How much time does OAT need ?

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qualong

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Hello all.
I'm a junior majoring in Biochem.
I haven't take OAT and still have 4 more pre-req courses for opt-school.
I'm planning to take the OAT in summer 2012 and then apply to opt-school after that (eventhought I haven't completed my pre-req courses).
Do you think that works out okie ?
P/S: How long should I pace myself out to prepare for OAT ? Should I take one semester off just to prepare for OAT ? Thanks
 
Hello all.
I'm a junior majoring in Biochem.
I haven't take OAT and still have 4 more pre-req courses for opt-school.
I'm planning to take the OAT in summer 2012 and then apply to opt-school after that (eventhought I haven't completed my pre-req courses).
Do you think that works out okie ?
P/S: How long should I pace myself out to prepare for OAT ? Should I take one semester off just to prepare for OAT ? Thanks

The answer to these questions depends on several factors.
1. What are the classes you still have left?
2. How strong is the science curriculum at your school?

Yes, the plan works fine. How long you need to study depends on the quality of your education to this point and how well you have retained it. Also, on which courses you still have left to take. But one thing is for sure, do not take a semester off to take the OAT. It really is not that difficult of a test. Sorry I could not be more specific. Best of luck!
 
Thanks for your reply, nicmc
1. I still need to take Human Anatomy & Physiology, Stat, and Microbiology. (1 semester)
2. It seems our science curriculum are at 80 - 90% compare to national level. Anyway, I learned all OAT courses related and haven't review them for 1 - 2 semesters now. I just hope that you can give me an idea so I can pace myself to study.
Thanks
 
Get the OAT Destroyer. It's a really comprehensive overview of what you should know.
 
Get the OAT Destroyer. It's a really comprehensive overview of what you should know.

Agreed. There are a lot of good questions in it, but no review material. I used the Schaum's college outlines in Bio, Chem, O-Chem, and Physics. I took around a month at around 12 hours a week, but a lot of people set aside time weekly for several months. When I registered, there was a full-length practice test you could look at. I would suggest looking over it and assessing where you stand as far as being prepared.
 
Thanks for your reply, nicmc
1. I still need to take Human Anatomy & Physiology, Stat, and Microbiology. (1 semester)
2. It seems our science curriculum are at 80 - 90% compare to national level. Anyway, I learned all OAT courses related and haven't review them for 1 - 2 semesters now. I just hope that you can give me an idea so I can pace myself to study.
Thanks

I don't think it's a big deal at all to not have stats or micro. I took my test without having taken micro and got a 400 on the bio section, so no worries =P I had taken anatomy though, which really helped when it came to things like respiration and kidney function. So long as you can commit to really studying those processes on your own, it's not a big deal.

Will you have next summer off? If so, then that's the time to study for the OAT. I took the Kaplan course this last February, but then didn't really start to study hard until July. For all of July and half of August, I was study between 2 and 7 hours every single day of the week, and taking a full length practice test every weekend. That helped me work on pacing and see a wide variety of questions. I highly recommend using a variety of prep resources though - not just relying on one like OAT Destroyer or Kaplan. I found that each of them was strong in certain sections, and they each had different kinds of questions (like the biology questions with one set of prep materials seemed easy, but ridiculously difficult with another...but no pattern among them for one always being hard or easy). Here's the link for the full length sample OAT put out by the test company:
https://www.ada.org/oat/oat_sample_test.pdf
But still...don't just use that because again there are lots of other question types that aren't on there. Kaplan puts out a book you can buy in bookstores that is just a book of sample tests. I used that some and would highlight questions as I learned the material and definitely knew the answer, then go back again and again to the ones that I didn't know until I was sure that I had learned the material dealing with those questions (not just memorizing the answer to that one question, since it's highly unlikely that I would see it exactly like that on the exam).

I took my test at the end of August. But I had had all of my pre-req's up to that point within the last year, so it was pretty fresh in my brain. I had also been tutoring chemistry at the university during the summer to beef up my chem. So if you feel like some of the stuff isn't as fresh, then I would definitely spend a full 2-3 months studying a lot every day. You don't want to lose the material you are learning!

My one thing against OAT Destroyer is that it might be a little too in depth. The problem with that is that you end up memorizing more than you need to know. In theory, that's great because you will have a more complete understanding of biology or whatever other subject. But the problem is that there is so much to cram into your brain for this test that any extra can be distracting. That's just my two cents though 🙂
 
Oat achiever! Mcat books are great too. Oh and let google be your best friend, seriously. Study smart 🙂
 
I did the same thing, although it doesn't matter if your pre-reqs are finished or not. Try to take the OAT early so that if you need to take it, you'll have time to because there's a 90 waiting period. I didn't used the the OAT Achiever, and I did really well. I studied during my summer break for about 1-2 months everyday for about 3-4 hours. I reviewed my weak areas like Physics (sigh) more so than Biological sciences. My friends had the EXAMKRACKER 1001 MCAT questions and I used that to study with along with Kaplan Study Guide. A word of warning though: the Kaplan OAT guide is useful in that it has 2 sample test, but some questions were worded incorrectly or had the wrong answers, so it might mess you up.

On the upside, there's also a free Sample test from ADA. I also google different sites for Quantitative and Verbal Reason passages. I also used freelance teach (Youtube it or google it) to review my Orgo and Physics.

OAT is not hard or easy. Its easy in the since that its all memorization, but its hard because its random questions. You could get questions from zoology and then the next question can be about a virus, etc. So, you have to be prepare.

Key thing is to do a sample test first as if you are taking the real exam with the timer on and a simple calculator for the math section. See what you miss so you can focus on your weak areas. Then go back and review ALL questions whether you go it right or not. The more you practice the better.

Best of luck to you!
 
Yes, the Freelance Teacher on YouTube is a great man. I learned a few Physics topics that we never covered in class.
 
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