Hi, sorry for the late reply. And thanks
I also used Dr. Collins, and kaplan.
For chem: Nothing beats Dr. Collins IMO. It has all the info you need for that section, broken down into easily digestible packets. And the practise tests are highly reflective of what you will see on test day.
Verbal: This is hard to prepare for but Collins is amazing. I went through all the Collins analogies and fill in the blanks, and I did this multiple times until I memorized them. On test day, I saw multiple questions that were word for word from Collins. I was laughing!
Biology: Kaplan excels in this regard. I read the biology chapter multiple times through, making sure I knew general concepts and details. Collins doesnt suffice here. If you know the Kaplan bio section intimately, you will get 99%ile
Reading: I used Collins. I read practise passages and answered the questions, while I timed myself. I made sure not to go over time, since in the real test, you would get cut off. I also practised with the pearson practise test, not exceeding the time limit. The key here is TIME. Kaplan also had a tip that I used: for each paragraph you read, write a short-hand description of what it's about, in a couple of words. That way you know which paragraph to reread if a question comes up. And I didn't read the passage thoroughly the first time. I speed read and jotted down general ideas for each paragraph.
Math: Both Collins and Kaplan. I found that Collins had too little content and Kaplan had too much. But i guess too much is better than too little. The pearson practise test was helpful in finding out which areas I needed to focus on.
Essay: in didn't really practise for this, other than the pearson practise tests, and I got a 3.0 so I dunno...
General tips: I bought 3 pearson practise tests and did them in a timed manner. They were super helpful because it's the closest you can get to the actual test. Some questions were recycled from the practise test onto my actual test. So definitely recommend doing them.
Also, in the PCAT, timing is important, especially for math and reading. I had to get used to the idea of skipping questions that were long or that I didn't know the answer to, and I would come back later if I had time. This way, your valuable and limited time would be spent answering quick questions and questions you know the answer to, to maximize the number of questions answered. At the end, go back to the troublesome questions. For me, I never finished ALL questions, I ended up guessing at the ones I had left till the end, so it's better to leave difficult questions till the end, rather than going in sequence and not answering questions that could have been easy points. The goal is to maximize points.
Good luck and I hope this helps!