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t-minus 1.5 hours and counting!! post scores here
What did you study? I (and countless others on this forum) recommend Dr. Collins. Also buy the online Pearson practice exams and do them. Make sure you time yourself on everything.In regards to all of you with fantastic scores, I'm just trying to get an idea about the amount of time you all studied. This is my first time taking the pcat and due to personal reasons, I was literally only able to study for 2 days prior to the exam. About 8-10 hours each day. My scores are as follows:
Verbal-400-48%
Bio-430-88%
RC-400-45%
Quant-418-71%
Chem-402-48%
Comp-410-64%
I'm extremely nervous because I only have the sept. pcat left before my applications are due. I currently have a 3.2 gpa. I plan on studying very hard for the next 2 months, but Im just trying to get an idea on how I did for by no means being prepared.
I'm curious: since the PCAT is now CBT'ed, are the scores still compared to the people that took it in 2007 (I think this is the year, not sure) or is it a new set of group score that has been generated?
People seem to be scoring pretty good on the test, or it's just because the CBT is more easier.
what schools did u call up and what did they tell u?
Thanks!!
I am now almost 100% sure that the scores that you received will be the final scores. I think your scores are good, even though they are not that competitive. You should do some web search on the schools you are intending to apply to find out what is the average admitted scores throughout years, then you can make your decision. However, if you think you will get higher scores in the next PCAT, take it. If you don't, don't. Gud luckHey all, I hope everything went well for everyone today. I am somewhat depressed over my score. Not what I was expecting.
VA - 73
BIO- 80
RC- 71
QA- 81
CHEM- 68 ( wtf )
COMP - 79
Can someone please answer the following questions:
1) How reliable are these preliminary scores? Does anybody have any anecdotal evidence of them changing? By how much? etc..
2) 79 Preliminary composite. RETAKE?? Please, please give me honest advisement. I'm applying to Wayne State University and the Medical University of South Carolina. I should add that I have a 3.7 GPA and a year of pharmacy tech experience.
Obviously chem is low, which is unexpected because chemistry is usually my strong suit. I've 4.0'd all of my college chem classes, scored 90th%ile in practice tests. Like, what gives?! ahh, so frustrating. ANYWAY, please respond to this post. I'm just looking for some guidance.
QFT!! Most people I saw at my testing center were looking through their Kaplan books or said they took the Kaplan course. As we all know on here, Kaplan is crap.Amusing story from today's test. I asked my testing group if anyone used dr collins' material. Everyone gave me a puzzled look like I was crazy. Some guy started talking about Kaplan and everyone smiled. He said it was his second attempt, and had absolutely no clue what the subtest breakdowns were whatsoever (he thought the bio section was 2% microbio). Needless to say, the SDN has some of the highest scores around due to Dr. Collins. Most people are not aware of his material and waste money on the stupid Kaplan junk.
Don't have my paper with me so i'm approximating my scores...
Verbal - 48
Bio - 87
Chem - 89
RC - 29
Qual - 76
Comp - 69
Not happy with my score since I was expecting high 70's...
From what I hear with my kind of scores, schools will analyze individual sections as well. Even though schools will value science and math more than verbal and RC, I am not sure if I should retake or just apply... any thoughts?
Verbal: 89
Biology: 91
Reading comprehension: 76
Quantitative ability: 64
Chemistry: 90
Composite: 89
This is actually better than how I did on 2 previous practice tests. Hope it balances out my 3.3 GPA and 3.1 science GPA...
QFT!! Most people I saw at my testing center were looking through their Kaplan books or said they took the Kaplan course. As we all know on here, Kaplan is crap.
When I took the PCAT, I used Kaplan to study for it. In retrospect, I should have used a different book but I really only used it for bio and chem (as review...somewhat). What truly helped me (and may come as a surprise) was preparing for the GMAT. I was thinking about an MBA/Pharm.D. program and my GMAT preparation through Veritas helped me with the verbal, quant, and reading sections. I didn't study as hard as I was supposed to (I only took one practice PCAT exam) but I thank my 89% composite to the preparation I got from studying for the GMAT.
Long story short, alternative entrance exam study guides (for the GRE, GMAT, etc) can definitely help in your PCAT preparation.
you guys have amazing scores, congratz. I was not as fortunate. I studied for 2 months but still did horribly.
The Pearson practice exams were definitely not accurate representations of what the actual reading comp is like. Everything else on the exam, especially chemistry, was very similar and serves as a good indicator IMO.
