July 20 PCAT

[ThugMotivation]

Post your thoughts on the PCAT and how y'all did in it. Good Luck!

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[beanie92]

Post your thoughts on the PCAT and how y'all did in it. Good Luck!

Yahh will do ! Taking it tomorrow =] !!! Off to sleep now

 

[JonPrePharmD]

Yahh will do ! Taking it tomorrow =] !!! Off to sleep now

Good luck to you!

 

[nrm07]

I thought I did terrible since I ran out of time in nearly every section, but my "preliminary score report" composite score was 82 percentile.

I did do terrible in reading comprehension though.. (32%)

 

[PBuster]

So how was it? I have a question for those of you who have taken the test...

Is the Chemistry section approximately 75% Gen Chem and 25% OChem material? I'm not too keen with OChem but I do remember the very basics (reactions are not my forte) like nomenclature.

 

[harmonidrum]

So how was it? I have a question for those of you who have taken the test...

Is the Chemistry section approximately 75% Gen Chem and 25% OChem material? I'm not too keen with OChem but I do remember the very basics (reactions are not my forte) like nomenclature.

No. The chemistry section consists of 60% General Chemistry/40% Organic chemistry.

 

[bas0912]

just wondering how much dose the preliminary score report differ from the actual one.

my score were:

VA:58
Bio:66
RC:52
QA:62
Chem:72
Comp:64

 

[Ranman21]

first time taking it and my preliminary scores were,

VA: 40
Bio: 88
RC: 13
QA: 71
Chem: 93
Composite: 67

SO i did great on chem and bio but i guess my english is terrible lol.

I guess im gonna have to do it again...

is it possible for the marks to change by a lot?

 

[lv2008]

What did you study for the QA, Chem, and Bio

 

[pharm313]

For those of you who purchased the practice exams from Pearson, how similar was the PCAT to the July 20th exam?

 

[Ranman21]

What did you study for the QA, Chem, and Bio

I studied from Kaplan for everything except organic chemistry. FOr organic chemistry i used a unversity textbook just to get an idea of the different reaction mechanisms.

 

[srikrishna]

I studied from Kaplan for everything except organic chemistry. FOr organic chemistry i used a unversity textbook just to get an idea of the different reaction mechanisms.

for how many months did u prepare and how was math and verbal ?which book did u used for math and verbal

 

[ajsnn]

did you memorize all the vocab words from kaplan? did that help on the verbal section at all?

 

[amcknight14]

For those of you who purchased the practice exams from Pearson, how similar was the PCAT to the July 20th exam?

It was not similar at all in my opinion. The format was right on but the types of questions where way off. I bought multiple practice test and when I took the PCAT today I felt like I was completely lost trying to read a foreign language for the chemistry and biology sections.

 

[simplyme01]

Did anyone use dr collins to study for it and if you did was it helpful for today's pcat? I'm taking it next Wednesday and I mostly focused on dr collins and pearson practice pcat. I went over kaplan and bio chem also but I noticed the chem questions in kaplan were much harder than the pearson ones.

 

[Brit in NC]

Post your thoughts on the PCAT and how y'all did in it. Good Luck!

Thought I had done terribly, almost cried when it was over because I had to guess nearly half of quant. And missed a couple off the end, so didn't even guess them. I must have been lucky (and admittedly I read most of the questions to eliminate clearly wrong answers and up the probability if a correct guess, but didn't have enough time to work the answers).
Overall though it went really well, 97th percentile!
59th for quant, but 99 chem, 98 bio and I can't find my score sheet now but verbal was 90s, reading upper 70s. Just proves how much chem is weighted on the test, hoping that the writing wont bring my score down too badly :s

Hope everyone else had a positive test experience

 

[MPharmD]

Thought I had done terribly, almost cried when it was over because I had to guess nearly half of quant. And missed a couple off the end, so didn't even guess them. I must have been lucky (and admittedly I read most of the questions to eliminate clearly wrong answers and up the probability if a correct guess, but didn't have enough time to work the answers).
Overall though it went really well, 97th percentile!
59th for quant, but 99 chem, 98 bio and I can't find my score sheet now but verbal was 90s, reading upper 70s. Just proves how much chem is weighted on the test, hoping that the writing wont bring my score down too badly :s

Hope everyone else had a positive test experience

Hey, Congratulations! thats an amazing score! Did you use Dr Collins by any chance? And if so, was it of any help?

