Fearless-Slip3497
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Hello everyone!
I wanted to share my scores and experiences for the OAT as I just took it on February 25th! To preface, I had a little less than a month to prepare (about 25 days) therefore it was extremely important that I try my best to absorb as much information as I possibly can. This, of course, was not easy whatsoever and I would not recommend this strategy to everyone. I would say that studying in a timeline like this only works well if you did a pretty good job in the prerequisites during your undergraduate work. Meaning, it is only a matter of refreshing your brain of the topics rather than learning from scratch.
With this in mind, I wanted to make sure that I acquired the best study materials to make my money and my time’s worth. I had previously owned a set of MCAT Kaplan books that I purchased on eBay for cheap, but it was not helpful to me at all. I personally struggle a lot with only relying on a textbook to learn material and actually retaining/understanding the concepts taught. Therefore, I did some digging online and decided to use OATBooster as my primary resource. This ended up being the best decision that I could make as this website provided me with a plentiful amount of material needed.
OATBooster provides great study guides and timelines to those who need a little bit of structure. Although they had not created one for a 4 week timeline, I initially tried to use the 8 week timeline and do 2 days worth of material every day. However, this did not turn out to work the best for me as I was running out of time and decided to forfeit the guide after a week and a half. I resorted to doing my own rotations with the material and focused on subjects that needed the most time and effort.
Before I go into my detailed breakdown, these were my overall scores:
340 AA/ 350 TS
Biology:
Practice tests: 280, 340
Actual: 370
This subject was always my strong suit through undergrad so I focused more on doing questions versus in depth content review. I watched approximately 80% of the videos on Booster. Although some of the videos were lengthy, it was very easy to understand and did a great job in simplifying challenging topics. I had skimmed through the Feralis notes when needed. Whenever I would finish watching a video, I did the extra questions corresponding to the subject to help memorize and solidify my understanding. I think this worked really well as I'm someone who learns best through doing questions instead of flashcards, especially when these question banks had about 150+ each. A few days prior to the exam I made sure to look over all the cheat sheets as they were also helpful.
GenChem:
Practice tests: 310, 330
Actual: 360
In regards to the science subjects, I probably spent the least amount of time studying this topic. Besides understanding when to use formulas and stoichiometry, it is important to understand ALL the patterns and trends on the periodic table. Be prepared to answer any kind of conceptual questions regarding those. When doing the subject tests, I made sure I watched all the videos explaining the questions step by step. Even if I knew the answer, it helps to hear from someone else how they did the same problem.
Physics:
Practice tests: 240, 240, 300
Actual: 310
This subject was a rollercoaster for me. It was overwhelming at first knowing that I would have to be responsible for 8+ pages of equations AND know when and how to use them. Booster had pre-released their content for this subject so I had to make do with what was to offer. The videos were really short and straight to the point, which can be a good and bad thing. I made sure I did all the extra questions, there were about 10-15 questions for each topic. I did not do so hot on my subject tests which had me worried. I had heard a good amount about Chad’s videos so I decided to give that a try. I basically spent about 5 hours straight one day just watching the majority of his videos, which ended up being the best decision. His videos helped me tremendously on topics such as optics and lenses which I was initially struggling on. The only thing I wished for was if the detailed video explanations were available on the subject tests, but I'd assume that is in the works for the future. I would say my best tip to anyone who is studying on a short timeline, memorize the kinematics equations at minimum and know when to use them. Even if you can get by with just a few of those, it can allow you to put more time towards other questions in the test.
Organic Chem:
Practice tests: 280, 330
Actual: 350
You gotta know those reactions!! I know it's not everyone’s favorite, but just push through. I watched Professor Dave during my undergrad and when I saw he was making videos for Booster I was thrilled, he’s truly a king. The way he goes about teaching the mechanisms and nature of the reactions was logical and made a lot of sense to me. I did not feel confused as to how a reaction underwent after watching the videos. I barely looked at the outlines, as the videos were plentiful enough. However, I made sure that I did all the extra questions and reaction banks. Even if I had completed a certain set, I would erase my answers and redo them just to help commit them to memory. The anki cards were also helpful in straight memorizing them.
