In Easy We Trust
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- Jun 18, 2018
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Hello all,
At first I wasn't going to post a "Complete OAT experience" but I figured I would since the ones I read helped me a lot. There are so many great ones so I will try to make this one as brief, yet useful, as possible. (Nonetheless don't judge my scores, I spent a total of $50 to study for this)
Biology: This is the section I studied for THE LONGEST, it was also however, the section that I studied first and it showed. All the questions were random, no way to exactly know where the questions were coming from so be prepared for anything especially Hardy Weinberg, Plants, Diversity of life, genetics to some extent Photosynthesis and Respiration.
Gen Chem: Gen chem was a refreshing switch from the frenzy that was biology. All the questions were straightforward and I didn't have too many equations. Honestly I cant remember the main types of questions they were all straightforward though.
Organic Chem: I remembered all the reactions and trends, honestly think I psyched myself out with this one. Prior to the exam I decided not to "spend any time with spectroscopy" because I gambled on the fact that there would be 2-3 questions. I ended up getting about 4-5. Nonetheless I would say not only should you know all the reactions (aside from the other o-chem topics) but also know what makes similar reactions different.
Reading: First I would like to say that this section broke my heart. On both passages from the ADA samples I used, as well as the 2015 Kaplan blue book (Which i do not recommend), I never missed more than 2 in a passage. Honestly I was most surprised by how low my reading score was. The method I used was to read the entire passage while highlight things I thought would be of use along the way. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS, having had the chance to do it again I would do the search and destroy method because most, if not all questions, could have been answered by just searching through the passage with no need for overall knowledge. Also the passage paragraphs are neatly numbered and some questions refer to those numbers unlike the sample test. I ended up feeling way too crunched for time.
Break: I was allowed to pretty much do whatever, So I left the testing room and set my phone alarm for 10 minutes (it takes way too long to get access back into that room to risk it) Called my girlfriend for 3 minutes, then studied my physics equations and math conversions.
Physics: Didn't have high expectations for this section my score shows just that. One great piece of advice I learned is that if you are not given a calculator there is no way they can expect you to do complicated math so if you're doing that you're most likely off track. Physics was no where near as hard as the resources I used to study, but PRACTICE PROBLEMS are more important than anything on this section. Overall though this section is very doable with the right amount of practice.
QR: This section I did better than I thought honestly, The CALCULATOR CAN BE USED BY THE KEYBOARD (check your numlock), I am not very good at math w/o a calculator, however on the practice exams it took too long to use the calculator because I was under the impression that I could not use the numpad on the test, this was not the case. Of course mental math for some would still be faster. This is the section you should skip the longer problems FOR SURE, there are several problems that are short, simple, or just repetitive, find them first. There are also a series of extremely simple graph problems, look for those as well. again Practice problems would be your best bet.
*NO TRIG*
RESULTS
(I only used the ADA OAT/DAT practice exams and did them subject by subject *NOT RECOMMENDED* furthermore I used the same grading scale on the ADA OAT to grade the DAT version)
Scores DAT(ADA)/ADA/OAT
Biology: 380/380/360
G Chem: 380/400/380
O chem: 400/340/330
Reading: n/a n/a 320 (later explained)
Physics: n/a 290/310
QuantR: 300/340/340
TS n/a n/a 350
AA n/a n/a 340
Background: I am Division I track runner turned football player, nonetheless my schedule has always gotten in the way of me making the greatest of grades so I may have to retake this to compensate for my GPA. I have had some professional sports opportunities since may but overall would like to become an optometrist (whether I played pro or not). Nonetheless upon graduating and getting cut, I had alot of free time so I decided to study for the oat overall I studied for 8 weeks. 3 on Biology 1 on GChem/OChem/Physics/Math and 1 for review. I studied everyday every I could. I experienced periods of drought and burnout along the way so I couldn't accurately say what my Hours/day rate was.
For Biology I used Feralis Biology notes, then used crash course to watch the interesting videos. Both are recommended.
For all other subjects I used Chad's Videos via Coursesaver, at $50 a month. There are tons of practice questions for each section so I would definitely recommend.
Someone also let me have their 2015 Kaplan book, I am appreciative for the book however it did more harm than good so I definitely do not recommend.
What worked:
Relaxing the day before my exam: While it is impossible to not do some type of studying the day before the exam, you should definitely take your mind off of it and allow it to refresh.
Cheat sheets: I made cheat sheets for every subject except biology. They came in handy because I had to summarize information and equations.
Writing my own notes: Everything I learned I wrote down at some point even If I printed a review sheet. If I read it I wrote it.
Chads Video quizzes: Chads videos are extremely useful for chem and the quizzes after make you wish you were using Chad in UG.
Studying for 5+ hour sittings: I did not really "feel" any test fatigue I was so used to sitting for that long
SDN OAT Experiences: I read them, used them, and created a list of everything that any user said they saw on their test for the last 2 years. Then I made a sheet of these topics made sure I studied those.
What didn't work:
Chads Biology quizzes: while they are useful, just be cautious that not everything you may need to know are covered in these questions as well as the videos.
Kaplan OAT book (2015): While the book was dated the reading comprehension was not like the test for me.
Not keeping up with previous subjects: Its really easy once you have finished a subject to not go back and restudy it, this can cause your score difference to be .. well.. my biology section
Practice test: I did not take the practice test timed or in one setting, as soon as I finished studying a subject I tested it, then studied what I missed. This is not recommended, save the practice test for last. I would recommend a practice day then a review day.
