This is a question asked on SCCO’s Facebook Group for Pre-optometry Students (http://www.facebook.com/groups/SCCOadmissions/).  Bulleted, you will find answers from both SCCO students and Facebook Group members:

“I am trying to prepare for the OAT, and one of the most difficult things in preparing for it is re-learning some of the subject material in the test that I know I have learned 2-3 years ago. Do you have any suggestions into how I can master the subject material before attempting the OAT exam questions?”

• “The Princeton review MCAT subject books are amazing! They are sold individually so you can buy just the subjects you need help in.”

• “I used the Kaplan OAT prep class exclusively and did great. They really narrow down the topics to the bare bones of what you need to know so you don’t have to go through old textbooks studying things that aren’t on the OAT. That was my path, but as others have said, there are many different ways to do it!”

• “So the DAT is very similar to the OAT for all the sections except for physics since the DAT doesn’t have that section. I actually used the DAT book to study from because it was much cheaper. For the physics part I used a couple of sites like Sparknotes; there are a lot of review sites out there. If you can find someone who doesn’t need their OAT prep book anymore though I’d definitely recommend using that.”

• “I also used the Kaplan prep class and highly recommend it. I was out of school for 8 years, so needless to say I didn’t remember a thing from chemistry or physics. The class really focuses on the essential information you’ll need to do very well on the OAT, as well as give you strategies for conquering the various sections. Good luck!”

• “One thing I did is found a couple websites that did MCAT Question s of the day sen directly to your email. The questions are definitely more difficult than those on the OAT but it helps you get into that mindset and gives you daily practice with answering questions.