Holy Hell.. Kaplan OAT Full length test.. difficulty.. D-13 OAT..help

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Ok. Hi. I am a non-traditional student who has forgotten most of everything over 5 years of working.

I've been self-studying mostly using CourseSaver(Chad's video) and DAT Bootcamp (+Kaplan OAT book and OAT destroyer). I pretty much solved all the questions in those websites at least 3 times. I've been studying for OAT for 3 months.

When I do DAT Bootcamp full length exam (no Physics though; But I did 40Q/50min on chads quiz and got around 75~80%) I did at least 90% of overall (except reading -> 70~80%). But this is probably because I have solved most of the question in there already.

Today I took first Kaplan full length OAT.

My god. It scared me so much about taking the OAT in 13 days. I felt like I'm not prepared at all. Here is my horrible score..

Bio 300
Gemchem 300
Orgo 300
PHYSICS 210
reading comp 230
Quantative reasoning 390

290 TS score.

For science section, I can study more until my OAT in 4/13. But for physics, I'm really lost on how to prepare.

For reading.. I just don't know man. I feel like 50% of it is just a luck for me because S&D works great and sometimes it kills me. I'm going to keep reading and try to find my best method until my exam.

NOW for Physics..
I solved all the chads physics questions and OAT destory (not all of them) and most of them made sense to me and it wasn't really painful. In fact, I got most of them right. But for Kaplan test, my god, it's a whole different story. What should I do?

My OAT is on 4/13. D-13. I felt like I was ready for the test but after this Kaplan.. I don't know.. maybe I should delay my OAT date.. Should I be worried? is it going to be this difficult for real OAT?

I'm freaking out guys.. I would appreciate any advices.

Thanks..

:(
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Hi! In my opinion, the kaplan practice test was much harder than the actual exam. My score on kaplan was abysmal (something like a 260) and my real score was a 310/300 (not the best but definitely not a 260). Kaplan physics was ridiculous.. you will need to know formulas but I didn't have any complex multi-step calculation questions. I scored below 300 on many of my reading comprehension practice exams and got a 340 on the real thing. The passages I had were very simple and organized compared to the practice articles I had seen. I believe they were on acupuncture, bones, and pontoons/boats whereas some of my practice ones were on complex enzymes and medical conditions that were much more difficult to understand. Also the highlighting tool was VERY useful, it was great to mark key words. It was very easy to scan the passage using this tool to mark possible answer choices.

I think the general consensus is that the real OAT is closest to the free ADA practice test, have you taken that yet?
 
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Nlon55 said:
Hi! In my opinion, the kaplan practice test was much harder than the actual exam. My score on kaplan was abysmal (something like a 260) and my real score was a 310/300 (not the best but definitely not a 260). Kaplan physics was ridiculous.. you will need to know formulas but I didn't have any complex multi-step calculation questions. I scored below 300 on many of my reading comprehension practice exams and got a 340 on the real thing. The passages I had were very simple and organized compared to the practice articles I had seen. I believe they were on acupuncture, bones, and pontoons/boats whereas some of my practice ones were on complex enzymes and medical conditions that were much more difficult to understand. Also the highlighting tool was VERY useful, it was great to mark key words. It was very easy to scan the passage using this tool to mark possible answer choices.

I think the general consensus is that the real OAT is closest to the free ADA practice test, have you taken that yet?
Click to expand...

Hi NIon55, Thanks for the reply.

I haven't tried the free ADA practice test yet. I guess I will try it tomorrow. Thank god that you mentioned that Kaplan practice test is hard. I mean, when I was going through the wrong questions, they weren't hard.. yet most of them are tricky questions. Also for physics, lots of them involved with calculation which I got some of them wrong.

I'm still considering if I should reschedule my exam to late April. I don't know. I'm gonna see how I do for ADA.. I will post the score tomorrow. I'm about to do the second Kaplan OAT test. ;/
 
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Ok, I just did my second Kaplan free OAT test..

310 Bio
310 GC
320 OC
290 Physics
240 Reading
400 RC

I guess its better than the first exam but I'm still not satisfied with my result.. :(
 
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So I think Kaplan is good in the sense that you're doing a full length test and essentially learning some things if you go back and review, but don't stress over those scores. Mine were similar a week before the exam. I think Achiever was much better, though the full length tests were still a lot more difficult than the actual test. The ADA's free exam is absolutely the most accurate, so focus on those types of questions - they're really a lot more straightforward than any of the practice ones you'll take. Thats a pretty good score for a Kaplan btw^ Good luck on the test!
 
