How was todays pcat experience? Oct 07

[fenil2005]

hi guys,
i was scared to death about the reading and math section but i think i did best in those sections and not that well in chem and bio in which i was very confident about scoring a lot of points... but overall i think i should get betwen 60-70 composite...but who knows it might be well over or well below..so my fingers are crossed..

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[AmericanDesi]

So is it possible to get at least a 70 with half guessing, on the math, if everyone bombed it? Well im sure some did well...

Yeah the Bio, lots of practical questions..you really needed to know some details from kap, not jsut definitions

 

[andrew55ahg]

For those who guessed on 10 Math questions, you are going to get a really high score.

From what I remember of the August questions compared to my August scores, you're doing really well if you're confident of this many answers:

Verbal: 3/4 of them
Biology: 3/4 of them
Reading: 4/5
Chem: 2/3
Math: 1/2 (or less)

Not a coincidence that it's a rush to finish Chem and for most of us flat-out impossible to finish Math. It happens every time so that's why you don't have to have as many right answers on Chem & Math.

The posts on here just re-emphasize how you need to bring a watch to the test. As long as it isn't a calculator watch & doesn't have a really loud, annoying Beep, they will let you use it.

Eric, i read a few of your other posts from before the PCAT and you stressed having a stopwatch. I went and got one today, it seriously helped me so much, as they proctors were only allowed to give 5 minute warnings, all sections were finished on time, because the stopwatch(wristwatch) allowed me to know exactly how much time i had remaining. Thanks man.

 

[eric4321]

andrew - np

desi - yes, i got a 76% math, more than half the answers guessed

 

[RNtoPharmD]

I should add that on the math section they switch things around too much. In the August test, there was a lot of differentiating, ie using the different rules, this October test had nothing. I have no advice on how to study for the math section because it is not consistent month to month. And remember how people were going crazy after the June test about the vectors being hard. There were vector questions that were easy as pie just as easy as August. Maybe they will put vectors back in on the January test with a vengence.

I took the test in August and absolutely agree with you on this!! I took August test and expected lot of derivative and intergral and wasted my time studying various integral and derivative methods and limits etc. Ironically, I don't know how to mutiply or add basic function on the test or even read the graph or basic concept of calculus don't know how to find intercept point!!! I am very disappointed with Math section!

 

[johnanderson]

I took the August PCAT and did fairly well on it and I thought this one was much harder. There were some repeat questions in bio and chem and two of the passages were the same as the one in August. IMO definetely harder difficulty than the august test. It would be a pleasant surprise if I did better though considering that I didn't even study for this one

 

[confettiflyer]

Took the test at USC this morning

1) I lucked out in that the hall the test was in was in the area of campus I'm most familiar with. I was 30 minutes early and played games on my phone

2) When they were calling people by letter of last name....when they said "L"... I swear half the crowd started moving forward. Darn all you Vietnamese people! haha just kidding.

3) Girl to my right kept scribbling answers long after the test ended for quantitative. Proctor caught her but just told her to stop, no other action taken.

4) For quantitative, I NEARLY got caught off guard with time...so I had to narrow it to 3 or 2 and speed bubble 6-10 of them.

5) Verbal was a piece of cake for some reason, I finished with 15 minutes to spare and stepped outside for a snack and bathroom break.

6) Kaplan book prepared me for bio and chem. Chem was about the difficulty I expected, Bio was easier than I thought it would be. Then again, I'm coming from an MCAT background from 2 years ago.

7) Idiot girl behind me kept cracking her knuckles....so when she was scribbling, I did the same.

8) apparently there were many different writing prompts, as the people I talked to after the exam listed off a topic that was neither of my topics.

9) Ate food, went to church at 5, then got pinkberry and drove home after the test. and USC won but I was rooting for Cal and they lost

 

[hmmmmm]

i don't think that each of us can even subjectively say if the test was hard or not because there was like 10+ test forms

 

[moolman]

Took the test at USC this morning

I was at USC too, I was on the 3rd floor, people had different prompts? What test number did you have? I had 17G.

 

[hmmmmm]

nvm

 

[confettiflyer]

I was at USC too, I was on the 3rd floor, people had different prompts? What test number did you have? I had 17G.

don't wanna disclose test stuff, but eh... fatty misuse of peace makes sense?

 

[korey1015]

I kept getting a pseudo-cramp in my writing hand whenever I was writing the essays. It was so annoying. Every few sentences, I had to stop and stretch my fingers. Man, that really bothered me. I finished both essays, though. Whether or not they're actually worth a crap will be decided within the next few weeks Are the essays really worth anything? Do pharmacy schools really care about them? They serve no purpose

 

[moolman]

don't wanna disclose test stuff, but eh... fatty misuse of peace makes sense?

