I recently took the OAT and I’m pretty happy with my scores. I’ll do my best to share my OAT experience.
I’m not a genius but I do like to think I work very hard and I have good study discipline. I also take a lot of small breaks (not with a pomodoro timer but same principle) and I think that really helped me keep my sanity.
Study materials I used
OATBooster 10/10
This was the only resource I used. The questions on the practice tests were very representative of what I saw on the actual OAT. Booster also offered really good videos and notes which covered everything that showed up on my exam. I honestly think the Booster practice tests were harder than the real exam (although I've read of some people saying otherwise but that's my honest take).
How I prepared
I started preparing for the OAT late October by taking the first full-length OAT test (323AA). At first I was planning to take the OAT in January but decided to take it earlier because I saw everyone talking about being an early applicant and I kinda panicked so I decided to just go ahead and grind. In total, I spent about 10 weeks preparing for the OAT while following Booster’s 12-week study schedule. I spent about 6-8 hours per day going through the content (excluding some weekends where I literally did nothing and the days I took a full length test where I took the test, relaxed for the remainder of the day and the next day I went over all of the questions with fresh eyes).
When I went through the study schedule, the initial content stage in the study schedule was rough since I forgot most of my undergrad physics material but it ended up paying off. For stage 2 of the study schedule, I tried doing as many questions as I could while doing Anki flashcards for the biology and organic chemistry section. By the time I got to stage 3, I was cramped for time and decided to just do as many practice tests as I could. I didn't really have time to review all the Marked questions. In these last few days I focused on reviewing all the physics content in my practice tests since I knew it was my weakest subject.
Biology (Scored: 400)
Was very mixed with a range of broad topics. Some questions were pretty specific (eg, they asked how [x] scientist contributed to the theory of evolution). Know hormones, anatomical structures (and their function, for example, kidney*), few lab questions, taxonomy and biomes. Make sure to watch the booster videos, they did a good job at covering everything that showed up on my exam.
Chemistry (Scored: 380)
I had a lot of calculation questions on my exam, but nothing too crazy. I would say the questions weren’t hard but took a while to get through them especially the calculation heavy ones which I left for the end. I think Booster did a really good job of representing this section accurately.
Organic Chemistry (Scored: 380)
I particularly hated Orgo like most people so I wasn’t looking forward to studying this section. I used Dave’s videos on Booster to prepare for this section and he does a great job at explaining all the reactions and organic chem concepts. In terms of the questions that showed up on my exam, most were from Orgo II. I also had several EAS questions and predict the product questions. The key to doing well here is to practice and know the reactions well. Anki really helped on this section.
Physics (Scored: 320)
I did better than I expected especially considering how bad I was doing on my last 3 practice tests (I kept scoring 300 consistently I was so frustrated lol). Most of my questions were pretty straightforward with a couple of tricky ones. I had questions ranging from laws of thermodynamics, kinematics, lenses, mirrors, forces, etc. I would also recommend being comfortable with questions dealing with free body diagrams under different situations. It didn't really help that I got anxious and forgot most of the formulas in this part. I panicked and blanked out but I'm still happy with the result. I honestly thought I hand't crossed the 300 point mark when I finished that section but brushed it off quickly since I didn't want to carry that onto the next section.
Reading Comprehension (Scored: 400)
This was the one section where I felt like I got a perfect score while I was doing the test. I was lucky that I got a form where all 3 passages read like Scientific American articles (I subscribe to SciAm). When I took my first test I was struggling to finish on time but I took a break, started reading more (I started reading the news almost every day) and then after 1-2 weeks I started to try to do the practice questions again. I was actually reading the Mistborn series on those last 2 weeks before the test and I think that reading something you enjoy can help more than you know while feeling effortless. I sincerely believe that gave me an edge when it comes to fast paced reading/comprehension.
QR (Scored: 380)
This was also pretty straightforward, a good mix of everything. Most questions could be solved in a few steps, was easier than any resource I used. If you get a chance, I would highly recommend joining Booster’s crash course for QR, I learned a lot of quick ways to solve questions.
Final advice
This exam can be daunting but I can promise you it's doable. If you’re taking the OAT soon, try to find days to relax and give yourself a break. I personally took a lot of weekends off especially during phase 1 of the OAT Booster study schedule. Most importantly, don't sweat it if you lag behind on your study schedule. In my opinion, phase 1 and 2 are the most important. Once you have a good foundation, it's practice, practice, practice. Message me or comment below if you have any questions.
