Those Random test questions

[hopefuloptom]

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what are they? I mean test takers say they had 8-9 random questions what does random encompass? 😕

Also, have any of you used Chad's videos for studying for the OAT?

Thanks!

 

[chocol8]

If i had to describe what I felt was random, I'd say they were questions that I would not have anticipated to be on the test.

Most questions I got on the OAT were ones I had seen in some similar form beforehand during my practice, and I learned how to approach those - i.e. what equations I had to manipulate, or at least I knew what they were asking (not that I knew how to do all those, but I felt they were fair).

The random questions to ME seemed to be those that I hadn't encountered in any form at all before, and I had no idea of how to tackle or answer those. You'll see what I mean when you are studying and taking practice exams because those pop up there too. Most of those just require you to think in a different way, but if you know your stuff really well this shouldn't be a huge problem. Sorry if my attempt to explain this makes no sense!

 

[outsidechance]

what are they? I mean test takers say they had 8-9 random questions what does random encompass? 😕

Also, have any of you used Chad's videos for studying for the OAT?

Thanks!

I really only experienced the random questions in the bio section. I was a bio major so I think id consider myself exposed to a wide variety of material. However, there was still a question or 2 on that test with material that i had never seen before, and im not talking about nomenclature/classification. it was some kind of evolutionish style q involving families and reproduction. The other one was just an odd q regarding some form of plant something lol.

So the main point here, u really cant prepare for all the questions as there will be some out in left field but aroudn 97 percent of the stuff u should have seen and be able to ace.

 

[hopefuloptom]

hmm...sounds scary to me. I like to know ahead of time that I'll be able to at least know what kind of questions are being asked because if one question flusters me the whole exam is ruined.

I heard that reading Campbell's Biology book chapters 19-21, it will mainly cover those random questions being asked. Some have said that after reading it they were able to pass those questions more easily....not sure though.

 

[Kahr]

hmm...sounds scary to me. I like to know ahead of time that I'll be able to at least know what kind of questions are being asked because if one question flusters me the whole exam is ruined.

I heard that reading Campbell's Biology book chapters 19-21, it will mainly cover those random questions being asked. Some have said that after reading it they were able to pass those questions more easily....not sure though.

The problem here is that there are only a limited number of questions on the exam, but the bank of questions they're pulled from is likely very large. With that said, it is possible you could get a strange question, compiled directly from some random bit of esoteric info from chapters 19-21, and things would be swell. However, the truth of the matter is that plenty have also read those chapters then not had a single question from them. It's really a crap shoot.

I honestly believe there's a higher chance of getting something wrong that you do know (did read over) but can't remember very well (like when they have a question that requires you to differentiate something from dicot and monocot, or protostome and deuterostome, or taxonomies). So I suggest you make crystal clear any topics that have the potential to make you second-guess what you remember before trying to cover every possible bit of randomness out there.

 

[MXbookworm]

This is probably not the answer you're seeking, but my advice is to stop worrying about those random questions. You're going to get questions on the bio section that you just won't know! But, you'll still do just fine on that section because you're shooting for a percentile rather than for a certain number of right answers.

If I were you, I'd focus on the physics and the chemistry sections. Those are by far the best sections to pick up right answers and bring your AA and TS up. Physics and general chemistry are far less broad than biology, so your time investment will be a lot more apparent when you take the test. Good luck!