We had different tests then, I hope nobody cheated by looking at the person next to you then because we had different versions, unlike August where everyone had the same test.

From your hint, I think I figured out the scored essay. I would think they would give everyone the same scored essay to make it easy to grade. So the scored essay is "fatty". Good for me, I guess I thought that essay was better than the other one "nd"

 

[hmmmmm]

i totally bombed the 2nd essay

hopefully that is the experimental one

not that UBC really cares...

 

[confettiflyer]

We had different tests then, I hope nobody cheated by looking at the person next to you then because we had different versions, unlike August where everyone had the same test.

From your hint, I think I figured out the scored essay. I would think they would give everyone the same scored essay to make it easy to grade. So the scored essay is "fatty". Good for me, I guess I thought that essay was better than the other one "nd"

yeah that was one fatty essay...fatty like a fatty acid. nah i actually liked writing that essay. The second one was me going just because i had nothing good to say.

 

[Pharmacyguy4]

Haha Imagine if on the reading section they asked, "what was the author wearing when he wrote this passage." or "what was he doing when he wrote the passage." Hey i dunno if you guys caught this, but one of the math problems was exactly from the kaplan book...not goin to say which one though but I'm sure if you went over the kaplan book, you know what I'm talkin about. Now it's back to normal life again for the next 6 weeks until we get our scores.

 

[Pharmacyguy4]

Oh ya and I love how on the math section, they give you some very simple problems that require like 3 minutes to solve.

 

[dcz]

I wouldnt even worry about not doing well on the math. You have to remember, most people that are on this website care enough about a career in pharmacy they read up on blogs and messageboards. Many people that are not taking a career in pharmacy seriously do not try to get a head start by advice online.

Also, I have noticed that many people on here report different scores for the same PCAT. Some people say they got a 99 and then on another thread they say their highest is a 91. Many people are not honest, so try not to let all of the people saying, "I dont think I missed any" get you down. Some people seem to enjoy telling lies in order to make themselves seem cool to people they will probably never meet.

In no way am I saying everyone on this website is full of crap, but I just know several are... Me being honest and pretty much an average student, I felt the math was pretty tough for a Pharmacy test. I guess on about 15, but as I was.. I was praying to God that he guide my hand lol. Oh well, Im sure I'm not the only one....

I felt comfortable on biology and chemistry. English is not my forte, so needless to say, I feel like I did abysmal. Who knows, we will see in 6 weeks. =/ too too long when you pay $125 imo.

btw.. the test people seem like they picked them up in the psych ward.. they were crazy at my place

 

[bastetkitty]

first essay: totally messed up timewise, didn't have enough, for some reason I just couldn't think of what to say! I think that is the one that is the scored one, too, am so mad.
bio: easy! so glad, and very little on plants
verbal: easy! almost no vocab that was even questionable...
chem: had enough time for all but two, which were two longer calculation problems I skipped... mine only had about 8 or so where you actually had to do a calculation, the rest were conceptual and there was a LOT more ochem than the kaplan practice which was actually a good thing for me because I've had a full year already, so those were like freebies.
second essay: I rocked that one, though I'm pretty sure it's the experimental. Damn!
reading: feel less confident than in the practice one, but I tried and I ended up with 10 minutes+ to spare so I feel good.
math: did well time wise, guessed on a handful and was just working on one last one when time was called (ended up just guessing randomly on it).
overall: not as hard as kaplan or as I made myself think it would be (from reading these forums for one big thing!!!!) but we'll have to wait for the test results to see.

 

[Shrav]

first essay: totally messed up timewise, didn't have enough, for some reason I just couldn't think of what to say! I think that is the one that is the scored one, too, am so mad.
bio: easy! so glad, and very little on plants
verbal: easy! almost no vocab that was even questionable...
chem: had enough time for all but two, which were two longer calculation problems I skipped... mine only had about 8 or so where you actually had to do a calculation, the rest were conceptual and there was a LOT more ochem than the kaplan practice which was actually a good thing for me because I've had a full year already, so those were like freebies.
second essay: I rocked that one, though I'm pretty sure it's the experimental. Damn!
reading: feel less confident than in the practice one, but I tried and I ended up with 10 minutes+ to spare so I feel good.
math: did well time wise, guessed on a handful and was just working on one last one when time was called (ended up just guessing randomly on it).
overall: not as hard as kaplan or as I made myself think it would be (from reading these forums for one big thing!!!!) but we'll have to wait for the test results to see.

Great....now I come to know that the essay that I rocked was the experimental while the one I bombed is counted...just great...oh well...January PCAT it is then....

