Today's PCAT

[AsianGuy26]

Whew, I just got back from the PCAT and I can tell you that it was... interesting. I thought that the reading/verbal were harder than the last one that I took... Jan 08' actually all the sections were harder.

I probably did worst on reading/verbal, did better in biology but I don't know since half of it was like microbiology... thank god I just took that damn course, chemistry was all right skipped a few questions throughout and a few in the end but overall I probably did better than my last chem sections, quantitative I definitely did much better on.

Overall I think that I will probably get a score in the 80s... mayhaps lower than my previous score but the two sections that count more heavily when pharmacy schools look at will be higher...

Eh, thats the last PCAT I'm taking foreveeeeer. mmmm... MCATs for next year... aarrrghh

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[illtreaturite1]

I think that test just floored me. I did ok on verbal, reading, and hopefully biology, there seemed to be alot of organic on the chem which will hurt me, and math is another thing entirely. It was the one thing that I though I would do fairly well, and well, I ran out of time and just started bubbling over half of the test......It seemed harder than any pretest I've taken so far. Oh well, I'll get my score a few weeks before October and see how bad (or good, who knows on these things) that I did. I just don't feel like it was my best, but that was probably why the pharmacy school I'm applying to advised me to plan to take it twice.

At least I will be much better prepared for October.......I think a few vacation days the week before the test are definitely in order.

Hope everyone else had better luck than me!

 

[AznDragon533]

I'm still crying right now...

I could only answer half of each section....and then fill in C for everything

now im registering for October Pcat...

 

[Sulilina1]

I last took it october 07.. this test has definitely got a LOT harder! too much organic in the chemistry section - didn't have enough time to even contemplate a reaction's products or draw anything out. The essays were harder, but it was obvious which one was the experiment. The math was easier. Reading was more complicated, but i still had 10 minutes left over like i did in october. Verbal was harder. I came into this test with more pre-reqs under my belt, everything but bio, orgo chem2 and micro. A lot more anatomy on this test, for sure. Anyways, i'm scared to see what i got because i only took this test to boost my chem score. Not really happy with how i did on that.

Octobers test i got a composite 78, chem was 50% which is why i retook it. Just out of curiosity, do the schools look at the highest scores of the breakdown or just the highest composite?

good luck

 

[ca05]

How do you all think it compared to Harcourt's & Kaplan's practice tests?

 

[inquirer89]

Here's what I thought of the individual sections. Keep in mind that they give out more than one version, so my experience is different from everyone else's.

Verbal: Easier than the pretests I've taken. Probably my highest score out of the sections. 8/10 difficulty
Biology: Not too bad, but not as much human biology as I thought (which hurt me, since that's all I studied) 6/10
Chemisty: My hardest section. Alot of organic. I guessed on many. 3/10
Math: Hard, but not too bad. I blanked out on a few, but had some idea on most of them. 5/10
Writing: It was okay also. Just followed a basic writing formula. 7/10

It was my first PCAT. I thought it was descent and on par of how challenging I thought the material would be. I think I made at least a 70% composite, which isn't too bad considering I haven't taken calculus or organic and I only studied for 2 weeks. I'll sign up for the October and maybe January.

 

[AsianGuy26]

I think they were experimenting on this test to see if they can make it a little different. I know that there were changes to this test but I didn't know it was that extensive. Also I do concur that there was definitely alot more organic chemistry but I manage to finish more than last time because I was more focus...

However the review material... for the chemistry section for kaplan was hardly adequate...

the verbal and comp definitely looked harder...

 

[bkiskadd]

Ugh, glad that's over. Too bad class starts on Monday :-(

So I took it in June and I was surprised that A LOT of it was exactly the same.
However, I didn't particularly like this since I never found out if my answers were right or not, it kind of tripped me up. Anyways, I thought the math was a LOT easier this time. I actually had time to get through all of it, opposed to half last time. The chemistry seemed harder this time. I barely got through it and last time I had time left over. The biology was about the same, some really random questions I would never know, but hopefully those were experimental.
The second writing section was impossible, but the first was not bad at all. Verbal and reading were ok.
Overall, i pretty much feel the same way I did as last time, so hopefully that doesn't mean I'll get the same score (or lower.).

