exam.

Hello, I am taking the OAT very soon. How did you score on the 2 full length Kaplan exams and the practice exam from the ASCO website. There was a large range of 60 points for me on these three resources, and was just wondering if your score reflected how you did on those resources.

 

[VisionsFinest]

Hello, I am taking the OAT very soon. How did you score on the 2 full length Kaplan exams and the practice exam from the ASCO website. There was a large range of 60 points for me on these three resources, and was just wondering if your score reflected how you did on those resources.

Hello ellen27,

While studying, I never graded myself on the exams you mentioned. I was in a rush and it is great that you are actually testing and grading yourself. Typically, the Kaplan exams are supposed to be more challenging than the actual OAT. OAT testing services confirmed that the actual OAT is similar in level of difficulty to the sample exam that is posted on the ASCO website.

I hope that helps and wish you the best on your upcoming exam.

 

[optoapp2012]

Hello, I am taking the OAT very soon. How did you score on the 2 full length Kaplan exams and the practice exam from the ASCO website. There was a large range of 60 points for me on these three resources, and was just wondering if your score reflected how you did on those resources.

I felt like the exam on the ASCO site was different than what I saw on the real OAT. There were similarities, and those are actually the sample questions you see in the tutorial for the software before beginning your test. BUT...I think someone who took only the ASCO one and nothing else would have a huge shock on the real OAT.

I imagine your score would fall somewhere in between that 60 point range, but it's tough to say where. My Kaplan practice tests (after taking 5 of them) were still about 30 points lower than what I got on the real test. I know some people have scored worse than their Kaplan scores, but I honestly thought the Kaplan tests were harder than the real thing, especially for the reading section. I don't remember my school on the ASCO one...but the scoring guide at the end of that test is really helpful so that you can see exactly how many questions missed correlates to what your score would be for that section, your total science score, and then ultimately your academic average.

 

[pienfoo]

sorry but those are ridiculously low scores that someone who guessed on every question should be able to get. not the be a downer but there needs to be a realistic evaluation of not just your chances of improving your OAT scores from the minimal to a 'goal' of 350+ i mean everyone's goal is technically 400 isn't it, to whether you really should be applying to optometry school in the first place. regardless of your motivation or reasoning for going into optometry, you still have to have shown minimal academic aptitude. what is your overall/science GPA and from where? You should be able to score 300+ on every section using just the Kaplan OAT comprehensive review and use a few other books to supplement the examination style of the OAT. regardless, good luck

 

[Shnurek]

sorry but those are ridiculously low scores that someone who guessed on every question should be able to get. not the be a downer but there needs to be a realistic evaluation of not just your chances of improving your OAT scores from the minimal to a 'goal' of 350+ i mean everyone's goal is technically 400 isn't it, to whether you really should be applying to optometry school in the first place. regardless of your motivation or reasoning for going into optometry, you still have to have shown minimal academic aptitude. what is your overall/science GPA and from where? You should be able to score 300+ on every section using just the Kaplan OAT comprehensive review and use a few other books to supplement the examination style of the OAT. regardless, good luck

Was waiting for someone to tell it like it is. Everytime I do people get all angry at me for being condescending or an ahole when I'm just being honest.

 

[VisionsFinest]

Yep - I think that'll work out great. Those section tests will also help, since they are timed like the real thing but are just one section at a time. You will have plenty of experience under your belt for each section by the time the test rolls around. I'd love to hear how it works out for you! I'll be hoping you rock it

Hi Optoapp2012,

I sent you a private message. If you could please get back to me at your earliest convenience, I'd appreciate it.

 

[VisionsFinest]

Hi optoapp2012,

I believe that you are not receiving my messages as they are not being delivered. I've sent you another private message. If you could please get back to me at your earliest convenience.

You can post your thoughts onto this thread if you'd like just in case the message doesn't get sent to my inbox. Thanks in advance.