Best PCAT preparation

[mnykr]

What is the best PCAT preparation guild I could buy at a Books a million or online?

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[IrishRxMan]

I never used a book but I would think that Kapplan's book is pretty good. Dig up your old notes from geometry because they hit me with that two years ago. Review all material from cal, micro, o-chem 1 and 2, gen chem, gen bio, etc. if you have taken those classes. The books can help only so much with that info. They will be good for boosting your vocabulary, word association and helping focus you in on your reading comprehension.

 

[TTUMike]

Kaplan is a good review for biology and chemistry.

 

[brclho]

i vouch for kaplan too. when i did my pcat, i only did half my first year university material, so the other half i relied solely on kaplan. i am in pharmacy now, so it must have done its work =]

 

[Prepharm1214]

Kaplan is a good review for biology and chemistry.

That's where i'd draw the line as well, it doesn't hit the other subjects very well and even the chemistry is very lackluster on organic.

 

[fenixtnlfan]

Moving thread because of topic.

 

[ffpickle]

That's where i'd draw the line as well, it doesn't hit the other subjects very well and even the chemistry is very lackluster on organic.

kaplan doesnt do orgo justice

 

[brclho]

kaplan doesnt do orgo justice

i would agree. i tried learning organic chemistry just from kaplan (i knew nothing about it) n it didnt fair too well with me =/ it doenst explain IUPAC naming structure n what not very well.

then again, if anyone needs help on IUPAC, i am sure anyone can help u on this forum

despite the fact, my comment of kaplan still stands, i think its a great book and a great aid for PCAT.

 

[Farcus]

kaplan doesn't give a lot for ochem on their normal retail books, but for the people in their class holy crap their science section is very thorough for ochem. Compare how much content is in general chem in the normal version, that is how much ochem there is for the people that is in their class. They have stuff on NMR and stuff which seriously couldn't possibley be on the PCAT! I don't know what it is but I know a lot of friends that taken Ochem2(i only taken ochem1) and they say that stuff is the hardest stuff ever lol and take forever hah.

 

[Transformer]

kaplan doesn't give a lot for ochem on their normal retail books, but for the people in their class holy crap their science section is very thorough for ochem. Compare how much content is in general chem in the normal version, that is how much ochem there is for the people that is in their class. They have stuff on NMR and stuff which seriously couldn't possibley be on the PCAT! I don't know what it is but I know a lot of friends that taken Ochem2(i only taken ochem1) and they say that stuff is the hardest stuff ever lol and take forever hah.

It is hard to imagine there will be a long NMR problem on the PCAT. But if there is such a problem, I'm sure it would be one that recalls basic knowledge in using NMR to predict the structure of an organic compound.

A typical NMR problem I learned from organic2 would look like the following:

Given C4 H10 0 is reactant, Predict the structure of the product

C4 H10 O -----> ??

Givens:

After analysis, here are the product's IR and NMR data:

IR
2950 cm-1
3500 cm-1

H NMR

Shift------Split------Integration
3.4 ppm---- t-----------2H
2.4 ppm-----t-----------1H
1.7 ppm-----m----------1H
0.9 ppm-----d-----------6H

First thing to do is to find Degree of Unsaturation or IHD
DOU or IHD = (((2*(#C) - #H)+2)/2 + #N/2
DOU or IHD = number of double bonds and/or # of rings
(e.g. benzene ring has IHD = 4) since there are 3 double bonds and 1 ring


Shift tells you what type of structure Hydrogens are next to? (e.g. H next to benzene ring would be around 7.2ppm) so a chart must be supplied

Split = N + 1 where N is the total number of hydrogens on neighboring Carbons

Integration is total number of Hydrogen in the product compound

To solve the problem I wrote above.