 

[SgtPepper]

wow, that was not an enjoyable experience. I think i did fairly well on the biology and ok on chem but not so hot on verbal. as for QA? haha filled in half of it blindly due to time running out. well, i guess i will be having the pleasure of taking it again in oct!

 

[DeterminedGal09]

Compared to the June 08 Test...
(In my opinion)

The essays were easier, hopefully the first essay gets graded though!

Verbal was really not that bad, about the same as June.
I memorized about 80 words or so and seen 3 or 4 on the test!
Some of the analogies were repeated from the June test.

Biology was easier than in June.
A lot of kaplan stuff was on there.

Chemistry was a slight bit harder this time around.
I ran out of time, had to blindly bubble a few. Maybe I was thinking too much lol I'm glad that there were not any over the top calculations.
Kaplan's Chem Calculation problems are outrageous compared to the Pcat.

Reading, was easier than in June. (I did practice on this section a ton)
A passage or two was repeated from the June test and hartcourt reading practice test is very similar. Kaplan was waay harder and Cliff's was too easy.

Quantitative Ability: OMG I had to blindly bubble a bunch!!
This section was waay harder than June! No practice test is even comparable lol

Overall, hopefully I improved my score.
I still need to work on Chem, Math, & Verbal.

Good Luck Guys
....The 6 weeks of waiting begins now! lol

 

[Rdy4PharmSchool]

I am so depressed now! I actually thought Reading Comp. and Verbal were fairly easy just a few weird q's I am hoping were experimental. I thought math was okay, but Chemistry and Bio were really,really hard! I had such a hard time. I finished all the sections except Chem, I had to bubble in 8 questions and did not get to look at them. I thought that my book I used to study, Barron's, sucked! It was like completely the opposite of the real thing.

 

[JeremyE30]

I just got back from the PCAT. My experience....

Writing - The topics were pretty basic, I was able to flow well and it was a topic that everyone should have some knowledge to write.

Verbal - I did not study for verbal, and it did not seem very difficult. I had to narrow down about ten of the questions and guess from there.

Biology - Very Easy, I did not study for this section much, maybe 4 hours, but I am a biology senior with lots of classes under my belt.

Chemistry - Lots of organic, lots of acid/base, but overall not too bad. I also narrowed down some of them, and I blindly guessed on about 6.

Reading - I could not concentrate of one of the articles, I just couldn't make out what the questions were trying to ask. Many of the answers were ambiguous and could be argued to have multiple correct answers.

Quantitative - Sucked, sucked bad, very bad. I blindly guessed on >20 problems. The Kaplan book is useless for this section, do not spend more than an hour or so with the Kaplan Math section unless you enjoy wasting time.


Oh well, we'll see how it went in 6 weeks, way too long to wait. Good luck to everyone.

 

[sammi345]

Here is my take on todays exam:

verbal- it was tricky for me, I dont think I did well at all

Biology- I have only taken general biology 1, and I dont know if it is just me, but there seemed to be a lot of micro and anatomy questions?!

Chemistry- this was my best section, thought the questions were straightforward and simple. thank god i took organic this summer!

Reading- It wasnt too bad, but I think I was exhausted so I probably didnt do well

Quantitative- Again, I was exhausted, couldve done much better

I thought the pcat would be around 4 hours.. I was there from 8:30- 1:45.. I am pretty much ADD so its hard for me to sit and take a test for over 5 + hours

 

[alphaRx]

Thank god its OVER....i am just hoping for a good score...because this was my LAST chance!!!

Verbal: Could have done better, the difficulty level was the same compared to some of the kaplan tests that i took.