I’m not a genius but I do like to think I work very hard and I have good study discipline. I also take a lot of small breaks (not with a pomodoro timer but same principle) and I think that really helped me keep my sanity.
Study materials I used
OATBooster 10/10
This was the only resource I used. The questions on the practice tests were very representative of what I saw on the actual OAT. Booster also offered really good videos and notes which covered everything that showed up on my exam. I honestly think the Booster practice tests were harder than the real exam (although I've read of some people saying otherwise but that's my honest take).
How I prepared
I started preparing for the OAT late October by taking the first full-length OAT test (323AA). At first I was planning to take the OAT in January but decided to take it earlier because I saw everyone talking about being an early applicant and I kinda panicked so I decided to just go ahead and grind. In total, I spent about 10 weeks preparing for the OAT while following Booster’s 12-week study schedule. I spent about 6-8 hours per day going through the content (excluding some weekends where I literally did nothing and the days I took a full length test where I took the test, relaxed for the remainder of the day and the next day I went over all of the questions with fresh eyes).
When I went through the study schedule, the initial content stage in the study schedule was rough since I forgot most of my undergrad physics material but it ended up paying off. For stage 2 of the study schedule, I tried doing as many questions as I could while doing Anki flashcards for the biology and organic chemistry section. By the time I got to stage 3, I was cramped for time and decided to just do as many practice tests as I could. I didn't really have time to review all the Marked questions. In these last few days I focused on reviewing all the physics content in my practice tests since I knew it was my weakest subject.
Biology (Scored: 400)
Was very mixed with a range of broad topics. Some questions were pretty specific (eg, they asked how [x] scientist contributed to the theory of evolution). Know hormones, anatomical structures (and their function, for example, kidney*), few lab questions, taxonomy and biomes. Make sure to watch the booster videos, they did a good job at covering everything that showed up on my exam.
Chemistry (Scored: 380)
I had a lot of calculation questions on my exam, but nothing too crazy. I would say the questions weren’t hard but took a while to get through them especially the calculation heavy ones which I left for the end. I think Booster did a really good job of representing this section accurately.
Organic Chemistry (Scored: 380)
I particularly hated Orgo like most people so I wasn’t looking forward to studying this section. I used Dave’s videos on Booster to prepare for this section and he does a great job at explaining all the reactions and organic chem concepts. In terms of the questions that showed up on my exam, most were from Orgo II. I also had several EAS questions and predict the product questions. The key to doing well here is to practice and know the reactions well. Anki really helped on this section.
Physics (Scored: 320)
I did better than I expected especially considering how bad I was doing on my last 3 practice tests (I kept scoring 300 consistently I was so frustrated lol). Most of my questions were pretty straightforward with a couple of tricky ones. I had questions ranging from laws of thermodynamics, kinematics, lenses, mirrors, forces, etc. I would also recommend being comfortable with questions dealing with free body diagrams under different situations. It didn't really help that I got anxious and forgot most of the formulas in this part. I panicked and blanked out but I'm still happy with the result. I honestly thought I hand't crossed the 300 point mark when I finished that section but brushed it off quickly since I didn't want to carry that onto the next section.
Reading Comprehension (Scored: 400)
This was the one section where I felt like I got a perfect score while I was doing the test. I was lucky that I got a form where all 3 passages read like Scientific American articles (I subscribe to SciAm). When I took my first test I was struggling to finish on time but I took a break, started reading more (I started reading the news almost every day) and then after 1-2 weeks I started to try to do the practice questions again. I was actually reading the Mistborn series on those last 2 weeks before the test and I think that reading something you enjoy can help more than you know while feeling effortless. I sincerely believe that gave me an edge when it comes to fast paced reading/comprehension.
QR (Scored: 380)
This was also pretty straightforward, a good mix of everything. Most questions could be solved in a few steps, was easier than any resource I used. If you get a chance, I would highly recommend joining Booster’s crash course for QR, I learned a lot of quick ways to solve questions.
Final advice
This exam can be daunting but I can promise you it's doable. If you’re taking the OAT soon, try to find days to relax and give yourself a break. I personally took a lot of weekends off especially during phase 1 of the OAT Booster study schedule. Most importantly, don't sweat it if you lag behind on your study schedule. In my opinion, phase 1 and 2 are the most important. Once you have a good foundation, it's practice, practice, practice. Message me or comment below if you have any questions.
