69th Percentile... Good Enough for Admission?

[slatenator]

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I think I lucked out considering I walked out of the test thinking I completely bombed and would have to retake for sure:

Verbal Ability = 69%
Biology = 71%
Reading Comprehension = 90%
Quantitative Ability = 34% (OH CRAP!)
Chemistry = 58%
----------------------
Composite = 69%

Writing:
Conventions of Language = 3
Problem Solving = 3


Can I get feedback on people on whether or not this is good enough for admissions despite the horrible 34 percentile on the Math section. I had signed up to take it again in January of 2010 but am not sure what I want to do at this point. Thanks for your expertise and feedback. 🙂

 

[diastole]

If it were me, I'd retake to get that math up. Usually when I take a standardized test, I try to minimize the number of questions I miss but for math it is the opposite. You want to maximize the number of questions you get right. That means that you need to skip questions and move on to questions that you can get right. Most people run out of time anyway so that is a good strategy. It is better to see all of the questions and pick off the easy ones than run out of time with wild guesses for questions you didn't even have time to look at. You may have left easy ones on the table.

After rethinking this, do your schools even accept the January PCAT? If they don't, maybe wait to see if you get in and retake in June if you don't. If they do, I'd retake.

 

[socalpharm86]

Impressive reading comp. For what it's worth I know a current P1 with a 3.00 GPA who scored 69% twice on his PCAT. His current performance in pharm school isn't stellar but C's get Degree's and make the G's

 

[diastole]

Impressive reading comp. For what it's worth I know a current P1 with a 3.00 GPA who scored 69% twice on his PCAT. His current performance in pharm school isn't stellar but C's get Degree's and make the G's

Not at my school. You had better get a 90% or you aren't passing.

 

[02175359]

Not at my school. You had better get a 90% or you aren't passing.

Can you please explain further?
What do you mean you're not passing unless you get 90%

Surely you don't mean that anything below a 90% is considered an F at your school.

 

[Carboxide]

Can you please explain further?
What do you mean you're not passing unless you get 90%

Surely you don't mean that anything below a 90% is considered an F at your school.

That's exactly what he means.

 

[socalpharm86]

Can you please explain further?
What do you mean you're not passing unless you get 90%

Surely you don't mean that anything below a 90% is considered an F at your school.

Yep. USN's program is possibly the most rigorous out of all the pharm schools I've looked into applying to

 

[diastole]

Can you please explain further?
What do you mean you're not passing unless you get 90%

Surely you don't mean that anything below a 90% is considered an F at your school.

We are pass/no pass and 90% is passing. Actually you can get 85% if your team gets a 95% (the team takes the exact same test after the individual one). If you don't get your 90% or 85% with team points, you come back for remediation and there are no team points so you need a 90%. If you don't pass that, you come back for a week in the summer per block you don't pass. If you don't pass that, you get to sit out a year and do that block over again the next year.

It sounds worse than it is but I know some of my classmates get pretty stressed out about such a high bar. It is definately not the school for someone who thinks C = PharmD though.

 

[MrMeowphers]

That's as bad as grad school where you need an 80% (B-) to pass your classes.

 

[manutdmax]

okay here is my score which is close to yours

verbal 55
biology 67
reading 55
math 40
chemistry 88

composite 65 ...

do you guys think its bad score..I thought anything above 60 is good ?😱

 

[WhiteSnows]

Retake it.

 

[busyizzy]

okay here is my score which is close to yours

verbal 55
biology 67
reading 55
math 40
chemistry 88

composite 65 ...

do you guys think its bad score..I thought anything above 60 is good ?😱

Depends on the school. Some have averages around 80, and some of them have composite minimums at 70 or 80.

 

[crazybob]

I think I lucked out considering I walked out of the test thinking I completely bombed and would have to retake for sure:

Verbal Ability = 69%
Biology = 71%
Reading Comprehension = 90%
Quantitative Ability = 34% (OH CRAP!)
Chemistry = 58%
----------------------
Composite = 69%

Writing:
Conventions of Language = 3
Problem Solving = 3


Can I get feedback on people on whether or not this is good enough for admissions despite the horrible 34 percentile on the Math section. I had signed up to take it again in January of 2010 but am not sure what I want to do at this point. Thanks for your expertise and feedback. 🙂

Definitely take it again and see if you can improve. You might be surprised by how much you can improve.

 

[udiep]

69 is okay score, my friend just got accepted with a 69.

BUT, depends on your GPA and ur interview..if you get an interview make sure to do your best 🙂

Also, don't be afraid to retake it and push harder for a higher score. It just shows ur determination 🙂

 

[rivulet]

Really, If you still have a last chance at retaking the PcAT and you are serious about wanting to become a pharmacist then you really want to give it your all and try the test again. Anything to increase your score even by a point is one point closer to your destination. It shows that you are no quitter. I just took the oct test and I am retaking the pcat. I do not have not neraly enough time to study for it BUT i am certain that even a point higher will bring me closer to where I want to be.

