If you’re a pre-optometry student and you’re reading this, then you’re probably planning to take your OAT some time soon - ew. Trust me, I know how it feels when it comes to the OAT. It’s basically that one giant obstacle in the way of your optometric journey. So keep reading to learn about the resources and tools that I have used to gain some great advice (but of course that’s my opinion) in order to help you make a 330 or above on your OAT. 

➷ What should I use to study for the OAT?

1. Chad’s video from Course Saver:  For y’all who have a budget when it comes to study materials, I recommend that you get the subscription for Chad’s video from CourseSaver. The subscription is $50 dollars per month, but it comes with tutorial videos for each subject that the OAT covers and quizzes that are good practice to get the concepts engraved into your head. Another reason to use these videos is because the guy who is teaching the videos (you guessed it...Chad) explains the concepts to you in a simple way for you to understand, and he provides lecture handouts and formula sheets for you to follow along. You should watch everything except the Biology videos because those videos are not taught by Chad himself and to be honest, are a bit boring. 

2. Khan Academy Videos from Youtube (free): I get it, money’s tight, so when in doubt, youtube it out. We’ve probably all come across Khan Academy Videos at some point or another. I mean, they’re not hidden behind a paywall (yay!) and their Biology videos are the bomb dot com (like seriously - better than the Biology videos from Coursesavers). Their Chemistry, Physics, and Math one’s aren’t too bad either! So, I recommend looking into that if you want to get some clear help on certain concepts.

3. DAT Bootcamp: If you guys are willing to spend a little bit more money on study material, then using the DAT Bootcamp is another good study material to use. You guys are wondering “Isn’t the DAT different from the OAT?” Well, slightly for one section, but the others are actually similar to each other in terms of the organic chemistry, general chemistry, quantitative reasoning (aka math), biology, and reading sections. The only difference between the OAT and the DAT is that the OAT has a Physics Section while the DAT has the Perceptual Ability section instead of a Physics section. So basically, the content is the same, but the biggest reason that you should use the DAT Bootcamp is because they provide tutorial videos (Mike’s Videos) for each subject , which are really in depth and clear to understand. Not to mention a lot of the practice problems/exams are super similar to the current problems from the OAT. The DAT bootcamp cost about $497.00, but it’s totally worth it since I had friends who used it before and they made awesome scores on their OAT and DAT. 

4. OAT Destroyer: Another good study material that I totally recommend and you guys may have heard about a lot from your fellow pre-opt friends is the OAT Destroyer. The OAT Destroyer is basically books filled with practice problems which can be challenging and harder than the OAT, but they will do the job in helping you understand the concepts. It doesn’t hurt to be over-prepared! These questions from the Destroyer are structured similar to the actual OAT/DAT exams, but again much harder, so I recommend that you go over the concepts for the questions that you got wrong in those booklets in order to know your weaknesses specifically target those. The OAT Destroyer does update its questions every year so you guys should get the most current edition or at previous year’s edition (For example: the new edition is 2020, and the recent previous edition is 2019) if you are determined to take the OAT during that year. Using an older edition isn’t necessarily bad either - I mean science is still science, but newer versions typically update questions and fix any errata that might’ve been confusing or frustrating. The OAT Destroyer can be a bit pricey, it is currently at around $159.95 for the OAT destroyer itself with the separate Physics Section Destroyer. But… if you guys try just a tiny bit, I know you can find it for super cheap from other students. 

5. ORGOMAN Videos from Youtube (free): I know you guys don’t want to hold an empty wallet, so, I gotcha another FREEEEEE study material to use. Checkout the creator of the OAT Destroyer, Dr. Romano’s, youtube channel called ORGOMAN where he basically  makes free videos that cover certain challenging concepts from different topics of the OAT and DAT. Not only that, Dr. Romano’s videos go over how to do questions that are currently covered on the OAT and DAT. So, I recommend watching those videos to be prepared because the Course Savers math section does not go over the current questions from the OAT like Dr. Romano does in his youtube videos. 

6. Your school notes (free): Besides the other study material that I mentioned earlier in this blog, the best study material that is also *FREE are the notes you took from the classes you took at school (*although you technically paid for it through your tuition). The reason that I recommend using your school notes to study is because those are the materials you used to learn the basic concepts in the first place. So always go back to your old notes from your classes to get a refresher on the concepts currently covered on the OAT. These work great in conjunction with any of the other resources to beef up any quick summaries they’ve given you.

7. Chad’s DAT Practice Exams (free): From the creator of the Course Savers OAT videos, Chad himself had created his own site that contains free practice exams/problems that cover Biology, Organic Chemistry, General Chemistry, and Quantitative Reasoning. The good part about this is that IT IS FREE! Great if you’re looking for more practice problems.

8. ADA Sample OAT (free): I know you guys are wondering, “What will the OAT look like?” Well, the ADA site has released a sample OAT test that is formatted the same way as the actual OAT, and the best part? Yup it’s FREE too! 

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