Hey guys! So I took my OAT a few days ago and since these kind of threads really helped me out before hand I thought I would post my experience as well as how the practice tests were compared to my actual experience.
I got to my appointment about 50 minutes early which turned out to be a lifesaver for me. When I went to check in I realized that my license which I took as my primary ID was expired! Totally my fault but before you go CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR ID IS EXPIRED since they will not accept it if it is! My house is about 25 minutes from where I took the test so I called my sister and she ended up having to rush over with my passport instead. They rushed me through the process and I managed to check in with two minutes to spare since I guess if you check in past your appointment time you can't write the test?
So after that wild start they took my thumbprint and scanned me. You must check in and check out every time you leave the room. Some of the differences I found from other posts were these:
I was not allowed to access my locker after I shut it, not even at break. While I brought some snacks and water with me I couldn't access them. They did have a water cooler though so it wasn't too big of an issue though I did get hungry after a bit. My advice is either call and check with them before hand or eat a good breakfast!
I was given an actual physical calculator that I was allowed to use throughout the entire test!!! This was very surprising for me since I was under the impression I wouldn't be allowed to other than the Quantitative Reasoning section. While there wasn't a ton of calculation questions in general this helped me out especially in the QR section since using the on screen one takes up a lot more time. There was still an on screen calculator provided on the screen for the QR section but I obviously didn't use it since I had an actual one.
These differences may or may not have been because I'm in Canada (Alberta). I'm not sure where the other posts I read were from.
Bio: This section was pretty random. There were questions about pretty much all topics. I felt like this section was almost entirely different from the Kaplan practice tests in the material it covered and was more similar to the Opted practice test. This could just be because there is such a broad variety of stuff they can cover. Did not feel that difficult though. If you're a Bio student or cover the Kaplan book you should be fine. Had time to go back over the questions I marked and finished right on time.
Chemistry: Not many calculations. Didn't seem too hard, Kaplan was good practice for this.
OChem: Same as above. Know named reactions and reactants! This is the end of the Natural Science Section. Wasn't feeling too bad after this.
Reading Comprehension: Got 3 articles, one long, one mediumish, and one short. I skimmed the article quickly and wrote down keywords on each paragraph. Questions were very straight forward and mostly detail oriented. There was only one question of which I wasn't absolutely sure of the answer. Very much like the Opted practice article.
Break: I took the 15 minute break. Like I mentioned above, I wasn't allowed access to my locker so I went to bathroom and stretched my legs for about 5-8 minutes. Checked back in and then sat at my station and wrote down the physics equations for the next section. Still had a few minutes left after this so I just used the time to breathe and relax.
Physics: This has consistently been my worst section so I was pretty worried about this. It was easier than the Kaplan test but harder than the Opted. Lots of theoretical, not so much calculation. Few questions on mirrors and lenses, momentum, projectile motion ect. no surprises here.
Quantitative Reasoning: Last section and much harder than both the Opted and Kaplan. Lots of confusing word problems. Had a physical calculator so didn't use the on screen calculator though there was one provided. I ran out of time on this section and had to guess on about 7 of them including the ones I just couldn't crack. This was probably the most stressful section on the test for me.
Took the quiz though I honestly was just clicking fast in order to get to my results.
I used only the big blue Kaplan book. Took notes out of this, then went through the notes I made and did all the practice questions, and then did practice tests.
I took 3 practice tests before the actual test. I took Kaplan 1, Kaplan 2, and the Opted test (in that order). Kaplan 1 was taken 2 days before the exam and Kaplan 2 and Opted were taken the night before the exam. I did not take any practice tests before this. I started studying about 3 months before hand but the few weeks before the test ended up being very busy for me which resulted in me taking the practice tests so close to the actual thing! I absolutely do not recommend trying to do 2 full practice tests in one day (especially the day before the big test). It was exhausting but it was my own fault (and it also made the actual test seem shorter aha)
Marks are in this order (also the order I took the tests): Kaplan 1, Kaplan 2, Opted, OAT
Bio: 350, 340, 380 350
Chem: 300, 320, 360, 340
Ochem: 300, 340, 360, 320
Physics: 270, 300, 330, 330
Reading Comp: 320, 360, 400, 400
QR: 320, 350, 390, 340
TS: N/A, N/A, 360, 340
AA: 310, 340, 370, 350
Along with these scores I have a GPA of 3.2 and am now just working on getting all my reference letters and applications done and submitted. Hope this helps
Do these marks along with my GPA me a competitive applicant by most schools standards? I'm a little worried because I have no research experience, only a little job shadowing experience (working on getting more), and have only 2 (long term) volunteer/ charity positions.