Chemistry: I had to guess on some of those questions but atleast i got enough time to finish unlike last year when i took the test!!...and i agree they have definitely increased the number of organic chemistry questions.

Biology: This was the one section i was confident about. A lot of anatomy and micro...and less general bio...i studied from the kaplan book and i think it really helped me on this section.

Reading: woof...i was soo glad i finished in time...have no idea if the answers are right or wrong

Math: This is always my hardest section because i am not a math person...and i have to admit that i didnt spent as much time studying for this section as i did for the science sections. But i think i did better than my last test, and i am glad i studied logarithams this time!!....guessed on abt 8-10 questions.. :/

Writing: My first essay was the best....if it gets graded..i will be saved..but the second essay was a total blow..yuck...AND what scares me is that it was the same topic i had when i took pcat last august!!>....geez i just couldnt think of a good solution to tht problem...ahhh

Anywayz since this was my third time taking the test...i really dont want to take it again and the admission committe might count it against me if i retake it in october....so all that is left is WAITING>.......

 

[1908PharmD]

my quantitave section sucked.

 

[Nottingham]

Ugh. That whole thing slayed me.

 

[pharmisdream]

OMG OMGGGGGG, I think I did really well. The exam was extremely FAIR.
Verbal : very easy. It was definitely easier than Jan '08. At the most I got 4-5 wrong, that's how many i guessed.
Biology: Biology was fair. A LOT of microbiology question. I have not taken Microbiology yet, but knew almost 70% of the question. Thank god there were only 1-2 question on Genetics. Me and genetics don't go well. General Biology was fairly easy. 7-8 wrong at the most.
Chemistry: I KILLED it. I will be surprised if i don't get 99TH percentile in this section. I am a Chem and Organic Chem tutor. I got 99th percentile on Chem, in both, Kaplan and Official Practice Test. YES, there was a lot of Organic Chemistry. I have got A's in both Orgo. I thought the questions were not bad at all. Just know the basic reactions. And you will be fine. AND THANK GOD, there were only 3-4 questions that required calculation. Rest was pretty much theory and reactions. The calculation were straight forward. Getting 2-3 wrong at the most. I had 5 minutes left over in this section. I went back and checked all my answers again. Feeling very very good about CHEM. FINGERS CROSSED.
Reading: very long, and tricky questions. I missed 6 questions from the 6th passage. I bubbled everything in though. My NOT SO BEST section. Can't really predict how many I will get wrong. There's no way, one can.
MATH: YAY, Thank god I am Indian. I breezed through Math. I had a minutes left over in Math, which is not bad, considering most of my friends missed on an average 7-8 questions. A lot of statistics and pre-calculus. But overall, it was totally fair. I actually used my Chem knowledge to solve one of the problem . Expecting not more than 4-5 wrong.
I talked to a lot of people after the exam. Everybody thought, it was long and they couldn't finish it.
MY ADVICE: You should be done reviewing the material at least 15 days before the exam. After that, take one full length exam everyday. Time yourself. GO over the exam, by go over I mean, check the everything, things that you got wrong and the things that you got right. Check if there's a easier way you could have attempted the problem.
I have all the PCAT prep material out there. You name it, I have it. You will see when I put it up for sale on SDN.
At worst, I think I will get a 85, and if I score anything above 90, I will be HAPPY.
GOOD LUCK WITH THE SCORE EVERYONE.

 

[pharmisdream]

Compared to the June 08 Test...
(In my opinion)

The essays were easier, hopefully the first essay gets graded though!

Verbal was really not that bad, about the same as June.
I memorized about 80 words or so and seen 3 or 4 on the test!
Some of the analogies were repeated from the June test.

Biology was easier than in June.
A lot of kaplan stuff was on there.

Chemistry was a slight bit harder this time around.
I ran out of time, had to blindly bubble a few. Maybe I was thinking too much lol I'm glad that there were not any over the top calculations.
Kaplan's Chem Calculation problems are outrageous compared to the Pcat.

