January 2009 PCAT

[168533]

Just wanted to get a thread started for those who plan to retake the PCAT in 2009, especially for those of us that are trying to get into pharmacy school for fall 2009 since this is our last shot of getting a good score for this cycle.

What did you think went wrong, and what do you plan to do differently?

To be honest, I didn't study enough at all. I read through almost the entire Kaplan PCAT book, but I was just reading and not comprehending. I can read a book and if it's really boring, I won't be able to tell you anything right after reading it. I registered for the October test probably a little over 2 months before the test date. I maybe studied 1 month averaging 4-5 hours for the week. I had access to 3 practice tests (2 from the PCAT peeps and 1 from Kaplan), and I only did 1 practice test.

This time around (starting Monday after all the thanksgiving festivities die down) I'm going to spend about 3-4 hours a day studying. I read about 6 chapters a day last time, but I was just reading words, so this time I'm going to only read 2 chapters a day and make sure I really understand the material. I also plan to look for outside material away from this Kaplan book that's not too expensive. It says it has all the material one needs to do well on the PCAT, but I don't believe that. Some sections seem to have too much material when others don't have nearly enough. I wish I could afford that $300 study manual that people are raving about, but I can't buy anything too expensive.

Anyways, sorry for rambling. Just figured it would be nice to have support for us retakers!

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[Scikotic]

I have always heard about cultural bias on standardized tests but I never really felt it until this time around. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it is said that the test makers of these tests include questions that favor people of a certain race or class. For example, if you include questions about sailing terms, that will favor people who have experience sailing. That tends to be wealthier people. So on this exam, my test had some food questions which I thought were unfair. I sure hope they were the unscored questions because I think those questions favor people who can afford to eat out a lot and experience different foods.

Too bad we can't discuss specific questions because I would like to know if people agree or not.

I also agree, and I know exactly which question your talking about lol

 

[PharmMD]

Hey guys - awesome and helpful thread here

I'm writing my PCAT on SAT! and I'm so scared lol

I came across this blog about entering UBC Pharmacy from a current 3rd year student and he's got a few sneaky tips for doing well on the PCAT

just wanted to share

www.friendlypharm.blogspot.com

Wish me luck!

 

[Carboxide]

Hey guys - awesome and helpful thread here

I'm writing my PCAT on SAT! and I'm so scared lol

I came across this blog about entering UBC Pharmacy from a current 3rd year student and he's got a few sneaky tips for doing well on the PCAT

just wanted to share

www.friendlypharm.blogspot.com

Wish me luck!

Um, the PCAT isn't offered this Saturday....you missed the deadline by a week, son. It was last Saturday.

 

[TJewd]

Um, the PCAT isn't offered this Saturday....you missed the deadline by a week, son. It was last Saturday.

I think he is just pimping his site, mostly because no one says "writing their PCAT" except that poster on the author of that site.

 

[diastole]

I think he is just pimping his site, mostly because no one says "writing their PCAT" except that poster on the author of that site.

I've seen people say this before. I always assumed it was something that people from other countries say.

 

[lsexie]

i kno its bout 5 weeks too early,, but im countin down to wen d results come out already!!! wish we could see the results immediately aftert the exams!

 

[azrk]

i kno its bout 5 weeks too early,, but im countin down to wen d results come out already!!! wish we could see the results immediately aftert the exams!

Hopefully we'll get scores at the end of Feb. I cant believe its only been a week!

 

[anyr]

I think he is just pimping his site, mostly because no one says "writing their PCAT" except that poster on the author of that site.

No one says "writing their PCAT"? I haven't heard anyone NOT say it like that to be honest D:

 

[whitneythegreat]

what is this $300 manual you are talking about? is it really good?

 

[anyr]

what is this $300 manual you are talking about? is it really good?

It's this one here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=573528

 

[lsexie]

what is this $300 manual you are talking about? is it really good?

its the dr collins manual and its rily good, trust me,,, was similar to the exam too, n beta dan kaplan in my opinion

 

[SHC1984]

No one says "writing their PCAT"? I haven't heard anyone NOT say it like that to be honest D:

I think people from Canada say it...correct me if I am wrong though.

 

[Dr.iz-n]

I had to laugh when I read your post, but I most certainly agree. The ones who always think it was tricky end up doing well. The ones who thought it went well and can do the problems get a 35 on reading comprehension (no lie, I SWORE I did well on this section in October and look at the score I got)...Sometimes you just can't win and have to chill out...

Its funny how some of you complain and vent over how hard or how little time you have for the exam, yet, you guys are the ones that end up with 90 something percentile.