IHD or DOU = zero (so I know there is no double bonds nor any Rings)

Interpret IR data:
2950 cm-1 tells me there are sp3 C-H bonds
3500 cm-1 tells me there is an O-H bond

Integration shows product compound will have a total of 10 hydrogens


Interpret Split (usually the hardest part of NMR)
Look at the Final compound to understand the following:

1.7 ppm m(multiplit) 1H shows C-H bond at (a)
since there are a total of 6 hydrogens on the two neighboring carbons connected to C-H at (a) => N=6 6+1 = 7 (7 is considered a multiplit)

0.9 ppm d (doublet) 6H shows 2 sets of CH3 (a total of 6 hydrogens here) at (b)
since 2 sets of CH3 is connected to one neighboring carbon connected to only 1 Hydrogen => N=1
1 +1 = 2 (doublet)

3.4 ppm t(triplet) 2H shows the 2 hydrogens at (c)
since its Carbon has a neighboring Carbon with 1 hydrogen and another neighboring Oxygen with 1 hydrogen: N = 2 (added those 2 hydrogens)
2 + 1 = 3 (triplet)

2.4 ppm t(triplet) 1H shows 1 hydrogen at (d)
This hydrogen is attach to oxygen and the oxygen has 1 neighboring carbon with 2 hydrogens => N = 2
2 + 1 = 3 (triplet)


Hence,

Final compound looks like this:

-------(a)--(c)
--------H---H
-(b)----l----l
H3C---C---C---H (c)
--------l----l
------H3C-OH
-------(b)-(d)

IUPAC name for the product: 2-methyl Propanol

(If I made a mistake; please correct me)

This is a basic NMR problem. Based on what I heard from a chemistry major who wants to go to med school, there are specific undergraduate Chemistry classes dedicated to studying NMR and using NMR to interpret compound larger than the one I solve above.

This may sound crazy to some people (it did to my friends) but I think this stuff is really interesting; the fact, we can use IR and NMR technology to accurately predict an unknown compound and its structure.

Oh and i have to add..... This NMR problem won't be on the PCAT at least not to this extend or magnitude.(hopefully)

 

[ffpickle]

I haven't take the PCAT yet but I get the sense that Kaplan is pretty good for most sections, except Orgo. Also, I think it goes into too much detail for the plants stuff. The rest of the bio-detail is justified.

IMO, the best way to prepare is to get multiple books and go through them all b/c when you see things in a different way, they become reinforced.

I find the Princeton Books for MCAT (Bio, Orgo, GChem) to be excellent.
But I am going to use the Kaplan book when I'm dne with Princeton...

 

[phuang06]

Best PCAT preparation is going to class, being attentive, taking good notes, and ultimately learning the material and going back over your notes to review the strong foundation of material you should have received in class.

 

[mnykr]

Best PCAT preparation is going to class, being attentive, taking good notes, and ultimately learning the material and going back over your notes to review the strong foundation of material you should have received in class.

Thats a bit out of the question for me

i have a masters in chem and ABD for the phd

want to go to pharmacy school

i do not remember any bio

calculus is easy, and geo and trig should be ok since i teach physics at the moment

i have never had micro

 

[eric4321]

Read my posts from 2007, i reviewed a LOT of pcat prep materials.

Most of what i paid for was junk, most of what my friends gave me was great.

Like phuang said, #1 thing is to learn enough to make A's in all the sciences.

Physics isn't on the pcat so taking it last is a pretty good idea. There are only a couple questions each from Bio2 and Org2.

AP2 there are many pcat questions but you can follow your textbook as you listen to AudioLearn for pcat - mostly kidneys, hormones, and digestive enzymes.

If you haven't taken [and done well in] Bio1, AP1, Chem1/2 and Org1 you will bomb the pcat, no prep is going to teach you those.

 

[ffpickle]

Thats a bit out of the question for me

i have a masters in chem and ABD for the phd

want to go to pharmacy school

i do not remember any bio

calculus is easy, and geo and trig should be ok since i teach physics at the moment

i have never had micro

wow you have incredible commitment to attend pharmd after a phd in chem. how are you going to get around the issue of your pre-req courses having been expired? most schools have 5 yr, 6r, 7yr, etc. rules