PCAT (2017) 99% Scorer Advice

[maddyscientist]

Please note that while my methods might have worked for me, it certainly won't apply to everyone!!

Length of studying: 2 months (~4hrs/day)

Discussion of materials used:

• Princeton MCAT (Bio, General Chem, Organic Chem, Biochem, CARs) - MCAT books give you much more in-depth explanations over any PCAT resources. I went through all the these books (plus my background knowledge as I took physiology, anatomy, general bio, calc, orgo, general chem courses) to make sure that I'm not leaving out any details. This might be overkill but it paid off for the bio and chem sections on the PCAT big time.
• Kaplan PCAT book - I used it mainly as a guide for the topics that will be on PCAT, emphasized on some parts over the others (more for quantitative because MCAT doesn't have math)
• Princeton MCAT Online Passages - extremely useful as the 2017 PCAT was heavily based on passages. I did a lot of bio/chem/reading passages from there, 8 passages/subject/day 1 week leading up to the test.
• Dr.Collins 2017 - it has good practice questions but don't use this as your study guide/notes because it is not detailed at all (definitely NO if you don't have a sufficient science background). Don't rely on this to LEARN things, use it as PRACTICE.

General Advice

• Do as many practice passages as you can so you don't get overwhelmed on the actual test and run out of time.
• Practice online as much as you can because you work faster on paper than from computer screen
• Details do matter... only knowing big concepts (especially for bio) won't get you a high score
• Work up your stamina (I've always been much better at math than anything else but I ran out of time on PCAT math because frankly I was too tired towards the end)

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[Abdul93]

I struggled with Biology alot especially on the multiple choices. What can I do to improve that?

 

[maddyscientist]

I struggled with Biology alot especially on the multiple choices. What can I do to improve that?

In my opinion, struggling with mc sounds like you need to know more "facts". Knowing big concepts won't be enough to cover all bases, make sure you remember what specific enzyme does what etc... pm me if you need help

 

[9each]

Will collins be enough for bio?

 

[maddyscientist]

Will collins be enough for bio?

If you took bio, physiology, and anatomy in school then collins will be enough for sure

 

[td167187]

Hey so i took the pcat this july and got a 39% composite. My Bio was 35, math was 35, chem was 86, and reading was 13. The main thing i used to study was collins but i primarily focused on Chem and didn't put as much effort in understanding the content for Math and Biology. What should i do to get my score higher in Bio and math. I felt like i struggled a lot on the bio passages and was just guessing and was running out of time in math. Any tips on reading ? i didn't study at all for that section other than just doing the 3 pearson practice tests on which i was doing a lot better compared to the actual thing. i just think i let the pressure get to me.

 

[9each]

Hey so i took the pcat this july and got a 39% composite. My Bio was 35, math was 35, chem was 86, and reading was 13. The main thing i used to study was collins but i primarily focused on Chem and didn't put as much effort in understanding the content for Math and Biology. What should i do to get my score higher in Bio and math. I felt like i struggled a lot on the bio passages and was just guessing and was running out of time in math. Any tips on reading ? i didn't study at all for that section other than just doing the 3 pearson practice tests on which i was doing a lot better compared to the actual thing. i just think i let the pressure get to me.

Did you complete all of the collins practice tests?

 

[td167187]

Yea i did and went through them like twice. But i feel like the bio questions were too simple compared to the real thing and the study guide wasn't sufficient. Its been like 2 years since i had bio 1 and 2 and like 3 years since i had a math class.

 

[9each]

Yea i did and went through them like twice. But i feel like the bio questions were too simple compared to the real thing and the study guide wasn't sufficient. Its been like 2 years since i had bio 1 and 2 and like 3 years since i had a math class.

Did you use the pearsons tests?

 

[td167187]

Yea i did all 3 i was doing pretty good in them but then again theres more pressure when you actually take the pcat. And using a handheld calculator vs the online one makes a difference.

 

[PharXm2018]

Hey guys, I'm here to share how I studied for the 2017 PCAT and scored in the 99th percentile on my first try. Please note that while my methods might have worked for me, it certainly won't apply to everyone.