 

[wolverex84]

I had to laugh when I read your post, but I most certainly agree. The ones who always think it was tricky end up doing well. The ones who thought it went well and can do the problems get a 35 on reading comprehension (no lie, I SWORE I did well on this section in October and look at the score I got)...Sometimes you just can't win and have to chill out...

yeah bro, this is my second time taking it, i noticed the same trend from all last years pcat discussion, everyone complained and stressed over the exam, i did too. It temporarily makes you feel save, you get the false impression that you are not the only one that screwed up cuz everyone is complaining, but those complaining are the really smart ones..... The countdown/anticipation ends when your score arrives through mail, you open it, bamm!!!, you see your score and you are like.. that's not me..lol.. i thought i did extremely well on this section.. how could this happen. NO!!!!!..lol

Those of you that has been in the same situation know exactly what i am talking about.

 

[SHC1984]

I had to laugh when I read your post, but I most certainly agree. The ones who always think it was tricky end up doing well. The ones who thought it went well and can do the problems get a 35 on reading comprehension (no lie, I SWORE I did well on this section in October and look at the score I got)...Sometimes you just can't win and have to chill out...

It has nothing to do with you....you must have gotten an very easy reading comp and everyone else did very well on it and you might have missed one or two more questions then they did...a 35% means you did better then 35% of the people...so that could easily happen if you took a test with a bunch of people that didn't miss any reading comp questions!

 

[Dr.iz-n]

Ah, yes so true! I've read the posts before I took the October PCAT too from last year, and I felt that I did have a false impression of how I would do or how well I did after reading those...You're right--no sense in me trying to figure out which questions I got wrong, just roll with it...I'll be happy with anything between a 70--80...Good e'nuf for me!

yeah bro, this is my second time taking it, i noticed the same trend from all last years pcat discussion, everyone complained and stressed over the exam, i did too. It temporarily makes you feel save, you get the false impression that you are not the only one that screwed up cuz everyone is complaining, but those complaining are the really smart ones..... The countdown/anticipation ends when your score arrives through mail, you open it, bamm!!!, you see your score and you are like.. that's not me..lol.. i thought i did extremely well on this section.. how could this happen. NO!!!!!..lol

Those of you that has been in the same situation know exactly what i am talking about.

 

[Dr.iz-n]

Hmm...Interesting point. I guess I just don't understand even with the composite scores...Someone can have a scaled score of 424 and have 70 or 80, but something that's in the low 400s can be a 50 or something...I just get so confusted on the grading of the PCAT...It totally sucks!

It has nothing to do with you....you must have gotten an very easy reading comp and everyone else did very well on it and you might have missed one or two more questions then they did...a 35% means you did better then 35% of the people...so that could easily happen if you took a test with a bunch of people that didn't miss any reading comp questions!

 

[CareerChg]

It has nothing to do with you....you must have gotten an very easy reading comp and everyone else did very well on it and you might have missed one or two more questions then they did...a 35% means you did better then 35% of the people...so that could easily happen if you took a test with a bunch of people that didn't miss any reading comp questions!

Remember that the multiple choice section of the PCAT (everything except for the writing) is NOT scored against the people who took the test the same day as you. It is scored against a norm group of 1st time test takers from 2004-2007. So who you took the test with has no effect on your scores. This is why it gets harder and harder to get a good percentile score each year - especially since the 2008 test was changed so much from previous years.

 

[Dr.iz-n]

Absolutely wack! You're right that does make it harder to do better because some sections of the test probably were easier during that time period...Geez...That's so ridiculous and insane!!!!!

Well I'll just hope for the best and expect the worse for this section again. Sheesh!

Remember that the multiple choice section of the PCAT (everything except for the writing) is NOT scored against the people who took the test the same day as you. It is scored against a norm group of 1st time test takers from 2004-2007. So who you took the test with has no effect on your scores. This is why it gets harder and harder to get a good percentile score each year - especially since the 2008 test was changed so much from previous years.

 

[Transformer]

Every time I feel like a section is really tricky or difficult, I end up with a good score. But when I think a section is way too easy, that's when I score really low. That's the trend I've observed on the PCAT.

Anyways, 4 more weeks till we get our results. We should get it the mail at the end of this month.

 

[Dr.iz-n]

I'm right there with ya--I believe we'll get them at the end of this month too, and this month is SO short! At least I'll be out of town around the time I get my results so I won't have to worry about checking the mail all the time!

I agree with your sentiments...to some degree...I felt really good about verbal before and got a 78, which wasn't too bad for the first try...So I hope I did better this second time around...THIS time I felt good about biology, verbal, and reading, and little better about math (but not by much)...Hmm..we shall see...

