Hi all! I recently took the OAT a few days ago and am pretty satisfied with my scores. I studied for about 11 weeks over the summer while taking classes (ochem and a writing class) and working part-time (16h/week). I thought it'd be helpful to share my experience balancing my schedule with my studying for the OAT.
Study materials:
I only used OATBooster, which was a 10/10. While I heard that Chad's is good for physics, I started off with a pretty decent physics foundation and really only needed to brush up on formulas and do practice problems. Booster's practice questions and tests were super similar to the real thing and the sheer amount of practice questions was great for studying, which is primarily what I used.
How I prepared:
Initially I aimed to follow the 10-week study plan on Booster, which I did for about 2 weeks for the learning phase. Eventually I decided to deviate from it because it wasn't working with my schedule (especially on days where I had work) and because I already had a really strong foundation in certain topics for certain sections. In the initial stage of the learning phase after deviating from the study plan, I would skim through the video/note topics and watched the videos for anything that looked unfamiliar or needed brushing up on. On busy days where I had work or class, I would just aim to do practice problems and review previously learned concepts. On freer days, I'd actively learn new concepts or do practice tests, and would try to aim for 6 hours of studying. About 3 weeks out from my exam date is when I started to really focus on doing practice tests and reviewing topics and questions I was struggling with. If there was any questions that I was remotely unsure of during the practice tests, I'd mark it, and then focus on doing its question bank, marking any other questions that I got wrong. My studying at this point consisted almost entirely of reviewing marked questions.
Biology (400):
I had a pretty strong foundation since I already took classes in physiology, microbiology, ecology, and biochemistry, so I deviated from the study plan for biology pretty early on. I was pretty weak in embryology and certain physiological systems, so I watched all the videos for those (I watched them while on the elliptical to get my cardio in lol). For the rest of the bio topics, I would do some of the bio bits and if I knew a majority of them, I would move onto my next weakest topic. Otherwise, I would prioritize doing extra bio bits. I struggled a lot with endocrinology -- repetition is key!
Gen Chem (390):
I was definitely weaker in gen chem than bio. Initially I tried to employ the same tactic, but when I realized I needed to brush up on a lot, I aimed to watch all the videos, take notes on important formulas, and do practice questions. If I was confident in a certain topic (like stoichiometry), I'd skip the videos and go right to the questions. I marked a lot of questions for gen chem during the reviewing/practice test phase. Every day, I would try to physically write out formulas that I often forgot (like Beer's Law for absorbance).
OChem (390):
By far my weakest topic initially. My studying here was unconventional because I was also taking an ochem class over the summer. For 2 weeks I almost completely put OAT studying to the side to study for my ochem final, but that meant that I got to really internalize the mechanisms and concepts. Some people say to memorize the reactions, but because of my class, I was able to rely on mechanisms to reason out the reaction products. If you have the time, I'd say this is the best way to learn all the reactions. If not, I would prioritize memorizing common reagents and their properties as a short-cut method.
Physics (360):
Surprisingly, this was my worst score on the actual OAT. I think it's because I went into studying feeling pretty confident about physics, so I sort of put it to the side a little more than I should have. The biggest thing I did for physics, aside from doing all the practice problems, was creating my own formula sheet and rewriting all the relevant formulas every single day -- no matter if I had work/class or not. I knew the concepts, but the formulas often slipped my mind. If you can memorize the formulas and understand how variables change in relation to each other, you'll be set.
Reading Comp (380):
I didn't really use Booster material to prep for RC. My only practice was the RC portion in the practice tests. My method was reading/semi-skimming the whole article at the very start and prioritizing highlighting certain phrases. I would always highlight geographical names and statistical numbers (questions often asked about these), terms that are defined within that paragraph, and phrases/words that sort of "represent" what the paragraph is talking about. For example, if a paragraph is describing the initial stage of a process, I might highlight the word "begins" or "initiates". Then for questions, I could quickly locate which paragraph the answer would likely be in.
Quantitative Reasoning (400):
Like RC, my studying only involved the QR portion in practice tests. From the start, QR was my strongest section. Unfortunately, I don't have too much advice for this one. Understanding the "why" behind QR concepts helped me reason out a lot of the problems. I will say though, there tended to be a lot of probability questions.
Final Advice:
Don't burn yourself out! I definitely almost burnt out when I was trying to follow the study plan and maintain the same study load on days where I had work and class. If your schedule is busy/inconsistent, I'd recommend looking at how much studying you've done every couple days rather than every day, to avoid feeling bad on busy days where you couldn't get as much studying in as you'd like. Similarly, try not to forget your hobbies! I love exercising and staying active, which is tough to do when you have to sit down to study and take practice exams. I tried to incorporate "fun" things into my studying to not burn out. When I watched videos, I'd be on the elliptical or treadmill at the same time. Every now and then, I'd take the time to visit a cool cafe/new study spot to study in. It helped break up the routine of work-class-study-homework-sleep. The day before the exam, I reviewed a little in the morning, let myself forget about the exam by going out with a friend for the day, and then reviewed a little in the evening before heading to sleep early.