 

[gotgame740]

what kind of organic chemistry was on the test?

 

[nrm07]

how accurate do you guys think these preliminary scores?

if I scored an 82 composite but a 32 on reading comp, will that ruin my chances?

 

[Brit in NC]

Hey, Congratulations! thats an amazing score! Did you use Dr Collins by any chance? And if so, was it of any help?

I didn't, though other test takers from here have reported good marks in the past. I already have a biochem and genetics degree so I have more bio and chem classes than most, though so many didn't transfer from England to the US I think that would be my greatest advantage. I used a Kaplan book from 2008-2009 and it was full of spelling errors! Practicing questions online by searching for pcat practice helped some, and I borrowed a GRE book to look at some of the vocabulary, though certainly didnt read it cover to cover.
Good luck with dr Collins, other threads have reported great results using it

 

[mbpuffer]

It was not similar at all in my opinion. The format was right on but the types of questions where way off. I bought multiple practice test and when I took the PCAT today I felt like I was completely lost trying to read a foreign language for the chemistry and biology sections.

+1
IMO the practice tests were very different than today's test.

 

[flyerschickxox]

My PCAT today was totally different then the practice tests...I failed miserably.

 

[pharm313]

Okay since so many people think the Pearson PCAT exams were really off, what do you guys think about Dr. Collins and the July 20th PCAT?

Also, can you explain what areas you think the practice exams were different?

 

[katee]

I took the PCAT and Dr Collins study guide was more than helpful. I saw ALOT of the questions from his stuff on the PCAT, if not exactly then really close to. Once you start his practice exams and understand the concepts you will do fine.

 

[HHITRI]

.

 

[MPharmD]

.

 

[PharmaCEE]

Can you elaborate on the format of the test? For example, were there multiple questions on the page or was it a single question where you push "next" to go on? Also, for the math section was any paper provided? Thanks!

 

[HHITRI]

.

 

[ajsnn]

.

 

[universalcynic]

Thought I had done terribly, almost cried when it was over because I had to guess nearly half of quant. And missed a couple off the end, so didn't even guess them. I must have been lucky (and admittedly I read most of the questions to eliminate clearly wrong answers and up the probability if a correct guess, but didn't have enough time to work the answers).

I agree, quantitative was definitely the section where there wasn't nearly enough time. But I managed to clear 90th percentile in everything and I'm so happy I don't need to shell out another 200 bucks to take it again.

I think the best part of the test was getting to have my palm vein print taken. The security at Pearson is more intense than the TSA! Although when I came back from my break at first the computer wouldn't verify my print, and I was afraid they would think I had switched myself out with an impostor

 

[Bigj5768]

Honestly the real question is what will the real difference between the preliminary scores and actual scores?

 

[pharm0611]

Honestly the real question is what will the real difference between the preliminary scores and actual scores?

SAME QUESTION!!!

what will the real difference be?

 

[universalcynic]

Can you elaborate on the format of the test? For example, were there multiple questions on the page or was it a single question where you push "next" to go on? Also, for the math section was any paper provided? Thanks!

One question per page. There was a "navigator" option where you can go to any question in the section, though, so you don't have to click all the way back to look at a question at the beginning again. If you are registered for the test
(or maybe even if you're not?) you'll be able to go to the Pearson website and take a tutorial about the computer-based format.

For the math section, and for all the sections, you get a dry-erase marker and note board to write on.

 

[Incitatus]

.

 

[HHITRI]

.

 

[Teav]

First time taking it, and I'm glad it's over but man.. my composite speaks for itself

VA 32
Bio 66
RC 52
QA 43
Chem 58
Composite 49

 

[Incitatus]

I agree, quantitative was definitely the section where there wasn't nearly enough time. But I managed to clear 90th percentile in everything and I'm so happy I don't need to shell out another 200 bucks to take it again.

