Finished February PCAT

[alphinerpoke]

Hi all,

Just finished the PCAT in 99th percentile (woo!!).

Let me know if you need any strategies or info! (I obviously can't disclose the actual test information!)

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[early moring]

can you tell me which material you study? I am very appreciate to help.

 

[alphinerpoke]

Any study materials you are willing to sell? Planning to take the PCAT in the summer!

It all depends on what you're most familiar with. If you want to see what basic content you don't know yet, get Barrons first. DO NOT use it as your only source because I only used it to check what BASIC concepts I still didnt have. I used Kaplan to review more in depth stuff, mainly in bio, and some calculus. The math section on the PCAT in general is hard because of how many words they use, but I would say after doing the Pearson practice exams (I did two of them) it was helpful in giving me a hint on what they would ask.

A big YES for the pearson practice tests because they give you a lot of info on what you should be review, the real test is very close to it, especially the math portion.

 

[Lalale]

Omg I am taking my test in two days. I am so nervous. I do not feel prepared whatsoever. Please help with tips and stuff

 

[DagS132]

Be prepared to get a ridiculous amount of emails from a bunch of schools asking you to apply. My composite score was 95th percentile and that was about a year ago.

 

[early moring]

Omg I am taking my test in two days. I am so nervous. I do not feel prepared whatsoever. Please help with tips and stuff

Hi ,did you take a PCAT?

 

[Lalale]

Hi ,did you take a PCAT?

Yes. i did horrible

 

[Suyasha]

im taking mine on monday and i am scared! i am just doing revisions and was thinking of doing a pearson practice exam tomorrow. how ever is there any tips you could give on tackling quantitative and reading portion? i just feel not prepared at all. thankyou!

 

[Lalale]

im taking mine on monday and i am scared! i am just doing revisions and was thinking of doing a pearson practice exam tomorrow. how ever is there any tips you could give on tackling quantitative and reading portion? i just feel not prepared at all. thankyou!

Just make sure to read it twice. I didn’t read it twice and definitely take the 15 min break they give you

 

[DagS132]

Just make sure to read it twice. I didn’t read it twice and definitely take the 15 min break they give you

Not being a dick here but do not read anything twice. Only read it twice if you misunderstood the question after looking at the answers. You will run out of time fast. You may have completed your practice exams on time or even with time to spare but on test day, the pressure is on and using the strategy to reread everything will make everything worse. My opinion though.

 

[Suyasha]

Hi all,

Just finished the PCAT in 99th percentile (woo!!).

Let me know if you need any strategies or info! (I obviously can't disclose the actual test information!)

also, were there any spectroscopy questions?

 

[hecksflakes]

I did not see any spec question during my own time. And even if you would encounter any, it wouldn't be more than one or two.

also, were there any spectroscopy questions?

 

[Damonjr14]

Did anyone take the pcat today and were surprised by the composite scores? I just feel like they don’t match up!! There’s no way I did this bad!

 

[Lalale]

Did anyone take the pcat today and were surprised by the composite scores? I just feel like they don’t match up!! There’s no way I did this bad!

Lol i did bad too. dont worry

 

[K-Dent-]

Lol i did bad too. dont worry

How did you score if you dont mind me asking?

Did you find the exam hard overall? What material did you use to study?

 

[ebonyxtasy]

also, were there any spectroscopy questions?

Hi,

I am going to take the exam in November and I am very nervous. Can you tell me what approached you used to prepare for the exam. How long did you study for the PCAT? What books do you prefer? I have been out of school over 10 years and just feel very overwhelmed. Any advice you provide would be greatly appreciated.

Ebonyxtasy

 

[DagS132]

Hi,

I am going to take the exam in November and I am very nervous. Can you tell me what approached you used to prepare for the exam. How long did you study for the PCAT? What books do you prefer? I have been out of school over 10 years and just feel very overwhelmed. Any advice you provide would be greatly appreciated.

