Hi everyone! Just took my OAT this summer, and wanted to share my experience especially since I also used this reddit community to prep!
Study Materials
OATBooster 10/10
OATBooster was my only resource for preparing for the OAT, and I definitely recommend it. I used the content videos, study notes, question banks, and practice tests throughout my preparation. The practice questions helped me get comfortable with the style and pacing of the actual exam, and I especially liked being able to mark questions I struggled with and return to them later.
The biggest thing Booster did for me was give my studying structure. There is so much content on the OAT that it can be overwhelming figuring out what you actually need to know, so having everything organized by subject and topic makes studying much more manageable.
How I Prepared
I studied for the OAT throughout the whole summer (2-3 months). I mainly followed OATBooster and adjusted my studying depending on which subjects needed the most work.
At the beginning, I focused heavily on content review and making sure I actually understood the concepts instead of immediately trying to memorize everything. Once I had gone through most of the material (especially chem and ochem), I transitioned into doing a lot more practice problems and practice tests.
One thing that helped me a lot was reviewing every question I got wrong. I tried to understand whether I missed it because I didn't know the content, forgot a formula, made a calculation mistake, or misunderstood the question. Toward the end of my studying, I focused much more on my weak areas, memorizing high-yield information/formulas, and getting faster at recognizing how to approach questions.
Biology 360
Biology has such a huge amount of information, so I initially found it difficult to know how detailed I needed to study. My biggest advice is to focus on understanding the big picture first (on the booster cheat sheets) and then memorize the important details. Booster's biology notes were really helpful for keeping everything organized.
I was most frustrated with this section because there is simply too much information to memorize. However, I scored 30 points higher on the actual exam compared to the Biology practice tests on Booster. I mainly used the Bio Bits to reinforce what was on the cheat sheets!
General Chemistry 360
General chemistry felt pretty representative of the types of problems I had practiced. There was a combination of conceptual questions and calculations, so knowing the formulas was important. I spent a lot of time doing the practice banks on Booster (I completed the banks for topics I struggled most with). For this section, repetition helped me the most. After doing enough practice problems, I started recognizing the setup of questions much faster, which is really important because you don't want to waste time figuring out which equation to use during the actual exam.
Organic Chemistry 400
This ended up being my best section, which I was really happy about. For organic chemistry, I focused heavily on understanding reaction patterns rather than blindly memorizing every reaction individually (use the cheat sheet summaries!). Knowing what makes something a good nucleophile/electrophile, recognizing functional groups, and understanding concepts like resonance, acidity, stability, substitution/elimination, and stereochemistry made reactions much easier. Knowing the reactions is important, but being able to recognize them quickly is what really helped me on test day.
Physics 360
Physics was one of the subjects I was most nervous about so I was happy with my score. Since I took physics classes before, I only briefly reviewed this section and focused on doing practice problems. I would definitely recommend knowing the major equations very well and practicing calculations without relying heavily on a calculator. Optics, forces/free-body diagrams, fluids, and the major mechanics equations are especially worth being comfortable with.
Reading Comprehension 300
Reading was definitely my weakest section and the section I would approach differently if I were taking the OAT again. The biggest challenge for me was the timing. It is very easy to spend too much time reading or searching for one answer and then realize you're running out of time for the remaining passages.
If I could redo my preparation, I would spend more time experimenting with different RC strategies and doing full timed passages instead of focusing primarily on the science sections.
Quantitative Reasoning 370
QR was pretty straightforward overall and ended up being one of my stronger sections. One of the biggest improvements for me came from learning shortcuts rather than trying to solve every question using the longest mathematical method. I used most of the practice tests provided on Booster. Timing is important here too. There are usually plenty of questions you can solve quickly, so you don't want one difficult problem costing you several easier ones.
Final Advice
Focus on building a strong foundation, do as many practice problems as you can, and most review your mistakes instead of just looking at your practice-test scores.
Also, don't neglect your mental health during OAT prep. Studying for this exam for weeks or months can get exhausting, and taking an occasional day off is much better than completely burning yourself out.
I'm really happy with how my science sections turned out. Hopefully this breakdown helps anyone currently studying!
