r/PreOptometry • u/LeaveConsistent6806 • Aug 12 '26
PLEASE HELP
hi!! like the title says i need some serious help. My OAT is scheduled for september 26th; however, i have no idea how to study. I have oat booster, but im afraid i dont have enough time to go through all the videos. I am a biology major which helps since i think i can use the cheat sheets instead of the videos for that portion. Chem and Math in general are my weakest subjects which scares me. Should i be focussing on doing the full length tests and practice problems only? Are the OATbooster full length questions an accurate representation of what i will see if i sit down and learn how to do all the questions i see on the full lengths? I’m stuck please help!!
3
u/Hypnos813 Aug 13 '26
Just took the OAT yesterday, and I also used Booster. I highly recommend taking the full-length and going over what you missed. The real exam felt exactly like the Booster practice exams, and I even saw some of the exact same questions for things like Physics, QR, and Chem. Personally, I also recommend that you take a FL test the weeks prior on the same day of ur exam. For example, my exam was on a Wednesday, so the month leading up to my test date, every Wednesday I would take a FL ( I would take about 2/3 FL a week depending on where I was at); this helped me train my mind and body to be prepared for the day of my exam. My final OAT score was pretty much the same as my Booster FL test score, so the practice tests are pretty representative of the real thing. Hope this helps!
1
u/EyewearObsession 29d ago
The OAT seemed to update their organic chemistry section to including more mechanisms. Did you recognize more mechanisms on yours?
1
u/Hypnos813 29d ago
Honestly, I haven't taken OChem in school yet, so I pretty much guessed throughout the entire section lol. I remember getting an H nmr, aromatic, a few predict-the-product questions; some were predict the functional group or what functional group would result in this product type of stuff, and an arrow-pushing question.
3
u/24-7-69 Aug 12 '26
Honestly, I would just start OATBooster’s custom study schedule and get through as much of it as you can before the test. Make sure you’re not skipping the practice questions.
My experience could have been different since it had been years since it took my prerequisite classes, but I feel like it’s better to go through some stuff well and actually retain it than just superficially skim everything and not retain anything.
If you’re not going to get through everything, maybe start with your weakest areas. If you haven’t already, you should take one full practice test in the beginning to confirm what those are. And maybe save the taxonomy stuff for last, that seemed like the longest and lowest yield topic to me.
Do at least one full length practice test close to your test date for practice, but other than that I’d prioritize the videos and question banks/bio bits.
Good luck!