So much for brief. Good luck and PM if you have any questions.
At first I wasn't going to post a "Complete OAT experience" but I figured I would since the ones I read helped me a lot. There are so many great ones so I will try to make this one as brief, yet useful, as possible. (Nonetheless don't judge my scores, I spent a total of $50 to study for this)
Biology: This is the section I studied for THE LONGEST, it was also however, the section that I studied first and it showed. All the questions were random, no way to exactly know where the questions were coming from so be prepared for anything especially Hardy Weinberg, Plants, Diversity of life, genetics to some extent Photosynthesis and Respiration.
Gen Chem: Gen chem was a refreshing switch from the frenzy that was biology. All the questions were straightforward and I didn't have too many equations. Honestly I cant remember the main types of questions they were all straightforward though.
Organic Chem: I remembered all the reactions and trends, honestly think I psyched myself out with this one. Prior to the exam I decided not to "spend any time with spectroscopy" because I gambled on the fact that there would be 2-3 questions. I ended up getting about 4-5. Nonetheless I would say not only should you know all the reactions (aside from the other o-chem topics) but also know what makes similar reactions different.
Reading: First I would like to say that this section broke my heart. On both passages from the ADA samples I used, as well as the 2015 Kaplan blue book (Which i do not recommend), I never missed more than 2 in a passage. Honestly I was most surprised by how low my reading score was. The method I used was to read the entire passage while highlight things I thought would be of use along the way. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS, having had the chance to do it again I would do the search and destroy method because most, if not all questions, could have been answered by just searching through the passage with no need for overall knowledge. Also the passage paragraphs are neatly numbered and some questions refer to those numbers unlike the sample test. I ended up feeling way too crunched for time.
Break: I was allowed to pretty much do whatever, So I left the testing room and set my phone alarm for 10 minutes (it takes way too long to get access back into that room to risk it) Called my girlfriend for 3 minutes, then studied my physics equations and math conversions.
Physics: Didn't have high expectations for this section my score shows just that. One great piece of advice I learned is that if you are not given a calculator there is no way they can expect you to do complicated math so if you're doing that you're most likely off track. Physics was no where near as hard as the resources I used to study, but PRACTICE PROBLEMS are more important than anything on this section. Overall though this section is very doable with the right amount of practice.
QR: This section I did better than I thought honestly, The CALCULATOR CAN BE USED BY THE KEYBOARD (check your numlock), I am not very good at math w/o a calculator, however on the practice exams it took too long to use the calculator because I was under the impression that I could not use the numpad on the test, this was not the case. Of course mental math for some would still be faster. This is the section you should skip the longer problems FOR SURE, there are several problems that are short, simple, or just repetitive, find them first. There are also a series of extremely simple graph problems, look for those as well. again Practice problems would be your best bet.
*NO TRIG*
RESULTS
(I only used the ADA OAT/DAT practice exams and did them subject by subject *NOT RECOMMENDED* furthermore I used the same grading scale on the ADA OAT to grade the DAT version)
Scores DAT(ADA)/ADA/OAT
Biology: 380/380/360
G Chem: 380/400/380
O chem: 400/340/330
Reading: n/a n/a 320 (later explained)
Physics: n/a 290/310
QuantR: 300/340/340
TS n/a n/a 350
AA n/a n/a 340
Background: I am Division I track runner turned football player, nonetheless my schedule has always gotten in the way of me making the greatest of grades so I may have to retake this to compensate for my GPA. I have had some professional sports opportunities since may but overall would like to become an optometrist (whether I played pro or not). Nonetheless upon graduating and getting cut, I had alot of free time so I decided to study for the oat overall I studied for 8 weeks. 3 on Biology 1 on GChem/OChem/Physics/Math and 1 for review. I studied everyday every I could. I experienced periods of drought and burnout along the way so I couldn't accurately say what my Hours/day rate was.
For Biology I used Feralis Biology notes, then used crash course to watch the interesting videos. Both are recommended.
For all other subjects I used Chad's Videos via Coursesaver, at $50 a month. There are tons of practice questions for each section so I would definitely recommend.
Someone also let me have their 2015 Kaplan book, I am appreciative for the book however it did more harm than good so I definitely do not recommend.
What worked:
Relaxing the day before my exam: While it is impossible to not do some type of studying the day before the exam, you should definitely take your mind off of it and allow it to refresh.
Cheat sheets: I made cheat sheets for every subject except biology. They came in handy because I had to summarize information and equations.
Writing my own notes: Everything I learned I wrote down at some point even If I printed a review sheet. If I read it I wrote it.
Chads Video quizzes: Chads videos are extremely useful for chem and the quizzes after make you wish you were using Chad in UG.
Studying for 5+ hour sittings: I did not really "feel" any test fatigue I was so used to sitting for that long
SDN OAT Experiences: I read them, used them, and created a list of everything that any user said they saw on their test for the last 2 years. Then I made a sheet of these topics made sure I studied those.
What didn't work:
Chads Biology quizzes: while they are useful, just be cautious that not everything you may need to know are covered in these questions as well as the videos.
Kaplan OAT book (2015): While the book was dated the reading comprehension was not like the test for me.
Not keeping up with previous subjects: Its really easy once you have finished a subject to not go back and restudy it, this can cause your score difference to be .. well.. my biology section
Practice test: I did not take the practice test timed or in one setting, as soon as I finished studying a subject I tested it, then studied what I missed. This is not recommended, save the practice test for last. I would recommend a practice day then a review day.
So much for brief. Good luck and PM if you have any questions.