 

[typingpig]

I am kind of glad that the second one has a high probability of being the "tester" because I kind of screwed up on that one. ("dem0gr8phy").

 

[Sulilina1]

I think the second one was definitely the tester.. it was obvious.

 

[AmericanDesi]

basket kitty-i had the SAME problem..bombed the first fatty essay due to time, but did well on the second, unimportant one..sucks to be me.

And I also agree, that whatever people post on here is not going to give you an idea of how the nation did as a whole...especially since people lie...

I also asked God to guide my hand too,lol. Hope He helps me

 

[benmap]

This time was bad for me...because I still had guess questions on Chem and Math...
Verbal: hi hi hi....not sure...I am students with second language...
Bio: 5 questions guesses ( compare to August: more than half guess because I did not study Bio II and Ana II + Micro yet): last test = 26% (question repeat)

Chem: this time is much harder than last time, some of questions repeat: only 5 guess the same with last time ( last test = 95%)

Reading: dont know if I bombed this one (cant concentrate until the end) ( I am praying for this)

Math: Math part was woa...hard...however, only 4 guesses (still have time to check again) last time= 91% because I think I did go too fast ( this time was much slower to confirm every answer) (questions repeat) (last time 3 guess)

Overall= ????? not sure hi hi hi because may be the Verbal and Reading will pull me down although I am very confident with Bio, Math, and Chem
Dont know....good luck to you guys all, I need to improve my verbal to retake in Jan so that I can have 4 part dominants to 1 insead of 3 : 2 like this test....hihi

 

[AngelaCL]

I had the exact same question listed twice in the chem section. It made me mad because I wasn't 100% sure of the answer. Overall, I at least finished every section, unlike August, and I had time to recheck every question for verbal, bio, and reading. Reading I had time for like a 20 minute nap... does this section really need to be 50 minutes? I could really use that extra time for chem or math.

 

[moolman]

I guess it's established that the first fat essay was the real one since everyone seems to have had it. Makes sense. They probably grade the 1st essay and then 2nd experimental one. Compare the grades and then in the future use the prompt where most people scored the same in both essays. That way they feel that the essay is a fair one to give out.

Dang, now that I think about it. I wish I wrote a stronger conclusion. I had ran out of time.

 

[leinaala6]

Reading Comp - No way to prepare for this section, to stinking vague, I can't tell the difference if the writer of a passage is A) Happy B) Happier C) Happiest D) Not Happy

i totally agree, what kind dumb crap was that?

 

[cuedee]

I didn't know one of the essays was experimental!

 

[i ♥ pharmacy]

I am irked because my test was not really that hard (minus chemistry...that was brutal!), and I would have done great had I really studied more. I ended up guessing on a lot of easy questions in Math because I did not remember certain formulas. At least now I know how to be better prepared for January. This was my first time taking it (I signed up for August but did not go due to an emergency), so it was more of a practice test.

I'm glad that the "fatty acid" essay will be the scored one. I didn't do that great on the other one...

BTW, I agree, why the hell is reading so long and the rest so short? I only completely finished the reading and verbal sections. The rest I had to do random speed bubbling 2 minutes before time ended.

I agree about the proctors! Where the hell do they get these people from? One of ours wasn't bad, but the other-- OMG I hate that woman!

 

[najeroni]

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[Knickerbocker]

9) Ate food, went to church at 5, then got pinkberry and drove home after the test. and USC won but I was rooting for Cal and they lost

I had to look up Pinkberry. It sounds like some kind of band. Keep in mind that almost nobody outside of the LA area (and a few spots in NYC) is going to know what that is.

 

[heavy87]

Writing A- Happy with what I wrote, finished writing my conclusion just as she said "PENCILS DOWN".
Verbal- Maybe missed one or two. Overall, very confident I did well, finished with time to spare.
Biology- Pretty good, better than I thought. Maybe missed a few. Finished with time to spare.
Reading- No worries. Finished with about 10 minutes to spare.
Writing B- Finished with time to spare.
Chemistry- I left about 4 blank, and maybe missed a couple more. Worked fairly quickly but probably a little too carefully.
Math- Again, about 4 blank or so. I may have gotten a few wrong here as well.

I'd ballpark my score to be in the 80s. I think my essays and the reading/verbal will give me some padding for those things I missed in the math/chem sections. Hopefully, though, I didn't do too badly. Next time I will definitely study more logarithms, though (I spent a lot of time on calculus and was dismayed at the amount on the PCAT).