Reading, was easier than in June. (I did practice on this section a ton)
A passage or two was repeated from the June test and hartcourt reading practice test is very similar. Kaplan was waay harder and Cliff's was too easy.

Quantitative Ability: OMG I had to blindly bubble a bunch!!
This section was waay harder than June! No practice test is even comparable lol

Overall, hopefully I improved my score.
I still need to work on Chem, Math, & Verbal.

Good Luck Guys
....The 6 weeks of waiting begins now! lol

I think it's the second essay that's getting graded. Everyone had different essay for the first one. I totally BS in the second one. I didn't knew what to write.
Good Luck

 

[pharmisdream]

How do you all think it compared to Harcourt's & Kaplan's practice tests?

Personal Opinion:
Chemistry: Kaplan's chem is harder but the Real PCAT had more organic chemistry question. Harcourt is a good way to predict your chem score. But, add more Organic questions to it.
Biology: More microbiology than Harcourt. But General Biology is quite similar.
Math: Kaplan book SUCKS for math. I took the Kaplan course, the math was definitely very similar to the Kaplan final. Harcourt: The first exam is a good reflection of the actual PCAT.
Verbal: Harcourt for sure. I thought Kaplan was lot harder.
Reading: more Harcourt like questions. Kaplan: SO-SO.
Good luck

 

[HoodPharm]

The test was alright my issue was time on some sections. I would not advise anyone to read any other section but Biology in the Kaplan book. The Harcourt test were very helpful and Dr. Collins saved me!!!
So now I wait for six weeks

 

[sammi345]

which essay do all of you think/hope will be graded, first or second one?

I personally hope the first one.

 

[Brandie28]

The test was alright my issue was time on some sections. I would not advise anyone to read any other section but Biology in the Kaplan book. The Harcourt test were very helpful and Dr. Collins saved me!!!
So now I wait for six weeks

You took the Dr. Collins course? Did you find it helpful? Because I am slightly disappointed.

 

[PreciousThings9]

I'm so glad it's over!! I went into the exam really afraid and thinking there was a good chance I was going to bomb it. I don't think I bombed it - probably in the slightly above average range. Here's my take:

Writing - not too big of a deal, as long as you can come up with a reasonable solution and some ideas to support it - not too much of a problem. I always had time left over when I practiced and it was that way for the exam too.

Verbal - pretty much what I expected - comparable to practice exams I have taken, maybe slightly harder. I memorized a bunch of new words too and could say that I don't know if that honestly even helped at all. It's still worth doing though I suppose.

Bio - this was a bit of a disaster for me, I need to take one semester of Bio that covers ecology / evolution and anatomy still - and that seems what nearly all of the questions I had were on. I expected a lot more cell bio and genetics and there were only a few questions.

Chem - surprisingly okay, I finished in time which was amazing and I felt pretty good about most of my answers. I heard a lot of people saying that there was so much ochem but that was not the case for me, yipee!!

Reading - also pretty good - I finished with a lot of time left over which was wild because this was an area I struggled on with practice exams. The passages were shorter and much easier to comprehend than the practice exams I took. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one to give me a nice boost.

Math - ah! what was this about This did not go well and math is a strong subject for me. I don't feel that this was reflected in my practice work hardly at all. I was probably 10 questions short of finishing too, so I had to bubble away. I was pretty disappointed about this. The questions they asked just were not straightforward at all. Also too, I was pretty tired at this point and ready to go home.

 

[cuteandbubbly]

Hi everyone, I've been a lurker on here for a while, trying to get as much info about the PCAT as possible lol, also my first time posting on here..

