OAT Breakdown: Survey of Natural Sciences Section!

This is Part 2 of a series of breakdown posts that will outline the Optometry Admission Test. The OAT is a marathon of an exam with 4 large sections and clocking in at nearly 5 hours so let’s take a closer look at each section, shall we? On the menu today: The Survey of Natural Sciences, which is the longest section of the test, both in time and in number of questions!

 

Survey of Natural Sciences is the first section of the OAT, there are 100 questions, and you have 90 minutes. Within the section, there are 3 sciences tested: Biology (40 questions), General Chemistry aka Inorganic Chemistry (30 questions), and Organic Chemistry (30 questions). The content of these questions is limited to the things you learned in your entire first-year course in biology, general/inorganic chemistry course, and the organic chemistry class. Basically this means no upper level concepts beyond what you saw in those courses.

 

On your score report you will see scores for each subsection in addition to a total Survey of Natural Sciences section score. Remember: Your scores are based on the number of correct responses, which means you’re not penalized for guessing. That means don’t leave any question blank but make educated and smart guesses!

 

The ASCO gives a fairly detailed list of topics within the subsections so you can really hone in on certain areas when studying. Check out each subsection topic breakdown and a couple ASCO-supplied sample questions below:

 

Biology, 40 questions

DAT:OAT biology topics

Sample Question: OAT biology sample

 

General/Inorganic Chemistry, 30 questions

DAT:OAT gen chem topics 1

DAT:OAT gen chem topics 2

Sample Question: OAT gen chem sample

 

Organic Chemistry, 30 questions

DAT:OAT org chem topics

Sample Question: OAT org chem sample

 

The Survey of Natural Sciences is first big hump in your OAT day adventure and it’s a doozy. The key is perfecting your time management to keep you calm so you can focus on the questions and not worry about running out of time. Practice and ace it with OAT Cracker, where you can take practice tests in each section with questions that look and feel like the real thing! Stay tuned for further breakdowns!

OAT Study Motivation!

Hey! How’s studying for the OAT going? Great? Just all right? Let’s take a minute to talk about motivation. The Optometry Admission Test is no easy feat and the many (necessary) hours preparing for it can be grueling. The feeling of burning out is a common occurrence for many and can really throw you off track of your path to OAT domination. When test day arrives, it basically comes down to which Stark you want to be: Tony Stark aka Iron Man aka the badass that walks away from the explosion without looking OR Jon Snow aka the Stark bastard from Game of Thrones aka the guy that knows nothing.

Stark Option One: Tony Stark

Stark Option One: Tony Stark

Stark Option Two: Jon Snow

Stark Option Two: Jon Snow

Let’s get down to business…to defeat the Huns? No. No. The OAT! So when motivation wanes, what can you do? (Besides listen to awesome motivation songs like that one!)

Here are a few strategies for motivation and keeping yourself on track:

– Stop & Take a Practice Test: If you’re in the middle of a studying block and suddenly hit a brick wall: Take full timed practice test. Your score just might give you the kick in the rear to knock you back into focus. With OAT Cracker you’ll even pin point exact weak spots in your preparation thus far.

– Change it up: A swift change in the subject you’re studying or change in normal study location can revive your spirits and give you boost in motivation! But don’t change too often be sure you’re sticking to the 50/10 rule…

– Be strict with yourself: The 50/10 rule of studying really does work! That’s 50minutes of straight focus studying then a 10minute break to refresh your brain! Do it. Discipline. “There are no short cuts to any place worth going.”

– Turn off everything: Echoing the last tip, be hard on yourself and put all things you don’t need to study away, really. It may seem harmless to leave open Facebook open in a tab or have your phone lying there beside you but come test time these things won’t be there. You want to your studying environment to emulate that of the test day. So put away all distractions and save them for your breaks!

So study study study and practice practice practice (3x for emphasis) because when test day comes, you’re definitely going to need the confidence of Tony Stark not Jon Snow.

Lesson Learned: Be Iron Man.

Lesson Learned: Be Iron Man.

Prepping for the OAT!

Summer time is here and it is a great time to start preparing for the Optometry Admission Test aka the OAT! Yes, you need to start prepping now! No really, you do and your summer can still be awesome! We suggest at least three months of preparation before tackling the OAT in all its glory and summer is really a perfect time to start! With the right kind of preparation you can spend more time poolside and still be ready for the test! The OAT is really like four tests on Natural Sciences, Physics, Reading Comprehension, and Quantitative Reasoning and takes nearly five hours to complete. Whew, at least they won’t be testing you on the impossible mystery that has stumped optometry for years: Arthur and his magic glasses. See below.

First thing’s first, you should read the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry aka ASCO’s Guide to the OAT here. If after reading that over this seems like a daunting task, that’s because it is. So what do you do? Do you need to buy a really big book or fancy software? The better way to prep for the big test is with OAT Cracker aka the smart and affordable way! The practice tests on OAT Cracker are designed to look and feel like the real OAT and are made to match the difficulty level. So you are really practicing for test day both in content and in design! OAT Cracker has got you covered, offering practice tests by each subject and even splitting the Natural Science section into Biology, Organic Chemistry, and Inorganic Chemistry. There are full score reports so you can pin point your weaknesses and there are clear explanations to each question. Plus there’s support 24/7/365 to help you all along the way. Log on now to take a practice freebie test and see for yourself! P.S. you can unlock all the practice exams right now for $49 instead the regular $99. P.S.S. once you log in, scroll to the bottom of the Take OAT Tests page and find ways to knock off even more off that price!

No bummer summer here, you can still have a relaxing break and get the edge over the OAT with lots of practice! So take advantage of OAT Cracker and the limited time price to unlock all the tests to get started practicing! Also might as well admit it now, this blog is bound to have lots of bad eye jokes. Sorry not sorry.