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- Jul 5, 2017
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Hi!
I have been following the forum for a while and it has helped me out a lot. I took the OAT today and would like to put my experience out there and hopefully this could help someone.
First, these are the resources I used: (from most useful to least)
-Khan Academy: The best resource out there for anyone taking a Pre-Health exam. They have everything; physics, Gchem, Ochem, Bio... I personally watched the videos at 1.5x speed because I think Sal talks slow. The best part is that it's FREE!!
-Chad's videos and outlines: Chad is amazing; you learn a lot of strategies and tricks from him that are a must for these exams.
-Kaplan book from library (only for physics): didn't use this book for anything but physics. And I stopped using it and watched Khan Academy videos instead.
-Physics for dummies I&II (only used for circular/rotational stuff): I only used this because I had a few topics in physics that I wasn't very good with.
-Destroyer~ barely used... these problems are wayyyy too difficult that the real thing. But it is excellent practice and I would still recommend.
-Crack Oat: STAY AWAY and save your money... This software is so bad that I don't even know where to start... that's like $300 wasted for me.
Time I took to study: maybe 2-3 weeks max. I was scheduled to take the test in July, but I kept procrastinating, and started studying a week before my test date. All I did was watch chad's videos and take notes on the outlines. I ended up postponing my exam due to a medical condition. Then I ended up going out of the country for a family event for the entire month of august. When I came back in September, I scheduled my test for October 12th, but kept procrastination until I had only 2 weeks left. At this point I just thoroughly reviewed my notes and started watching Khan Academy videos and and doing practice problems.
Practice tests: 3 days prior to the exam, I took the Kaplan practice test the came with the book and scored: 270 AA/270 TS/260 BIO/290 GC/270 OC/330 RC/270 Physics/ Skipped QR
At this point I was very disappointed and stressed. I was going to postpone my test again, but I read a few posts that mentioned the ADA practice test and how close it is to the real exam. I decided to study intensely using all the resources and taking the ADA practice test a day before the exam.
The ADA scores I got were: 330 BIO/370 GCHEM/360 OCHEM/RC Skipped/330 Physics/350 QR
Test Day: I underestimated the morning traffic and ended up arriving to the center only 10 minutes prior to my exam. There was one person ahead of me, and a few people behind me. As we all waited, one of the employees in the testing center collapsed and passed out; the ambulance was called and she was taken out on a stretcher. I was a bit shaken from this incident when I was about to start the test. I just took a deep breath and relaxed a bit during the 15 minute tutorial in the beginning.
BIO: The questions weren't really difficult; they required a bit of thinking. I didn't read any books or memorize random facts and I though that I was going to do horrible on this section. I would suggest going over cellular respiration, genetics(mutations, punnet squares, etc), and some physiology basics. Knowing common hormones and enzyme names and function helps a lot. There were maybe only 2 immunology questions on there.
GChem: I feel that this test was more conceptual than calculations. A few graphs(ionization energy), a few stoichiometry questions and equilibrium questions. Knowing the periodic trends, thermodynamic laws, and Hess's law was helpful.
OChem: Was not bad at all; concepts, reactions and only 1 IR question. Knowing ortho/para/meta, the key reactions, acids /bases was very helpful.
RC: I'm not a fast reader, in fact I read slow. I did not practice this section at all; I only took one practice test. My strategy was to just look at the key words of the question first and just skim the passage for the answer. I suggest looking at how many question come from each passage at the beginning of the exam. There are 3 passages, and one of them has 20 question and the other 2 have 15 question each. I suggest spending time reading the passage with the most questions.
Break: 30 min break. I suggest eating something very light and drinking little water. I ate 2 pieces of dark chocolate and drank some coffee; this was a bad mistake....
Physics: This was surprisingly a breeze. I was really struggling with timing on my practice tests. I suggest skipping though the question and doing ones that take a short time first. Mostly conceptual question. Some questions are conceptual questions disguised as calculation questions. Optics has a few questions, so I suggest focusing on optics. Also, be comfortable with concepts; for example, understanding that KE=PE helps you find 'h' given only velocity. Also go over graphs of acceleration and velocity. A few ranking questions in circuits, and applying kirchoff's rules.
QR: Luckily, I have always been really good with math. I did not study much for this test, I just looked over a few sample question a day before. A lot of algebra, probability, percentages and graphs. I honestly don't remember much from this exam because of how uncomfortable I was feeling the entire time. I wish they could let people run to the bathroom during the test! I strongly feel that I could do much better on the test if this wasn't an issue, but oh well...
At the end there is a survey which I could not even bother to read since I was in a rush, and then your scores appear on the screen.
3 biggest Tips:
1) Take the ADA practice test to truly determine where you are.
2) Always stay positive
3) Plan your daily study schedule, especially if you're on a tight schedule like me.
Thanks to everyone who posted on here to help other people, and good luck to those who are about to take the test.