Overall it wasn't bad. I got there early but got really sick to my stomach on the way from nerves=. Took a shot of pepto bismol (worth a try, right?), got there, stuck around for about 10 minutes, ran around the back of the building and threw up. Felt much better, went in and took the test. Glad I threw up, because afterward I felt a lot more confident and ready (because my stomach wasn't screaming "YOU WILL FAIL" at me).

 

[ucftanaka08]

I thought Chem. was hard this time around. I had to guess so much!!! Same for math! and they were my better sections on the August test : (

Blahh. I wish it were like the SAT where you combine your best scores!

 

[misswash82]

I had a brutal time with Bio section, though chem and math were ok for me.
Did anyone in this network think that bio was hard ?

 

[fenil2005]

i don't think you can call it hard but i would say kaplan bio is full of crap...i took the kaplan class and my bio scores were 428 and 436 for the midterm and final respectivley but i still didn't do that great on the bio section becuase the questions are not covered in the kaplan book(its more practical type of questions)if i have to retake the pcat i would definitely try examcracker for biology as well as chemistry.. kaplan is good for math and reading and Gen biology...

 

[eric4321]

A few ppl have asked how i got a 99 in Bio. For me it was taking Bio1, Bio2, AP1 and labs & making A's in all of those. It's a ton of information & there's no better way to learn it than in school. Several pharmacists have told me that bio/A&P is the most important thing to know going into pharm school.

I saw that the material i had NOT learned [a little AP2 stuff] was covered pretty much the same on AudioLearn PCAT, Collins Bio Review [didn't have their practice tests] and Kaplan $1300 bio flashcards. All free for me but i recommend the 1st two; have since seen Collins bio tests & they are good. I literally played the AudioLearn A&P in my car driving to the PCAT.

As far as what ppl do nationally - yes, you never know. As for ppl lying on this forum - some do, some don't.

 

[najeroni]

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[najeroni]

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[pharmstud07]

My second essay caught me really off guard!! I only wrote three paragraphs....

On the other hand the first essay was a lot better.... and I see a lot of people mentioning the "fatty" essay... so hopefully that is the one that gets scored since it seems more common.

Just a thought.

 

[confettiflyer]

I had to look up Pinkberry. It sounds like some kind of band. Keep in mind that almost nobody outside of the LA area (and a few spots in NYC) is going to know what that is.

I think Pinkberry is going crazy with expansion...I think there are some in Europe now? I think it's slightly overrated...and they ripped off Iceberry in South Korea. I refuse to hunt for parking and wait 30 mins in line when Yogurtland (in fullerton, irvine, and now off sunset now) is cheaper and has more flavors.

I can't wait 'til this fro-yo craze dies down...like the boba thing died down.

 

[benmap]

For Bio, I suggest that we should take at least Bio II and Ana 1 for the test...that is what I think since there are many questions related to Bio II and Ana this time [Immunization system belongs to Ana II]

 

[moolman]

I think Pinkberry is going crazy with expansion...I think there are some in Europe now? I think it's slightly overrated...and they ripped off Iceberry in South Korea. I refuse to hunt for parking and wait 30 mins in line when Yogurtland (in fullerton, irvine, and now off sunset now) is cheaper and has more flavors.

I can't wait 'til this fro-yo craze dies down...like the boba thing died down.

Pinkberry ripped off Red Mango in Korea, not Iceberry. Iceberry is shaved ice, bing-su, besides that Iceberry is dead, only a few stores are left in Korea. There are Red Mangos on every block now.

Pinkberry just got bought up by a venture capital firm owned by the founder or CEO of Starbucks, so there may be on in Kansas in a couple of years. I prefer Snowberry, less icy and more creamy, with a more authentic yogurt taste.

yeah, where the heck is boba now.


My test version did not have much Immuno, so my advice to those taking the test in the future, you're screwed.... study everything...

 

[chem123]

THE MATH WAS SOO HARD COMPARED TO JUNE PCAT...i didnt study math caz i thought it would be my strong point ...then chem was a little hard...i didnt know alot of things but the things i did know...i didnt have time to finish...the bio was easier....UGHHHHHH I DONT CARE I'M JUST SOO HAPPY ITS OVER!

 

[fenil2005]

A few ppl have asked how i got a 99 in Bio. For me it was taking Bio1, Bio2, AP1 and labs & making A's in all of those. It's a ton of information & there's no better way to learn it than in school. Several pharmacists have told me that bio/A&P is the most important thing to know going into pharm school.

I saw that the material i had NOT learned [a little AP2 stuff] was covered pretty much the same on AudioLearn PCAT, Collins Bio Review [didn't have their practice tests] and Kaplan $1300 bio flashcards. All free for me but i recommend the 1st two; have since seen Collins bio tests & they are good. I literally played the AudioLearn A&P in my car driving to the PCAT.

