Hi all! I just took the OAT two days ago, and I wanted to share my experience and thoughts like others that I have learned from.
Background:
I began studying for the OAT with Booster Prep in January for my exam in March full-time. Initially, I followed the 8 week study schedule for content learning, but after taking the first practice test, I followed my own schedule of focusing on one subject at a time. I spent around 4-6 hours per day studying for the OAT on Booster Prep, increasing the time as it got closer to test day. I did take breaks, but I think breaks did not impact me as much as quality studying. During the last two weeks, I focused on practice tests and understanding what I got wrong.
Biology: 380
I didn’t take AP Biology, so the content learning was overwhelming for me. I first tried learning from the study notes and videos, but because each chapter was taking too long, I focused on memorizing the cheat sheets with flash cards. I looked for gaps in my knowledge through the practice tests. I think my prioritization in studying this subject paid off, but I definitely should have put the same effort into studying other subjects.
General Chemistry: 390
I had questions about acidity and basicity, as well as calculation questions. The practice test questions helped prepare me by helping me understand the relationships and trends, as well as how to address calculation questions. Taking the time to go through the practice tests was very helpful to me.
Organic Chemistry: 340
This was my weakest and least liked subject of the exam. I went in with the mindset of knowing just enough to get by. I focused on memorizing the reactions and trying to understand the reactions. I found the reaction question bank useful for this section. The question banks had more variety that would be more helpful in understanding predicted products and how the reaction proceeds. On the test, I had many predict the product questions and some EAS questions.
Reading Comprehension: 340
I averaged high on the practice tests using the search and destroy method. On the exam day, however, I was most concerned for this section because I realized that the text would look differently on the computers. It was a little harder to read at the pace I normally did when I studied on my smaller laptop. The power in my exam building went off during this section, which may have contributed to my score.
Physics: 360
I took physics I & II a year ago, so I focused on reviewing and understanding concepts I wasn't confident in. There was a good mix of physics I & II questions. I had questions about friction, acceleration, lenses, circuits, etc.
QR: 380
I studied for this section through the practice tests. There were primarily calculation questions, as well as questions about probability and graph functions. There were some quantity A vs. quantity B questions. I spent too much time on some questions, and I was unfamiliar with how to approach some questions. I think I was overconfident, and I should have studied this section more given the limited time on the exam.
Study Materials I Used:
Booster Prep:
This was the primary resource I used. I liked Booster because of the wide variety of teaching and practice it offers. I particularly liked the explanations for the correct and incorrect answers in the practice tests. The video answer breakdowns were a nice option to have when I didn’t understand the written explanation. The high-yield cheat sheets were very useful in giving me a foundation to work off of.
Chad’s Videos:
Because I was already familiar with the content of physics I & II, I used Chad’s Videos to review each chapter. I liked the way he broke down equations to students in his videos.
Final thoughts:
Content review is a long process, and that cannot be avoided. However, the quality of studying that you in order to effectively apply and approach questions is more important. I only realized this in the last week leading up to the exam. With limited time, I was only able to focus on learning from my mistakes for biology and general chemistry. If I had started this method earlier, I definitely would have been more prepared in the other section.
Background:
I began studying for the OAT with Booster Prep in January for my exam in March full-time. Initially, I followed the 8 week study schedule for content learning, but after taking the first practice test, I followed my own schedule of focusing on one subject at a time. I spent around 4-6 hours per day studying for the OAT on Booster Prep, increasing the time as it got closer to test day. I did take breaks, but I think breaks did not impact me as much as quality studying. During the last two weeks, I focused on practice tests and understanding what I got wrong.
Biology: 380
I didn’t take AP Biology, so the content learning was overwhelming for me. I first tried learning from the study notes and videos, but because each chapter was taking too long, I focused on memorizing the cheat sheets with flash cards. I looked for gaps in my knowledge through the practice tests. I think my prioritization in studying this subject paid off, but I definitely should have put the same effort into studying other subjects.
General Chemistry: 390
I had questions about acidity and basicity, as well as calculation questions. The practice test questions helped prepare me by helping me understand the relationships and trends, as well as how to address calculation questions. Taking the time to go through the practice tests was very helpful to me.
Organic Chemistry: 340
This was my weakest and least liked subject of the exam. I went in with the mindset of knowing just enough to get by. I focused on memorizing the reactions and trying to understand the reactions. I found the reaction question bank useful for this section. The question banks had more variety that would be more helpful in understanding predicted products and how the reaction proceeds. On the test, I had many predict the product questions and some EAS questions.
Reading Comprehension: 340
I averaged high on the practice tests using the search and destroy method. On the exam day, however, I was most concerned for this section because I realized that the text would look differently on the computers. It was a little harder to read at the pace I normally did when I studied on my smaller laptop. The power in my exam building went off during this section, which may have contributed to my score.
Physics: 360
I took physics I & II a year ago, so I focused on reviewing and understanding concepts I wasn't confident in. There was a good mix of physics I & II questions. I had questions about friction, acceleration, lenses, circuits, etc.
QR: 380
I studied for this section through the practice tests. There were primarily calculation questions, as well as questions about probability and graph functions. There were some quantity A vs. quantity B questions. I spent too much time on some questions, and I was unfamiliar with how to approach some questions. I think I was overconfident, and I should have studied this section more given the limited time on the exam.
Study Materials I Used:
Booster Prep:
This was the primary resource I used. I liked Booster because of the wide variety of teaching and practice it offers. I particularly liked the explanations for the correct and incorrect answers in the practice tests. The video answer breakdowns were a nice option to have when I didn’t understand the written explanation. The high-yield cheat sheets were very useful in giving me a foundation to work off of.
Chad’s Videos:
Because I was already familiar with the content of physics I & II, I used Chad’s Videos to review each chapter. I liked the way he broke down equations to students in his videos.
Final thoughts:
Content review is a long process, and that cannot be avoided. However, the quality of studying that you in order to effectively apply and approach questions is more important. I only realized this in the last week leading up to the exam. With limited time, I was only able to focus on learning from my mistakes for biology and general chemistry. If I had started this method earlier, I definitely would have been more prepared in the other section.