Today was the first PCAT i have ever written. To be honest, i did not prepare well for this test as i had a death in the family and i had to juggle work with volunteer and other extracurriculers. In any case, i felt the math section was easy, but due to time constraint and the nature of the questions asked, i could not complete every single question within the time frame. I ended up guessing on a lot of questions...which is sad because i always got over 90 in my practice PCATS.I guess its safe to assume that Barron's and Cliffs have easy math questions...now on to princeton! lol

Biology and Chemistry sections were fair, but i think had i studied harder for those sections i would have been able to do those sections without any hesitation

Verbal ability and reading were great. Reading for some reason i dosed off and lost track of what i was reading and i found myself re-reading paragraphs to understand the point but all in all it was fair. The verbal ability i found was wayyy easier than barron's and Cliffs and REA flashcards.

The essay topics I found were decent. I think i was able to figure out the experimental one since one of them had nothing to do with health. Which is great cuz i feel i wrote the health-related essay better

All in all, a tiring and draining experience. Would i write it again? Absolutely, if i don't pass with a decent mark in each section.

 

[diastole]

MY ADVICE: You should be done reviewing the material at least 15 days before the exam. After that, take one full length exam everyday. Time yourself. GO over the exam, by go over I mean, check the everything, things that you got wrong and the things that you got right. Check if there's a easier way you could have attempted the problem.

Where were you getting all the practice exams?

 

[PrePharmD]

Today was my first time taking the PCAT and I DID NOT study or take a practice test. I think I did pretty well on everything but one of the essays and BOMBED the Quantitative Ability portion. I was going to take the no score option but changed my mind at the last second just in case something happens in October preventing me from taking it. To be completely honest and not dramatic, I would be surprised if I got 15 out of the 48 questions right. I didn't finish the first essay but finished the second. I'm wondering if I do well on the rest of the portions, how badly a HORRIBLE QA score will bring down my overall composite score?? Any input is appreciated!

 

[extremebio]

Quantitative - Sucked, sucked bad, very bad. I blindly guessed on >20 problems. The Kaplan book is useless for this section, do not spend more than an hour or so with the Kaplan Math section unless you enjoy wasting time.

I agree wholeheartedly. I don't if they've changed this since Kaplan's 08-09 book came out but there was a LOT more calculus in there than I anticipated. I guessed on 10-12 of them.

Chemistry - wasn't simple, wasn't horrid. Only problem I had with it is 30 minutes is WAY too short for this section. Especially when they keep calculations in.

Anyone know how many people nationwide took the test? Would be interesting to know how many people we're being scored against.

Like most of you, I hope the first essay is the one graded...

 

[pharmisdream]

Where were you getting all the practice exams?

I took the Kaplan course. They have tons of materials at the testing center.
Cliff's, Barron, Arco PCAT, and the real PCAT.
For additional practice, I used MCAT verbal 101 Passage. ( a life saver, Highly recommended)
Also, use ExamKracker book for Organic Chemistry. The interface is way better than Kaplan. It's a great help in learning the reactions.
I took DAT's exam too. They are very similar to PCAT. Ignore the Visual Part.
pm me if you have any specific questions regarding the exam.

 

[pharmisdream]

I agree wholeheartedly. I don't if they've changed this since Kaplan's 08-09 book came out but there was a LOT more calculus in there than I anticipated. I guessed on 10-12 of them.

Chemistry - wasn't simple, wasn't horrid. Only problem I had with it is 30 minutes is WAY too short for this section. Especially when they keep calculations in.

Anyone know how many people nationwide took the test? Would be interesting to know how many people we're being scored against.

Like most of you, I hope the first essay is the one graded...

I am 99 percent sure that the second essay is getting graded. I asked a lot of people after the exam about the essays. Everyone had a different topic for the first one and the second was common for everyone. It weird since the second one had nothing to do with health and the topic was quite weird too. I didn't knew what to write. Well, I am hoping for a 3 ! I know I am not getting anything better than that.

 

[tahi193]

The amount of organic floored me. I hardly used all of those general chem formulas I had to re-memorize.

All I can say is either Harcourt has increased the number of organic chemistry questions on the PCAT to about 70%, or Kaplan has some s'plaining to do.