I got to my appointment about 50 minutes early which turned out to be a lifesaver for me. When I went to check in I realized that my license which I took as my primary ID was expired! Totally my fault but before you go CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR ID IS EXPIRED since they will not accept it if it is! My house is about 25 minutes from where I took the test so I called my sister and she ended up having to rush over with my passport instead. They rushed me through the process and I managed to check in with two minutes to spare since I guess if you check in past your appointment time you can't write the test?
So after that wild start they took my thumbprint and scanned me. You must check in and check out every time you leave the room. Some of the differences I found from other posts were these:
I was not allowed to access my locker after I shut it, not even at break. While I brought some snacks and water with me I couldn't access them. They did have a water cooler though so it wasn't too big of an issue though I did get hungry after a bit. My advice is either call and check with them before hand or eat a good breakfast!
I was given an actual physical calculator that I was allowed to use throughout the entire test!!! This was very surprising for me since I was under the impression I wouldn't be allowed to other than the Quantitative Reasoning section. While there wasn't a ton of calculation questions in general this helped me out especially in the QR section since using the on screen one takes up a lot more time. There was still an on screen calculator provided on the screen for the QR section but I obviously didn't use it since I had an actual one.
These differences may or may not have been because I'm in Canada (Alberta). I'm not sure where the other posts I read were from.
Bio: This section was pretty random. There were questions about pretty much all topics. I felt like this section was almost entirely different from the Kaplan practice tests in the material it covered and was more similar to the Opted practice test. This could just be because there is such a broad variety of stuff they can cover. Did not feel that difficult though. If you're a Bio student or cover the Kaplan book you should be fine. Had time to go back over the questions I marked and finished right on time.
Chemistry: Not many calculations. Didn't seem too hard, Kaplan was good practice for this.
OChem: Same as above. Know named reactions and reactants! This is the end of the Natural Science Section. Wasn't feeling too bad after this.
Reading Comprehension: Got 3 articles, one long, one mediumish, and one short. I skimmed the article quickly and wrote down keywords on each paragraph. Questions were very straight forward and mostly detail oriented. There was only one question of which I wasn't absolutely sure of the answer. Very much like the Opted practice article.
Break: I took the 15 minute break. Like I mentioned above, I wasn't allowed access to my locker so I went to bathroom and stretched my legs for about 5-8 minutes. Checked back in and then sat at my station and wrote down the physics equations for the next section. Still had a few minutes left after this so I just used the time to breathe and relax.
Physics: This has consistently been my worst section so I was pretty worried about this. It was easier than the Kaplan test but harder than the Opted. Lots of theoretical, not so much calculation. Few questions on mirrors and lenses, momentum, projectile motion ect. no surprises here.
Quantitative Reasoning: Last section and much harder than both the Opted and Kaplan. Lots of confusing word problems. Had a physical calculator so didn't use the on screen calculator though there was one provided. I ran out of time on this section and had to guess on about 7 of them including the ones I just couldn't crack. This was probably the most stressful section on the test for me.
Took the quiz though I honestly was just clicking fast in order to get to my results.
I used only the big blue Kaplan book. Took notes out of this, then went through the notes I made and did all the practice questions, and then did practice tests.
I took 3 practice tests before the actual test. I took Kaplan 1, Kaplan 2, and the Opted test (in that order). Kaplan 1 was taken 2 days before the exam and Kaplan 2 and Opted were taken the night before the exam. I did not take any practice tests before this. I started studying about 3 months before hand but the few weeks before the test ended up being very busy for me which resulted in me taking the practice tests so close to the actual thing! I absolutely do not recommend trying to do 2 full practice tests in one day (especially the day before the big test). It was exhausting but it was my own fault (and it also made the actual test seem shorter aha)
Marks are in this order (also the order I took the tests): Kaplan 1, Kaplan 2, Opted, OAT
Bio: 350, 340, 380 350
Chem: 300, 320, 360, 340
Ochem: 300, 340, 360, 320
Physics: 270, 300, 330, 330
Reading Comp: 320, 360, 400, 400
QR: 320, 350, 390, 340
TS: N/A, N/A, 360, 340
AA: 310, 340, 370, 350
Along with these scores I have a GPA of 3.2 and am now just working on getting all my reference letters and applications done and submitted. Hope this helps
Do these marks along with my GPA me a competitive applicant by most schools standards? I'm a little worried because I have no research experience, only a little job shadowing experience (working on getting more), and have only 2 (long term) volunteer/ charity positions.
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