OAT failures. Please provide advice!

[Dolcevolpe]

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Hey everyone. So, I just took my OAT exam for the 3rd time and just cannot seem to do well on it. The first time I took it I did not really study hard since I thought it was going to be everything I knew since I had just finished most of the subjects that were covered on the exam. The second time I studied a little bit more and still did not do that well. The past time I took it, I studied for two months for at least 3-4 hours every day, and even 6-10 hours on the weekends. I used the Kaplan book, watched all of Chad's videos, took notes, and did some Destroyer problems. I felt so confident going into my test. I really thought I was going to kick the test's butt! I knew all of the material but as soon as the scores came up I was shocked and upset. I knew these weren't my scores. I couldn't believe it because I felt like I knew the material so well.

QR: 260 (+30 points)
RC: 310 (+10 points)
BIO: 320 (+50 points)
GC: 240 (same)
OC: 280 (+50 points)
PHY: 260 (+40 points)
TS: 270
AA: 280

I definitely improved in each subject! But I was just wondering if there is something that I'm doing wrong. I know that I am not the best standardized test taker because stress/anxiety always gets the best of me. I know this because I got an A or B in all of these classes and I understand the materials, I just need to be able to outsmart the test. If I was given a problem in any of these subjects on any given day I would be able to tell you the answer with no problem. I feel so lost because I thought I was doing everything right and knew all of the materials and concepts covered. What kind of advice do you have for someone like me?

Thank you!

 

[TaiWon]

Hey everyone. So, I just took my OAT exam for the 3rd time and just cannot seem to do well on it. The first time I took it I did not really study hard since I thought it was going to be everything I knew since I had just finished most of the subjects that were covered on the exam. The second time I studied a little bit more and still did not do that well. The past time I took it, I studied for two months for at least 3-4 hours every day, and even 6-10 hours on the weekends. I used the Kaplan book, watched all of Chad's videos, took notes, and did some Destroyer problems. I felt so confident going into my test. I really thought I was going to kick the test's butt! I knew all of the material but as soon as the scores came up I was shocked and upset. I knew these weren't my scores. I couldn't believe it because I felt like I knew the material so well.

QR: 260 (+30 points)
RC: 310 (+10 points)
BIO: 320 (+50 points)
GC: 240 (same)
OC: 280 (+50 points)
PHY: 260 (+40 points)
TS: 270
AA: 280

I definitely improved in each subject! But I was just wondering if there is something that I'm doing wrong. I know that I am not the best standardized test taker because stress/anxiety always gets the best of me. I know this because I got an A or B in all of these classes and I understand the materials, I just need to be able to outsmart the test. If I was given a problem in any of these subjects on any given day I would be able to tell you the answer with no problem. I feel so lost because I thought I was doing everything right and knew all of the materials and concepts covered. What kind of advice do you have for someone like me?

Thank you!

Hello,

I wrote my OAT recently and did well. I would like to offer some thoughts that might help you. The fact that your scores increased is an indication that you are doing something right. Also, the idea that you didn't do as well as you expected does not indicate failure. A change in perspective in that the score is an indication of what you need to work on will help your confidence and mindset. A suggestion that I would recommend would be to do timed practice test. It builds stamina and confidence. I would break them into sections, and take full ones near your test date. Remember you have to correct them and understand your mistakes. The process can be very arduous. Also, the test will give you feedback on topics for the exam you are not familiar with. Any practice test you find will have questions that test topics that are of high frequency, so the key is to know the concepts. Besides practice tests, the destroyer is really good. A lot people that scores really high goes through destroyer multiple times (3x). They know it inside and out. A final thought would be to stick to study materials that you already have and master the information. You don't want to overwhelm yourself with more study materials, which can mess with your mind. I know the pressure is on for your fourth attempt, but stay confident and remember why you decided to go through this whole process. You will do great!

 

[fifa518]

Have you tried a personal tutor ? I used the same materials as you and I did average 310.. But you may be studying hard but not the correct way. DAT tutors should help!

 

[Capsnduck]

Also rethink the method that you have for taking the test. If time is an issue, then you want to use it wisely. If you do not feel confident in getting the correct answer for a question, put down your best guess and move on. If you waste too much time on one question, even if you get it correct, you are taking away time that you could use to get multiple other correct answers. Find your strengths, like if you are very good at algebra but not trig, try to complete all of the algebra questions in the first pass through the test, then go back to work on the trig questions that you will struggle on more.
If you are not running out of time, then you can always go back and think the question through but in the opposite direction. Use the answer that you chose to work backwards and make sure that it still makes sense.
But yes, your best tool is to take practice tests. When you practice make sure that it is in a setting very similar to how you will test, not lying on your bed, not with a glass of water next to you. After taking a practice, make a list of each question that you got wrong and an honest assessment of why. That helped me the most. I kept telling myself that I was just making stupid mistakes or was rushed for time, but it turned out that I really didn't unders kinematics and was getting most of those questions wrong, so I had to go back and rememorize the formulas.
Good luck, and don't stress yourself out too much!

 

[love2beOD]

I would work with a private tutor in areas you would want to improve the most. Try practice exams, review how you are taking your notes, Chad's videos were extremely helpful to me. I didnt think Kaplan was that effective. Youtube videos on concepts you don't understand. Hope these will help, good luck! don't focus too much on one area...OAT is generalized and does not require extreme details unless it is reading comprehension, but you can't really study for that, just develop a method that helps you read and summarize things quickly.