Every time I feel like a section is really tricky or difficult, I end up with a good score. But when I think a section is way too easy, that's when I score really low. That's the trend I've observed on the PCAT.

Anyways, 4 more weeks till we get our results. We should get it the mail at the end of this month.

 

[TTUMike]

Im hoping I get my results a lot sooner than last test. I had to wait a couple of weeks after the first person received their results.

 

[SHC1984]

Im hoping I get my results a lot sooner than last test. I had to wait a couple of weeks after the first person received their results.

How many weeks did you wait total? I heard you shouldn't have to wait more then 6 weeks total unless something went wrong of course...like lost in mail or something...

 

[apple26]

I know that our actual performance is compared to another group of test takers, but I was wondering if anyone knew how many one could miss to get a decent score. Obviously, missing none is perfect, but as a "guestimate," how many do you think you could miss in each section to get a score that falls within the 70-80% range?

 

[Dr.iz-n]

This is the question I would like to know, but I don't know if anyone knows this answer either....I keep thinking about the questions I KNOW i clearly got wrong, and I estimate that I could have gotten at least 75% of them correct, but then again you have to factor in that 8 of the questions are experimental...So however many you got wrong divided by 40...But then it gets compared to the norm group, so who knows where you would fall...

I remember seeing a post last year about calculating composite scores, and that one was right on target for my last PCAT...Average all the scores for each section, (i.e., 78, 85, etc), divide by 5, then divide by .9...My score was pretty close to that calculation, maybe off by 1-2 points...I don't know--whoever came up with this calculation was pretty smart, I just remember seeing a post about this last year in one of the Forums...

I know that our actual performance is compared to another group of test takers, but I was wondering if anyone knew how many one could miss to get a decent score. Obviously, missing none is perfect, but as a "guestimate," how many do you think you could miss in each section to get a score that falls within the 70-80% range?

 

[Dr.iz-n]

You know, as I think about it, what if it's really that simple of just taking the number wrong divided by 40, then it's "curved" or compared to the norm group so you either add or subtract a few points...Everyone knows how a curve works, maybe this is how they do it....
Hmmm...Just some random thoughts as we stress during the next 4 weeks!

This is the question I would like to know, but I don't know if anyone knows this answer either....I keep thinking about the questions I KNOW i clearly got wrong, and I estimate that I could have gotten at least 75% of them correct, but then again you have to factor in that 8 of the questions are experimental...So however many you got wrong divided by 40...But then it gets compared to the norm group, so who knows where you would fall...

I remember seeing a post last year about calculating composite scores, and that one was right on target for my last PCAT...Average all the scores for each section, (i.e., 78, 85, etc), divide by 5, then divide by .9...My score was pretty close to that calculation, maybe off by 1-2 points...I don't know--whoever came up with this calculation was pretty smart, I just remember seeing a post about this last year in one of the Forums...

 

[SHC1984]

You know, as I think about it, what if it's really that simple of just taking the number wrong divided by 40, then it's "curved" or compared to the norm group so you either add or subtract a few points...Everyone knows how a curve works, maybe this is how they do it....
Hmmm...Just some random thoughts as we stress during the next 4 weeks!

I heard you could just look at your practice PCAT exams on their website and see...Like I missed 19 reading comp questions, 10 biology questions, 10 math questions, and 3 chemistry questions...and it gave me a score on each section...I heard thats a pretty good estimate of your REAL score...

Just a side note...I missed the same amount of questions in Biology as Math however...my math score was HIGHER than Biology...so I am guessing you are allow to miss a little more on the math section then biology section...I THINK at least...

 

[Dr.iz-n]

Yeah, I used that as a gauge too. But the range was so large, who knows where you would fall? I guess it's a good estimator...I don't think I can access my practice exams again, they've expired I think for this past testing cycle...

I heard you could just look at your practice PCAT exams on their website and see...Like I missed 19 reading comp questions, 10 biology questions, 10 math questions, and 3 chemistry questions...and it gave me a score on each section...I heard thats a pretty good estimate of your REAL score...

Just a side note...I missed the same amount of questions in Biology as Math however...my math score was HIGHER than Biology...so I am guessing you are allow to miss a little more on the math section then biology section...I THINK at least...

 

[CareerChg]

I heard you could just look at your practice PCAT exams on their website and see...Like I missed 19 reading comp questions, 10 biology questions, 10 math questions, and 3 chemistry questions...and it gave me a score on each section...I heard thats a pretty good estimate of your REAL score...

