Studying for PCAT?...Zero Knowledge

[Futbol99]

Hi
I am looking for an updated advice I can get from my fellow community.
I joined the Pre-pharmacy route recently as I have always been a premed type. I even wrote my MCAT couple months ago. However, at the same time pharmacy was always another option for me hand in hand, and now its time to invest some time into it.

I have no idea how to study for the PCAT. I ideally would like to write it in September or January so I can apply in the same application cycle rite away. As I said I recently came out of writing the MCAT so I am not sure how much information can be transferred over to save time studying. I feel really good with Chemistry and Biology knowledge, though not sure how it will be tested over on the PCAT.

I have no idea AT ALL on the best resources and best schedule to kill the exam.
I bought Kaplan's PCAT 2014 edition, though never looked at it yet. Is that the normal? Where do you do a bunch of practice problems and practice exams like how there's infinite sources for MCAT?

If you all can give me an ideal schedule of time spent and sources it would really help me. If I write in January, I will put in the minimal amount of work during the school year, and spend a lot during the rest of the summer and over Christmas holidays.

THANK you so much

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[kies89]

There is PCAT discussion forum.
Also, check this out. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/pcat-study-tips-from-the-99-ile-club.754083/
this helped me a lot

 

[oldstock]

Hi
I am looking for an updated advice I can get from my fellow community.
I joined the Pre-pharmacy route recently as I have always been a premed type. I even wrote my MCAT couple months ago. However, at the same time pharmacy was always another option for me hand in hand, and now its time to invest some time into it.

I have no idea how to study for the PCAT. I ideally would like to write it in September or January so I can apply in the same application cycle rite away. As I said I recently came out of writing the MCAT so I am not sure how much information can be transferred over to save time studying. I feel really good with Chemistry and Biology knowledge, though not sure how it will be tested over on the PCAT.

I have no idea AT ALL on the best resources and best schedule to kill the exam.
I bought Kaplan's PCAT 2014 edition, though never looked at it yet. Is that the normal? Where do you do a bunch of practice problems and practice exams like how there's infinite sources for MCAT?

If you all can give me an ideal schedule of time spent and sources it would really help me. If I write in January, I will put in the minimal amount of work during the school year, and spend a lot during the rest of the summer and over Christmas holidays.

THANK you so much

from my own experience, if you did well on your MCAT, you would do very well on the PCAT with no or almost no studying needed. Just brush up on your vocabulary, which you would use SAT/ACT prep books.

on the other hand, if you did not do well on your MCAT (and I do not know how well you remember the old materials or how good your test taking skills are), you might need some studying and prepping. From what I have seen on SDN, most people seem to agree that Dr. Collins is the best study material for the PCAT.

Preferably, you need to take the PCAT the latest in September or October. The latest deadlines for PharmCAS application are February and March. January test dates are usually too late as it usually takes a couple of weeks (4-5 weeks) for your Jan PCAT score to be received by PharmCAS on time to meet the deadlines for your application to be considered by the schools.

So from now to September, you would have about 4-6 weeks to study. Imho, the best way is to take some old PCAT sample tests (Person sells them) as a diagnosis to pinpoint your strong and weak areas. Plan and focus your studying on weak areas and do quick reviews on strong ones (with Dr. Collins' ??). Then retest yourself with more PCAT sample tests. I think 4-6 weeks should be enough for you to be ready to take the PCAT in September or October.

You should also start your PharmCAS application NOW to fill in/submit what you can now like personal info, cGPA/sGPA, school transcripts, personal essay, LORs, school designations, etc. And when you register for the PCAT, designate PharmCAS as one of the receivers for your score (I think the 1st one is free).

GL !!