nbantz
Full Member
- Joined
- May 10, 2019
- Messages
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- 31
Hey everyone! I read a lot of these OAT experience threads from the past and they were super helpful for me, so I figured I would make one too! If anyone has any specific questions please let me know.
I plan on applying this upcoming cycle for the class of 2024! I took the OAT yesterday (June 14) and it went well. As far as the day of the test, my experience was very similar to previous posts EXCEPT I was given 2 number two pencils and a 4 page yellow scrap paper book to do work on instead of a dry erase board. I personally liked this much better!
I scored a 370TS/370AA! Here are my subject breakdowns and experiences:
310 Biology
As everyone else says this section was a smattering of random topics and questions. I had questions on transcription/translation, analyzing experiments, endocrine system, manmal characteristics, and a many more topics. I would definitely say breadth over depth for this section. I have a pretty strong background in Bio and have a bio minor so I underestimated this section and didn’t study very much at all. It clearly showed in my score compared to the other sections.
360 Gen. Chem.
I used Chad’s videos for Gen Chem, OChem, and Physics. I felt like those videos and quizzes really helped me and I didn’t feel caught off guard by anything. It was mostly simple calculations, ideal gas law, stoichiometry, redox, balancing reactions, mole to mole ratio, pH, pOH and relationship to OH and H concentrations, and other basics covered by Chad. I didn’t have any solubility questions and anything that involved a difficult calculation. Know your main concepts and you will be golden.
400 O. Chem.
I was pleasantly surprised by my score for this section. I have a good background in OChem, but like everyone else I am not a huge fan of the subject. I watched all of Chad’s videos, made flash cards of the reactions taught by Chad, and used this DAT outline to study reactions.
datbootcamp.com
I had a few questions on acid/base strength, quite a few on meta/ortho para directors, a few in spectroscopy, and quite a few reactions. Overall, this section was straightforward if you memorize what Chad tells you to!
380 Reading Comp.
Reading comprehension has always been one of my strongest subjects. I did not read the articles or make a road map. I strictly used search and destroy and had plenty of time to finish. I think I had 8 or so minutes left at the end to review some questions. My passages were pretty simple. Two of them were scientific in nature and one was more anecdotal/historical. Overall, this section wasn’t bad at all!
390 Physics
Physics was soooo much more simple than Kaplan’s practice exams. If you memorize your equations and understand force diagrams and the basic concepts you will be totally fine. I had a terrible physics professor for both semesters of physics last year, so I went in to studying thinking that this would be my lowest score. I watched Chads videos and did some practice on DAT Bootcamp. The free ADA was pretty representative of the question difficulty on the actual exam. There were no complex calculations and about 60% calculations and 40% conceptual.
380 Quantitative Reas.
To be honest, I don’t remember much sticking out from this section. The calculator was super helpful for me. My number pad on the keyboard did work for inputting numbers in the calculator so that saved me time. Know how to solve a combined rate problem (if joe paints a room in 3 hours and tom in 2 and a half, how long to paint together). Know how to solve system of two equations. There were a few comparison questions like you see in the Kaplan practice book but they were much more simple. Overall, time can be a factor here, so if you don’t know how to do a problem right off the bat, mark it and come back because there are some simple questions towards the end that you want to get to.
Sorry this is super long, haha. I hope this is helpful! I took the first two Kaplan tests before studying much at all. Took the Full Kap 2 about a week before my exam after I had gone through all of Chad’s videos. Then, 3 days before my exam took the ADA. Kaplan tests are representative of the difficulty of Bio and RC, but overall my scores for TS/AA were 30-40 points lower for Kaplan than the actual OAT. Here are my practice test scores:
Short Kap/Full Kap 1/Full Kap 2/ADA/Real OAT
340/300/300/340/310 Biology
310/310/350/370/360 Gen. Chem.
310/320/350/350/400 O. Chem.
310/390/380/—-/380 Reading Comp.
270/290/320/360/390 Physics
370/330/320/—-/380 Quantitative Reas.
290/280/340/360/370 TS
320/300/340/—-/370AA
Again, let me know if I can help anyone with questions! This test is totally doable, just go in with confidence and it will show in your scores. Good luck everyone!
