Attention: 90+ PCAT People

[Monarch]

Those of you who scored a composite of 90 or above on the PCAT, if you feel like answering these questions, it would be greatly appreciated. That way we could avoid asking the same things over and over.
(I plagiarized this from a sticky thread in the MCAT section, and thought we needed our own, even if it is kinda late for the Oct 22 people )

Thanks!


1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?

2) How did you study for each section?

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?

8) Do you have any other advice?

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[RyanMaverick]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
Verbal -87
Biology -90
Reading -99
Quantitative -97
Chemistry -98

Composite -99
Writing -4

2) How did you study for each section?
Reading through the chapters outlined in the Kaplan book.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
Kaplan 06/07 edition exclusively.

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
Approximately 3hrs/day for about a week. Skimmed over the material for a weeks before that just seeing what was going to be on it. Did the practice exam at beginning and end of Kaplan (WAY harder then actual PCAT), and did the practic exams on Harcourts' site (great practice!).

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
3rd year sciences, already taken Micro/Anat/Org1&2/BioCh/Imin/Calcs/etc.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
Biosciences

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
Only one or two Org.Chem questions that were dealing with some Sn1/Sn2 reactions, I was assuming it'd be exclusively nomenclature (which is basically was) but there is one or two different ones.

8) Do you have any other advice?
Do the practice exam under exam conditions and work on time management. The strategy I used was to circle each question that I didn't know right away or was going to take awhile to figure out and went through the exam once and then came back to each one I had trouble with after I knew I had the easy ones done. Studying for the essay is a crapshoot, just know your 5-paragraph essay format and hope its something you can BS about. Write more for punctation then content since you only have 30mins and not really enough time to make a proper argument.

 

[RyanMaverick]

Damn double posts.

 

[tabman]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
Verbal 90
Bio 95
Reading 95
Quantitative 89
Chemistry 99
COMPOSITE 98

2) How did you study for each section?
practice tests

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
Kaplan - practice tests

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
8 days - 3-5 hours a day

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
finished

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
biochem BSc chem PhD

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
not really.. its a very fair test.. the math section is ******ed.. there's math on there from elementary school and you'll definately be tight for time

8) Do you have any other advice?
go fast

 

[Plowi]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
Verbal 80
Bio 97
Reading 64
Quantitative 75
Chemistry 99
COMPOSITE 94

Writing 3

2) How did you study for each section?
Went over all the basic biology and chemistry stuff that I forgot...yeah its been a while. I also did practice tests, which is the best way to study I think.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
Kaplan, pcatprofessor, and harcourt practice tests.

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
a couple weeks about 1-2 hrs a day over winter break

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
Missing anatomy and physiology. I had calculus a while ago I really didnt have a mastery of it then, and basically went into the PCAT only knowing the simplest calculus procedures.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
Biology

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?

The calculus was more involving than I thought it would be. I just grazed over it because I didnt have the time to relearn the stuff I no longer remember...yeah its been a while there too. Ended up doing all the non-calculus questions with ease first then I guessed on the ~10 questions I wasnt able to do.

8) Do you have any other advice?

Verbal - When you see a word you dont know, look it up, keep doing that months before you take the PCAT.

Biology - easy stuff. You dont need to memorize every hormone in the body like I tried doing. Know your basics!

Chemistry - Mostly gen chem stuff, lots of the organic was intro organic chem I stuff.

Quant - Know your calculus well, but Id still advice skipping all calculus related questions first since they take more time than the others. Id recommend doing the easy stuff first. My limited ability in calculus really hurt me here. If I remembered more stuff Id have been able to finish the questions rather than guess.

Reading - For reading, work fast as possible. Of course I didnt do that then but in hindsight I would have. Questions are very ambiguous also so be careful with them. This was my lowest section because I barely finished in time and was rushing. Definately need to practice your reading with SCIENCE related stuff if you dont read much like me. Reading about diseases may be helpful also.

Essay...well I got a 3 which means adequate, dont write by hand much these days, I'll take it. If you wanna practice just find some prompts and see what you can write up in 30 minutes. I would have done that more often but really didnt have the time.

