Took my OATs today 7/7/08!

[bd722]

Hey guys,

I just took my OATs today. I think some of these recommendations might help you. I have been studying for about two months and about 4-5 hours a day. I studied from the Kaplan Review Notes, TopScore, OAT Destroyer, Kaplan flashcards, and my own flashcards. Here are my scores:

QR 390
RC 380
Bio 350
GC 370
OC 400
Phy 360
AA 380
TS 370

I am very surprised with my scores because on the Kaplan and TopScore practice tests, I was scoring around 340-350. So, I would definitely say those are harder than the actual test. Also, I thought the opted test was almost the same maybe a little easier than the actual test too. Of all my study materials, I would recommend:

1) Kaplan Review Notes - This has almost everything you need to know for the test. An MCAT one would be amazing too if you can get that.

2) OAT Destroyer- I know everyone said this has questions that are way harder than the real test but I think it over-prepared me so I felt ALOT more confident on the actual test. Definitely recommend this.

3) TopScore - this definitely prepares you take the test on a computer and the format. So, get this too.

All my study material is for sale so PM me if you are interested! I studied really hard for this and it paid off. Good luck to you all that are studying! Let me know if you have any questions!

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[opt]

Great job!

 

[Brightereyez]

Congrats!!! those are amzaing scores, i'm sure you're releived and proud right now
I've one question for you, did you feel that the biology material coverd in the kaplan OAT review notes (the big book) is sufficient, or did you run into any suprises when taking the test.
Thanks much

 

[bd722]

Hey,

Thanks! yep I am pretty relieved! As for the biology section, on the practice tests, I was scoring the highest in this compared to all the other sections. but, it turned out to be the opposite on the actual test today! I did find more surprises than I thought I would. But, most of it was covered in the Kaplan book. I studied a lot of the human physiology but I got maybe one question on that. A lot of the surprises I was able to figure out from my previous bio classes so it wasn't too bad. But, I would say of all the sections, you will definitely find at least two or three questions that you will be like "what is this??" in the Biology section but you just have to take the best guess and move on to the next question! But either way, you should still know everything in the kaplan book!

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions while everything's still fresh in my head!

 

[canadaoptnow]

Where do you want to go to optometry school?

 

[bd722]

Well I am from Illinois so my top choices are ICO and SCO...but we'll see...my GPA is okay, not amazing...so I am worried despite the OAT scores I have.

 

[JMU07]

Well I am from Illinois so my top choices are ICO and SCO...but we'll see...my GPA is okay, not amazing...so I am worried despite the OAT scores I have.

Don't worry, unless your GPA is below a 3.0 I think you have a good shot at SCO (but you also have to take into consideration your EC's, experience, etc.) I got TS 360 and AA 350, and that with my 3.1 got me into SCO.

 

[jvelos3]

congrats!! I also took mine on the same day as you...also in Illinois! I got identical AA but my TS was 390...really weird how they come up the TS because all my science scores were below 390 with the exception of physics.

 

[dukeopt]

Great Scores! I'm a little confused about the format of the test. The kaplan exams and oat achiever have reading comprehension as being 50 questions in 60 minutes and QR as 50 questions in 45 min. On the Opted test and manual they have RC as 40 questions in 50 min and for QR 40 questions in 45 min. Since you just took the test, which one is correct? If the actual test is different than the practice tests, did it cause a problem for you on the test day?

Thanks!

 

[bd722]

What's on the opted practice test is the correct format and times. I never used achiever but I practiced timed tests on topscore and it had the correct format. For reading and QR, I think it will be a problem because those are the sections that everyone would do well on if they had enough time. So, definitely practice with the correct timed settings or else, you might think you can finish everything in enough time but then run into problems on test day. Also, on the day of the test, you are already a bit nervous so its hard to focus. I know I had a hard time focusing on the reading section because I was nervous so I usually have about 5 mins left at the end to check my work but on my actual test, I had maybe like 1 min left at the end....DEFINITELY recommend taking timed practice tests on all the sections maybe during the last week before test day.

Hope this helped!

 

[dukeopt]

thanks for the info! I think it is crazy that kaplan has the wrong info for two of the sections.

 

[canadaoptnow]

You must be looking at an older edition of the Kaplan book. The 2008 edition lists everything as follows:
Natural Sciences - 100 questions/90minutes
Reading Comprehension - 40 questions/50 minutes
Physics - 40 questions/50 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning - 40 questions/45 minutes

 

[dukeopt]

The book I have is 2007-2008 edition. I just got it new from the bookstore a couple months ago. It is the small book not the one with the course. It lists 50 q's for QR and 50 q's in 60 min for RC...oh well it doesn't really matter

 

[fluffinski08]

Congrats on the scores bd722! I have one question...how did you feel about the reading comprehension section on the real oat as compared to practice tests?? I heard from others that the RC section was not really what they expected and didn't do as well. I'm taking my test in a couple of days, and right now I'm most worried about that section! I've been getting pretty decent RC scores on the practice tests, but I'm still not quite sure what to expect...

 

[bd722]

I thought the RC on the actual test was pretty similar to the practice tests. I think there were more questions on the real test that asked you to look at the passage as a whole compared to the practice tests. I took topscore tests and it had more detail-oriented (but easy) questions where you had to look things up. So, in a way the real one was a bit harder...but I scored exactly the same on the real one as I did on the practice tests. So, I wouldn't worry too much. And, I had some pretty difficult passages to read on the real test. So, don't worry, I think it will be okay...just make sure, you can read the passage fast enough and also don't spend more than 15 mins on each passage and its questions. That will leave you with some time at the end.