I plan on applying this upcoming cycle for the class of 2024! I took the OAT yesterday (June 14) and it went well. As far as the day of the test, my experience was very similar to previous posts EXCEPT I was given 2 number two pencils and a 4 page yellow scrap paper book to do work on instead of a dry erase board. I personally liked this much better!
I scored a 370TS/370AA! Here are my subject breakdowns and experiences:
310 Biology
As everyone else says this section was a smattering of random topics and questions. I had questions on transcription/translation, analyzing experiments, endocrine system, manmal characteristics, and a many more topics. I would definitely say breadth over depth for this section. I have a pretty strong background in Bio and have a bio minor so I underestimated this section and didn’t study very much at all. It clearly showed in my score compared to the other sections.
360 Gen. Chem.
I used Chad’s videos for Gen Chem, OChem, and Physics. I felt like those videos and quizzes really helped me and I didn’t feel caught off guard by anything. It was mostly simple calculations, ideal gas law, stoichiometry, redox, balancing reactions, mole to mole ratio, pH, pOH and relationship to OH and H concentrations, and other basics covered by Chad. I didn’t have any solubility questions and anything that involved a difficult calculation. Know your main concepts and you will be golden.
400 O. Chem.
I was pleasantly surprised by my score for this section. I have a good background in OChem, but like everyone else I am not a huge fan of the subject. I watched all of Chad’s videos, made flash cards of the reactions taught by Chad, and used this DAT outline to study reactions.
DAT Organic Chemistry Reaction Cheat Sheet | DAT Bootcamp
A major part of the DAT organic chemistry section is knowing your reactions. I have constructed the following reaction sheet to expose you to every reaction that could possibly show up on the DAT.
datbootcamp.com
I had a few questions on acid/base strength, quite a few on meta/ortho para directors, a few in spectroscopy, and quite a few reactions. Overall, this section was straightforward if you memorize what Chad tells you to!
380 Reading Comp.
Reading comprehension has always been one of my strongest subjects. I did not read the articles or make a road map. I strictly used search and destroy and had plenty of time to finish. I think I had 8 or so minutes left at the end to review some questions. My passages were pretty simple. Two of them were scientific in nature and one was more anecdotal/historical. Overall, this section wasn’t bad at all!
390 Physics
Physics was soooo much more simple than Kaplan’s practice exams. If you memorize your equations and understand force diagrams and the basic concepts you will be totally fine. I had a terrible physics professor for both semesters of physics last year, so I went in to studying thinking that this would be my lowest score. I watched Chads videos and did some practice on DAT Bootcamp. The free ADA was pretty representative of the question difficulty on the actual exam. There were no complex calculations and about 60% calculations and 40% conceptual.
380 Quantitative Reas.
To be honest, I don’t remember much sticking out from this section. The calculator was super helpful for me. My number pad on the keyboard did work for inputting numbers in the calculator so that saved me time. Know how to solve a combined rate problem (if joe paints a room in 3 hours and tom in 2 and a half, how long to paint together). Know how to solve system of two equations. There were a few comparison questions like you see in the Kaplan practice book but they were much more simple. Overall, time can be a factor here, so if you don’t know how to do a problem right off the bat, mark it and come back because there are some simple questions towards the end that you want to get to.
Sorry this is super long, haha. I hope this is helpful! I took the first two Kaplan tests before studying much at all. Took the Full Kap 2 about a week before my exam after I had gone through all of Chad’s videos. Then, 3 days before my exam took the ADA. Kaplan tests are representative of the difficulty of Bio and RC, but overall my scores for TS/AA were 30-40 points lower for Kaplan than the actual OAT. Here are my practice test scores:
Short Kap/Full Kap 1/Full Kap 2/ADA/Real OAT
340/300/300/340/310 Biology
310/310/350/370/360 Gen. Chem.
310/320/350/350/400 O. Chem.
310/390/380/—-/380 Reading Comp.
270/290/320/360/390 Physics
370/330/320/—-/380 Quantitative Reas.
290/280/340/360/370 TS
320/300/340/—-/370AA
Again, let me know if I can help anyone with questions! This test is totally doable, just go in with confidence and it will show in your scores. Good luck everyone!
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