Last Friday......

[Subiedubie]

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I took the OAT for the second time. My first OAT was the written one back in October. After only getting a score of 320 TS and 300 AA the first time I decided to try again.

I'm so glad that I decided to take it again because I improved my score to 360 TS and 350 AA! While the score was loading up I felt sick to my stomach cause I didn't think I would improve upon my first score at all but was shocked that I did. I honestly attribute my success to God because I didn't feel like I would do that much better but He totally helped me out. For those who are still in the grind, continue to stay with it. Have faith and work hard and things will turn out as expected.

Although I am relieved, I am still somewhat nervous of my chances of getting interviews. My gpa sucks to say the least. It is at a 2.7 cumulative. I have already turned in my applications to NECO, ICO, SCCO and will also apply to Pacific shortly. I called NECO before the exam and they told me they were waiting for my OAT retake score. My first choice is NECO and although my gpa is low I'm hoping that my OAT score can make up for some of it. Do you think I can at least get an interview with any of them? The waiting game begins.

 

[still_confused]

good work! congrats on those excellent scores

 

[Subiedubie]

Thank you.

This was my response to someone's PM but I thought I would post it here as well.

First off all, Let me wish you the best of luck while you make your final preparations for the test. I felt that the computerized version was somewhat easier than the written test. But it was no gimme so you have to stay focused. The Biology section of the written test was very difficult.
Let me try to recall the sections from last Friday.

Biology:
It was nothing l really expected. My theory is that they make the Biology section the most difficult because it is the opening section of the exam and they try to throw off the students with a lot of random, difficult questions. For example, I remember a specific question asking the physiology of goosbumps. I don't recall studying this at all during my studies and I took the Kaplan course. Wow, Biology really seems like a blurr. All I can say is that during the practice tests from Kaplan, I averaged around a 350-360 but did a little worse on the actual test, 340. Biology is so general that you really don't know what to expect, any topic is fair game. There were the usual questions on meiosis, Mendel's theories, punnet squares, test crosses,

Chemistry:
During the test, I personally felt that this was the easiest section. The key to Chemistry is that you do a lot of practice questions because there are a lot that are recycled. To my surprise there weren't many crazy Acid-Base calculations which was a relief. Most of the calcualtions are simple as long as your good with division, multiplication of exponents. There were several (3or 4) periodic trends questions, one question about characteristics of nonmetals and some basic stoichiometry questions. Nothing that was unexpected. Practice getting good at assigning oxidation charges, and balancing equations. This will save you time. Also there was the common "identify which is the Lewis Acid/Base" question.

O Chem:
I usually spend only about 20 minutes on my Biology section and about 40 minutes on the Chemistry section so I have about 30 minutes left for O Chem. But I took too long on Biology and ended up having to complete O Chem in less than 25 minutes. In someways I think this helped me because I didn't have time to second guess myself too much. You should ABSOLUTELY know which funtional groups are Activating (ortho, para-directing), and Deactivating (meta-directing) but also how that affects basicity, acidity, etc. You should also be good with oxidation and reduction of the carbony carbon and which reagents to use. Also know SN1,SN2,E1,E2 reactions. And of course know your isomers, enantiomers, diasterosmers, meso compounds, etc.

Physics:
Man, I feel like I'm writing an essay. Sorry for rampling on but I hope some of this info. can help you. Physics has always been one of my weakest sections from the OAT. But to my surprise I ended up with a 340 in this section. There were a good amount of linear kinematics questions and I felt that there were a lot of conceptual word answers and not as much calculations as I expected. It is pretty important to know the concepts of linear kinematics and it doesn't hurt to know the equations. One equation that REALLY helps is to know is the T(period) of a simple pendulum and mass spring equation. There were about 2 or 3 questions based on this equation. Also know force of gravitation equation or what I like to call the "satelite or orbit" equation. Know your Optics and the difference between converging and diverging lenses. Ohms law was on there as well. Snell's equation was on there but it was more concerned with the concept of refraction rather than calculations.

As for RC and QR....what can I say. It was pretty straight forward. For QR, answer as many questions as possible, think of it as banking in easy points and then if you have time go back to story problems.

Wow, its officially an essay because I feel like I have to conclude. The thing is, you've been studying for a couple of months and honestly you have nothing to worry about. Be confident in your abilities and remember to stay focused and calm. I know you will rock the test. Good luck. 🙂

 

[Opt2010]

Wow, your OAT scores are high! I didn't even think you needed to retake them actually, but now that you did, you should get into NECO no problem!
If they say no, tell them I'll give you my seat! 🙂

 

[Subiedubie]

Thanks for the offer Opt2010.
If only it could work like that. If you don't mind me asking, when did you apply to NECO and why are you not attending? Did you have a bad impression of the school or do you have other reasons for not attending?

 

[gsinccom]

thanks for the info subiedubie