Length of studying: 2 months (~4hrs/day)

Discussion of materials used:

• Princeton MCAT (Bio, General Chem, Organic Chem, Biochem, CARs) - MCAT books give you much more in-depth explanations over any PCAT resources. I went through all the these books (plus my background knowledge as I took physiology, anatomy, general bio, calc, orgo, general chem courses) to make sure that I'm not leaving out any details. This might be overkill but it paid off for the bio and chem sections on the PCAT big time.
• Kaplan PCAT book - I used it mainly as a guide for the topics that will be on PCAT, emphasized on some parts over the others (more for quantitative because MCAT doesn't have math)
• Princeton MCAT Online Passages - extremely useful as the 2017 PCAT was heavily based on passages. I did a lot of bio/chem/reading passages from there, 8 passages/subject/day 1 week leading up to the test.
• Dr.Collins 2017 - it has good practice questions but don't use this as your study guide/notes because it is not detailed at all (definitely NO if you don't have a sufficient science background). Don't rely on this to LEARN things, use it as PRACTICE.

General Advice

• Do as many practice passages as you can so you don't get overwhelmed on the actual test and run out of time.
• Practice online as much as you can because you work faster on paper than from computer screen
• Details do matter... only knowing big concepts (especially for bio) won't get you a high score
• Work up your stamina (I've always been much better at math than anything else but I ran out of time on PCAT math because frankly I was too tired towards the end)

"Princeton MCAT Online Passages" where can I get/find this?
And from someone who took sciences courses 5+ years ago, where would you start studying? I bought the Kaplan book and Dr. Collins and have been watching khan academy chem n bio. Thanks in advance!

 

[PharXm2018]

"Princeton MCAT Online Passages" where can I get/find this?
And from someone who took sciences courses 5+ years ago, where would you start studying? I bought the Kaplan book and Dr. Collins and have been watching khan academy chem n bio. Thanks in advance!

Also, there is no more essays now, correct? I saw that they took out a verbal section and was seeing if that was the essay portion

 

[takeanother]

Also, there is no more essays now, correct? I saw that they took out a verbal section and was seeing if that was the essay portion

There is still an essay and also a critical reading section. They did remove the verbal section, I think that was the part that had things like analogies and sentence completion.

 

[maddyscientist]

"Princeton MCAT Online Passages" where can I get/find this?
And from someone who took sciences courses 5+ years ago, where would you start studying? I bought the Kaplan book and Dr. Collins and have been watching khan academy chem n bio. Thanks in advance!

You should be able to find various packages online from the Princeton Review for MCAT, although they are on the pricier side. You can try to see if you can gain access to them from any of your friends who bought princeton mcat!

 

[DagS132]

ive been only using dr. collins study guide to study for pcat. Is this really a bad choice? Anyone try Chad's videos from coursesaver?

 

[Athom1994]

Do you think if I just used the Princeton MCAT book from biology would have my basis covered? It has been 3-4 years since I have taken biology, anatomy and micro. I should probably really retake those classes since I don't remember much.

 

[btcao]

Do you think if I just used the Princeton MCAT book from biology would have my basis covered? It has been 3-4 years since I have taken biology, anatomy and micro. I should probably really retake those classes since I don't remember much.

I used the Kaplan PCAT book for content review. It is really detail, and made be a little more than necessary for the actual PCAT but I think it prepared me really well.

 

[maddyscientist]

Do you think if I just used the Princeton MCAT book from biology would have my basis covered? It has been 3-4 years since I have taken biology, anatomy and micro. I should probably really retake those classes since I don't remember much.

I think that's definitely enough! I was flipping through that book and it covers more than you need to know.

 

[maddyscientist]

ive been only using dr. collins study guide to study for pcat. Is this really a bad choice? Anyone try Chad's videos from coursesaver?

Collins don't cover enough details that's for sure. If you are comfortable with the materials to begin with, then I don't think it's a bad idea at all to just use Collins because they have some really good practice questions.

 

[DagS132]

Collins don't cover enough details that's for sure. If you are comfortable with the materials to begin with, then I don't think it's a bad idea at all to just use Collins because they have some really good practice questions.

Its been a while since I did any gen chem stuff and this Collins study guide does pretty bad at explaining the subject at hand. I think I will use Chad's videos as well.