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monica__t_ said:
So I think Kaplan is good in the sense that you're doing a full length test and essentially learning some things if you go back and review, but don't stress over those scores. Mine were similar a week before the exam. I think Achiever was much better, though the full length tests were still a lot more difficult than the actual test. The ADA's free exam is absolutely the most accurate, so focus on those types of questions - they're really a lot more straightforward than any of the practice ones you'll take. Thats a pretty good score for a Kaplan btw^ Good luck on the test!
Click to expand...

Thank you. That really makes me feel better. I think I'm just going to take on 13th. I'm going to run Achiever full exam tonight see what I get. I hope I get lucky on the reading though. It seems like I'm not improving my RC skills as I keep practicing. Can you highlight part of passages during the real-OAT? I was able to do it on Kaplan but I'm not sure if I can on real OAT.
 
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I solely studied using the Kaplan practice tests.

I too was a non-traditional student. I think it had been 7 years since I took Chem, 5 since Bio, etc...

But those Kaplan tests

They're definitely harder than the real exam but they'll get you ready... I averaged about a 330/340 on those and ended up with a 360.
 
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There are supposed to be two "Ok" emojis after "But those Kaplan tests" lol
 
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Thanks.. I just did OAT Achiever Test 1. The scores are very similar to my Kaplan score.. It was slightly (very) easier than the Kaplan but it was still harder than the OAT sample exam..

300 AA 310TA
250/340/340/230/300/360

sigh such stress!!! UGH!!
 
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You can highlight, but I honestly didnt even use it. My strategy for reading was to go straight to the questions and then find the answer in the passage, didnt read through at all first. I got my highest score in reading and studied the least for it (380). I may have been lucky because my passages were all pretty interesting, which made it easier to read through and stay focused enough to find the answers. My first Achiever scores were: QR: 300, RC: 330, BIO: 350, GC: 320, OC: 320, PHY: 270. I took this a week before the actual test. My scores on test day were: QR: 320, RC: 380, BIO: 350, GC: 320, OC: 290, PHY: 310. So yeah Orgo brought me down, but I really ran out of time and couldnt study as much as I shouldve for it. I was surprised that I managed to pull over the 300 in physics since I never got that score in a practice test. Just keep studying and reviewing and you'll be fine
 
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Test is tomorrow.. I'm freaking out hahaha..

Good new is that I just ran gold standard free OAT exam and I got 370/370!!! highest score yet. even thought it was short version of OAT..

400/340/380/340/330/400.

I'm still freaking out. I feel like throw up LOL
 
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Do you mind if I ask how do you guys calculate an accurate RC score from the sample ADA practice test when it only has like 15 questions??
 
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JTS said:
Ok, I just did my second Kaplan free OAT test..

310 Bio
310 GC
320 OC
290 Physics
240 Reading
400 RC

I guess its better than the first exam but I'm still not satisfied with my result.. :(
Click to expand...


Hey! I am having trouble with the RC section and I see that you got a 400! Do you have any advice/tips?
 
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ktton said:
Hey! I am having trouble with the RC section and I see that you got a 400! Do you have any advice/tips?
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I would say RC section is all about speed. Try not to use calculator if you can. Also, if you didn't get any answer from answer choices then 1)Guess 2)Mark 3)Skip. Concentrate on next question. Keep practicing. Most of the RC questions are similar so you just need to be aware of different kinds of questions.
 
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JTS said:
I would say RC section is all about speed. Try not to use calculator if you can. Also, if you didn't get any answer from answer choices then 1)Guess 2)Mark 3)Skip. Concentrate on next question. Keep practicing. Most of the RC questions are similar so you just need to be aware of different kinds of questions.
Click to expand...
For those who are doing the practice ADA test, do you know how they calculated their scores out of 400 when there were only about 15 practice RC questions? Am I even looking at the right test? Thanks
 
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Nlon55 said:
Hi! In my opinion, the kaplan practice test was much harder than the actual exam. My score on kaplan was abysmal (something like a 260) and my real score was a 310/300 (not the best but definitely not a 260). Kaplan physics was ridiculous.. you will need to know formulas but I didn't have any complex multi-step calculation questions. I scored below 300 on many of my reading comprehension practice exams and got a 340 on the real thing. The passages I had were very simple and organized compared to the practice articles I had seen. I believe they were on acupuncture, bones, and pontoons/boats whereas some of my practice ones were on complex enzymes and medical conditions that were much more difficult to understand. Also the highlighting tool was VERY useful, it was great to mark key words. It was very easy to scan the passage using this tool to mark possible answer choices.