Ebonyxtasy

Go to the pre-dental forums and look at their sample study schedule. Requires about 6-8 hours out of your day just for studying and practicing. If you want to score with at least a composite score of 90, I suggest you follow this schedule. If you cannot take 6-8 hours out of your day, modify the schedule and extend the time you need to do this. Good luck

 

[DagS132]

Hi,

I am going to take the exam in November and I am very nervous. Can you tell me what approached you used to prepare for the exam. How long did you study for the PCAT? What books do you prefer? I have been out of school over 10 years and just feel very overwhelmed. Any advice you provide would be greatly appreciated.

Ebonyxtasy

just an update, i went back and saw they took down that study schedule or placed it somewhere else. But hopefully you have gotten your answers at this point and know how to study and what to study with.

 

[ebonyxtasy]

just an update, i went back and saw they took down that study schedule or placed it somewhere else. But hopefully you have gotten your answers at this point and know how to study and what to study with.

No I didn’t get an answer. I actually went back to school and took anatomy and physiology and a few other courses that I needed so I postponed taking the PCAT. Can you please help answering my question regarding how to study and your sample study schedule. Thank you for your response

 

[DagS132]

No I didn’t get an answer. I actually went back to school and took anatomy and physiology and a few other courses that I needed so I postponed taking the PCAT. Can you please help answering my question regarding how to study and your sample study schedule. Thank you for your response

Okay, so I am not going to breakdown the daily schedule. This would just take too much of my time to plan all of this out for you. But I will say that I studied for at least 6 hours every day, for 2 months and 15 days.
Materials I used:
CliffsNotes AP Biology 3rd Edition. There may be a free pdf version online somewhere if you know how to search for such things.
Chad's Videos on chemistry. Just google chad's videos and it should lead you to his site. Its all free.
The notes on microbiology off the pcatexam website.
Dr. Collins study stuff, I mainly used this for practice. Did not study with these at all.
That nextstepprep pcat website. There are free exams here that are, in my opinion, basically the same as the actual PCAT. I took 2 exams on this site and got basically the same score on the actual PCAT.
And whatever videos I could find on math. Khan Academy might be a good source for this. Forgot how hard math was on the PCAT but I think you should know basic algebra, trig, geometry, and calculus. Not sure if statistics showed up.

What I studied:
For CliffsNotes AP Biology 3rd Edition:
Study all of the chapters except Biological Diversity, Plants, Animal Behavior. I didn't see any of the info in these chapters show up. Not really sure on ecology either.

For Chad's Videos on chemistry. Go over everything. Make sure you know everything on chemistry. You will get a 99 percentile on the PCAT if you know everything.

For that microbiology website. Its not long so I just studied everything.

If you can't get a hold of the Dr. Collins practice stuff, just use that nextstepprep website for practice. It should be good enough but you won't get as much practice. There are a lot of practice exams in Dr. Collins.

For math, I am uncertain on this part. Look up the exam content on the official website to see what you need to know.

As for biochemistry, I will private message you my notes. If anyone is looking for my notes on biochem, I can PM you my notes. Its short, not much to study. Feel free to ask.

If you can't find the time to study for at least 6 hours a day, extend your time of study from 2 months to maybe 4 months. You will want to get your studying out of the way first with some practice quizes inbetween studying. Then you want to spend the last month or two just practicing. Practicing is very important so don't think you can just study until the day before the exam and expect to do well. For some it works, for me I need practice.
There are no trick questions on this exam. There are no tricks to getting a good score on this exam. Its either you know it or you don't. Everything the official PCAT website states that will be on the exam, will be on the exam.

Good luck to you.

