Took the OAT and my thoughts on the exam

[aquatears]

My scores:

QR: 340
RC: 360
Bio: 340
G chem: 330
O chem: 330
Physics: 360
TS: 350
AA: 340

I studied for this exam literally in 4 days, for an average of 5 hours each day. I skimmed through the big Kaplan review book, looked through the Kaplan flashcards, and practiced some physics and QR questions on the OAT Destroyer book (I didn't even touch chemistry).

To be honest, NOTHING in the Kaplan book or flashcards helped me on Bio, QR, or Chem. Everything I recalled on the test itself was from when I took the pre-requisite classes two years ago. For example, my section on bio was mainly about ecology and evolutionary biology stuff that I (sort of) remembered from my freshman year. When I was studying I spent time on going over ALL these concepts and details about photosynthesis, respiration, reproduction, respiratory...etc etc and there were maybe only a couple of questions on those things, and they were SIMPLE ones at that.

The only thing that Kaplan really helped me on was physics. I looked over all the concepts and how to apply the equation. And it probably could have helped with chemistry too, if I had memorized the reactions better.

So, my tip to those who will be taking it in the future: DON'T bother memorize specific details. Just try to recall the major concepts and "take home messages" of the different topics. But most importantly, WATCH YOUR TIME on the test. I definitely didn't do well as I could have on QR and Chem because I spent too much time dwindling on one specific problem.

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[Brightereyez]

I expereinced basically the same thing. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who didn't benefit much from studying, but sadly I spent months on the kaplan material!

 

[afasano]

Really, I would discourage anyone who is currently studying to not take this seriously!!!
... YOU NEED TO STUDY!!! This example is so unrealistic, its not even funny, yea dont remember things that are extremely specific but, you need to practice, and accd aquatears, he studied a total of 20 hours... right!!!??! i think one of the most important things is practice and you can't 'work on your timing else you do practice exams... and those take times!!! so its really hard to believe anyone just studied for 20 hours, and got avg scores, without doing some practice exams!!

....seriously, im not impressed.

 

[Brightereyez]

Really, I would discourage anyone who is currently studying to not take this seriously!!!
... YOU NEED TO STUDY!!! This example is so unrealistic, its not even funny, yea dont remember things that are extremely specific but, you need to practice, and accd aquatears, he studied a total of 20 hours... right!!!??! i think one of the most important things is practice and you can't 'work on your timing else you do practice exams... and those take times!!! so its really hard to believe anyone just studied for 20 hours, and got avg scores, without doing some practice exams!!

....seriously, im not impressed.

I for one am not discouraging anyone from studying, I'm not sure about the above poster though. Unless you've never had science classes you just shouldn't memorize and review (what I did) at the expense of doing more challanging practice problems.

 

[aquatears]

i'm definitely not discouraging anyone from studying. OF COURSE studying is crucial, and i definitely think i would've benefited more if i had done more practice problems to help with my timing.

my point was that if you know you did solid studying when you were taking the science pre-req classes, then you really shouldn't spent months on preparing for the OAT. it tests basic concepts that you probably would recall from your classes.

and i'm definitely not saying that i studied ENOUGH. i wish i did put more time into it so i could've gotten a higher score, but i just wanted to let everyone know my feelings on this so you don't spend time trying to memorize all kinds of things from the kaplan book.