Quantitative Reasoning:
Practice tests: 200
Actual: 320
Because I was so focused on reviewing more demanding topics, I rarely looked at this section. I did not watch any videos or read any outlines, I simply did the extra questions. I did a subject or two everyday at the end of the day. I overviewed the equations sheet a couple days before the test. For the subject test, I did not actually take it and rather I submitted it immediately after starting just to see all the questions and detailed answers all at once. I was running out of time to review for this subject and just did the bare minimum to get by. I ran out of time and did not complete approximately 5 questions if I recall. I wished I had dedicated more time to this, but it was the best I could do at the time.
Reading Comprehension:
Practice test: N/A
Actual: 320
Did not review at all. I watched one video on Booster explaining the various reading strategies but that's about it. During the test, I spent too much time trying to read the passages and I did not allot enough time to answer the questions. I was able to answer everything, but definitely not to my best ability.
Overall: I think Booster is a great resource and provided me with more than enough material to go through. I would say the subject tests were a little more difficult than the real test, however it is hard to grasp considering I did not do any more than 2 tests a subject. If I had given myself a wider study window, I could have done more practice tests and dedicated way more time to reading comp and quantitative reasoning. Booster is well worth the cost and should be the only thing necessary to buy besides any free trials on other websites and material you can access online.
Tip for test day: Get there at least 30-45 minutes early. I brought my IPad with me and studied in the car and in line before the test. I made sure to bring a bottle of water, snacks, and some mints to eat right before the end of the 30 minute break. During my break I overviewed all the physics and QR equations to try and get any last info in my head. Even if I didn't know an answer to a question, I took my best educated guess, flagged it, and moved on. Chances are you won't have enough time to come back to that question, but it helps to go back and double check if you do.
Wishing the best of luck to everyone who is preparing and taking the OAT in the future! I hope this helped and if you have any questions feel free to let me know!
I wanted to share my scores and experiences for the OAT as I just took it on February 25th! To preface, I had a little less than a month to prepare (about 25 days) therefore it was extremely important that I try my best to absorb as much information as I possibly can. This, of course, was not easy whatsoever and I would not recommend this strategy to everyone. I would say that studying in a timeline like this only works well if you did a pretty good job in the prerequisites during your undergraduate work. Meaning, it is only a matter of refreshing your brain of the topics rather than learning from scratch.
With this in mind, I wanted to make sure that I acquired the best study materials to make my money and my time’s worth. I had previously owned a set of MCAT Kaplan books that I purchased on eBay for cheap, but it was not helpful to me at all. I personally struggle a lot with only relying on a textbook to learn material and actually retaining/understanding the concepts taught. Therefore, I did some digging online and decided to use OATBooster as my primary resource. This ended up being the best decision that I could make as this website provided me with a plentiful amount of material needed.
OATBooster provides great study guides and timelines to those who need a little bit of structure. Although they had not created one for a 4 week timeline, I initially tried to use the 8 week timeline and do 2 days worth of material every day. However, this did not turn out to work the best for me as I was running out of time and decided to forfeit the guide after a week and a half. I resorted to doing my own rotations with the material and focused on subjects that needed the most time and effort.
Before I go into my detailed breakdown, these were my overall scores:
340 AA/ 350 TS
Biology:
Practice tests: 280, 340
Actual: 370
This subject was always my strong suit through undergrad so I focused more on doing questions versus in depth content review. I watched approximately 80% of the videos on Booster. Although some of the videos were lengthy, it was very easy to understand and did a great job in simplifying challenging topics. I had skimmed through the Feralis notes when needed. Whenever I would finish watching a video, I did the extra questions corresponding to the subject to help memorize and solidify my understanding. I think this worked really well as I'm someone who learns best through doing questions instead of flashcards, especially when these question banks had about 150+ each. A few days prior to the exam I made sure to look over all the cheat sheets as they were also helpful.