 

[ebonyxtasy]

Okay, so I am not going to breakdown the daily schedule. This would just take too much of my time to plan all of this out for you. But I will say that I studied for at least 6 hours every day, for 2 months and 15 days.
Materials I used:
CliffsNotes AP Biology 3rd Edition. There may be a free pdf version online somewhere if you know how to search for such things.
Chad's Videos on chemistry. Just google chad's videos and it should lead you to his site. Its all free.
The notes on microbiology off the pcatexam website.
Dr. Collins study stuff, I mainly used this for practice. Did not study with these at all.
That nextstepprep pcat website. There are free exams here that are, in my opinion, basically the same as the actual PCAT. I took 2 exams on this site and got basically the same score on the actual PCAT.
And whatever videos I could find on math. Khan Academy might be a good source for this. Forgot how hard math was on the PCAT but I think you should know basic algebra, trig, geometry, and calculus. Not sure if statistics showed up.

What I studied:
For CliffsNotes AP Biology 3rd Edition:
Study all of the chapters except Biological Diversity, Plants, Animal Behavior. I didn't see any of the info in these chapters show up. Not really sure on ecology either.

For Chad's Videos on chemistry. Go over everything. Make sure you know everything on chemistry. You will get a 99 percentile on the PCAT if you know everything.

For that microbiology website. Its not long so I just studied everything.

If you can't get a hold of the Dr. Collins practice stuff, just use that nextstepprep website for practice. It should be good enough but you won't get as much practice. There are a lot of practice exams in Dr. Collins.

For math, I am uncertain on this part. Look up the exam content on the official website to see what you need to know.

As for biochemistry, I will private message you my notes. If anyone is looking for my notes on biochem, I can PM you my notes. Its short, not much to study. Feel free to ask.

If you can't find the time to study for at least 6 hours a day, extend your time of study from 2 months to maybe 4 months. You will want to get your studying out of the way first with some practice quizes inbetween studying. Then you want to spend the last month or two just practicing. Practicing is very important so don't think you can just study until the day before the exam and expect to do well. For some it works, for me I need practice.
There are no trick questions on this exam. There are no tricks to getting a good score on this exam. Its either you know it or you don't. Everything the official PCAT website states that will be on the exam, will be on the exam.

Good luck to you.

Thank you so very much. I really appreciate all of your advice.

 

[JoPharm10]

Hi all,

Just finished the PCAT in 99th percentile (woo!!).

Let me know if you need any strategies or info! (I obviously can't disclose the actual test information!)

First off, congratulations! Second, I was wondering how much molecular bio is tested? In first year of uni, we learned replication, transcription, and translation in IMMENSE detail, right down to the functions of each transcription factor (ex. TFIIH), but Kaplan doesn't cover any of this. It only covers aerobic and anaerobic respiration in its molecular bio section.

 

[DagS132]

First off, congratulations! Second, I was wondering how much molecular bio is tested? In first year of uni, we learned replication, transcription, and translation in IMMENSE detail, right down to the functions of each transcription factor (ex. TFIIH), but Kaplan doesn't cover any of this. It only covers aerobic and anaerobic respiration in its molecular bio section.

You dont really need to know any of that kind of stuff. Thats more on the genetics side

 

[CaptainPicard]

My friends keep telling me about how they are getting hundreds of apps for one job. Might want to study the job saturation thing a little while you still have a chance. It's really bad and only going to get worse

 

[kopati]

Hi all,

Just finished the PCAT in 99th percentile (woo!!).

Let me know if you need any strategies or info! (I obviously can't disclose the actual test information!)

Hi,
Congrats for your PCAT. I am planning to take it in november 2019 or january 2020. I bought the Collins' materials. I need some tips of how you cracked the exam please.

