What is the best way to study for Oat ? for how long ?

[Apple_Pie]

guys,

I have been talking to alot of people and most of them tel me that studying for 3 months ( for 2 hours every day) for Oat is enough time. Is this true ?


I heard that Kaplan is more of a strategy type of course, they teach you strategies, to better take the OAT, but don't really reteach you college stuff, to brush off your weaknesses. But if you really want to review and reteach yourself all the stuff from the first year of college, then Take Princeton Review course. Is this true ? or Does the Kaplan course includes every thing you need to know for OAT ?


I think the best thing I would do is take Kaplan, and also buy a different OAT book to reteach my self, to really review all the stuff since my first year of college. Is this a good plan ?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[blazenmadison]

Kaplan has great practice tests and review materials. I took the online course, studied 3-4 hours each day for 1 month. I ended up getting a 350.

 

[hutch]

It all depends on you...I decided somewhat last minute to write the OAT. I wrote it in October because it was the last written test available and in my province, there are not any centers to take the computerized test, so I only decided 6 to 7 weeks before that I was going to do it. I never bought any OAT books (but I did get the free one sent by opted.com), I just used the study guide given, my notes and had a look at an MCAT book.
I just studied whenever I had a chance, I actually had a physiology exam and a biochemsitry exam the day before the OAT which was brutal!
But anyways, I ended up with 330 (both AA and TS). I would have liked to have done better, but I'll take it.

 

[SJS_10]

If you know your stuff you don't even need 6 or 7 weeks. I found out that the deadline for writing the OAT to apply to waterloo was jan 31 in the second week of december. This is of course during exams, so i only studied for the OAT from Dec 26 until I wrote it on Jan 20th, while taking a full course load in my 2B term (second semester of second year) and did well (AA:370, TS:380). . Studying 3-4 hours a day wasnt really an option available to me if I wanted to be able to sleep... All I used was the Kaplan's OAT (the small book with just sample questions) and the free ASCO guide to see which areas I didn't know and then used my course notes to brush up on anything that was troubling.
I didn't review biology at all (maybe because I had just covered or was covering most of this material at the time) and got a 400.
I thought I was good at general chemistry, but the test caught me up a bit and I only scored a 340.
I also didnt really review organic too much as I had just finished this class and crammed for the exam, and was able to pull off a 370.
I spent a lot of time reviewing physics as you pretty much just have to have your formulas memorized, although many questions could be solved (or made easier to solve) by eliminating answers by unit analysis. I managed a 380 here.
For reading comprehension i just tried the practice tests to get a feel of the timing and the best methods for myself to do it, and scored a 400.
For quantitative reasoning the practice questions were good for making yourself try to move fast, plus teaching ways to eliminate answers to get the best guess on ones too long to fully solve. I was a little disappointed in myself and didnt move fast enough to quite finish all the questions which i think would have improved my score, but I still scored a 350.

While I don't suggest cramming your studying into less than a month (it was a bit stressful to say the least) spending months studying may also not be necessary.

 

[KHE]

guys,

I have been talking to alot of people and most of them tel me that studying for 3 months ( for 2 hours every day) for Oat is enough time. Is this true ?


I heard that Kaplan is more of a strategy type of course, they teach you strategies, to better take the OAT, but don't really reteach you college stuff, to brush off your weaknesses. But if you really want to review and reteach yourself all the stuff from the first year of college, then Take Princeton Review course. Is this true ? or Does the Kaplan course includes every thing you need to know for OAT ?


I think the best thing I would do is take Kaplan, and also buy a different OAT book to reteach my self, to really review all the stuff since my first year of college. Is this a good plan ?

The best way to study for the OAT is to review basic chemistry and physics formulas and basic biology concepts.

The key to success is not massive amounts of studying or knowing minute details about the Krebs cycle or anything like that. It is the ability to work quickly.

Most of the questions on the OAT or not particularly complex or abstract. Most of the problems do not involve multiple steps. They simply require you to quickly recongnize what formula needs to be used and plug it in. Most of them are one step, with the occasional two step problem. (That is you need to do more than one calculation to get the answer)

I studied for exactly one hour. That's it. One hour. And all I did was review formulas. I scored 360 AA and TS.