I think the best part of the test was getting to have my palm vein print taken. The security at Pearson is more intense than the TSA! Although when I came back from my break at first the computer wouldn't verify my print, and I was afraid they would think I had switched myself out with an impostor

Yeah, HARD CORE security. They wouldn't let me bring any kleenex into the test room. (I always keep 2 fresh kleenex in my pocket in the event I get the sniffels... worst feeling ever in the middle of a test to need one and not have it)
Pockets inside out, self pat-down, Palm Vein scan, the works. You can't walk the 5 feet from your seat to the door without being physically escorted, and the proctor has every single candidate on video and audio not to mention the line of sight to every cubicle.

We take this exam seriously, but pearson doesn't Eff around either!

 

[katePharm]

I think the Quant was pretty hard, or maybe it was just too long. Idk but Quant is my strongest field and I skipped couple of questions.

 

[htnguy12]

Prelim scores

VA : 63
Bio: 80
RC : 65
QA : 94
Chem: 93
Composite: 87

Guessed maybe 5-7 question on quant and chem since I ran out of time, don't know how i got that score. Studied since June while taking G.Chem 2 in the summer and G.Bio2 (bio didn't help me at all, so many immunology and endocrinology questions)

*Used Kaplan for quick review and dr. collins for practice tests

 

[Incitatus]

My 1st time too and heres what i got

VA 58
RC 19 im like did i do that BAD!!!
Bio 99
Quant 95
Chem 95

I think the Quant was pretty hard, or maybe it was just too long. Idk but Quant is my strongest field and I skipped couple of questions.

Chem And Bio were easier.

I screwed my2nd writing part lol hope its experimental!

So how much does the 19RC affect me ?

What was your prelim composite?

 

[freshnewkicks]

How does the preliminary score differ?!

I def thought the Quant section was the hardest and had to guess on most of them but it ended up being my highest score (89).

Chem was hard- I bombed it but when I took the pearson tests i was scoring in the 80s.

Reading comp was ridiculous- it didnt seem hard but was eventually my lowest score (35).

 

[Incitatus]

You know what I caught myself doing for time constraints?
I read each paragraph one at a time and answered the questions by paragraph. For instance if the question was asking about something done in Paragraph 1, I would read that paragraph, then answer all the questions about it. Immediatly moving to the next paragraph ONLY when the question asked about it.

I think that did me very well, because the general structure and even ideas of some of those articles were quite different than those of the individual paragraphs.

 

[katePharm]

What was your prelim composite?

94

I cant believe the RC was that horrible

 

[lv2008]

My 1st time too and heres what i got

VA 58
RC 19 im like did i do that BAD!!!
Bio 99
Quant 95
Chem 95

I think the Quant was pretty hard, or maybe it was just too long. Idk but Quant is my strongest field and I skipped couple of questions.

Chem And Bio were easier.

I screwed my2nd writing part lol hope its experimental!

So how much does the 19RC affect me ?

Was there a lot of plant question on Biology? What did you use for QA, Chem, and Bio

 

[Incitatus]

94

I cant believe the RC was that horrible

I think you'll be okay with a 94 composite.

 

[Ayuka001]

Can someone explain these scores to me? I'm confused....

composite
SS: 397
PR: 37

so basically I only got a 37% composite? (super bad )

 

[Bigj5768]

Your PR% is what Pharmacy Schools look at. SS is your scaled score which I'm not 100% how that works.

 

[Ayuka001]

Your PR% is what Pharmacy Schools look at. SS is your scaled score which I'm not 100% how that works.

so this means I have a 37% composite?

lol

 

[liebht90]

VA: 73
Bio:75
RC:32
Quant:85
Chem:85
Composite: 76

Reading comp was horrible, I could not focus on that section and I felt as if the practices tests did not prepare me well enough for that section. I was honestly disappointed in my bio score, I have a 4.0 gpa in my biology classes and I am a human biology major, I just felt like there was some odd ball questions in that section. I finished quant with 8 full minutes left so I felt it wasn't as bad. I also felt like chemistry hardly had any calculation problems, but it went well.
As far as study materials, I am extremely disappointed in Pearson's practice tests, I thought the PCAT was 100x harder. Dr. Collins without a doubt improved my quant, chem, and verbal. Biology wasn't too bad, but there was enough random questions that threw me off. Reading comprehension I have no excuses and I can't even give advice. I also thought the writing topics were fun and interesting

 

[Bigj5768]

so this means I have a 37% composite?

lol

Unless your looking at a specific category like Bio or Chem or something yea. Your composite is 37%