Pcat study help for sep 2012

hello i am planning on taking the Pcat on sep , would the dr collins study packet with august 2011 update be good enough or is it outdated?( there hasn't been an update in 2012)
Also since there have been some changes to the bio and chem section should I buy the kaplan 2012-2013 Pcat book ?
thank you

I believe that is the most up-to-date version of Doc Collins, but there is an official website out there you can double check on where he sells his stuff.

TBH, I would buy a cheap version of the Kaplan book if you're just using it for Biology / Chemistry. How much can change in the subject in a year or two? I also suggest relying on your class texts you used in Gen Bio / Micro / Gen Chem / O Chem, etc. The Kaplan book simply provides similar information in a condensed format - or at least mine did.

If you have a robust public library system, you might check there for suitable PCAT books.

Originally Posted by coolbeanz23

hello i am planning on taking the Pcat on sep , would the dr collins study packet with august 2011 update be good enough or is it outdated?( there hasn't been an update in 2012)
Also since there have been some changes to the bio and chem section should I buy the kaplan 2012-2013 Pcat book ?
thank you

I took the PCAT July of 2011 once it was all computer based got a 79 composite- I'm selling my Kaplan Materials (See the link in my signature) I honestly believe that if you have the focus, the books are ALL you need to do well and pretty much self contain everything you need to succeed. Practice tests are a definite help, so in addition I would get the ones from Pearson.

Well reopening this thread up, Id appreciate it if people could help me figure out whats on the PCAT test. I saw the new blueprints for PCAT, but im confused over it saying no non human subjects will be tested.

Then what is microbiology going to be on? Will that include classification and knowing all those kingdoms? And what in the world is medical microbiology? And the scope/depth needed for diseases, nutrition and drugs?

I bought the Kaplan 2012-2013 but it seems to be missing stuff on bio, namely the medical microbiology, diseases, nutritions and drugs stuff.

Thankssss

Basically, after taking the pcat this past July, the bio portion didn't seem to have any questions about animals or plants. There were a few questions about certain diseases, nutrition, anatomy questions, and of course general bio (Dna, Rna, etc.). I used mainly the Dr. Collins book and I scored a 91 on the bio portion. I also looked at the Kaplan book but not as much? Although, I think if I studied the Kaplan book a bit more I would have scored higher.

The chem section was basically all Dr. Collins. The biochemistry questions were basic and most will probably have learned it from microbio or genetics. The practice tests are really helpful and he includes 11 of them so make sure to do them all. I scored a 91 on this section as well.

A big thing is to buy the practice tests on the Pearson site. Those tests gave me a pretty accurate representation of what my score would like. I scored between 70-90 on the two practice tests I took, and I scored a 85 on the actual pcat.

Good luck to you and everyone else who plan on taking it in the future!

I thought the Chem section was poor represented in Collins. There were a lot of conceptual questions on my PCAT. Some of the biochem questions were simple while others were just insanely specific. I did get a 99 on the Chem though using 2011 Collins along with Kaplan, but that's just because I'm more inclined in Chemistry.

+1 on the Pearson practice tests.

Originally Posted by Ezoption

Basically, after taking the pcat this past July, the bio portion didn't seem to have any questions about animals or plants. There were a few questions about certain diseases, nutrition, anatomy questions, and of course general bio (Dna, Rna, etc.). I used mainly the Dr. Collins book and I scored a 91 on the bio portion. I also looked at the Kaplan book but not as much? Although, I think if I studied the Kaplan book a bit more I would have scored higher.

The chem section was basically all Dr. Collins. The biochemistry questions were basic and most will probably have learned it from microbio or genetics. The practice tests are really helpful and he includes 11 of them so make sure to do them all. I scored a 91 on this section as well.

A big thing is to buy the practice tests on the Pearson site. Those tests gave me a pretty accurate representation of what my score would like. I scored between 70-90 on the two practice tests I took, and I scored a 85 on the actual pcat.

Good luck to you and everyone else who plan on taking it in the future!

Wow you did AMAZING on your science. congrats! how did you do on the other sections?

can I ask how long did you study for your test? I am terrified of the GenChem/Ochem sections, especially because now the new PCAT increased the percent of problems.

I am currently studying for the Sept. PCAT, started studying in June.. but didn't focus on the science sections til july. I took the Kaplan course, and never even heard of Collins til i got onto SDN. will i be okay without Collins for chem? for Bio, I am studying the Kaplan big book, will that be enough? can you help explain how detailed the questions were for Bio? and now 18% of Biochemistry is included, what should i focus on, every detail? ahhh

I will take your advice and purchase the Pearson Practice tests, and try my best. How often did you take a practice test?

