Finished my OAT! (360AA/380TS)
Just took my oat today and after lurking on these reddit, i can finally join! I remember I was scour reddit for advice before the OAT so i wanted to contribute my two cents.
I studied for about 4-5 months, but there were many days I would skip due to work. I studied maybe 3-4 hours a day, nothing super crazy. I followed the videos OAT booster gave me (using the old schedule) for the first phase. This phase took me the longest, probably about 3 months before I started reviewing. That's just how I operate and study: i like to get an understanding of everything before doing any practice test. I took my first full length practice test 1.5 weeks before the exam. I completed 8 full length tests total, maybe 2-3 every week for about 1.5-2 weeks before the exam.
BIO (OATBooster: 340-360, Actual: 400): ngl bio was super hard for me, i dont know how to got this score. Personally, I didn't find it to be general, as everyone says. I found it to be the exact same difficulty as the Booster, just a ton of random bio questions. There's no "list all the steps of photosynthesis, etc" so in that sense, it was more general and it requires you to have a bigger understanding of biology and the processes. I think what helped me the most was watching the videos. I didn't use any cheat sheets because as I was watching the videos, I would make up my own questions on a google doc side by side with the videos. So, by the end of alll the videos, I had a complete study guide of everything. Because of that, I didn't really use the cheat sheets. My google doc ended up being about 60 pages and I found it to be helpful. I also skipped allllll of diversity of life videos and just filled in that knowledge using the practice test and pieced it together. I'm glad I didn't memorize that crazy pdf that had linked with all the animals and stuff.
CHEM (OatBooster: 360-380, Actual: 400): I think what helped me the most for chem was just a ton of practice problems. I had a very strong background in chem before, so I didn't find it to be too stressful. The hardest part for me was acids and bases, but I didn't see much of that on the real OAT. In fact, the hardest part for me were questions about pressure on the OAT. Also, be strong in stoichometry because it's useful fr QR as well. I recommend using the cheat sheets and writing down all the equations. I made flashcards for the equations, but conceptually, I didn't study much for chem. Also i had no VSEPR theory questions at all.
RC: (OATBooster: 360-390, Acutal: 340) Honestly, i just got super unlucky haha. I did struggle quite a big with reading comp on oatbooster but I did 12 full length tests and by the end, I was consistently scoring 380, so I thought I was good. I noticed the more scientific articles made my score lower, but wasn't something I could control. Using OATBooster helped me to time manage and pace myself, but i honestly can just say I didn't do as well on this portion bc i was unlucky. Also, for anyone discouraged, I STRUGGLED so much with RC. Couldn't even finish in time when I first started, but my stamina grew after maybe 6-7 full length tests. I didn't do any of the example articles, just full length ones from the beginning. I would read half of the article in its entirety and then search and destroy for the second half.
by break, i was so discouraged i didn't wanna come back but then i realized it was $500 so i went back in for physics :(
PHYSICS(OATBooster:290-300, Actual: 320): Honestly, im super happy with my score. I could never get over a 300 so i was superrr worried. The questions i got were easier than OATBooster, but the booster was very representative of the test as well. Physics is hard bc it requires equations as well as concepts. For example, F=ma, right? But you have to realize that acceleration could be 0 based on the wording. I found the sound questions to be hard but the optics to be easy. Also, i felt like ray diagrams were wayyy to pushed by OATBooster and while they're important, i never used them ONCE to solve optics. I mainly used the thin lens equation and never really got optics wrong. I highly recommend this. But of course, you have to understand the equation, like what does a negative magnification do,etc? Also, i never learned buoyant force in physics but it was pretty high yield. High yield topics: springs, simple harmonic motion, force, and optics. Also, units were important. For example, "what can be a unit of impulse?" I would write down the equation for impulse: Fv. But it could also be change in momentum. Things like that.
QR (Booster: 370-390, Actual: 350): I was pretty bummed by this bc i consistently got pretty high scores on booster. idk what happened. I got way tewwww much probability so like...yeah. I feel like QR on booster was easier bc i got more graph problems. On the real oat, i got sooo many of those questions were it's like "statement 1 is sufficient, statement 2 is....". It was less straightforward. Not sure how i could have improved bc im so bad at math i still use my fingers to add 8+9 no joke. I felt confident bc oatbooster kinda inflated my scores but maybe i got unlucky with my set of questions. I got zero on interest questions and z scores and normal curve.
also just for context my ex and i broke up 7 hours before my exam so i was taking this test with swollen eyes and 4 hrs of sleep. PLEASE PLEASE get a good night's rest so you can feel motivated and rejuvenated for the exam. My biggest regret is not minicking test conditions. I would take the full length tests at 7pm, finish by like 1am so taking it at 8am was so tiring. A month before the exam, wake up everyday at 6-7 to prepare your body, esp if your sleep schedule is wack like mine. I highly recommend foam earplugs too bc the headphones will give u a headache. GOOOD LUCK EVERYONE! I will answer all questions, just leave them below!
ps dont procrastinate bc i paid for the 6 month booster, didn't study, and had to pay for another 3 months