 

[jmoini]

i'd say this pcat was alright, but somewhat painful too.

we had a fire alarm go off in the middle of the verbal section. yeah, it was blaring in our eardrums for at least 5 minutes while they picked up the exams. i was thinking of how pissed i'd be if i had to redo it some other time. we did get back though.

i think the waiting around was the most painful part. we waited and did nothing from 8:30-9 because one person didn't show up. then they collected the books/answers before the drill, then passed it back. we didn't leave until after 2:30.

writing: not bad
verbal: some were easy, some were challenging (for me)
bio: much more a&p and micro than i had expected and hoped for. i have still yet to take those classes, but i hope i did at least 60-70 by guessing on a large portion
chem: seemed like a good portion of ochem, but i felt comfortable with it
reading: rushed the first few passages thinking i had 30 minutes, then realized there were 50, and took my time on the rest
qa: pretty simple to me, time was a factor though.

i didn't manage my time like i thought i would. i got caught taking too much time on some questions, then rushed through later ones to at least look at each question on time. you've really got to be cognizant of the clock and where you are at in the section.

compared to harcourt: i thought harcourt's practice tests were easier than today. i got about 80% of q's right in each practice section, but not sure about today. might be hurtin in bio.

hope yall did good. countdown to results now...

 

[Nellynel1]

I took the pcat today and it was extremely difficult. I took the Kaplan classes and they did not prepare me well for the difficulty of this test. I want my money back

 

[Athrok]

We had freaking construction right behind the room where we took it and the most unprofessional proctors. =/

*HAMMER POUND HAMMER POUND* Does not help during reading comp.

I ran out of time on Chemistry, it was really hard for me. I'm weak in Chem right now.

Verbal was harder, but not out of the question. Reading was also harder.

Biology seemed right on (Though I made one really stupid error on a question, but that happens).

I never practiced the written portion. I thought that was easy, but was totally unprepared to write it by hand - I thought we'd be using computers like the GRE.

On my essay, I accidentally wrote my first page on page 2 of the booklet, then my second page one page 1 and labeled them respectively. Will I lose points for that?

 

[alpha12]

I think that test just floored me. I did ok on verbal, reading, and hopefully biology, there seemed to be alot of organic on the chem which will hurt me, and math is another thing entirely. It was the one thing that I though I would do fairly well, and well, I ran out of time and just started bubbling over half of the test......It seemed harder than any pretest I've taken so far. Oh well, I'll get my score a few weeks before October and see how bad (or good, who knows on these things) that I did. I just don't feel like it was my best, but that was probably why the pharmacy school I'm applying to advised me to plan to take it twice.

At least I will be much better prepared for October.......I think a few vacation days the week before the test are definitely in order.

Hope everyone else had better luck than me!

Yeah i also had to bubble in answers. Why can't they give us enough time I have like 15 minutes left over after reading and I'm on question 30 in math when they call 5 minutes left. That's ridiculous.

 

[RAMPHARMD]

I'm glad I have that behind me. *exhales big sigh of relief*

I think I did fairly well on the biology, verbal, and reading sections.

As for the writing section, I think I did OK. Nothing special.

I think I did so-so on the chemistry due to the fact that I haven't had organic yet and was unable to grasp a lot of the subject material from study guides alone.

QA is another story in entirety. I probably had about 10-12 left that I had no clue as to how to answer. I didn't even have enough time to randomly bubble in 3 of the 10-12 I had left. With that being said I think it's safe to say that I performed poorly on the quantitative ability section.

Unless God somehow intervenes and allows me to make at least a composite score of an 80, I'm fairly certain that I'll retake in October.

 

[jccrew]

to sum it all up =

i def did not pace myself enough during the test. i never ran out of time on chemistry of the practice tests that i took. but i did on this one. math...timed myself wrong..thought i had 15 mins left when 5 min was called..enough said. rest of them..blah

i dunno if i'll have enough time to sign up for the oct one by the time i get my score....