This was my first time and I must say if you put the time in you'll do good. The study materials available really are relevant to the test (not just the ones I listed). I wouldnt recommend a class unless you have trouble studying on your own. I havent had the PCAT related classes in a while so I was at a bit of a disadvantage because I had to relearn a lot of the basic stuff. The books were quite comprehensive and it was somewhat enjoyable seeing all the stuff I forgot again =)

Goodluck guys and gals.

 

[RockAByBaby]

wow...i just realized you posted this question a long time ago...but if anyone still cares:

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
Composite: 94
Chem: 97
Quantitative: 93
Biology: 88
Verbal: 79
Reading Comp: 85
Writing: 4

2) How did you study for each section?
Kaplan
3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
Kaplan

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
Kaplan classes twice a week for 2.5 months...i didn't really do any work outside of class though even though it would have helped a lot

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
4th year after I had taken all the pre-req's except for physics lab....but no one cares about physics anyways

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
Econ major.

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
yeah....kaplan was totally off on a lot of stuff that was on the test...including the format

8) Do you have any other advice?[/QUOTE]
It's really not that bad...don't get too stressed about it.

 

[meLtdown4meL]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
Verbal= 93 (437)
Biology= 96 (447)
Reading= 79 (419)
Quant Ab= 93 (439)
Chemistry= 90 (432)
Writing= 4/5
Composite= 95 (435)

2) How did you study for each section?
I went over Kaplan's book 2 days before the test and focused on the biology, chemistry and some math.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
Kaplan for the review.
Barron's and Kaplan for the Questions

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
Honestly- a grand total of 15 hours, 5-6 hours 2 days before and I answered some questions on the plane ride to the site (The nearest sites for me were impacted so I suggest applying early).

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
After my Bachelors

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
I majored in Nutritional Science and Toxicology

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
For the test: I was surprised that there was significantly more organic chemistry questions on the test compared to the practice tests.

Prior to the test: I took the test at USC and slept over at my friend's apt on campus. I got 0 hours of sleep that night from the noise. Don't make the same mistake!!

I hope this helps.

 

[Jbuprepharm]

) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?

Math - 73
Reading comp - 95
Biology - 95
Chem - 91
Verbal - 84
writing - I'm not sure, and I don't know where my score report is so it's driving me crazy not knowing
composite - 93

2) How did you study for each section?
I didn't "study" and info, but I did use a study book to familiarize with the test

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
I used a Barron's book

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
about 6 weeks

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
midway through my junior year (jan 05)

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
Biology with chem minor, graduating in may

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
no not really, but there was a LOT of calculus on the math, so there wasn't nearly enough time

8) Do you have any other advice?
Pay attention in class, take practice tests, those are the best two ways to prepare IMO

 

[janeno]

This looks like a very good resource!!!

 

[janeno]

bump! I was hoping people would continue posting on this great thread...

 

[aboveliquidice]

Bump - Looking for you new 90+ PCAT Takers to post your stuff... lets keep this thread up to date. Let us know how you did so well...

~above~

 

[janeno]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
June 2006:
verbal 33
biology 65
reading comp 85
quantative ability 99
chemistry 99
composite 99
writing - 4

2) How did you study for each section?
I mostly reviewed my notes and textbooks from my classes and practiced tests from Cliff Notes.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
old notes and textbooks, cliff notes practice tests, cliff notes bio and chemistry reviews...
both of Harcourt practice tests (strongly recommend them)
by the way, Kaplan is useless (at least, I really hated it - wrong format, too much info, and covers wrong material -- very misleading)

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
about 6 weeks

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
after my junior year... took most of science prerequisites except for physio and microbio, that is why my bio score is low...

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
Mathematics major with minors in bio, chem, and economics

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
Math section was pretty involved: you need to know your calc 1 and 2. Biology covered various areas...

8) Do you have any other advice?
The best preparation for the test is to have taken most of your prerequisites. Also practice taking tests as much as you can...