GenChem:
Practice tests: 310, 330
Actual: 360
In regards to the science subjects, I probably spent the least amount of time studying this topic. Besides understanding when to use formulas and stoichiometry, it is important to understand ALL the patterns and trends on the periodic table. Be prepared to answer any kind of conceptual questions regarding those. When doing the subject tests, I made sure I watched all the videos explaining the questions step by step. Even if I knew the answer, it helps to hear from someone else how they did the same problem.
Physics:
Practice tests: 240, 240, 300
Actual: 310
This subject was a rollercoaster for me. It was overwhelming at first knowing that I would have to be responsible for 8+ pages of equations AND know when and how to use them. Booster had pre-released their content for this subject so I had to make do with what was to offer. The videos were really short and straight to the point, which can be a good and bad thing. I made sure I did all the extra questions, there were about 10-15 questions for each topic. I did not do so hot on my subject tests which had me worried. I had heard a good amount about Chad’s videos so I decided to give that a try. I basically spent about 5 hours straight one day just watching the majority of his videos, which ended up being the best decision. His videos helped me tremendously on topics such as optics and lenses which I was initially struggling on. The only thing I wished for was if the detailed video explanations were available on the subject tests, but I'd assume that is in the works for the future. I would say my best tip to anyone who is studying on a short timeline, memorize the kinematics equations at minimum and know when to use them. Even if you can get by with just a few of those, it can allow you to put more time towards other questions in the test.
Organic Chem:
Practice tests: 280, 330
Actual: 350
You gotta know those reactions!! I know it's not everyone’s favorite, but just push through. I watched Professor Dave during my undergrad and when I saw he was making videos for Booster I was thrilled, he’s truly a king. The way he goes about teaching the mechanisms and nature of the reactions was logical and made a lot of sense to me. I did not feel confused as to how a reaction underwent after watching the videos. I barely looked at the outlines, as the videos were plentiful enough. However, I made sure that I did all the extra questions and reaction banks. Even if I had completed a certain set, I would erase my answers and redo them just to help commit them to memory. The anki cards were also helpful in straight memorizing them.
Quantitative Reasoning:
Practice tests: 200
Actual: 320
Because I was so focused on reviewing more demanding topics, I rarely looked at this section. I did not watch any videos or read any outlines, I simply did the extra questions. I did a subject or two everyday at the end of the day. I overviewed the equations sheet a couple days before the test. For the subject test, I did not actually take it and rather I submitted it immediately after starting just to see all the questions and detailed answers all at once. I was running out of time to review for this subject and just did the bare minimum to get by. I ran out of time and did not complete approximately 5 questions if I recall. I wished I had dedicated more time to this, but it was the best I could do at the time.
Reading Comprehension:
Practice test: N/A
Actual: 320
Did not review at all. I watched one video on Booster explaining the various reading strategies but that's about it. During the test, I spent too much time trying to read the passages and I did not allot enough time to answer the questions. I was able to answer everything, but definitely not to my best ability.
Overall: I think Booster is a great resource and provided me with more than enough material to go through. I would say the subject tests were a little more difficult than the real test, however it is hard to grasp considering I did not do any more than 2 tests a subject. If I had given myself a wider study window, I could have done more practice tests and dedicated way more time to reading comp and quantitative reasoning. Booster is well worth the cost and should be the only thing necessary to buy besides any free trials on other websites and material you can access online.
Tip for test day: Get there at least 30-45 minutes early. I brought my IPad with me and studied in the car and in line before the test. I made sure to bring a bottle of water, snacks, and some mints to eat right before the end of the 30 minute break. During my break I overviewed all the physics and QR equations to try and get any last info in my head. Even if I didn't know an answer to a question, I took my best educated guess, flagged it, and moved on. Chances are you won't have enough time to come back to that question, but it helps to go back and double check if you do.
Wishing the best of luck to everyone who is preparing and taking the OAT in the future! I hope this helped and if you have any questions feel free to let me know!