 

[kopati]

Okay, so I am not going to breakdown the daily schedule. This would just take too much of my time to plan all of this out for you. But I will say that I studied for at least 6 hours every day, for 2 months and 15 days.
Materials I used:
CliffsNotes AP Biology 3rd Edition. There may be a free pdf version online somewhere if you know how to search for such things.
Chad's Videos on chemistry. Just google chad's videos and it should lead you to his site. Its all free.
The notes on microbiology off the pcatexam website.
Dr. Collins study stuff, I mainly used this for practice. Did not study with these at all.
That nextstepprep pcat website. There are free exams here that are, in my opinion, basically the same as the actual PCAT. I took 2 exams on this site and got basically the same score on the actual PCAT.
And whatever videos I could find on math. Khan Academy might be a good source for this. Forgot how hard math was on the PCAT but I think you should know basic algebra, trig, geometry, and calculus. Not sure if statistics showed up.

What I studied:
For CliffsNotes AP Biology 3rd Edition:
Study all of the chapters except Biological Diversity, Plants, Animal Behavior. I didn't see any of the info in these chapters show up. Not really sure on ecology either.

For Chad's Videos on chemistry. Go over everything. Make sure you know everything on chemistry. You will get a 99 percentile on the PCAT if you know everything.

For that microbiology website. Its not long so I just studied everything.

If you can't get a hold of the Dr. Collins practice stuff, just use that nextstepprep website for practice. It should be good enough but you won't get as much practice. There are a lot of practice exams in Dr. Collins.

For math, I am uncertain on this part. Look up the exam content on the official website to see what you need to know.

As for biochemistry, I will private message you my notes. If anyone is looking for my notes on biochem, I can PM you my notes. Its short, not much to study. Feel free to ask.

If you can't find the time to study for at least 6 hours a day, extend your time of study from 2 months to maybe 4 months. You will want to get your studying out of the way first with some practice quizes inbetween studying. Then you want to spend the last month or two just practicing. Practicing is very important so don't think you can just study until the day before the exam and expect to do well. For some it works, for me I need practice.
There are no trick questions on this exam. There are no tricks to getting a good score on this exam. Its either you know it or you don't. Everything the official PCAT website states that will be on the exam, will be on the exam.

Good luck to you.

Hi,
Congratulations. May I please ask you for your notes in biochemistry? I am planning to take the pcat in november2019 or january 2020. It depends of how fast I am in my revisions.
Thanks in advance
Patiko

 

[kopati]

Hi all,

Just finished the PCAT in 99th percentile (woo!!).

Let me know if you need any strategies or info! (I obviously can't disclose the actual test information!)

Hi,
I will be taking mine in January 2020. I bought three Pearson parctice test, did also some of the Colliin's practite test, but I feel like I am not ready. Any tips? I only have a few day left. Please some tips. I am scared....

 

[Queen Of Pharmaceutics]

Be prepared to get a ridiculous amount of emails from a bunch of schools asking you to apply. My composite score was 95th percentile and that was about a year ago.

Im still getting those damn emails and I just finished my first semester of pharm school.

 

[kopati]

Hi all,

Just finished the PCAT in 99th percentile (woo!!).

Let me know if you need any strategies or info! (I obviously can't disclose the actual test information!)

Hi,
Congrats for your PCAT.
Planning to take the exam in January, in a few days. Any tips please?

 

[Coleorlo]

Everyone, I wouldn’t be worried about your PCAT scores. Literally every pharmacy school will be willing to accept you if you score above the 50th percentile.

I took the PCAT in September without studying much and scored in the 77th percentile. Was offered an acceptance in November from my school of choice. What you really all should be working on is your interview skills - that’s what really makes or breaks your chances of getting into pharmacy school.

As for what you should be focusing on for each section on the PCAT:
1. Biology: renal physiology (know everything about it), Mendel genetics, be able to take a table or graph and answer questions about it.
2. Chemistry: lots of biochemistry, understand basic organic chemistry ideas, know the trends on the period table, study basic chemistry conversions (g to moles, etc.)
3. Math: study basic calculus concepts (standard deviation, integrals), lots of word problems related to drugs, I.e. be able to do ratios
4. Critical reading: By far the easiest section - just practice a bit on example passages.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you any of you have any other questions.