Just a side note...I missed the same amount of questions in Biology as Math however...my math score was HIGHER than Biology...so I am guessing you are allow to miss a little more on the math section then biology section...I THINK at least...

Harcourt would like you to think that their practice tests are a good indicator or how you will do on the actual exam, but so many of the practice test sections are so much easier than the real thing, this was not my experience. If I would have done on the October exam what I had done on the practice tests, I would not have been taking the exam again in January. I hate to be a spoil sport, but I wouldn't count on that. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones.

 

[SHC1984]

Harcourt would like you to think that their practice tests are a good indicator or how you will do on the actual exam, but so many of the practice test sections are so much easier than the real thing, this was not my experience. If I would have done on the October exam what I had done on the practice tests, I would not have been taking the exam again in January. I hate to be a spoil sport, but I wouldn't count on that. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones.

The practice exams and the real PCAT isn't the same I agree...but I don't think the real PCAT was harder than the practice though...Just like EVERYONE feels the Cliff exams was sooooo much easier than the real PCAT...I didn't feel that way either...I feel its different but the Cliff's wasn't easier...just different. I thought the Biology section on the 2nd practice PCAT was harder then the real PCAT. It might be b/c I have NEVER taken any microbiology before...I have a degree in chemistry not biology. I also feel that's maybe why I missed a lot of the microbiology questions in Cliffs too.

The Chemistry section on the real PCAT did have more calculations BUT the calculations did not take a long time...alot of them you can do in your head for example...11/102 is 10% there is NO need for any further calculations...I didn't get any very hard or long calculations on the chemistry section...there were a lot of calculations but they were all very reasonable.

The Verbal was harder though...the Verbal on the First practice exam was definetly easier then the verbal on the real PCAT...but then again verbal IS verbal and I have never taken a verbal exam and though it was a piece of cake! I just hope I make at least a 50% on the verbal part.

Then again I might have just gotten lucky! I got Form 22A which I thought was very reasonable except for the verbal section...I thought the Bio, Chem, and Math were all reasonable...NOT easy, but reasonable.

 

[SHC1984]

Yeah, I used that as a gauge too. But the range was so large, who knows where you would fall? I guess it's a good estimator...I don't think I can access my practice exams again, they've expired I think for this past testing cycle...

I just looked the exams are expired! To answer your questions...for a decent score I would not miss more then 10-12 problems on the Chem and Biology sections. They are more lenient on the math so I guess don't miss anymore then 13-15 problems. The reading...I missed too much!! lol...but I am guessing don't miss more then 15 problems if you want to do decent on it. And the verbal I missed like 22 on the practice...but if you want to do well don't miss more then 10-12 problems!

 

[Dr.iz-n]

I know! Total bummer they are expired! I can't remember if I printed out my score sheets for each section when I did the tests.

I agree with you about the number of problems to miss on the sections...I think that is a good gauge...Lord knows I must have missed a lot back in october on reading to get a 35!!!!!!! GEEZ!

I just looked the exams are expired! To answer your questions...for a decent score I would not miss more then 10-12 problems on the Chem and Biology sections. They are more lenient on the math so I guess don't miss anymore then 13-15 problems. The reading...I missed too much!! lol...but I am guessing don't miss more then 15 problems if you want to do decent on it. And the verbal I missed like 22 on the practice...but if you want to do well don't miss more then 10-12 problems!

 

[CareerChg]

The practice exams and the real PCAT isn't the same I agree...but I don't think the real PCAT was harder than the practice though...Just like EVERYONE feels the Cliff exams was sooooo much easier than the real PCAT...I didn't feel that way either...I feel its different but the Cliff's wasn't easier...just different. I thought the Biology section on the 2nd practice PCAT was harder then the real PCAT. It might be b/c I have NEVER taken any microbiology before...I have a degree in chemistry not biology. I also feel that's maybe why I missed a lot of the microbiology questions in Cliffs too.

The Chemistry section on the real PCAT did have more calculations BUT the calculations did not take a long time...alot of them you can do in your head for example...11/102 is 10% there is NO need for any further calculations...I didn't get any very hard or long calculations on the chemistry section...there were a lot of calculations but they were all very reasonable.

The Verbal was harder though...the Verbal on the First practice exam was definetly easier then the verbal on the real PCAT...but then again verbal IS verbal and I have never taken a verbal exam and though it was a piece of cake! I just hope I make at least a 50% on the verbal part.

Then again I might have just gotten lucky! I got Form 22A which I thought was very reasonable except for the verbal section...I thought the Bio, Chem, and Math were all reasonable...NOT easy, but reasonable.