Feel free to message me if you have questions! Good luck to all those taking the OAT soon, and believe in yourself!
Study materials:
I only used OATBooster, which was a 10/10. While I heard that Chad's is good for physics, I started off with a pretty decent physics foundation and really only needed to brush up on formulas and do practice problems. Booster's practice questions and tests were super similar to the real thing and the sheer amount of practice questions was great for studying, which is primarily what I used.
How I prepared:
Initially I aimed to follow the 10-week study plan on Booster, which I did for about 2 weeks for the learning phase. Eventually I decided to deviate from it because it wasn't working with my schedule (especially on days where I had work) and because I already had a really strong foundation in certain topics for certain sections. In the initial stage of the learning phase after deviating from the study plan, I would skim through the video/note topics and watched the videos for anything that looked unfamiliar or needed brushing up on. On busy days where I had work or class, I would just aim to do practice problems and review previously learned concepts. On freer days, I'd actively learn new concepts or do practice tests, and would try to aim for 6 hours of studying. About 3 weeks out from my exam date is when I started to really focus on doing practice tests and reviewing topics and questions I was struggling with. If there was any questions that I was remotely unsure of during the practice tests, I'd mark it, and then focus on doing its question bank, marking any other questions that I got wrong. My studying at this point consisted almost entirely of reviewing marked questions.
Biology (400):
I had a pretty strong foundation since I already took classes in physiology, microbiology, ecology, and biochemistry, so I deviated from the study plan for biology pretty early on. I was pretty weak in embryology and certain physiological systems, so I watched all the videos for those (I watched them while on the elliptical to get my cardio in lol). For the rest of the bio topics, I would do some of the bio bits and if I knew a majority of them, I would move onto my next weakest topic. Otherwise, I would prioritize doing extra bio bits. I struggled a lot with endocrinology -- repetition is key!
Gen Chem (390):
I was definitely weaker in gen chem than bio. Initially I tried to employ the same tactic, but when I realized I needed to brush up on a lot, I aimed to watch all the videos, take notes on important formulas, and do practice questions. If I was confident in a certain topic (like stoichiometry), I'd skip the videos and go right to the questions. I marked a lot of questions for gen chem during the reviewing/practice test phase. Every day, I would try to physically write out formulas that I often forgot (like Beer's Law for absorbance).
OChem (390):
By far my weakest topic initially. My studying here was unconventional because I was also taking an ochem class over the summer. For 2 weeks I almost completely put OAT studying to the side to study for my ochem final, but that meant that I got to really internalize the mechanisms and concepts. Some people say to memorize the reactions, but because of my class, I was able to rely on mechanisms to reason out the reaction products. If you have the time, I'd say this is the best way to learn all the reactions. If not, I would prioritize memorizing common reagents and their properties as a short-cut method.
Physics (360):
Surprisingly, this was my worst score on the actual OAT. I think it's because I went into studying feeling pretty confident about physics, so I sort of put it to the side a little more than I should have. The biggest thing I did for physics, aside from doing all the practice problems, was creating my own formula sheet and rewriting all the relevant formulas every single day -- no matter if I had work/class or not. I knew the concepts, but the formulas often slipped my mind. If you can memorize the formulas and understand how variables change in relation to each other, you'll be set.
Reading Comp (380):
I didn't really use Booster material to prep for RC. My only practice was the RC portion in the practice tests. My method was reading/semi-skimming the whole article at the very start and prioritizing highlighting certain phrases. I would always highlight geographical names and statistical numbers (questions often asked about these), terms that are defined within that paragraph, and phrases/words that sort of "represent" what the paragraph is talking about. For example, if a paragraph is describing the initial stage of a process, I might highlight the word "begins" or "initiates". Then for questions, I could quickly locate which paragraph the answer would likely be in.
Quantitative Reasoning (400):
Like RC, my studying only involved the QR portion in practice tests. From the start, QR was my strongest section. Unfortunately, I don't have too much advice for this one. Understanding the "why" behind QR concepts helped me reason out a lot of the problems. I will say though, there tended to be a lot of probability questions.
Final Advice:
Don't burn yourself out! I definitely almost burnt out when I was trying to follow the study plan and maintain the same study load on days where I had work and class. If your schedule is busy/inconsistent, I'd recommend looking at how much studying you've done every couple days rather than every day, to avoid feeling bad on busy days where you couldn't get as much studying in as you'd like. Similarly, try not to forget your hobbies! I love exercising and staying active, which is tough to do when you have to sit down to study and take practice exams. I tried to incorporate "fun" things into my studying to not burn out. When I watched videos, I'd be on the elliptical or treadmill at the same time. Every now and then, I'd take the time to visit a cool cafe/new study spot to study in. It helped break up the routine of work-class-study-homework-sleep. The day before the exam, I reviewed a little in the morning, let myself forget about the exam by going out with a friend for the day, and then reviewed a little in the evening before heading to sleep early.
Feel free to message me if you have questions! Good luck to all those taking the OAT soon, and believe in yourself!