 

[luxubu]

I think I lucked out considering I walked out of the test thinking I completely bombed and would have to retake for sure:

Verbal Ability = 69%
Biology = 71%
Reading Comprehension = 90%
Quantitative Ability = 34% (OH CRAP!)
Chemistry = 58%
----------------------
Composite = 69%

Writing:
Conventions of Language = 3
Problem Solving = 3


I wish you could share me some of your RC 😛


Can I get feedback on people on whether or not this is good enough for admissions despite the horrible 34 percentile on the Math section. I had signed up to take it again in January of 2010 but am not sure what I want to do at this point. Thanks for your expertise and feedback. 🙂

I wish you could share me some of your RC 😛 ,
here are the scores
RC 5 (yes, it is a FIVE)
verbal 27
Quant 62
Bio 90
Chem 99
comp 66
Biochemistry major, 3.8 cumm GPA
Anyway, I deserve that because I did not study at all for RC and Verbal. whenever i study verbal and RC (by reading Wall street journal and practice tests, I feel so dumb and so discourage about my limited English ability. they are just TOO MUCH for me to memorize words. i guess I need tons of time on these two so I will retake pcat in Aug, 2010
I study a week before the test for Quant, Chem, and Bio.
Can we request to do RC last in the pcat test? after i finish RC, I am so tired and could not concentrate on Quant at all.😡
Now I know why I have not heard a peep from Midwestern Glendale and USN,
good luck studying guys

 

[slatenator]

Thanks for all of your input. I will retake in January. Most schools say I cannot use the Jan scores for the current application except for U of Oklahoma which claims you can bring them in hand to the interview to bolster your application. I will no-score the test if I think it isn't good enough.

The biggest problem for me on Math was not seeing the calculus stuff forever. I am a 29 year old with a Master's degree and I haven't seen undergrad calculus since 1999. The limits and e to the whatever stuff really freaked me out on math and I didn't know what a stem-leaf plot was. However, the chem section just looked really mean in general and I'm not sure if studying would up my score. Same with verbal, just really mean. Will start studying again in December...

Good luck to all of you!

 

[starobin]

Thanks for all of your input. I will retake in January. Most schools say I cannot use the Jan scores for the current application except for U of Oklahoma which claims you can bring them in hand to the interview to bolster your application. I will no-score the test if I think it isn't good enough.

The biggest problem for me on Math was not seeing the calculus stuff forever. I am a 29 year old with a Master's degree and I haven't seen undergrad calculus since 1999. The limits and e to the whatever stuff really freaked me out on math and I didn't know what a stem-leaf plot was. However, the chem section just looked really mean in general and I'm not sure if studying would up my score. Same with verbal, just really mean. Will start studying again in December...

Good luck to all of you!

thanks a lot, good luck to you .

I am also retaking in January, so I hope !!!. My October score is just horrible. 20 chem, 24 math, 17 verbal, all other not to mention here. But I stopped to panic, it happens. I got to jump high.

Just thinking if I still have any chances to get into 2010 program with January scores, also have no extra years to wait for it. 😎

 

[MrMeowphers]

Verbal isn't something you can just improve drastically in a month of studying, it takes years of development...

That's why I feel graduate school would be good for more people. It requires you to read and comprehend primary research journals in a very short time period (usually 30 min before discussion classes). I give all my praise to graduate school for helping me develop these language skills.

1st PCAT: OCT '09
Verb: 80%
RC: 85%
Quant: 91%
Bio: 98%
Chem: 91%
Comp: 95%

 

[busyizzy]

Verbal isn't something you can just improve drastically in a month of studying, it takes years of development...

That's why I feel graduate school would be good for more people. It requires you to read and comprehend primary research journals in a very short time period (usually 30 min before discussion classes). I give all my praise to graduate school for helping me develop these language skills.

1st PCAT: OCT '09
Verb: 80%
RC: 85%
Quant: 91%
Bio: 98%
Chem: 91%
Comp: 95%

Reading a lot, period, helps. Even if it's simple things. I read a lot of books since I was little, and I still read a lot of children's books today (I think they're cute and endearing). I got a 85 on my RC this Oct too. Last August, I actually got a 90-something on my RC. But then again, I did stop reading for pleasure in the past year due to time constraints. A correlation, though, not causation.

 

[docss26]

I interviewed at multiple schools with students scoring in the upper 60th percentile that have been accepted in pharmacy school. I guess it depends on how your other stats are. Its a balance, if you lack in one area, excel in another and you should be ok. Id say if your in a rush to get in and dont plan on spending tons of money on applications, apply, but still plan to take the PCAT incase it does not work out for you. A year goes by so fast these days, if your truly concerned, then wait. Just don't be discouraged.