 

[Transformer]

The only Quantitative practice sections comparable to the real PCAT Quantitative sections are the ones from Pearson's two practice exams.

I have to say after practicing the 2 quantitative sections from Pearson's practice tests, I still struggled and had to guessed on at least 10 questions today. (very frustrating but seems to be commonplace by now)

After Pearson replaced Geometry with more Calculus and Statistics problems, finishing the quantitative without skipping or even with skipping problems seems to be difficult to me and many other test takers.

what do you guys think? do you guys agree?

 

[xhamburgersamx]

The quantitative was easier than the online practice test. I Personally think the calculus is super super simplistic and way easier/faster to do than geometry. There was probably two geometry question on the test...so it wasn't totally gone. Just a lot of stupid log problems and manipulation questions. There are many tests versions handed out during examination so there might be different questions as well...

I think studying the kaplan crap is good enough for everything except math.

Whisper me/PM if u have any questions.

 

[InternDoc]

This is my first time taking it...

First essay: allright...I think I did good..
Biology: SUPER EASY...finished 20 minutes early...I was shocked....
Verbal: fair...guess around 10 questions...
Chem: fair...lots of organic....not as bad as I expected
Second essay: nah....did not even try ....hopefully the 1st one get graded
Reading: easy.....guess around 5-6 questions...
Quanitative: WTF ???

prep materials: Kaplan, Clifftest

Do school look at highest section for each test ?

 

[alphaRx]

I am 99 percent sure that the second essay is getting graded. I asked a lot of people after the exam about the essays. Everyone had a different topic for the first one and the second was common for everyone. It weird since the second one had nothing to do with health and the topic was quite weird too. I didn't knew what to write. Well, I am hoping for a 3 ! I know I am not getting anything better than that.

OMG just thinking abt my second essay scares the hell out of me!!......i was so lost on the topic and kinda came up with a crappy solution..and also i cant think creatively under pressure..grr..its disappointing to know that the first essay was experimental...especially because it turned out to be a master piece essay for me...lets hope the graders will be nice

 

[alpha12]

If everyone did bad on the math does it help our score. I heard people say it doesn't matter. They only look at last years scores for determining your percentile anyway.

 

[Farcus]

i don't think math was really that bad its mostly precal and a few deriv and application. bio was harder than january, chem was easy, reading not too shabby, verbal was meeeh i think i got around 80+ easily hopefully so.

 

[inquirer89]

Speaking of funny PCAT experiences, today a lady tried to go back and pencil in an answer once the end time was called. The proctor stopped her hand from making a mark and yelled "Don't make me void your scores" and took her booklet up. Got to follow directions!

They were having band practice outside, so it was loud for half of the test. And the clock was broken...and I was one of the smart ones to bring a stopwatch

 

[alpha12]

Speaking of funny PCAT experiences, today a lady tried to go back and pencil in an answer once the end time was called. The proctor stopped her hand from making a mark and yelled "Don't make me void your scores" and took her booklet up. Got to follow directions!

They were having band practice outside, so it was loud for half of the test. And the clock was broken...and I was one of the smart ones to bring a stopwatch

Yeah i should have brought a watch. I didn't even think i would need it because i was finishing everything before time on the hartcourt practice tests. I'm gonna go buy myself a good old digital watch

 

[cdhoward]

Anyone know how many people nationwide took the test? Would be interesting to know how many people we're being scored against.

We are compared to a normal group, which is compiled of first time pcat test takers from 2003 through 2007.

 

[Kingstun]

This was my 2nd pcat i got a 67 on the first one. this one seemed easier to me. Maybe i was more prepared for this test. Any way

1st ESSAY- Really liked writing about the topic i know i did well on that one

VERBAL-flew through it did very well......vocab has always been easy for me

BIO- I felt I was very well prepared for this section and only guessed on 2-3

Chem-i was well prepared. however, poor time management will be death of
me and this will be a reoccurring problem.
Reading- all sections when smoothly felt really confident about all of them.

