Hey all, I took the OAT exam and this is the breakdown:
QR: 350
RC: 400
BIO: 360
GCHEM: 390
OCHEM: 360
PHYSICS: 350
TS: 370
AA: 370
Biology wasn't that bad. The questions were pretty standard. Although, there were some curveballs thrown in the mix. Nothing stood out as particularly difficult. There were a couple of photosynthesis questions, ie. the products of each. Know the steps of mitosis/meiosis. I had a couple of genetics questions too, ie Hardy Weinberg, punnet squares.
Gen Chem was mediocre. There weren't any hard questions that I can remember. Know how to balance net charges and net ionic equations. KNOW PERIOIDIC TABLE TRENDS. Stoichiometry is really important too, ie. given a # of moles of a reagent, how much product is made.
Ochem wasn't too bad. There were more conceptually based questions than reaction questions. Know your IUPAC rules, colligative property trends, aromaticity, etc. The OAT Destroyer is a godsend for this section.
Reading Comp was a joke. Seriously. If you've ever taken any standardized tests in grade school, you'll do fine. The layout is PERFECT for the search and find method. Personally, I worked the questions out in order. If you're spending ~2 minutes on a question, skip it and come back to it. Don't fret for time for this one if you are a good reader. Trying to quickly scan through the passage will only hurt you.
Quantitative Reasoning was.... pretty tough. Not going to lie. Some of the questions that they asked took up a lot of time, which I couldn't afford. Save the harder questions for later. I can't stress this enough. If you can't properly set up the equations to solve the question within a reasonable time, SKIP IT. Know how to work probabilities, SYSTEMS OF EQUATIONS, trig identities, etc. Don't rely on the calculator too much. I don't know if it was just my computer, but the calculator was really sluggish. The buttons weren't responsive to my clicks at times. I managed to finish this section within the time limit, but I had to guess on some.
Overall, the OAT wasn't as bad as I made it out to be in my head. My best piece of advice is to CHILL OUT. Your heart is going to be racing when you're in the testing room doing the tutorial. In the time they give you, try the best you can to calm your nerves. When I was doing the biology section, I had to read the first couple of questions over and over because I wasn't understanding them because I was so worked up. If you can have a clear and level head at the start of the exam, you will do well. Also, don't get discouraged if you are marking a lot of questions. Answer the questions as best you can without worrying about the ones that you've marked in the past.
I used the OAT Destroyer, the Kaplan Test book, and Organic Chemistry for Dummies to prepare myself for the exam. I went over each section of the Destroyer about 2-3 times in a course of 2 months.
Remember, stay calm and good luck!!!
QR: 350
RC: 400
BIO: 360
GCHEM: 390
OCHEM: 360
PHYSICS: 350
TS: 370
AA: 370
Biology wasn't that bad. The questions were pretty standard. Although, there were some curveballs thrown in the mix. Nothing stood out as particularly difficult. There were a couple of photosynthesis questions, ie. the products of each. Know the steps of mitosis/meiosis. I had a couple of genetics questions too, ie Hardy Weinberg, punnet squares.
Gen Chem was mediocre. There weren't any hard questions that I can remember. Know how to balance net charges and net ionic equations. KNOW PERIOIDIC TABLE TRENDS. Stoichiometry is really important too, ie. given a # of moles of a reagent, how much product is made.
Ochem wasn't too bad. There were more conceptually based questions than reaction questions. Know your IUPAC rules, colligative property trends, aromaticity, etc. The OAT Destroyer is a godsend for this section.
Reading Comp was a joke. Seriously. If you've ever taken any standardized tests in grade school, you'll do fine. The layout is PERFECT for the search and find method. Personally, I worked the questions out in order. If you're spending ~2 minutes on a question, skip it and come back to it. Don't fret for time for this one if you are a good reader. Trying to quickly scan through the passage will only hurt you.
Quantitative Reasoning was.... pretty tough. Not going to lie. Some of the questions that they asked took up a lot of time, which I couldn't afford. Save the harder questions for later. I can't stress this enough. If you can't properly set up the equations to solve the question within a reasonable time, SKIP IT. Know how to work probabilities, SYSTEMS OF EQUATIONS, trig identities, etc. Don't rely on the calculator too much. I don't know if it was just my computer, but the calculator was really sluggish. The buttons weren't responsive to my clicks at times. I managed to finish this section within the time limit, but I had to guess on some.
Overall, the OAT wasn't as bad as I made it out to be in my head. My best piece of advice is to CHILL OUT. Your heart is going to be racing when you're in the testing room doing the tutorial. In the time they give you, try the best you can to calm your nerves. When I was doing the biology section, I had to read the first couple of questions over and over because I wasn't understanding them because I was so worked up. If you can have a clear and level head at the start of the exam, you will do well. Also, don't get discouraged if you are marking a lot of questions. Answer the questions as best you can without worrying about the ones that you've marked in the past.
I used the OAT Destroyer, the Kaplan Test book, and Organic Chemistry for Dummies to prepare myself for the exam. I went over each section of the Destroyer about 2-3 times in a course of 2 months.
Remember, stay calm and good luck!!!
I too have a similar question, i started using the destroyer and the problems in them killed my confidence, like really killed it. I was getting like 1 right out of 10; it was really bad so I gave up on it. When you said ochem you used the destroyer, do you mean the questions helped you (because they were similar to the real OAT), or the solutions helped you. I am having a real hard time with phys, ogchem and gen chem. Congrats again! amazing scoress 