lclwoodward
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Hello! I recently took the OAT and I wanted to share my experience here in case it might help anyone. I will preface this by saying that I graduated a quarter early, so I had time off of school to study for the exam, which was incredibly helpful but not absolutely necessary.
Study Methods
The main resource I used was OAT Booster. I followed their 10 week study schedule very closely, although I did combine a few of the shorter study days and skip a few of the rest days to fit it into the 9 week window I had before my OAT. The first phase of their study program is the longest and focuses on content review, which was really helpful for building a solid foundation before moving onto the practice tests. It will seem like a lot of information at first (because it is), so I think it’s really important to build a study schedule and stick to it. It’s also helpful to remind yourself throughout this phase that the scope of the exam is broad, but most of the information is not super in depth. So you need to know a lot of stuff, but you don’t have to know any of it super well. There’s also a diagnostic practice test fairly early on in the study schedule which is really helpful for gauging your strengths and weaknesses and guiding your future studying. The content review is followed by testing/memorization of key facts and concepts, and the final phase is strictly practice exams and review of weak areas. I’ll break down my methods by each subject next, because I used slightly different techniques for each one.
Biology (400)
This was the subject area I had the strongest prior knowledge of because I majored in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics in college. That being said I had the most trouble with biology since it has the broadest scope of material. I watched all of the Booster videos and took notes on the material in the videos. I also read the Feralis-Booster notes at the end of each chapter of material as a review. During the second phase of the study schedule I started using the Booster Anki and Quizlet flashcard decks. I put off memorizing the Booster cheat sheets until the last two weeks before the exam, but I would recommend starting on those earlier. The cheat sheets boil down the biology material to the high yield exam content, so committing that information to memory earlier on (like maybe a month before the test) is very very helpful. To memorize the actual information I made Anki decks for myself based on the cheat sheets. I did four cheat sheets a day (since I was on a bit of a time crunch near the end) and then reviewed my flashcard decks everyday for the two weeks leading up to the OAT. I would also recommend making flashcards that promote active recall instead of just matching terms to definitions. For example: “What are the key differences between Eukaryotes and Prokaryote” instead of “What is a Prokaryote”.
General Chemistry (400)
I think the general chem section was pretty straightforward. I just watched the Booster videos, read the notes, and did the practice questions. I would say that a lot of the practice questions for each chapter were more difficult than the actual exam questions. The practice exam questions however were very representative of the OAT material. I also found the Booster Quizlet decks very helpful for memorizing the equations and key concepts, but I would again recommend making your own custom flashcard decks, since I find the process of making the flashcards helps with memorization.
Organic Chemistry (400)
For this section I read the Booster notes and did the practice problems. I studied the reaction mechanisms a lot, but I found the actual exam was mostly substitution/elimination reactions and acid base type questions. I didn’t really watch the videos for organic chemistry; I think doing loads of practice questions was the most efficient way to get familiar with the patterns.
Reading Comprehension (380)
For this section I just did a lot of practice passages. I tried out a couple different strategies, but I ended up just reading the entire passage and answering the questions after. I’m a fairly quick reader, so I preferred reading the entire passage prior to completing the questions since I think it gives you the best sense of tone and main idea of the passage. If you have trouble completing the passages within the time limit I would recommend just reading half of the passage and then starting the questions.
Physics (400)
The Booster videos and study notes are helpful for getting the core concepts down, but there aren’t a ton of practice questions and the videos aren’t super in depth. I think I ended up using crash course videos on YouTube for a few of the chapters that I was struggling. The math in the physics section is always pretty simple, it’s just a matter of knowing the equations being tested. Try to memorize the equations as early on as possible. I just tested myself on the equations every other night, and tried to write them out from memory. Booster has a cheat sheet with all the important equations, so I recommend using that. I will say that my practice exam scores were significantly lower on Booster than I got on the actual exam for this section (I never got higher than a 360 on this section during practice).
Quantitative Reasoning (400)
I didn’t have much trouble with this section, so I didn’t watch the Booster videos unless I couldn’t do the corresponding practice questions.
General Advice
Don’t stress yourself out too much about the exam! Take breaks in your study schedule and accept early on that you won’t be able to learn every single thing that could be tested on the exam. Use active recall as often as possible to review material. Also, take your practice exams under timed conditions in one sitting to mimic the actual conditions of the exam. The practice tests, while similar in difficulty, seem to be scored more harshly than the actual test. For context I was scoring around 370 on my last few practice tests. Since I did so much practice, by the time I was taking the OAT, it just felt like another practice test! Good luck with the OAT and feel free to message me if you have any questions!
