Rejections rolling in?

[kristykan2003]

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Hi everyone. I have been worried for quite a while about my OAT. I finally got it today with what I had expected. Lower than 300. 🙁 Will the schools tell me that i've been rejected or will they wait to see if i've improved on my Feb OAT?

My stat: 3.0 GPA

1. How did people who did well study for the OAT?

2. People who reapplied, did you have to summit new recommendation letters?

3. Any comments, advice, and suggestions would be helpful and greatly appreciated. 🙂

 

[leelee]

1. How did people who did well study for the OAT?

To answer question #1, I studied all summer, and through the first part of the school year--right up until the test. I even took some time off of work for a few days a week so that I could study for the OAT. I know that might sound hardcore, but I am very satisfied with my performance.

I used a big, thick MCAT review book to help me review, and I also purchased the TopScore Pro CD so that I could practice taking the OAT. The MCAT book was ok, but if you have notes from past classes or even textbooks from your classes, they would be better. My opinion regarding the CD is that it helped me build my "test stamina" more than it helped me study for the test. Because I practiced my taking the full-length practice test, I wasn't burnt out by the end of the test during the actual OAT. I recommend taking these tests and timing yourself so you are comfortable during the actual OAT. You will know how quickly you will have to work. For instance, I learned very quickly that I had to move really fast on the quantitative reasoning section, and I got better at it w/ practice.

While I was visiting a school, I asked one of the representatives how their students prepared for the OAT, and she said something that is VERY true. She told me that nothing will better prepare you for the test than a good, solid undergraduate education. I think she's right because I now feel that my professors have done a nice job presenting the material to me. BUT, another, more important factor in achieving a good undergraduate education may be the student's desire to learn the material well. This definitely makes test preparation for the OAT or any similar test easier on the student.

Ok, enough rambling--hope that makes sense! 🙂

 

[Katalio]

I bascially used the same technique as leelee, got the big MCAT book, read all of them (except those that you know its' not going to be on the OAT), did some review Q. I STUPIDLY joined oatprofessor.com <--useless + wrong answers, don't join. And I also used top score Pro. I think TSP is a good program becoz like leelee said, it trains ur stamina and give u an overview of what u r weak and strong etc. However, I never did the whole test at one go, I splited it into part by part.

My personal Point of view: Do some practice on the RC.. .haha.. I barely finished a bit over half. (ended up with 300).

 

[310bruingirl]

1. How did people who did well study for the OAT?



My Scores: AA330/TS350 (little less than well but I hope this helps!)

I've been out of school for about 3yrs so I hadn't seen most of the material covered on the exam in 5-6 years. I only studied for 2 months before the exam. Since I work full time, finding the time to study was difficult. I decided at the last minute to take the Kaplan OAT test prep course. Made the mistake of not starting to study earlier. The course ended 2 days before the big test. The most ironic thing was that the section that I thought I'd do the best on ended up being my worst (QR). My advice on this would be practice your timing skills, do a lot of practice tests, work extra hard on your weak areas, make flash cards, and start studying early. I think the only reason I was able to even get a score above 300 was because I took the prep course. They have good instructors that help you review and better your test taking skills. They show you how to get through the problems faster. I am a poor test taker so this was good for me. The OAT was the first standardized test that I ever took! I also used TSP (OK) and audiolearn (not good) but the most helpful thing was the prep course.

 

[PLPrincess]

I took the Kaplan prep course as well, but probably didn't put as much time into it as I should've, unfortunately the information they give you doesn't just absorb into your brain.... 🙄

I still have the books and whatnot, however they don't include any practice test. Where can I get some practice tests? I know you guys mentioned a CD...where did you get it?

Please help 🙂 Some of us have to be thinking about the February test 🙁

 

[jb4teen]

I took the Kaplan prep course as well, but probably didn't put as much time into it as I should've, unfortunately the information they give you doesn't just absorb into your brain.... 🙄

I still have the books and whatnot, however they don't include any practice test. Where can I get some practice tests? I know you guys mentioned a CD...where did you get it?