I thought overall that the January 09 PCAT was easier than the October 08 PCAT. I don't know if it was b/c I studied more, or if it was just that the test was that much different. I will say that the Chem on the Jan test was way fewer calculations than on the October exam. Much more conceptual stuff - which is what I like to see and truer to the practice exams. I had form 22B. Oh, and yes, the practice tests expire after the testing cycle. So they were good until the January PCAT. If you have to buy them again, you can view them until next January's PCAT.

 

[Dr.iz-n]

I agree with you...I think this time around things came a little easier, or I don't know if I studied more...Actually I studied more for the October 08 (June--October), and this time I only had a good 1 1/2 months to review the stuff i needed to...
I hope I did better in Reading...that was the surpriser for me...I hope Math went better...I did HORRIBLE ON MATH. Chem this time around, I studied more calculations, but I think I might have messed up on easier ones...Geez...

I thought overall that the January 09 PCAT was easier than the October 08 PCAT. I don't know if it was b/c I studied more, or if it was just that the test was that much different. I will say that the Chem on the Jan test was way fewer calculations than on the October exam. Much more conceptual stuff - which is what I like to see and truer to the practice exams. I had form 22B. Oh, and yes, the practice tests expire after the testing cycle. So they were good until the January PCAT. If you have to buy them again, you can view them until next January's PCAT.

 

[Tatodotcom]

I thought overall that the January 09 PCAT was easier than the October 08 PCAT. I don't know if it was b/c I studied more, or if it was just that the test was that much different. I will say that the Chem on the Jan test was way fewer calculations than on the October exam. Much more conceptual stuff - which is what I like to see and truer to the practice exams. I had form 22B. Oh, and yes, the practice tests expire after the testing cycle. So they were good until the January PCAT. If you have to buy them again, you can view them until next January's PCAT.

i totally agree, i also had form 22b and also took it in oct 08. during my oct 08 exam i also had form 22b and thought that jan was soooo much easier. as u said the chem section was a lot easier than the oct, less calculations in jan test. there was also multiple repeat questions and i dunno if that was because i got the same form both times or what but it was a lot easier. i hope its like that again if god forbid i have to take this test again. i pray i dont have to!

 

[TTUMike]

How many weeks did you wait total? I heard you shouldn't have to wait more then 6 weeks total unless something went wrong of course...like lost in mail or something...

Well it was about that long. It was literally two weeks after the first person received their scores.

 

[SHC1984]

Well it was about that long. It was literally two weeks after the first person received their scores.

Do you live in Hawaii or Alaska? I know those places take longer b/c they are further away...LOL...

 

[SHC1984]

I thought overall that the January 09 PCAT was easier than the October 08 PCAT. I don't know if it was b/c I studied more, or if it was just that the test was that much different. I will say that the Chem on the Jan test was way fewer calculations than on the October exam. Much more conceptual stuff - which is what I like to see and truer to the practice exams. I had form 22B. Oh, and yes, the practice tests expire after the testing cycle. So they were good until the January PCAT. If you have to buy them again, you can view them until next January's PCAT.

Oh in that case I guess I did get lucky! Jan was the first time I took the PCAT...I have never taken it before Jan.

The only werid thing I can think of is....I heard a lot of people saying that there were A LOT of repeat questions from Oct and then you guys are saying that the Jan exam was easier...How can the Jan exam be easier if most of the questions were repeats??? Unless of course you remember all the answer you put for it the first time? Or remember how to do it from the first time? But the Jan one shouldn't be a lot easier if its a repeat of most of the Oct exam though...unless I am missing something?

 

[CareerChg]

Oh in that case I guess I did get lucky! Jan was the first time I took the PCAT...I have never taken it before Jan.

The only werid thing I can think of is....I heard a lot of people saying that there were A LOT of repeat questions from Oct and then you guys are saying that the Jan exam was easier...How can the Jan exam be easier if most of the questions were repeats??? Unless of course you remember all the answer you put for it the first time? Or remember how to do it from the first time? But the Jan one shouldn't be a lot easier if its a repeat of most of the Oct exam though...unless I am missing something?