I have been following the forum for a while and it has helped me out a lot. I took the OAT today and would like to put my experience out there and hopefully this could help someone.
First, these are the resources I used: (from most useful to least)
-Khan Academy: The best resource out there for anyone taking a Pre-Health exam. They have everything; physics, Gchem, Ochem, Bio... I personally watched the videos at 1.5x speed because I think Sal talks slow. The best part is that it's FREE!!
-Chad's videos and outlines: Chad is amazing; you learn a lot of strategies and tricks from him that are a must for these exams.
-Kaplan book from library (only for physics): didn't use this book for anything but physics. And I stopped using it and watched Khan Academy videos instead.
-Physics for dummies I&II (only used for circular/rotational stuff): I only used this because I had a few topics in physics that I wasn't very good with.
-Destroyer~ barely used... these problems are wayyyy too difficult that the real thing. But it is excellent practice and I would still recommend.
-Crack Oat: STAY AWAY and save your money... This software is so bad that I don't even know where to start... that's like $300 wasted for me.
Time I took to study: maybe 2-3 weeks max. I was scheduled to take the test in July, but I kept procrastinating, and started studying a week before my test date. All I did was watch chad's videos and take notes on the outlines. I ended up postponing my exam due to a medical condition. Then I ended up going out of the country for a family event for the entire month of august. When I came back in September, I scheduled my test for October 12th, but kept procrastination until I had only 2 weeks left. At this point I just thoroughly reviewed my notes and started watching Khan Academy videos and and doing practice problems.
Practice tests: 3 days prior to the exam, I took the Kaplan practice test the came with the book and scored: 270 AA/270 TS/260 BIO/290 GC/270 OC/330 RC/270 Physics/ Skipped QR
At this point I was very disappointed and stressed. I was going to postpone my test again, but I read a few posts that mentioned the ADA practice test and how close it is to the real exam. I decided to study intensely using all the resources and taking the ADA practice test a day before the exam.
The ADA scores I got were: 330 BIO/370 GCHEM/360 OCHEM/RC Skipped/330 Physics/350 QR
Test Day: I underestimated the morning traffic and ended up arriving to the center only 10 minutes prior to my exam. There was one person ahead of me, and a few people behind me. As we all waited, one of the employees in the testing center collapsed and passed out; the ambulance was called and she was taken out on a stretcher. I was a bit shaken from this incident when I was about to start the test. I just took a deep breath and relaxed a bit during the 15 minute tutorial in the beginning.
BIO: The questions weren't really difficult; they required a bit of thinking. I didn't read any books or memorize random facts and I though that I was going to do horrible on this section. I would suggest going over cellular respiration, genetics(mutations, punnet squares, etc), and some physiology basics. Knowing common hormones and enzyme names and function helps a lot. There were maybe only 2 immunology questions on there.
GChem: I feel that this test was more conceptual than calculations. A few graphs(ionization energy), a few stoichiometry questions and equilibrium questions. Knowing the periodic trends, thermodynamic laws, and Hess's law was helpful.
OChem: Was not bad at all; concepts, reactions and only 1 IR question. Knowing ortho/para/meta, the key reactions, acids /bases was very helpful.
RC: I'm not a fast reader, in fact I read slow. I did not practice this section at all; I only took one practice test. My strategy was to just look at the key words of the question first and just skim the passage for the answer. I suggest looking at how many question come from each passage at the beginning of the exam. There are 3 passages, and one of them has 20 question and the other 2 have 15 question each. I suggest spending time reading the passage with the most questions.
Break: 30 min break. I suggest eating something very light and drinking little water. I ate 2 pieces of dark chocolate and drank some coffee; this was a bad mistake....
Physics: This was surprisingly a breeze. I was really struggling with timing on my practice tests. I suggest skipping though the question and doing ones that take a short time first. Mostly conceptual question. Some questions are conceptual questions disguised as calculation questions. Optics has a few questions, so I suggest focusing on optics. Also, be comfortable with concepts; for example, understanding that KE=PE helps you find 'h' given only velocity. Also go over graphs of acceleration and velocity. A few ranking questions in circuits, and applying kirchoff's rules.
QR: Luckily, I have always been really good with math. I did not study much for this test, I just looked over a few sample question a day before. A lot of algebra, probability, percentages and graphs. I honestly don't remember much from this exam because of how uncomfortable I was feeling the entire time. I wish they could let people run to the bathroom during the test! I strongly feel that I could do much better on the test if this wasn't an issue, but oh well...
At the end there is a survey which I could not even bother to read since I was in a rush, and then your scores appear on the screen.
3 biggest Tips:
1) Take the ADA practice test to truly determine where you are.
2) Always stay positive
3) Plan your daily study schedule, especially if you're on a tight schedule like me.
Thanks to everyone who posted on here to help other people, and good luck to those who are about to take the test.
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