Please help 🙂 Some of us have to be thinking about the February test 🙁

You can get the topscore at:

https://secure7.softcomca.com/scholarware_com/oatcover.htm

It really helped me prepare for the OAT. I also used the thick MCAT comp. review book as most other ppl did. But yeah agreeing with everyone else, the topscore is very beneficial to see the depth of material, setting your pace and getting a feel for what will come on test day. However, it solely does not cover everything needed. I strongly reccommend it. Hope this helps.

 

[heretic]

i took kaplan.

the schools may interview you, and if they like you they could give you a provisional acceptance, provided you reach a certain score on the OAT.

 

[PLPrincess]

i took kaplan.

the schools may interview you, and if they like you they could give you a provisional acceptance, provided you reach a certain score on the OAT.

All i have to say is: there's always puerto rico... 😡

 

[kristykan2003]

I called some of the schools that I had applied to and they informed me that they need to see how I do on my Feb. 2005 OAT. So, i guess there is still hope. 😛

 

[PLPrincess]

I called some of the schools that I had applied to and they informed me that they need to see how I do on my Feb. 2005 OAT. So, i guess there is still hope. 😛

Do you know if they'll grant you a provisional acceptance or simply wait for the results and then go from there?

I'm just asking because i'm in the same exact boat you are...

 

[Mixin Marc]

i got a 330 OAT overall without studying at all!

i know i coulda gotten 360+ with studying, but i had crazy midterms two days prior (anatomy and microbio and neuro)

 

[Mixin Marc]

Hi everyone. I have been worried for quite a while about my OAT. I finally got it today with what I had expected. Lower than 300. 🙁 Will the schools tell me that i've been rejected or will they wait to see if i've improved on my Feb OAT?

My stat: 3.0 GPA

1. How did people who did well study for the OAT?

2. People who reapplied, did you have to summit new recommendation letters?

3. Any comments, advice, and suggestions would be helpful and greatly appreciated. 🙂

just curious, do you find the coursework at your school laid back? i know at certain schools, if the profs kill you, you hate them, but in the end, it helps you kick ass on OAT/any other tests without any studying at all

 

[polkadot]

1. How did people who did well study for the OAT?

2. People who reapplied, did you have to summit new recommendation letters?

3. Any comments, advice, and suggestions would be helpful and greatly appreciated. 🙂

I think you definitely can improve your score. I got a 380AA/390TS (while working full-time and taking classes at night--so this is doable for those in non-trad situations). I didn't take Kaplan but used their materials. I found the subject tests, the workshops and the practice exams all very good. Their text is not stellar, but it is a good overview of everything. I did all the full-length Kaplan practice exams (diagnostic, midterm, final) and the TopScore exams twice and also sometimes just did portions (e.g., NatSci plus Physics in one day). Since I quit working at the end of July and didn't start school again until September, in August I did a full-length exam every 4 or 5 days and spent one day first reviewing everything I got wrong and then reviewing every single question, making sure I knew both why the right answer was right and why the wrong answers were wrong. Once I was back in class again, I only did exams on Saturdays, but still spent 2-4 hours almost everyday studying for the OAT, either doing subject tests, reading text, or running flashcards. Neither Kaplan's stuff nor TopScore were perfect practice tools for the OAT, but together they were pretty good. I did think the OAT bio portion was harder/different than the study materials, but the TopScore Physics was brutal.

My best advice if you plan to retake in Feb:
1. Map out a study schedule for yourself starting today. I thought my brother was crazy when he made me start studying for the Oct OAT back in January (he's in dental school), but I really had to relearn everything from soup to nuts, so I needed that much time.

2. Carry flashcards with you. Who cares if you look like a dork looking at chem flashcards in line at the supermarket? I really felt like the flashcards were good to keep me current on everything, since there are so many topics to cover. Part of why my TS score was higher than any individual science scores is because I did about the same in all subjects, whereas I think most people do really well in one thing but drop in something else.

3. Try to review something every day (except on your rest day). If you only have 30 minutes do study for the OAT on a certain day, then use that 30 minutes. If you're putting in 20+ hours of studying a week, take one day off where you don't look at bio, chem, ochem or physics and do something fun.

4. Be realistic. If you take the OAT again in Feb, are you sure you'll get a better score? Why not put it off until next Oct, when you can really ace it? A whole year may seem like a long time to lose, but I know from experience that a year off could be a really good thing, not only for your OAT score but also for your mental well-being.