I have read that some people have had a few questions that were also on their October exam - that doesn't mean that MOST of the questions were repeats. You have to remember that people posting to this board could have had any of the 4 or 6 or however many different forms of the test there were on test day. So maybe someone from each form had a couple questions from each section that they remembered from a previous test. That's certainly not the whole test. It does not surprise me at all that PCAT mixes up their tests and questions throughout the year. I'm sure they have a pool of questions to choose from. On my Jan test I can remember for sure 2 bio questions that were the same from Oct. I remember seeing a few questions in different sections that were the same as the Pearson practice tests - maybe like 2 on the whole exam. On Reading Comp there were 2 entire passages that were the same as last time, but that doesn't mean there were that many on every form. Besides, I don't know if that helped me b/c I don't know what I did on those sections the first time. I do feel like I was more relaxed during this reading comp and not as worried about time. That helped make things easier. Don't take this the wrong way but you seem really hung up on the fact that there a few questions from each of the tests that were the same and the fact that so many people on this blog have mentioned it seems to be throwing you off or something. It was not the "same" test - nor is it ever the "same" test. I wouldn't be saying I was lucky until I got my scores. Like someone said, the sections you think you did the best on usually end up being the sections you did the worst on. LOL!

 

[SHC1984]

I have read that some people have had a few questions that were also on their October exam - that doesn't mean that MOST of the questions were repeats. You have to remember that people posting to this board could have had any of the 4 or 6 or however many different forms of the test there were on test day. So maybe someone from each form had a couple questions from each section that they remembered from a previous test. That's certainly not the whole test. It does not surprise me at all that PCAT mixes up their tests and questions throughout the year. I'm sure they have a pool of questions to choose from. On my Jan test I can remember for sure 2 bio questions that were the same from Oct. I remember seeing a few questions in different sections that were the same as the Pearson practice tests - maybe like 2 on the whole exam. On Reading Comp there were 2 entire passages that were the same as last time, but that doesn't mean there were that many on every form. Besides, I don't know if that helped me b/c I don't know what I did on those sections the first time. I do feel like I was more relaxed during this reading comp and not as worried about time. That helped make things easier. Don't take this the wrong way but you seem really hung up on the fact that there a few questions from each of the tests that were the same and the fact that so many people on this blog have mentioned it seems to be throwing you off or something. It was not the "same" test - nor is it ever the "same" test. I wouldn't be saying I was lucky until I got my scores. Like someone said, the sections you think you did the best on usually end up being the sections you did the worst on. LOL!

First of all I say I was lucky b/c I was agreeing with you...you say the Jan PCAT was easy and the Oct one was not...so I agreed with you and say I was lucky for taking it on Jan and not Oct. Secondly I have heard 1-2 people say that the exam had a lot of repeats. I am not thrown off by it because I am always confident in my performances on my exams. (except for the verbal...of course) I am just surprised that this exam would use repeats so often...Just like if I was to see someone cheating on the PCAT...I won't feel threaten by it but I would be shocked by it. Same reasoning. I would never let something or someone dictate how I personally do on an exam.

 

[CareerChg]

First of all I say I was lucky b/c I was agreeing with you...you say the Jan PCAT was easy and the Oct one was not...so I agreed with you and say I was lucky for taking it on Jan and not Oct. Secondly I have heard 1-2 people say that the exam had a lot of repeats. I am not thrown off by it because I am always confident in my performances on my exams. (except for the verbal...of course) I am just surprised that this exam would use repeats so often...Just like if I was to see someone cheating on the PCAT...I won't feel threaten by it but I would be shocked by it. Same reasoning. I would never let something or someone dictate how I personally do on an exam.

Okay...again - I don't want you to take this the wrong way, however, I always get the feeling that Pharmacy is your second career choice - as evidenced by how much you talk about the DAT and dental school. I don't know if you didn't get into dental school, changed your mind, or are a dental school flunkie, but you talk about it a lot. Then, in the same breath you mention how the PCAT seems so easy and people don't do well b/c they don't study enough, and that the test is a repeat of other tests and now that someone was cheating.

Well, first of all, I would have never noticed if anyone was cheating when I took the PCAT b/c it was like I was in a room all by myself. I was so concerned with taking the test that I had no idea what was going on around me. Secondly, when you put down this test, and the people who aren't as smart as you (because as you said you are always confident and always do well) then you are putting down all of the people on this blog who have worked really hard b/c Pharmacy is there #1 career choice and this is what they really want to do. Maybe you're really young and naive - but people cheat in this world. They lie and steal. It may seem shocking if you've never witnessed it, but it's reality. It's not Pearson's fault if someone was cheating. It's the proctor's fault at your test center and if I had witnessed someone cheating I would have told the proctor, b/c that really sucks for the rest of us. This is an open blog and I respect your opinions, but I would hope that when you are typing your comments you are remembering that everyone on this blog really wants this and is working really hard to get this.

 

[SHC1984]

Okay...again - I don't want you to take this the wrong way, however, I always get the feeling that Pharmacy is your second career choice - as evidenced by how much you talk about the DAT and dental school. I don't know if you didn't get into dental school, changed your mind, or are a dental school flunkie, but you talk about it a lot. Then, in the same breath you mention how the PCAT seems so easy and people don't do well b/c they don't study enough, and that the test is a repeat of other tests and now that someone was cheating.