As far as what ppl do nationally - yes, you never know. As for ppl lying on this forum - some do, some don't.

i took BIO I and BIO II in summer got 'A' in both lec and lab.. Next semester took a&p 1 got 'A' in both lec and lab then i took a&p II got 'A' in both lec and lab... the questions from pcat and the class you take in college are not similar...i thought pcat a&p was way easier... also the time you get to do the class test and pcat are different... so its not necessary to do great in your pre-requisite classes in order to ace the pcat bio section.... again everybody is different.... it worked for you great!! i am happy for you but i will know if it worked for me in the next 5 weeks..your tips helped me for the OCT exam so i want to thank you for your support...

 

[TJustice]

In reading, they recycled two sections from my August exam. So I already knew the content and could breeze threw it.

 

[Knickerbocker]

In reading, they recycled two sections from my August exam. So I already knew the content and could breeze threw it.

Does such obvious recycling of questions seem unfair to anyone else?

 

[confettiflyer]

Does such obvious recycling of questions seem unfair to anyone else?

nah i don't think so....i finished that section with 10 minutes to spare. If I had known the 2 passages ahead of time, I would have had 15 minutes to twiddle my thumbs and stare at the ceiling instead of 10.

Plus, if you got them wrong then...chances are, you'd get it wrong again the 2nd time around (not like you can analyze your answers and study them).

 

[confettiflyer]

Pinkberry ripped off Red Mango in Korea, not Iceberry. Iceberry is shaved ice, bing-su, besides that Iceberry is dead, only a few stores are left in Korea. There are Red Mangos on every block now.

Pinkberry just got bought up by a venture capital firm owned by the founder or CEO of Starbucks, so there may be on in Kansas in a couple of years. I prefer Snowberry, less icy and more creamy, with a more authentic yogurt taste.

yeah, where the heck is boba now.


My test version did not have much Immuno, so my advice to those taking the test in the future, you're screwed.... study everything...

Okay okay red mango for the food product, iceberry for the decor? I forget, my gf told me this a while back. I'll see if i can squeeze in a hop over to korea when in the area and see for myself.

and the bio was...a good balance IMO. The kaplan book prepared me pretty well for it...i swear there were a few questions verbatim or close to it in the review book.

 

[zzll]

Verbal--It should be easy but I still didn't know the answer. English is not my native language. It's fine. I don't care.
Chemistry-not hard.
Biology----not hard although there were a few questions that I didn't know the answers.
Reading---They seemed to be much easier than the final exam of the Kaplan 08-09. At least I finished ahead of time and found out a few mistakes that I made.
Math------not hard. If you are an international student, it will be probably ok if you skip the preparation for Math. I'm not saying American guys are not smart. But I know students in some countries have been educated to get answers really quick. It's similar as native English speakers think verbal is very easy. There are skills.
Essays------Whatever, I don't care.

In conclusion, it's a waste of time to review chemistry and biology. It may help if you review calculus a little bit.

 

[manutdmax]

Verbal--It should be easy but I still didn't know the answer. English is not my native language. It's fine. I don't care.
Chemistry-not hard.
Biology----not hard although there were a few questions that I didn't know the answers.
Reading---They seemed to be much easier than the final exam of the Kaplan 08-09. At least I finished ahead of time and found out a few mistakes that I made.
Math------not hard. If you are an international student, it will be probably ok if you skip the preparation for Math. I'm not saying American guys are not smart. But I know students in some countries have been educated to get answers really quick. It's similar as native English speakers think verbal is very easy. There are skills.
Essays------Whatever, I don't care.

In conclusion, it's a waste of time to review chemistry and biology. It may help if you review calculus a little bit.

where you from anyway...i may use your country math books if u think that helps !

 

[think]

Verbal--It should be easy but I still didn't know the answer. English is not my native language. It's fine. I don't care.
Chemistry-not hard.
Biology----not hard although there were a few questions that I didn't know the answers.
Reading---They seemed to be much easier than the final exam of the Kaplan 08-09. At least I finished ahead of time and found out a few mistakes that I made.
Math------not hard. If you are an international student, it will be probably ok if you skip the preparation for Math. I'm not saying American guys are not smart. But I know students in some countries have been educated to get answers really quick. It's similar as native English speakers think verbal is very easy. There are skills.
Essays------Whatever, I don't care.

In conclusion, it's a waste of time to review chemistry and biology. It may help if you review calculus a little bit.

well u r right about the math ...most other countries are not big on calculators and their students are prepared to do alot of math in their heads and it comes with alot of practice....