It's my time to contribute something to this forum after lurking for a while. Wrote my OATs today. This is how it went: (Opted practice test in brackets)
BIO: 350 (380)
GC: 400 (380)
ORG: 400 (380)
RC: 350 (400)
PHY: 360 (390)
QR: 360 (400)
TS: 390
AA: 370
Thoughts about each section:
BIO: Definitely a lot of random questions. Not a huge emphasis on human physiology. I did get a question about the pill for females, and the changes in hormone levels after you stop taking the pill (someone else on the forum got this qtn too). Got a picture of a bryophyte/fungus/something and was asked to identify it.
GC and ORG: Nothing hard here. If you do well on the opted test you should be fine. Got a question involving both IR and NMR (NMR came in the form of the NMR graph). Obviously the key here is to narrow down your choices after looking at the IR value. At most, you'll be asked to distinguish between a C=O and -OH, then work at the NMR part from there. For orgo, make sure you remember the names of different reactions (wittig, claisen, aldol etc etc) and how to tell them apart.
RC: Mix of passages which I found interesting and uninteresting. I would say the difficulty lies somewhere between the otped test (very easy) and EK mcat passages (hard). Hardest aspect of this section is definitely finishing on time. I followed another member's strategy: [INSERT LINK]. I found it worked well when you actually read the passages & adhered to the strict time constraint which definitely takes a lot of discipline (I found passing on a question to be a challenge throughout my experience studying for this test...but it definitely needs to be done). I rushed the reading of the last passage (spent too much time on other previous questions) and paid the price when it came time to answering the questions. The questions here weren't so straight forward, and required a good understanding of the passage. Something new I encountered: 2-3 questions which were worded the statement is true, but the reason is false vs the statement and reason are both true etc etc
PHY: I found it harder than opted. There was an emphasis on knowing your concepts like acceleration/velocity/displacement (ex. something can move to the right and can experience -ve acceleration). A few lens questions. A few questions on moment of inertia of rotating objects. Definitely know this concept, because I definitely didnt lol.
QR: A lot harder than opted and a bit easier than the Kaplan blue book. You'll get your typical easy qtns which you should have no trouble answering. However, if you get caught up trying to answer a hard question, sacrificing time in the process, you'll get burned. I found myself rushing near the end. Had lots of questions involving trig identities, with an emphasis on ones involving arcsin, arccos, and arctan. Very surprised I actually above 350 considering how much I was rushing & stressing near the end.
For the resources I used in case anyones wondering (not that I have a perfect score or anything =P)
*Kaplan DAT review book
*Kaplan OAT practice test book
*Sparknotes review multiple choice tests for bio and physics
*Kaplan 30min QR practice tests (*cough torrents cough*)
*the free Kaplan & opted practice computer tests
BIO: 350 (380)
GC: 400 (380)
ORG: 400 (380)
RC: 350 (400)
PHY: 360 (390)
QR: 360 (400)
TS: 390
AA: 370
Thoughts about each section:
BIO: Definitely a lot of random questions. Not a huge emphasis on human physiology. I did get a question about the pill for females, and the changes in hormone levels after you stop taking the pill (someone else on the forum got this qtn too). Got a picture of a bryophyte/fungus/something and was asked to identify it.
GC and ORG: Nothing hard here. If you do well on the opted test you should be fine. Got a question involving both IR and NMR (NMR came in the form of the NMR graph). Obviously the key here is to narrow down your choices after looking at the IR value. At most, you'll be asked to distinguish between a C=O and -OH, then work at the NMR part from there. For orgo, make sure you remember the names of different reactions (wittig, claisen, aldol etc etc) and how to tell them apart.
RC: Mix of passages which I found interesting and uninteresting. I would say the difficulty lies somewhere between the otped test (very easy) and EK mcat passages (hard). Hardest aspect of this section is definitely finishing on time. I followed another member's strategy: [INSERT LINK]. I found it worked well when you actually read the passages & adhered to the strict time constraint which definitely takes a lot of discipline (I found passing on a question to be a challenge throughout my experience studying for this test...but it definitely needs to be done). I rushed the reading of the last passage (spent too much time on other previous questions) and paid the price when it came time to answering the questions. The questions here weren't so straight forward, and required a good understanding of the passage. Something new I encountered: 2-3 questions which were worded the statement is true, but the reason is false vs the statement and reason are both true etc etc
PHY: I found it harder than opted. There was an emphasis on knowing your concepts like acceleration/velocity/displacement (ex. something can move to the right and can experience -ve acceleration). A few lens questions. A few questions on moment of inertia of rotating objects. Definitely know this concept, because I definitely didnt lol.
QR: A lot harder than opted and a bit easier than the Kaplan blue book. You'll get your typical easy qtns which you should have no trouble answering. However, if you get caught up trying to answer a hard question, sacrificing time in the process, you'll get burned. I found myself rushing near the end. Had lots of questions involving trig identities, with an emphasis on ones involving arcsin, arccos, and arctan. Very surprised I actually above 350 considering how much I was rushing & stressing near the end.
For the resources I used in case anyones wondering (not that I have a perfect score or anything =P)
*Kaplan DAT review book
*Kaplan OAT practice test book
*Sparknotes review multiple choice tests for bio and physics
*Kaplan 30min QR practice tests (*cough torrents cough*)
*the free Kaplan & opted practice computer tests
