- Joined
- Apr 16, 2009
- Messages
- 597
- Reaction score
- 3
I see a ton of people on here concerned with getting Dr. Collins to study for the PCAT. When I first got on these boards, I was convinced this packet would help me score higher, so I bought it directly from Dr. Collins. Set me back a cool ~$300 or so. Wow!
Realistically, I should never have spent the money. I received a few hundred pages of poorly-edited, loose-leaf copies with ambiguous answers in the math and chemistry sections (the only sections I truly needed help studying). More to the point, the questions I found in these sections weren't very much like the items I saw on the PCAT. There was also a large vocabulary and reading comp section, but these weren't necessary for my use. If you need vocab and reading comp, they could be helpful, however. Too bad I'm not legally allowed to sell my Dr. Collins packet, because it was really a lot of money down the drain for me.
After doing poorly the first time I took the PCAT, I decided to really gear down and study. I purchased the practice tests through Pearson (they're online and about $60 per test; you can purchase 3 tests total) and took all of them and went over all the answers. This was a much better experience for me, because unlike Dr. Collins, the Pearson tests give the user a range of scores (for example, 60 - 80th percentile) where their score would most likely lie on the real test.
On my actual PCAT test, all my individual scores lay within the predicted areas. The Pearson pretests helped me to work on the areas I needed the most help because it also broke down your scoring into sections, such as geometry vs trigonometry. Using the Pearson tests and practicing, I was able to score much higher the second (and last!) time I took the PCAT. The math and chemistry sections were quite good, too. What I really liked was that the tests reflected actual content on the PCAT; they were much more aligned with what I later saw on my test. Very helpful!
In short...sure, you can buy Dr. Collins, but be aware it will mostly be helpful for vocab and reading comp, and it's very expensive! If you need help in science and math, buying tests through Pearson is a much cheaper move and will probably be more useful.
Good luck, all!
Realistically, I should never have spent the money. I received a few hundred pages of poorly-edited, loose-leaf copies with ambiguous answers in the math and chemistry sections (the only sections I truly needed help studying). More to the point, the questions I found in these sections weren't very much like the items I saw on the PCAT. There was also a large vocabulary and reading comp section, but these weren't necessary for my use. If you need vocab and reading comp, they could be helpful, however. Too bad I'm not legally allowed to sell my Dr. Collins packet, because it was really a lot of money down the drain for me.
After doing poorly the first time I took the PCAT, I decided to really gear down and study. I purchased the practice tests through Pearson (they're online and about $60 per test; you can purchase 3 tests total) and took all of them and went over all the answers. This was a much better experience for me, because unlike Dr. Collins, the Pearson tests give the user a range of scores (for example, 60 - 80th percentile) where their score would most likely lie on the real test.
On my actual PCAT test, all my individual scores lay within the predicted areas. The Pearson pretests helped me to work on the areas I needed the most help because it also broke down your scoring into sections, such as geometry vs trigonometry. Using the Pearson tests and practicing, I was able to score much higher the second (and last!) time I took the PCAT. The math and chemistry sections were quite good, too. What I really liked was that the tests reflected actual content on the PCAT; they were much more aligned with what I later saw on my test. Very helpful!
In short...sure, you can buy Dr. Collins, but be aware it will mostly be helpful for vocab and reading comp, and it's very expensive! If you need help in science and math, buying tests through Pearson is a much cheaper move and will probably be more useful.
Good luck, all!