I had many collegues who were much brighter than me and had much higher GPAs. They stressed and strained and fretted for months and I beat 99% of them because they had essentially worked themselves up into a frenzy. Many of them did not complete many of the sections, and I think that's why I did well. I was able to answer 99% of the questions in each section.

So if you one of these people that uses every available second of exam time, you need to rethink your strategy because it is not a test where you can go over your answers with a fine toothed comb. You have to work quickly and move on.

 

[eggman20]

I have some old Kaplan materials that a friend donated to me. I would gladly mail them to someone as long as they gave me some money for shipping. I have the huge textbook, the workbook and some flashcards. Just let me know and good luck with your tests/application process.

 

[kelus]

i could really use those materials egg man... THANKS!!!

 

[S_SEEN2020]

The first time i took the OAT i studied on my own using old textbooks and notes, and studied every now and again throughout the semester. The second time i took it i studied diligently for about 3 months (we made a schedule, like every other morning during the week since we didn;t have class, and pretty much every weekend with my other friend despite our work schedules and need to get out to relax) with my friend who was taking the DAT, we had prep materials from the summer programs we attended (I went to TEXOCOP where I also got some OAT prep in), used the KAPLAN MCAT prep book and flashcards from another one of our friends, and I was lucky enough to know someone who was enrolled in the KAPLAN course so he gave me his log in and I used the practice test to work on timing. In my opinion the materials given by KAPLAN are very helpful, but if you can get the materials without paying for the class, i would advise to do so. My best advice is: study with (a) friend(s), practice on timing (very imprtant), sharpen up on math skills, and answer the questions you know for SURE, then when you have like 5 mins left go through and mark any answer. I have learned that you can study and study, but each time you take the test the questions are different and make reflect a particular stength or weakness you may have, you raise your score much more by not leaving any question blank!!

 

[eggman20]

I agree, practice timing, esp. on the reading section.

 

[lemonhead43]

The best way to study for the OAT is to review basic chemistry and physics formulas and basic biology concepts.

The key to success is not massive amounts of studying or knowing minute details about the Krebs cycle or anything like that. It is the ability to work quickly.

Most of the questions on the OAT or not particularly complex or abstract. Most of the problems do not involve multiple steps. They simply require you to quickly recongnize what formula needs to be used and plug it in. Most of them are one step, with the occasional two step problem. (That is you need to do more than one calculation to get the answer)

I studied for exactly one hour. That's it. One hour. And all I did was review formulas. I scored 360 AA and TS.

I had many collegues who were much brighter than me and had much higher GPAs. They stressed and strained and fretted for months and I beat 99% of them because they had essentially worked themselves up into a frenzy. Many of them did not complete many of the sections, and I think that's why I did well. I was able to answer 99% of the questions in each section.

So if you one of these people that uses every available second of exam time, you need to rethink your strategy because it is not a test where you can go over your answers with a fine toothed comb. You have to work quickly and move on.

this is the funniest thing i ever read. haha . its true though, the oat isnt tough. i think the reason why i screwed up was because of the useless info that i try and memorized prior to the test. review basic concepts and everyone should be fine

 

[ihearteyeballs]

just adding another question but i was wondering if taking the pre-opt classes (usually 1 year gen chem, gen bio, gen phys and one quarter/semester of ochem and biochem) is enough to prepare you for the material covered in the OAT

 

[ltn]

I have some old Kaplan materials that a friend donated to me. I would gladly mail them to someone as long as they gave me some money for shipping. I have the huge textbook, the workbook and some flashcards. Just let me know and good luck with your tests/application process.

I know this is literally so late, and I know you probably have no more OAT books, but if you do, I would definitely appreciate them.

 

[Salmon]

I know this is literally so late, and I know you probably have no more OAT books, but if you do, I would definitely appreciate them.

That was 8 years ago they posted that... 8... years... It's safe to say you're not getting that stuff... Also, 8 years ago this person said they had old kaplan material. So the books could be like 15 years old. You probably don't want practice tests that old.

I got an old kaplan 2008 edition OAT book for $9 including shipping on amazon when I took the test. I think I spent a grand total of $50 on study material and I didn't even need to spend that much. There are cheap options out there.

 

[Snakedoctor1]

Besides, Chad deserves your money more than Kaplan does.