Pre-reqs for OAT?

[LovelyMed]

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I'm planning to take the OAT next Spring, giving me Fall and Winter Quarter to take any classes that would help me with it (I'm an undergrad at UCLA). I'm wondering if it's better to finish Physics or Life Sciences.

I've taken the first quarter of Physics in Mechanics, but I've yet to take the 2nd and 3rd quarters, which are "Waves, Electricity, Magnetism" and "Light, Fluids, Thermodynamics, Modern Physics".

But at the same time, I've only finished half of my Life Sciences. I've taken "Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity" and "Cells, Tissues, and Organs", but have not taken "Intro. to Microbiology" or "Genetics".

I would rather not take both Life Science and Physics classes at the same time, because I want to be able to focus on just one per quarter. I am an Anthropology major and Public Health minor, so I have plenty of other classes to complete as well. But I just wanted to know which classes were more beneficial for me to complete in order to better prepare me for the OAT. I know, taking both would be better, but given the choices and the fact that I'll be taking OAT prep classes anyway, which is better to complete: Physics or Life Science?

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it 🙂

 

[opt912]

I would suggest that you take physics over microbio or genetics. Physics you will only be able to learn in the physics class, plus since it is harder for most people, it might help you if you sit in a class to learn it. While microbio and genetics are important for the OAT, you cover a great deal of the material in your other science classes, especially the general info.

 

[OpticalBlackOut]

Hi, I graduated in 2008, so I hope I still remember most of the materials covered...

In terms of physics, most of the concepts tested are from the first course (assuming that you took the 6 series).
However, it's probably helpful to learn about circuits, lenses & mirrors, thermodynamics etc. since they're concept-based and harder to comprehend through self-study.

For the LS series, I think LS 1 and LS 2 were more important for the test. The biology portion is much more memorization-based anyway, so just picking up the OAT materials and remembering the details of molecular biology would probably be enough (especially replication, transcription, and translation).
Good luck