Verbal - 92
Biology - 94
Chemistry - 91
Quantitative Ability - 64
Reading Comprehension - 20
Composite - 83
I'll probably apply for the next cycle (after this next year of undergrad) and if I don't get in I'll try and improve my scores. Does this sound like a good plan?
Clearly my reading score is poor but hopefully my verbal and essay scores (felt like I did really good on the essay section) can offset that.
Also - The math section was ridiculous in my opinion. Collins didn't come close, but it helped get me some good practice and helped with certain concepts. Collins was very helpful with biology, I was already strong in that area though. Reading....well, I guess I need to read more lol.
The Pearson practice exams were definitely not accurate representations of what the actual reading comp is like. Everything else on the exam, especially chemistry, was very similar and serves as a good indicator IMO.
Everyone seems to be having trouble with the RC and looking for a simple solution. I have to be blunt, but you arent going from a 25th percentile to 99th overnight. Time to lay off the Cheetos and turn off Jerry Springer for a minute and maybe crack a book. Steady, consistent reading will serve you well. You will develop an increasingly powerful vocabulary, given you read a eclectic array of challenging material(local newspapers, popular fiction and how-to books are intended to maximize profit and are written at an appropriate reading level, usually around 5-7th grade). As an added bonus you will get better and better at your reading speed and comprehension.
Why don't you feel that they were accurate representations? I'm curious.
How is your gpa? I think your science and verbal scores are very strong... My gpa happens to be pretty crap...around 3.4 (3.1 pharmcas gpa)... so I needed a 99th to show that I'm not completely anserine.
Here are mine.
VA: 92
Bio: 94
RC: 55
QA: 85
Chm: 96
Comp: 94
I'm happy with the composite score but kind of disappointed with the reading comprehension score.
I'm debating retaking it but at this point I think I would be risking losing points in other areas for a small gain in the reading section.
Here are mine.
VA: 92
Bio: 94
RC: 55
QA: 85
Chm: 96
Comp: 94
I'm happy with the composite score but kind of disappointed with the reading comprehension score.
I'm debating retaking it but at this point I think I would be risking losing points in other areas for a small gain in the reading section.
About the same as yours, 3.4 cumulative, slightly lower for math/science.
I have a year to bring it up a bit though, I've taken about 1.5 years of pre-pharm classes.
I don't agree with this. If anything I felt the RC passages from this test were far easier than any of the Pearson tests I've taken. Maybe its just that I was more focused because of the epinephrine though...
Why don't you feel that they were accurate representations? I'm curious.
As a few people mentioned earlier, this time around the passages were much longer, though there were always 4-5 paragraphs , each was significantly longer. I also felt there were more questions with "trick answer choices" that were hard for the average reader to answer unless they completely knew the reading passage inside out. On the Pearson exams I was getting a score around the 70's but it was a completely other story on the actual pcat (47).
But as I said, I still highly recommend buying the exams, it pretty much predicted my score section-by-section spot on with my pcat score.
You won't get a 5/5 on your essays if you spell ridiculous incorrectly.
Chemguy, I think you're correct in saying many of us did not properly prepare for the reading comp portion. I started looking through the Pearson answer explainations but didn't know what to take away from them and use that info on the test day. So then I pretty much stopped reading the explainations.
You made good points, I stand corrected.
Can any of you sell me the Dr. Collin package? I hope that I can do well on PCAT in next year
Why don't you feel that they were accurate representations? I'm curious.
Hey I just wanted people's opinions about this:
Verbal 97
Bio 91
RC 87
QA 73
Chem 77
Comp 92
I am just fine with the composite, but the verbal really boosted everything. The QA and Chem are low which is unfortunate because they are usually my better subjects. Assuming all else is well, LORs are good, GPA is solid, some clinical lab experience and all of that good stuff that people mention you should have, do I need to worry about the subject scores individually? And will these suffice.
Hey I just wanted people's opinions about this:
Verbal 97
Bio 91
RC 87
QA 73
Chem 77
Comp 92
I am just fine with the composite, but the verbal really boosted everything. The QA and Chem are low which is unfortunate because they are usually my better subjects. Assuming all else is well, LORs are good, GPA is solid, some clinical lab experience and all of that good stuff that people mention you should have, do I need to worry about the subject scores individually? And will these suffice.
When you score like this:
VA 95
Bio 99
RC 94
QA 27!!!!!!!!
Chem 68
Comp 92
What to do?