Well, first of all, I would have never noticed if anyone was cheating when I took the PCAT b/c it was like I was in a room all by myself. I was so concerned with taking the test that I had no idea what was going on around me. Secondly, when you put down this test, and the people who aren't as smart as you (because as you said you are always confident and always do well) then you are putting down all of the people on this blog who have worked really hard b/c Pharmacy is there #1 career choice and this is what they really want to do. Maybe you're really young and naive - but people cheat in this world. They lie and steal. It may seem shocking if you've never witnessed it, but it's reality. It's not Pearson's fault if someone was cheating. It's the proctor's fault at your test center and if I had witnessed someone cheating I would have told the proctor, b/c that really sucks for the rest of us. This is an open blog and I respect your opinions, but I would hope that when you are typing your comments you are remembering that everyone on this blog really wants this and is working really hard to get this.

Okay I don't think you are understanding anything that I am saying so I am going to try and make it more clear for you.
1) You say the Jan PCAT was easy and I simply agreed with you. I didn't take the Oct PCAT so I can't say anything about it.
2) I never say the Jan PCAT or any PCAT was an exact repeat... SOMEONE ELSE TOLD me that they took an exam in Oct and it was ALMOST the exact same thing as the one they took in Jan (AGAIN SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT I DIDN'T SAY THAT) I don't know if its true or not b/c I have only taken the PCAT ONE TIME.
3) I say I was SHOCKED about the PCAT being an almost exact repeat (according to this other person) Just like I would be shocked if someone was to cheat on the exam! NO one cheated and I never say someone on here cheated...(don't know where you got that from...) But I say I would be shocked if that happend...Not "thrown off" but shocked.
4) I dropped out of Columbia Dental school. I was passing, the school was Pass/Fail, I dropped out b/c I don't like touching people. My goal is to eventually be a part-time pharmd and have one or two children...I don't like teeth enough to stay in the profession. Its actually hard to fail out of Columbia...its an ivy league school and they will do anything to keep anyone from failing out. LOL...
5) I do have confidence in everything that I do and I hope everyone else here has confidence...how can anyone go thru life without confidence? thats scary.
6) I WISH I was young...I am 24 now...If I had went striaght into pharmacy instead of wasting my time at Columbia dental I would be a pharmacist right now. Now I will be in my late 20s before I get out.

 

[CareerChg]

Okay I don't think you are understanding anything that I am saying so I am going to try and make it more clear for you.
1) You say the Jan PCAT was easy and I simply agreed with you. I didn't take the Oct PCAT so I can't say anything about it.
2) I never say the Jan PCAT or any PCAT was an exact repeat... SOMEONE ELSE TOLD me that they took an exam in Oct and it was ALMOST the exact same thing as the one they took in Jan (AGAIN SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT I DIDN'T SAY THAT) I don't know if its true or not b/c I have only taken the PCAT ONE TIME.
3) I say I was SHOCKED about the PCAT being an almost exact repeat (according to this other person) Just like I would be shocked if someone was to cheat on the exam! NO one cheated and I never say someone on here cheated...(don't know where you got that from...) But I say I would be shocked if that happend...Not "thrown off" but shocked.
4) I dropped out of Columbia Dental school. I was passing, the school was Pass/Fail, I dropped out b/c I don't like touching people. My goal is to eventually be a part-time pharmd and have one or two children...I don't like teeth enough to stay in the profession. Its actually hard to fail out of Columbia...its an ivy league school and they will do anything to keep anyone from failing out. LOL...
5) I do have confidence in everything that I do and I hope everyone else here has confidence...how can anyone go thru life without confidence? thats scary.
6) I WISH I was young...I am 24 now...If I had went striaght into pharmacy instead of wasting my time at Columbia dental I would be a pharmacist right now. Now I will be in my late 20s before I get out.

