Oat help please!!!!

[petervantran]

Hey there, I am new to the forum. I am sure there are many people with the same question. For you guys who already made it into optometry school. What books should I try to purchase and where should I purchase to get ready for the OAT? I am studying this summer. I also heard that OAT DESTROYER was a good company to buy from, but their books and all are $200+. I was wondering if that was worth it, any experience from you guys would be gladly appreciated! Please help me prepare for my future!

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[TNgal21]

I didn't use all of the Destroyer set, but found the physics one especially helpful! It gives 3-4 questions in a row of the same topic. Therefore, once you understand the solution for the first question, you can tackle the next 2/3 to apply the knowledge. I highly recommend it. As for the remainder of my material, I used Kaplan's big lecture book. Ehh, take it for it's worth. I don't suggest the Kaplan course (completellyyy useless for me) but the big book was good as a cumulative source of review. I wasn't a fan of Achiever either. The entire thing was very sketch.. you directly contact the owner when you have issues?!.. and I don't think the practice tests prepared me in any way except stressed me out even more. Sorry that this post is more of a "what not to do" list, but I hope it's just as beneficial as a "what to do" list. Best of luck!

 

[OptomHope]

I didn't use all of the Destroyer set, but found the physics one especially helpful! It gives 3-4 questions in a row of the same topic. Therefore, once you understand the solution for the first question, you can tackle the next 2/3 to apply the knowledge. I highly recommend it. As for the remainder of my material, I used Kaplan's big lecture book. Ehh, take it for it's worth. I don't suggest the Kaplan course (completellyyy useless for me) but the big book was good as a cumulative source of review. I wasn't a fan of Achiever either. The entire thing was very sketch.. you directly contact the owner when you have issues?!.. and I don't think the practice tests prepared me in any way except stressed me out even more. Sorry that this post is more of a "what not to do" list, but I hope it's just as beneficial as a "what to do" list. Best of luck!

I agree with TNgal21, the Achiever is waaaay harder than the real thing so unless you're looking to stress yourself out then I really wouldn't highly suggest it. I bought the Kaplan OAT book with the practise questions and used my old notes from first and second year to study.. and that's about it. I found the internet to be really helpful just to look up random topics that I needed to review. Other than that I used the MCAT flashcards before I wrote it. As long as you can get an idea of the types of questions that will be on the OAT and know your strengths/weaknesses I think you can tackle it with whatever resources you choose. I definitely think the Kaplan OAT book is a must though!

 

[petervantran]

the kaplan OAT book I saw on ebay was about 25-30$.... the thing about it is it just said practice test.... I dont know if its the "Big Book you guys are talking about or just the practice test... if you guys can send me a link of a picture of how it looks, I would gladly appreciate it.

 

[nc2tarheels]

I disagree, I thought Achiever was helpful. It's not that expensive and it helps with your timing and calculator use. It is pretty difficult, but I didn't use Achiever for the sole purpose of learning, I used it to get familiar with the test.

 

[OatsHelp]

I have the same concern about the book, the kaplan one on ebay is for $30ish, and its just practice tests. Is there another kaplan book you guys are talking about?

 

[livingcrow]

check out the free classifieds section for the kaplan oat book

 

[quackquack]

I used an old DAT book that I got off the ebay for $15. The seller was nice enough to include the OAT achiever (i think) cd - which didn't work because the code expired, but yeah, i was on the verge of purchasing that. I also used ExamCracker e-books for physics. Math is pretty much just... look up what topics will be on and go to your library or find practice problems online for it.

Also for orgo - I saved a lot of my notes from undergrad and they really helped.