Preparing for the OAT

[r_salis]

What are you doing (or have you done) to prepare for the OAT? How many months in advance did you begin? How much time did you spend per week? Is it possible to study for it while you're taking classes? If you've taken the OAT already, what part of it do you wish you'd studied harder for?

I'll be taking the OAT this October. I'm planning to study for it over the summer, but I'm worried about how much time I'll have to devote to it since I'll be taking Organic II/Organic II Lab in summer session. (It's going to be a *fun* summer! )

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[Optometry]

I took the OAT a year ago in Feb. I studied for it a lot over the Christmas break because like you, I was worried about how much time I would be able to spend studying for it with classes and all. I spent a lot of time studying for it!! I went through all of my class notes, books, and an OAT prep book several times each. I would spend every second of my free time studying for the OAT. I would say that I spent about 30 hours a week studying for it the 3 weeks beforehand and a little less in the month or so before that. Some people, though, just go into the test without studying much at all. I think that the number of hours that you decide to spend studying is completely up to you.

The most challenging thing about it for me was the timing of the math section. I had already had Calc 1 & 2, so it wasn't that I didn't know the concepts. If I was you, I would do a least a couple of practice tests to work on your timing. I ran out of time on that particular section. It seems like a lot of other people did, also.

Good luck! I hope that this helps you some.

 

[anamod]

I'm wondering what is covered on the OAT? Is like the MCAT or is it more like the DAT. Just curious

 

[r_salis]

Thanks, Optometry! I am defintitely not one of the "go into the test without studying" kind, so I am planning to do some intensive studying beforehand as you did. I'll have a couple free weeks in between summer session and the fall semester to really concentrate on it. Excellent suggestion on practicing taking timed tests -- pacing has always been a problem for me. I'm also going to try sleeping with all my notes from the last couple semesters under my pillow to see if that helps.

 

[mpp]

Click <a href="http://www.opted.org/info_oat.cfm" target="_blank">here</a> for information regarding the OAT.

I found that the OAT was much easier than the MCAT. They seem to give more time than MCAT and the overall test is shorter. The main difference is that there is a quantitative section on OAT but not on MCAT. Also, the OAT does not have a writing section like MCAT does.

The questions on the MCAT are more based on passages rather than just straight questions like on most of the OAT. I found it was easier to eliminate incorrect answers from the OAT questions as compared to the MCAT questions in which it seems that all the available choices are good answers and you just have to figure out which is the best.

The reading comprehension of the OAT is similar to MCAT but shorter. For me it was the most difficult section to finish within the time allotted. The other sections I always finished with plenty of leftover time.

Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.