how much harder

[mudiwa]

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how much harder is the dat and mcat practice exams for kaplan as compared to the actual oat exam. i am using the kaplan material for dat and i am just wondering how much different they are.

 

[UABopt]

how much harder is the dat and mcat practice exams for kaplan as compared to the actual oat exam. i am using the kaplan material for dat and i am just wondering how much different they are.

I would say the material at Kaplan is about the same as the actual OAT. Though from what I remember... and it has been a few years....The reading comp on the real test was easier than the stuff that kaplan had on the practice tests... and the math section was harder.

 

[iraqiamerican]

I would say the material at Kaplan is about the same as the actual OAT. Though from what I remember... and it has been a few years....The reading comp on the real test was easier than the stuff that kaplan had on the practice tests... and the math section was harder.

so then what do you think its the best way to study for OAT?
It seems like their is no good review books out their 🙁
What to do?! I'm taking it in January.

Has anybody tried this:
http://www.oat-test.org/

any word about this?

 

[tina13rvs]

so then what do you think its the best way to study for OAT?
It seems like their is no good review books out their 🙁
What to do?! I'm taking it in January.

Has anybody tried this:
http://www.oat-test.org/

any word about this?

Just use your textbooks and study adequately per scope of examination specified by ASCO. All practice guides serve primarily to test how prepared you're for the OAT...

 

[mudiwa]

i didthe test given at the end of the OAT guidebook from the oat testing centers and it seems way easier than the kaplan stuff so i am really confused coz i did great on the that one but average on kaplan.

 

[UABopt]

i didthe test given at the end of the OAT guidebook from the oat testing centers and it seems way easier than the kaplan stuff so i am really confused coz i did great on the that one but average on kaplan.

It’s all relative. I am not sure exactly how it works now that the OAT is computerized, but when I took the OAT your score is based on how other’s performed during that sitting of the OAT. That means that it matters very little how hard or how easy the test is, but rather how you perform in comparison to others. As far as what to expect during the exam… I would say that the practice test that comes with the OAT registration materials is easier than the actual OAT. I found the OAT much more similar to the Kaplan exams, but then again I am sure that the difficulty varies from administration to administration. I would say that it is impossible to know everything. It really depends somewhat on luck, sometimes you are just lucky, and they ask you all of the questions that you know, other times they don’t.

To study, I would use the Kaplan DAT guide available at most book stores. This is the exact same book that they give out at the Kaplan centers, besides a few pointers that are missing in the margins. This book, of course, does not have the physics sections. For that maybe have a look at the MCAT physics prep stuff.

I wish you the best of success.

 

[Canadian26]

I personally wouldnt use the mCat practice exams to study for the OAT. I dont know if your material would be similar to mine (I took oxford), but mCat has alot of passage based questions and requires integration of learned info and info given in the passage to answer questions. The OAT is basically just question and answer. I didnt use anything other than my notes and textbooks from class to study for the OAT... The biggest thing is doing some practice questions to gauge how well you know the material. If you can find some practice exams, I think that would be the most beneficial to you. Go over all the topics that they list are going to be covered on the exam, and you should be fine.

I have to disagree with UABopt, about the test material that they send you. I found the book to be fairly similar to the types of the question you should expect. The only section I found harder was biology, but I also havent done any physiology or anta. The rest of it was pretty similar IMO.

 

[gioiarioia]

I used a 1000-page Kaplan MCAT Comprehensive Review book to prepare for my 2nd time taking the OAT. I also bought a Kaplan OAT practice tests, but I wouldn't trust it. The questions were WAY TOO EASY. My test scores improved in all areas by 40 points (on the 200-400 scales used). It takes time but it is well worth the $75 bucks.

Be careful when studying by the DAT books... remember, they don't include Physics on the DAT!