I never said the Jan test was easy - although I wish it had been! I said it was EASIER than the October test. 24 is a baby! I really do wish you all the best. I agree that you should be confident. I have confidence in myself - couldn't have ever gotten to where I am if I didn't. It just sounds sometimes like you 2nd guess everything about pharmacy. As for whether or not you have said the test was the same or someone else told you the test was the same - maybe you need to go back and read some of your other posts. Remember that time that you spend doing ANYTHING in this life is NEVER time wasted. Everything that we do - everything - gets us to where we will end up (or where we are today). Everything is a life lesson that makes us who we are. I'm in my 30s and hoping to get in this year so I can get out before I have to start paying for my oldest child to go to college. I would never say that the things I've done over the last 10 years were a waste of time. My husband, my kids, my previous career - all got me to this point - and Thank God! Regarding the cheating thing - you made it sound like someone at your testing center cheated. When I reread your post this morning I realized that you were just talking about "if" that had happened. I can tell you're smart and I'm sure you'll do well in school whatever you do. If this whole PCAT thing has been easy for you - that's awesome. I'm glad that this has been an easy road for you. It hasn't been the same for me - but it's been a long time since I took a lot of the classes. I had to go back and teach myself a lot. I also have a whole lot of other things going on in my life. But I deal with it because in the end I know there is nothing else I want to do - and I'm doing it for me and my family. I hope that you, too, get to a point where you are absolutely sure about your career path (at least for now) because that makes all the hard work worth it.

 

[SHC1984]

I never said the Jan test was easy - although I wish it had been! I said it was EASIER than the October test. 24 is a baby! I really do wish you all the best. I agree that you should be confident. I have confidence in myself - couldn't have ever gotten to where I am if I didn't. It just sounds sometimes like you 2nd guess everything about pharmacy. As for whether or not you have said the test was the same or someone else told you the test was the same - maybe you need to go back and read some of your other posts. Remember that time that you spend doing ANYTHING in this life is NEVER time wasted. Everything that we do - everything - gets us to where we will end up (or where we are today). Everything is a life lesson that makes us who we are. I'm in my 30s and hoping to get in this year so I can get out before I have to start paying for my oldest child to go to college. I would never say that the things I've done over the last 10 years were a waste of time. My husband, my kids, my previous career - all got me to this point - and Thank God! Regarding the cheating thing - you made it sound like someone at your testing center cheated. When I reread your post this morning I realized that you were just talking about "if" that had happened. I can tell you're smart and I'm sure you'll do well in school whatever you do. If this whole PCAT thing has been easy for you - that's awesome. I'm glad that this has been an easy road for you. It hasn't been the same for me - but it's been a long time since I took a lot of the classes. I had to go back and teach myself a lot. I also have a whole lot of other things going on in my life. But I deal with it because in the end I know there is nothing else I want to do - and I'm doing it for me and my family. I hope that you, too, get to a point where you are absolutely sure about your career path (at least for now) because that makes all the hard work worth it.

Thanks for the wishes. I never say the PCAT was easy either. I say the Chem and Bio sections were reasonable. Meaning it wasn't impossible to finish in 30 minutes...but my overall score would most likely be in the 70s or 80s...if I really f*ck up the reading and verbal then I will proberly score in the 70s overall and if I did a little bit better then I thought it will most likely be in the 80s....so I doubt its anything to brag about anyways...If I came across as bragging I didn't mean it that way. I just mean the science and math sections were reasonable for the time alloted. I also read the entire Kaplan book for the PCAT. So if I was the get an 80 on it it doesn't really mean anything...as really smart people make higher then me all the time without studying! I don't think I am all that smart, I am just efficient with my time.

As for second guessing pharmacy as a career...you are right. I don't know what my passion is...LOL...and sometimes I do feel a little bit bad about dropping dental b/c the money is so good. But I really hate the job so I know it was the for best! lol... I am a pharmacy tech right now and its going pretty well...but I will be lying to you here if I say that I will still be doing this if I won the 50 million dollar lottery today! Hell, If I had everything my way I would really want to just get married to a doctor or something LOL...and stay home and be an educated housewife. But thats just wishful thinking on my part.

 

[azrk]

3 weeks guys I know its bad to count down because it makes it seem longer but i cant help myself =D

The times passing really fast though so many tests etc coming up makes the time fly!

 

[bigdings]

Whats up? I'm new to this place. I took my PCAT in Jan 09. Today is 2-19-09, anybody receive their scores yet? I live in NC.

 

[azrk]

Scores should start coming in next week sometime

 

[bigdings]

Next week? Da*n, was wanting to see them maybe today. Haha, oh well. I heard many people before say that Jan. test scores come n the earliest of them all. Hopefully my updated scores are good. Thanks by the way and good luck to you all!

 

[SHC1984]

Whats up? I'm new to this place. I took my PCAT in Jan 09. Today is 2-19-09, anybody receive their scores yet? I live in NC.

I am also in NC and no scores have came in yet for me...I CANNOT WAIT for them to come NOW!!!!!

 

[diastole]

I'm getting tired of waiting too. They really should switch this to a computer test with instant results. They could do everything but the essay which you would still have to wait for. I could live with that.