Advice for oat!

[Tweet89]

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Well I have been studying for the OAT for about 2 months or so. I took the kaplan course for it as well and I have been studying from their material and reading bio and doing practice quizzes and exams and I have been going up in my scores but the highest I have reached has been a 330 and I took another practice today and it was a total failure, I got a 310 🙁🙁🙁🙁... I am taking my OAT next sunday and this just brought my spirits down. I have so much trouble with the Physics section it just doesn't want to go up and i don't know what to do anymore
I bought OAT topscore and i am definitely taking those exams before the real one comes up but does anyone have any suggestions, advice etc for me for the real test day
If you have taken kaplan, are the exams similar to kaplans exams?? do i still have hope, I have studied so hard and have done absolutely nothing this summer but study study and I feel like my grade especially the last one doesn't show it and I'm worried for when I take the real exam on the 15th I am not going to do good 🙁🙁

I would REALLY APPRECIATE any help you can give me!
thanx 🙂

 

[kiwi5frog]

I took the Kaplan course.

Bio: real one is about the same. but this is due to a random question pool. lucky people get easy bio sections, unlucky people get hard bio sections
BIO: Kaplan 380/OAT 400

both CHEMs: Kaplan was harder than the real thing. You will likely score better on real thing by 20-30 points. I was disappointed with O chem though, the test was much simpler and i got a lot of questions on just naming the reaction (like williamson ether synth).
GCHEM: KAPLAN 350/ OAT 400
OCHEM: KAPLAN 350/ OAT 360

Physics: Kaplan is ******ed in this area. Kaplan DOES NOT REFLECT THE OAT PHYSICS AT ALL! Not even close. They are unreasonably difficult in their practice tests. Again, the real thing is simpler. I did not use an alternate study source, but I have heard that people recommend using OAT physics destroyer. I wouldn't know though. Either way, do not put any of your faith in how KAPLAN makes the Physics section. I honestly wonder if Kaplan even researched the OAT physics because they are very different.
PHYS: KAPLAN 340/ OAT 360

Reading: kaplan is close, but they do not have any of the "both are true/false, first is true/false only" type questions. take the ASCO practice test, they show you those question types there.
RC: KAPLAN range 280-380 / OAT 320

quant reas: Kaplan is okay for math. there were fewer word problems on my test. again, this may be due to a random question pool and i may have gotten lucky
QR: KAPLAN 360/ OAT 380

so, with that in mind...I think you'll do more than fine if you've studied with their system. Kaplan is for the most part designed to be harder. The same goes with the Destroyer if you ever use it. Try not to freak out. I know I did. I have my gripes, but I did well, so I can't be that mad. 😀

good luck! 👍

 

[lsmc888]

yeah take the asco practice test. its the closest to the real thing

 

[Tweet89]

Wow u did really good on the kaplan exams though better than me, congrats 🙂
I mean I am trying to keep thinking that I will do fine that I will get a grade I am happy with but I'm still worried
The asco test ur talking about is the one they have on the website, the practice exam, right??
any tips for last week studying before my exam, I am starting to really freak out now :/

 

[1789]

Good luck when you take it in a week. I took mine last month, and after having gone through Kaplan, I was extremely pleased with my results. I'd say, one of the best things you can do now is not too freak out (easier said than done, perhaps..). I was getting scores from Kaplan around 320-330, but ended up with a 360AA and 370TS. Going in I thought my weakest area was gen chem, but I ended up with a 400. You sound like you are on the right track, don't let semi-arbitrary numbers and reports from Kaplan shake you up. You got it!

 

[physicslover]

My numbers on Kaplan were not in correspendence to my actual numbers at all! I kept getting higher on the Bio sections from Kaplan than I did with Physics/Chem but thats not how it turned out on the test. Do not be discouraged by your Kaplan Numbers! Keep positive till your test!

 

[kiwi5frog]

Wow u did really good on the kaplan exams though better than me, congrats 🙂
I mean I am trying to keep thinking that I will do fine that I will get a grade I am happy with but I'm still worried
The asco test ur talking about is the one they have on the website, the practice exam, right??
any tips for last week studying before my exam, I am starting to really freak out now :/

if you are down to your very last week, i would not try to flesh out your major weak points. trying to fix your weak points this close to the exam will unnecessarily give you a nervous breakdown.

instead, review the concepts you are strong in and make sure you got it. Even the things you know well might shake you a bit in the nervousness of the exam. So work on those, build your confidence, and take the ASCO test right now! Don't do it the day before. Oh and keep in mind there are a number of errors on the ASCO test. There is an SDN thread somewhere here that lists all the corrections. so you might want to check that out when you are scoring yourself.

 

[physicslover]

^kiwi5frog great advice!

 

[Tweet89]

@ 1789, you did really good, congrats. I hope that I do good as well bc these grades are very discouraging 🙁
Yea I am taking the OAT practice exam from the website tomorrow and see how I do. Is it similar to the real exam?!!?!?!
has anyone taken the TOPSCORE practice exams to study from?? I am using that as well. I know I am trying to keep calm and not worry but I can't help but worry.
Should I stop studying the day before or two days before the exam??? Is it fine if I just review prior to the exam ??
Where can I find the corrections to the practice exam??

Part of me just wants to take it and get it over with but at the same time I don't wanna take it 🙁

 

[lsmc888]

yeah, the practice on the website is the closest to the real thing, although make sure you know there are some errors on it, which is explained somewhere on this forum. for my test, i didnt study for the two days before my test but on test day, i looked over some last minute concepts that i was a little iffy about just to make sure

 

[kiwi5frog]

use the search function at the top of the forum page. it takes a bit of digging that most of us won't do for someone else. have at it. ^_^

 

[Tweet89]

Ok so I took the practice OAT exam from the website yesterday and it wasn't horrible but its not the score I am aiming for for the real exam.
I got a 310 in bio 🙁
a 340 in chem and orgo
a 310 in the reading but obviously the real exam will have the 3 passages so I am hoping to go up
a 350 in physics which I am soo surprised since I was doing horrible on the kaplan physics
a 340 in QR
My total science was a 350 and AA was a 330

How does this exam compare to the real OAT??? Am I in a somewhat good position to do well compared to the scores I got on the practice??
I don't know what to expect or think I am soo nervous!!!!!!!

 

[t89]

where can you take the ASCO practice test? i can't seem to find it