Hello, All. I recently re-took the OAR and scored a 64 after scoring a 57 my first time around. Big thanks to all of those who uploaded study guides and shared their test day experiences - they were a blessing! The flashcards on Proprofs are also very helpful, so read those over!
I figured I'd do my part to return to the community some of the major help I received from it. Here are a few things that I remember being tested on from each section:
Math:
Some complicated fraction equations involving negative exponents in numerator and denominator.
Solving for the score of one person when told that the average scores of two people equals an amount less than the average.
Adding matrices.
Finding the amount where the cost of two separate companies that utilize fixed and variable costs are equal.
Complicated multi-variable systems of equations.
Probability of a rolling a specific sum when rolling two dice.
Choosing a perfect number among the provided. (MEMORIZE THESE)
Finding the cubed root from a very small exponent.
I had no DRT questions.
Reading:
I did not prepare for this section. I hated every second of it, but I believe that I did okay here. Read carefully and really analyze if the answer choices are making statements that are not in line with the provided information, or if statements are too far reaching. For those of you familiar with the GMAT's Critical Reasoning section, this is somewhat similar. There are plenty of free resources online that can help you learn to eliminate junk statements.
Mechanical:
Lots of questions on springs. Understand elastic energy and how horizontal springs experience different tension than vertical ones.
Questions on gears, including which one of a sequence is fastest.
How much rope will be used when a pulley of a certain radius rotates a certain number of times.
A few questions directly related to understanding Bernoulli's principle and Charles' Law.
The weight of an object on a planet with a separate gravity constant.
Some questions on pistons and engines.
1-2 on MA application on levers and pulleys.
Understanding a Helium balloon vs an air balloon.
A warning: it's very clear that the questions are pulled from a wide range of available topics. Do not rely on the above as an exhaustive or even predictive list of material. Almost none of the questions that I saw in my 2nd attempt were the same or even closely related the ones I saw in my first attempt, especially within the Mechanical Comprehension section. I expected to see (and prepared for) lots of questions on DRT, Work, MA Pulleys and electrical circuits as I had in my first exam - that was not the case. Luckily, I tried to study as wide a range of material as I could, focusing heavily on the subjects noted on these guides and doing practice problems on a little bit of everything. It is not enough to just read the guides over - you must do practice problems and be able to arrive to the same answers on your own using logic that you understand.
The OAR is like a box of chocolates...you may have an idea of what might be in the box, but it's never what you expect once you bite down, and the chewy caramel ones are the worst.
**For reference, I studied for about a week on my first attempt, brushing up on fundamentals and relying on past knowledge and a cheap book from Amazon on OAR/ASTB - that didn't really cut it. Using the guides on this site + open source resources for further understanding and questions is what made it all the easier. Don't think that because an equation is simple that the application of said equation on a question will be simple as well. It's hardly that straightforward, so be sure to challenge yourself on more difficult questions when possible. I did about 5 weeks of studying, ~4-5 hours a week, before my 2nd attempt. As there is a fixed amount of opportunities to take this exam, it's best to over-study and be prepared for whatever may show up on your screen on test day.
Hope this helps. Best of luck!