I think the general consensus is that the real OAT is closest to the free ADA practice test, have you taken that yet?
Click to expand...

Where do you find this ada practice test? Could you provide a link, I cant find it for the life of me.
 
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I noticed several people have asked about scoring on ada's practice OAT test. I found this link on a previous forum:
If you scroll to the bottom on that page you should be able to find an old conversion chart, hope that helps!
 
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Nlon55 said:
Hi! In my opinion, the kaplan practice test was much harder than the actual exam. My score on kaplan was abysmal (something like a 260) and my real score was a 310/300 (not the best but definitely not a 260). Kaplan physics was ridiculous.. you will need to know formulas but I didn't have any complex multi-step calculation questions. I scored below 300 on many of my reading comprehension practice exams and got a 340 on the real thing. The passages I had were very simple and organized compared to the practice articles I had seen. I believe they were on acupuncture, bones, and pontoons/boats whereas some of my practice ones were on complex enzymes and medical conditions that were much more difficult to understand. Also the highlighting tool was VERY useful, it was great to mark key words. It was very easy to scan the passage using this tool to mark possible answer choices.

I think the general consensus is that the real OAT is closest to the free ADA practice test, have you taken that yet?
Click to expand...

Hi! In your reply you said that you got a 310 on your OAT, I am wondering if you were able to get in to any Optometry schools with that score? I recently wrote my OAT and I also scored a 310. Just wondering if you think I should bother trying to apply to schools or not? - Thank you kindly in advance. :) All the best.
 
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Kat3H49 said:
Hi! In your reply you said that you got a 310 on your OAT, I am wondering if you were able to get in to any Optometry schools with that score? I recently wrote my OAT and I also scored a 310. Just wondering if you think I should bother trying to apply to schools or not? - Thank you kindly in advance. :) All the best.
Click to expand...

What's your gpa? You can absolutely get into some schools with a 310, considering most school websites list a 300 as the bare minimum to be "competitive".
 
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car guy doc said:
What's your gpa? You can absolutely get into some schools with a 310, considering most school websites list a 300 as the bare minimum to be "competitive".
Click to expand...

I have a 3.94 GPA and 2 years work experience at an Optometry clinic. I know my OAT score brings me down as I didn't get at least a 300 in all the individual sections (I got a 280 in Physics and a 290 in Ochem). Did you have an success getting in? Did you have an problems? Thanks for your help!
 
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Kat3H49 said:
I have a 3.94 GPA and 2 years work experience at an Optometry clinic. I know my OAT score brings me down as I didn't get at least a 300 in all the individual sections (I got a 280 in Physics and a 290 in Ochem). Did you have an success getting in? Did you have an problems? Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

Im in the same application cycle as you are, but with that high of a gpa, it's absolutely worth it to apply to as many schools as you can. Just check their average OAT scores online, and be ready to explain any low sections in interviews.

Now if you don't mind me asking, what happened with your OAT? Not that you did bad per se, but I just think most people would look at your gpa and assume you'd get much higher oat score.
 
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JTS said:
Ok. Hi. I am a non-traditional student who has forgotten most of everything over 5 years of working.

I've been self-studying mostly using CourseSaver(Chad's video) and DAT Bootcamp (+Kaplan OAT book and OAT destroyer). I pretty much solved all the questions in those websites at least 3 times. I've been studying for OAT for 3 months.

When I do DAT Bootcamp full length exam (no Physics though; But I did 40Q/50min on chads quiz and got around 75~80%) I did at least 90% of overall (except reading -> 70~80%). But this is probably because I have solved most of the question in there already.

Today I took first Kaplan full length OAT.

My god. It scared me so much about taking the OAT in 13 days. I felt like I'm not prepared at all. Here is my horrible score..

Bio 300
Gemchem 300
Orgo 300
PHYSICS 210
reading comp 230
Quantative reasoning 390

290 TS score.

For science section, I can study more until my OAT in 4/13. But for physics, I'm really lost on how to prepare.

For reading.. I just don't know man. I feel like 50% of it is just a luck for me because S&D works great and sometimes it kills me. I'm going to keep reading and try to find my best method until my exam.

NOW for Physics..
I solved all the chads physics questions and OAT destory (not all of them) and most of them made sense to me and it wasn't really painful. In fact, I got most of them right. But for Kaplan test, my god, it's a whole different story. What should I do?