5. And lastly, don't be so hard on yourself! You don't have time to worry about last Oct's exam now, the OAT is in 2 months! You already know what you need to improve, so focus more on those things. Also remember a low OAT score is not the end of the world. I think it speaks volumes about your maturity and commitment if you didn't do so well the first time and improve dramatically the next.

Hope that helps! You can do it!
-p.dot

 

[kristykan2003]

Thanks everybody for the replies and comments. You guys and gals have been very helpful. After reading all your comments, I went back and started going over the oat subject and realized that my two weakest subjects are physics and math. I just can't seem to work fast enough on the math part and i plainly hate physics. Those who excel on those part, how did you study for it? Thanks.

 

[jefguth]

I found that the Lippincott study guide really helped me strategize for QR, there is a technique or an algorythm used to solve many of those problems. Other than that I just tried to practice as many of these problems as possible as I crammed for the OAT. I found "Rudman's Questions and Answers on the OAT" to be a good source for QR practice, although that is all Rudman is good for... everything else in it is trash.

As for Physics, I just went to my study notes from first year, memorized the formuli, and again did some practice questions from Lippincott and the OAT registration booklet.

I also found it VERY helpful to sit down for one whole morning and run through a controlled practice OAT. Although, when I did this I found that I had plenty of spare time, but when it came to the real thing I struggled to complete most sections in time.

 

[Katalio]

Hey! I'm going to throw in my 0.02... dunno if it's useful or not tho coz we all have different backgrounds in these stuff.

What I did for the QR was bascially did a lot of algebra.... you just need to practice it like crazy.. get those secondary school text books and review the simple algebra's, inequalities, geometry.... as for the word questions..I sometimes just guess them and move on coz I remember there was this Q about u having 100,000 and u need 250,000 and your interest rate was 9% and compounded quarterly or sumthing and it asked you how many yrs do u need to get that amt!, I was like "errr..no way I can do this without a calculator" so I just guessed... But most of them are usually pretty straight forward, like..inequalities and algebras..a lot of them have these little "cancelling out" things, but if you can't spot them you end up doing it the long way. (like the Q about the vote one when they ask person A beat person B by 50000 votes, there was 500000 ppl who voted so how much % did person A get more than Person B etc etc) those u can do within 5 seconds.. but it took me like..5 minutes b/c I couldnt' find the "shortcut" so I guess u just have to do tons..
But basically..I think for QR... move on if a question is like a paragraph long and u read it once and didnt' get it at all! hehe.. that's what I did.... I finished the whole section and came back for them.....

As for physics.. I find that the MCAT physics review is very useful..they have everything EXCEPT inertia and RC circuits I think..those u can just check online and see the equations... but yeah..MCAT physics review..I strongly recommended that one.

I'm not sure if that's any help... but it did helped me get 400 in QR and 380 for physics! ! <but struggled terribly in RC, dunno how u guys read so fast>
🙄

Katalio

 

[kristykan2003]

Thanks everyone for throwing in your 2 cent. I am really hoping to raise my score by using the books and cds that you all had suggested. Thanks. I just hope it's not too late for me to get an interview by the time the feb OAT scores get out. 😛

 

[raypirozzolo]

Thanks everybody for the replies and comments. You guys and gals have been very helpful. After reading all your comments, I went back and started going over the oat subject and realized that my two weakest subjects are physics and math. I just can't seem to work fast enough on the math part and i plainly hate physics. Those who excel on those part, how did you study for it? Thanks.

the way i studied for physics i made sure i i knew what every letter in the formula meant. it was no use to just study initials. for example if you know d=m/v it is useless if you dont know those letter mean density, mass and volume. that is the best way to learn them memorize a formula like that in your head as "density equals mass over volume" and not "d=m/v"

 

[raypirozzolo]

Thanks everyone for throwing in your 2 cent. I am really hoping to raise my score by using the books and cds that you all had suggested. Thanks. I just hope it's not too late for me to get an interview by the time the feb OAT scores get out. 😛

dont worry about that the deadline is in march for a reason. there are still people getting interviews and acceptances in april