Quant- broken hearted......time management will be what brings my score
there wasnt enough calc for my taste.....which is my strongest sub
it seems the questions were VERY long to process.



Sort of up set i dont feel like i did as well as i normally could have.....my entire life could be different if there was an addtion 10 mins on the math

 

[Criz]

This was my 2nd PCAT. Took it for the first time back in Jan'08 without studying and only got a 63. Didn't get to study much this time around between summer classes and working full time T-T

Just glad its over, hoping for 75+

 

[Shingo123]

This was my 2nd pcat i got a 67 on the first one. this one seemed easier to me. Maybe i was more prepared for this test. Any way

1st ESSAY- Really liked writing about the topic i know i did well on that one

VERBAL-flew through it did very well......vocab has always been easy for me

BIO- I felt I was very well prepared for this section and only guessed on 2-3

Chem-i was well prepared. however, poor time management will be death of
me and this will be a reoccurring problem.
Reading- all sections when smoothly felt really confident about all of them.

Quant- broken hearted......time management will be what brings my score
there wasnt enough calc for my taste.....which is my strongest sub
it seems the questions were VERY long to process.



Sort of up set i dont feel like i did as well as i normally could have.....my entire life could be different if there was an addtion 10 mins on the math

Wow, very similar situation to me. I got a 67 on my last pcat as well.

First essay was nice, verbal went smooth for me as well.
Bio, I was well prepared only had to guess on a few.
Chem, I was able to finish I believe, but I may have had to fill in the last question without reading it.

Unfortunately for me, I had a meltdown during the reading, my eyes could not focus, could not process what I was reading so well. I had to fill in 3 at the end. Hopefully I got the ones i did answer all right,


Math, I was pretty pissed, got a 5 minute warning at question 30 something. I went through and did all the ones that took a short time, had to fill in at least 5 blindly.


I am not overly happy with my performance, but I am hoping I didn't screw any sections up, and hoping that my verbal, bio,chem scores lead me to victory.

Victory= 80+ Disappointed if I get a 70, but will take it if thats the best i am capable of =(.

Also hoping that, I get surprised and get a half decent Quant score.

I think the anatomy was good for me on the bio part, and the o-chem was an ugly type but it was ok. Last time i got a 83 on chem and it had a lot of naming, this time there was prediction of reactions, markovnikov addition etc.

 

[optimistic828]

I am a first timer as well and I thought it was pretty fair...

I thought I was prepared to QA but I turned out to be very very wrong!
that was definitely the hardest section and the only section where I ran into completely unfamiliar material and blindly guessed-- on about 10!

Oh, and I really hope the first essay is graded

Anyone know how I can file a complaint/report about the PCAT testing location? I'll probably just search for an 800 # but since I just remembered right now, thought I might throw that out there. Our room was literally 90 degrees. It was hotter inside than it was outside!!! HORRIBLE TEST TAKING CONDITIONS!!!!

anyones, Im looking forward to a good nights sleep...

 

[cybercerebral]

I last took it october 07.. this test has definitely got a LOT harder! too much organic in the chemistry section - didn't have enough time to even contemplate a reaction's products or draw anything out. The essays were harder, but it was obvious which one was the experiment. The math was easier. Reading was more complicated, but i still had 10 minutes left over like i did in october. Verbal was harder. I came into this test with more pre-reqs under my belt, everything but bio, orgo chem2 and micro. A lot more anatomy on this test, for sure. Anyways, i'm scared to see what i got because i only took this test to boost my chem score. Not really happy with how i did on that.

Octobers test i got a composite 78, chem was 50% which is why i retook it. Just out of curiosity, do the schools look at the highest scores of the breakdown or just the highest composite?

good luck

When I called an adviser at mercer she told me they dont really look at the individual sections, just the composite. But i guess all the schools are different.