Thank you so much for you help in advance!

I studied pretty leisurely for a month in a half or so. Although, I couldn't say it was intense studying. There were days I didn't feel like studying and days that I studied very little. I believe three weeks to a month is more than enough time given you've taken all the pre reqs. The gen chem wasn't bad at all and i felt like the organic chem was pretty general. I did have a lot of conceptual questions on my pcat, but I felt like I did fine even though I didn't get a 99. I bought three of the Pearson exams but only used two. I'd suggest taking one in the very beginning and the last two 10 days before the test and 5 days before the test. I got a 93 on the quantitative section and pretty bad on the reading and verbal (60,38 :/). If you don't have Collins, Kaplan will be fine just make sure to focus on your weak points from the Pearson practice tests. Good luck to you!

I took the exam on july 20th, of this year. Basically my advice to you is take all the practice exams. I thought the practice exams were for the most part accurate representations of the actual exams. There were 2 deviations, for me, between the practice exams and the actual exam. I used the Kaplan book to study for everything and thought it did a fair job, although it did leave out some parts of calculus such as the chain rule and quotient rule. To be fair it was a 2010 book so they may have fixed this gap in knowledge. Studied about 3 hours a day, 4 days a week for about 2.5 months.

Practice Exams:
RC: 80 - 99
Verbal: 65-85
Bio: 80 - 99
Chem: 80 - 99
Quan: 80 - 99
Comp: 80 - 99

Preliminary Report:
RC: 68
Verbal: 91
Bio: 84
Chem: 98
Quan: 95
Comp: 95

I dont know how i improved in the verbal section between the practices and the exam. This was especially surprising seeing as how I thought i performed miserablely on that section.

On the reading comprehension section I found myself running low on time, something that did not happen on the 3 practice exams. found the exam passages much less attention garbing than the practice exams. Just a personal opinion.

The Math is a section that on the practice exams I expected to score in the low 80s because calculus is not my strong suit and usually i just guess on problems that I think will take too much time such as the area under the curve with X amount of rectangle problems. Exactly the same kind of questions on the practice exams. Over all a pleasant surprise.

The Bio and Chem section score i feel should have been switched. i feel as though I am much better at Biology (having attained my BS in Biology) than chemistry (a subject that i got mostly Cs on). Overall the questions were nicely represented in the practice exam. however there was one question i had an issue with that required you to remember the atomic number of a particular atom seeing as how there is no periodic table given. That question appeared early in my exam and felt as though it completely blind sided me and made me really nervous throughout the rest of the section. I was just lucky that there was a break immediately after this section which i used to recompose myself.

I didn't practice writing essay. I know this sounds like bragging but I always felt as though I am fairly good at writing essays. I remember in one online psychology class i was taking, we were required to write an essay every month. I would usually crank out the essay in about 30 minutes (same time you get on the PCAT for each essay [coincidence]). At the end of the semester, we had to take an in class final. When i went to turn in my final, the attractive TA (she ran the class, grad student) looked at the name on my scan tron, recognized the name, and turned to me and told me that she had looked forward to reading my essays every month. It was kinda awesome. (sorry for side tracking.) However, if you do not feel as though you excel at stress writing, i strongly suggest you spend time writing PCAT-like essays prior to taking the exam for no reason other than helping you with clock management skills.

Summary: I think the practice exams do help. Due to how the exams are scored, the preliminary score report's percentile and actual percentile for each section will not change. However the composite may change as the essays are factored into your composite, something which is absent on the preliminary for obvious reasons. Overal the best study technique is not to read and read and read study material but I feel as though it is to just take as many practice exams and do as many study questions as you can. Material tested changes form exam to exam, but the time you are aloted stays the same. Work on time management skill. Then after each practice exam is done, i suggest you re-read the section in your study book that talks about whatever you thought was a weak point in your exam.

Side Note: Definitely satisfied with my exam score (and very surprised quite honestly). Excited not to have to study for another standardized exam for at least 4 more years (not a fan of them). I bid anyone/everyone who is taking them in the near future and currently studying for them good luck and I hope this helped.

For those that took the July 2012 PCAT, can you elaborate on the composition of the tests. For example, for Bio was there alot of stuff on medicine and drugs? Kaplan 2012-2013 doesnt seem to cover that stuff unfortunately. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

oh yea, does the composition of the test change every time too?