Study Methods
The main resource I used was OAT Booster. I followed their 10 week study schedule very closely, although I did combine a few of the shorter study days and skip a few of the rest days to fit it into the 9 week window I had before my OAT. The first phase of their study program is the longest and focuses on content review, which was really helpful for building a solid foundation before moving onto the practice tests. It will seem like a lot of information at first (because it is), so I think it’s really important to build a study schedule and stick to it. It’s also helpful to remind yourself throughout this phase that the scope of the exam is broad, but most of the information is not super in depth. So you need to know a lot of stuff, but you don’t have to know any of it super well. There’s also a diagnostic practice test fairly early on in the study schedule which is really helpful for gauging your strengths and weaknesses and guiding your future studying. The content review is followed by testing/memorization of key facts and concepts, and the final phase is strictly practice exams and review of weak areas. I’ll break down my methods by each subject next, because I used slightly different techniques for each one.
Biology (400)
This was the subject area I had the strongest prior knowledge of because I majored in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics in college. That being said I had the most trouble with biology since it has the broadest scope of material. I watched all of the Booster videos and took notes on the material in the videos. I also read the Feralis-Booster notes at the end of each chapter of material as a review. During the second phase of the study schedule I started using the Booster Anki and Quizlet flashcard decks. I put off memorizing the Booster cheat sheets until the last two weeks before the exam, but I would recommend starting on those earlier. The cheat sheets boil down the biology material to the high yield exam content, so committing that information to memory earlier on (like maybe a month before the test) is very very helpful. To memorize the actual information I made Anki decks for myself based on the cheat sheets. I did four cheat sheets a day (since I was on a bit of a time crunch near the end) and then reviewed my flashcard decks everyday for the two weeks leading up to the OAT. I would also recommend making flashcards that promote active recall instead of just matching terms to definitions. For example: “What are the key differences between Eukaryotes and Prokaryote” instead of “What is a Prokaryote”.
General Chemistry (400)
I think the general chem section was pretty straightforward. I just watched the Booster videos, read the notes, and did the practice questions. I would say that a lot of the practice questions for each chapter were more difficult than the actual exam questions. The practice exam questions however were very representative of the OAT material. I also found the Booster Quizlet decks very helpful for memorizing the equations and key concepts, but I would again recommend making your own custom flashcard decks, since I find the process of making the flashcards helps with memorization.
Organic Chemistry (400)
For this section I read the Booster notes and did the practice problems. I studied the reaction mechanisms a lot, but I found the actual exam was mostly substitution/elimination reactions and acid base type questions. I didn’t really watch the videos for organic chemistry; I think doing loads of practice questions was the most efficient way to get familiar with the patterns.
Reading Comprehension (380)
For this section I just did a lot of practice passages. I tried out a couple different strategies, but I ended up just reading the entire passage and answering the questions after. I’m a fairly quick reader, so I preferred reading the entire passage prior to completing the questions since I think it gives you the best sense of tone and main idea of the passage. If you have trouble completing the passages within the time limit I would recommend just reading half of the passage and then starting the questions.
Physics (400)
The Booster videos and study notes are helpful for getting the core concepts down, but there aren’t a ton of practice questions and the videos aren’t super in depth. I think I ended up using crash course videos on YouTube for a few of the chapters that I was struggling. The math in the physics section is always pretty simple, it’s just a matter of knowing the equations being tested. Try to memorize the equations as early on as possible. I just tested myself on the equations every other night, and tried to write them out from memory. Booster has a cheat sheet with all the important equations, so I recommend using that. I will say that my practice exam scores were significantly lower on Booster than I got on the actual exam for this section (I never got higher than a 360 on this section during practice).
Quantitative Reasoning (400)
I didn’t have much trouble with this section, so I didn’t watch the Booster videos unless I couldn’t do the corresponding practice questions.
General Advice
Don’t stress yourself out too much about the exam! Take breaks in your study schedule and accept early on that you won’t be able to learn every single thing that could be tested on the exam. Use active recall as often as possible to review material. Also, take your practice exams under timed conditions in one sitting to mimic the actual conditions of the exam. The practice tests, while similar in difficulty, seem to be scored more harshly than the actual test. For context I was scoring around 370 on my last few practice tests. Since I did so much practice, by the time I was taking the OAT, it just felt like another practice test! Good luck with the OAT and feel free to message me if you have any questions!