My OAT is on 4/13. D-13. I felt like I was ready for the test but after this Kaplan.. I don't know.. maybe I should delay my OAT date.. Should I be worried? is it going to be this difficult for real OAT?

I'm freaking out guys.. I would appreciate any advices.

Thanks..

:(
Click to expand...

Soooo how'd you do?
 
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car guy doc said:
Im in the same application cycle as you are, but with that high of a gpa, it's absolutely worth it to apply to as many schools as you can. Just check their average OAT scores online, and be ready to explain any low sections in interviews.

Now if you don't mind me asking, what happened with your OAT? Not that you did bad per se, but I just think most people would look at your gpa and assume you'd get much higher oat score.
Click to expand...

Oh ok- sounds great thank you so much! Oh no I don't mind at all- you'd think huh lol? I started studying exactly 23 days before my exam because up until about a month before I was out of the country on a trip, so when I came back- I ordered my books from Kaplan and when those came in I started studying. I was working full time - so I would come home and study for about 2 hours a night (which to get that 3.9 I literally was studying 24-7) so this was very unlike me. I haven't take a second physics class yet (that is coming this fall)- so I knew that if thermodynamics and optics and all that jazz showed up on the OAT that would be a weaker area- so I spent about 2 weeks of those 23 days just trying to learn physics. I completely underestimated the bio portion tho- because I'm a bio major I thought I had it in the bag- which was a biiig mistake because I didn't brush up enough on the ecology and even genetics stuff as much as I should have. Anyway- ultimately my undoing was underestimating how much time I needed to study. I know people work lots when they are studying for their OAT- but I was working on top of volunteering on weekends - so 2 hours a night was just not enough time for me to study each area and feel confident. (The day before the exam I was so worried- at that point I knew I wasn't going to do very good so I knew I would be retaking it again next year if I bombed it- which helped to give me some peace of mind the actual day of). Sorry for the long schpeel- but that is my story lol.
 
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Ellowyan said:
Do you have any tips for Physics? I'm scoring about the same on my practice exams as you did earlier in the thread!
Click to expand...

I would definitely focus on the core physics equation and concepts. The question they ask on OAT is very broad but not complicated. They were very general questions but made me confused somewhat because the questions were simple but tricky(?). I would just keep practicing solving random questions that are not hard enough to take more than 1 min.
 
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Nlon55 said:
Hi! In my opinion, the kaplan practice test was much harder than the actual exam. My score on kaplan was abysmal (something like a 260) and my real score was a 310/300 (not the best but definitely not a 260). Kaplan physics was ridiculous.. you will need to know formulas but I didn't have any complex multi-step calculation questions. I scored below 300 on many of my reading comprehension practice exams and got a 340 on the real thing. The passages I had were very simple and organized compared to the practice articles I had seen. I believe they were on acupuncture, bones, and pontoons/boats whereas some of my practice ones were on complex enzymes and medical conditions that were much more difficult to understand. Also the highlighting tool was VERY useful, it was great to mark key words. It was very easy to scan the passage using this tool to mark possible answer choices.

I think the general consensus is that the real OAT is closest to the free ADA practice test, have you taken that yet?
Click to expand...
How do I find the free ADA test?
 
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Nlon55 said:
Hi! In my opinion, the kaplan practice test was much harder than the actual exam. My score on kaplan was abysmal (something like a 260) and my real score was a 310/300 (not the best but definitely not a 260). Kaplan physics was ridiculous.. you will need to know formulas but I didn't have any complex multi-step calculation questions. I scored below 300 on many of my reading comprehension practice exams and got a 340 on the real thing. The passages I had were very simple and organized compared to the practice articles I had seen. I believe they were on acupuncture, bones, and pontoons/boats whereas some of my practice ones were on complex enzymes and medical conditions that were much more difficult to understand. Also the highlighting tool was VERY useful, it was great to mark key words. It was very easy to scan the passage using this tool to mark possible answer choices.

I think the general consensus is that the real OAT is closest to the free ADA practice test, have you taken that yet?
Click to expand...
Hi there, could you please provide a link for ADA free practice test? I am looking for it but couldn't find it.
 
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OptoMra said:
Do you have any tips for the day before exam day?
Click to expand...


Yes, I took it in July and I got 390 AA/ 400 TS. Tbh, I don’t recommend doing anything the day before except relaxing. Work out, eat a good meal, watch a good show because at this point you have done everything you can to prepare and so you should get your mind and body ready.
 
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