OAT vs. MCAT

[RyanS32122]

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Hi Everyone:
I am currently entering my junior year of college with a major in biochemistry. I am 'officially' a pre-medicine (MD/DO) student, and I took the August '04 MCAT. I have recently been considering the advantages an OD career possesses. I was just wondering if anyone out there either knows about both MCAT and OAT or have taken both. As I have studied extensively (to say the least!) for MCAT, I was wondering how similar in structure and format the OAT is to the MCAT. I know OAT has bio, inorg and org chem, and physics, as well as verbal, and then the quantitative sections, but are the science questions on the OAT based on descriptive passages or are they all stand-alone (obviously the verbal section is based on passages!), for example? Any other general OAT info would be appreciated until I actually get a review book (anyone recommend a specific one?) to study for the Feb administration. My major question is: How does OAT compare to MCAT? (Bearing in mind I have little knowledge of the OAT as of now!)

Also, out of curiosity, anoyone know the general overall acceptance rate (% out of 100%) of OD applicants applied that gain acceptance to OD school?

Thanks for your input!
Ryan.

 

[SilleAngyl]

Hey Ryan, it is good to see someone out the in the same boat as me! I would also appreciate it if anyone had any input in Ryan's questions.

 

[rpames]

I took both exams while I was considering both fields as well. I think there were "stand alone" science questions on the OAT. Most of them I would think to myself, "I knew that once." My worst section was the quant, I think everyones worst is the quant. Because of that section, I was more stressed than any section of the MCAT. I would guess that is because I suck at math. I did score "relativly" high on the OAT, but that could be contributed to a few factors:
1. I had taken the MCAT before hand so I had already studied a lot and just studied more
2. I now knew how to approach a several hour exam.
3. Or maybe it is because the guy next to me didn't cover his answers...j/k

I everyone who has taken both exams that I have spoken to says the OAT was easier, they may be right, but it could also be because of what I said above, they had already studied for the MCAT so all the studying they did for the OAT was just added on to the MCAT material.

It has been a couple years since I took them so it is hard to be really specific, but I would not worry about it to much. Just get an outline from the OAT website and start going over it.

I hope this helped some.

 

[RyanS32122]

Hey Guys:
It certainly is good to hear that I am not the only one in the "pondering boat" of MD/DO vs. OD!

Rpamos: when you studied for the OAT, do you recall what OAT manual you used or does anyone recommend a specific one? When studying for the MCAT, I used the Examkrackers series, which I thought was excellent, but I am not sure how the OAT varies with respect to content to the MCAT.

I expect to take the OAT in Feb and apply the following August. Does this seem reasonable or should I mabye try for the coming Oct administration? I have studied for the MCAT sciences, and verbal, so the only thing I have not covered is the quant. Would it be advisable to wait until the Feb test (I am leaning toward it but this gives me only one shot to take it)?

Also, anyone know the overall OD aceptance rate (an approx is fine!)? I haven't been able to locate it.

Thank you
RYAN.

 

[rpames]

I used the Kaplen MCAT book for the OAT and just used the fake exam they send you when you sign-up for the OAT. I have heard of people using the Top Score OAT prep, but I have no first hand knowledge of it. I would say to take the Oct. OAT. You have most of the studying done already. This way you can get it over with, you'll do fine.

As far as what percent of students are accepted...I don't know if there is a number out there for us to find. A lot of people ask this, but no one has found it. I know that for ICO, the percent of those who apply and those who are accepted is about 33%. Of the about 200 who were accepted at ICO, 158 came.

 

[Katalio]

Do they send you practice questions when you apply for OAT?? coz I applied more than 1 month and yet I"ve received nothing.. does it usually take a longer time or should I really phone in and ask? (I applied for the OAT via internet btw.. if therez nothing differences)

Thx! =)

 

[Rosanna]

Do they send you practice questions when you apply for OAT?? coz I applied more than 1 month and yet I"ve received nothing.. does it usually take a longer time or should I really phone in and ask? (I applied for the OAT via internet btw.. if therez nothing differences)

Thx! =)

All I received was a ticket showing which testing place I was supposed to take the test. I got that in the mail probably 4 days before the actual test date. I did not receive any practice questions in the mail after applying (there are a few in the OAT registration booklet in most biology student affairs offices). I applied through mail (internet registration was not available). If you are worried about anything, call their office at (800)232-2159 to confirm they received your registration and are processing it.

- Rosanna

 

[mpp]

I took the OAT and was prepared to go to optometry school before I had a change of heart and took the MCAT. The MCAT is a completely different type of test than the OAT (I took the OAT in 2000, MCAT in 2001) and is much less straightforward in terms of problems to answer....definitely the MCAT would take more preparation than the OAT.

 

[jd4me]

I only took the OAT but also did a few MCAT practice tests to prepare me for the OAT. The OAT is very straight forward and not based on any sight passages, except for the reading section. So let's say if they have 40 questions in the bio section, they can all be on a different topic. The only problem people seem to have with the OAT is the quantitative reasoning section. That section isn't necessarily hard, it's just that you're really stretched for time and end up running out of time and have to guess lots of the answers. Hope this helps.

 

[jk5177]

the quant reasoning section reminded me of the reading section because there were so many word problems!!! So, if I knew before hand, I would totally practice a fecal-load of word problems. Just eat bunch of fiber and get them out of the system. Yeah. Go large GI !!!

ps, the DAT is REALLY SIMILAR TO OAT, so that's a place where one can practice more. I almost got exactly the same score on both tests.

 

[Potato!]

OAT vs. MCAT

I took the OAT Oct. 2003 and took the MCAT Aug. 2004. As everyone has alluded to, the style of test is very different. You have to think about things more on the MCAT and figure through problems, whereas on the OAT it's more about memorization. Obviously, you have to deduce answers in the Quantitative reasoning and physics section, but most things are just wrote memorization. Quantitative reasoning was difficult because of the short amount of time you have to write the OAT. Basically, the math questions which take up more than 2 lines, you have to skip. You simply don't have time to read the problems. That being said, you only need about 42 out of 50 to get a perfect score on the section (400).

Very different tests, that's all I've got to say about it. For the MCAT, you have to understand the basics, and why things are the way they are. For the OAT, you just have to memorize tons of stuff.