 

[mommy2boys]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
June 2006:
verbal 444/96
biology 483/99
reading comp 462/99
quantative ability 402/57 ( I am so dependent on a calculator)
chemistry 442/81
composite 442/98
writing - 2

2) How did you study for each section?
Chemistry & Biology -- went through old college textbooks; Kaplan & Barron's
Quantitative -- Kaplan & Barron's; online review of calculus
Verbal/Reading -- Kaplan & Barron's

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
See above; also Harcourt practice tests

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
about 30 total hours over a 2 week period

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
10 years AFTER I graduated from college; I do have a BS in Biomedical Science, but like I said it had been 10 years since I had graduated

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
Biomedical Science

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
Lots of calculus on the math -- you need to be able to answer questions without doing any type of calculations; I had at least 20 questions left when they called the 5 minute mark

The writing section was not hard; however, I found the time constraints very difficult. I tend to need time to think out my writing and since I was 7 months pregnant and 5 hours into the test at the time -- this was not my best section

8) Do you have any other advice?
Practice tests under timed conditions are helpful -- especially with the Math; like I said before you need to be able to do each question quickly and without much thought or calculation at all -- you will not have time to think through how to do a problem

 

[pharmstud07]

Does anyone know how many "scaled score points" each question is worth. Or how many correct answers it take to get at least a 90?

For someone reason I want to divide 600 ( max scaled score ) divided by 58 ( # of questions ) which = 10.345

For example a person who scored a 432 ( 90 percentile ) got 42 answers correct beacause 432/10.345 = 41.76

Am I doing this correct? Do I have the right concept? Someone please help me understand this... Thank you!

 

[allierxgator]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
June 2006:

verbal...84
bio...76
reading comp...79
quantitative....93
chemistry....99
composite...97!!!!!

writing... 3

2) How did you study for each section?
went through all of kaplan... and then through my notes/books where I felt the kaplan was inadequate (ie organic, vocab., and calc). For the writing, I just timed myself using the prompt from kaplan just to see if I was able to finish in time.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
Harcourt practice tests, kaplan practice tests (at center and in book)
I bought the barrons book but it was way to easy so I stopped using it. Used my bio and chem notes/books on weak pts. My calc notes were the most beneficial though. Also, I read through a couple vocab books that I had from high school that prepare you for the sat/gre.

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
a few hours a day for about a month and a half (definitely make sure you plan out a time schedule of when you're gonna study different subjects... and leave a week before the test to just relax and review weak pts)

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
2 years into undergrad. I finished both organic chem 1 and 2 before the test. I didn't even review it before the test. There was a ton of it on the pcat, but it was still familiar to me so it was pretty easy. I definitely recommend taking organic before taking the test.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
nutritional science

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
lots of calculus, lots of organic, very basic calculations for chemistry (which was a surprise b/c kaplan goes much more in depth), bio was very random i thought... i felt like nothing i had studied was on there, also i thought the reading was much easier compared to practice tests/kaplan


8) Do you have any other advice?
take timed practice tests, kaplan is great (it may overprepare you, but that never hurts), dont try to cram studying in... focus on ur weak pts. During the test, skip questions that you don't know then come back. I finished every section at least 5 minutes before which put me at ease and gave me a chance to double check my uncertain answers.

 

[SobeGekko]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
June 2006:

verbal...462--99
bio...500--99
reading comp...462--99
quantitative....481--99
chemistry....501--99
composite...481--99

writing... 4

2) How did you study for each section?
1-2 hrs daily for 3 wks. For verbal, reading comp, I familiarized myself the structure of each section and did practice problems. For the math, chem and bio, used Kaplan 06-07 edition almost exclusively. Used the practice tests in Kaplan book and one of the Harcourt assessment practice tests. The last couple of days I browsed at Barron's (I think)and realized it had a bunch more organic chemistry than the Kaplan book. If I had to do it over again, I may consider PCAT professor as that looks like a good resource.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
See above

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
See above

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
This is where I may have a bit of an advantage. I finished a Chem B.A. and also completed an MD in 2004 and decided I'd prefer pharmacy.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
See above

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
Yes. Taking the test made me realize the Kaplan book did not contain any trigonometry, graphing problems in math and also the organic chemistry section was very sparse.

8) Do you have any other advice?
Take practice tests. Also, do a few practice essays (fitting an essay into 30 minutes takes practice). Speed is particularly important so do practice tests under timed conditions. The Harcourt practice test was the same level of difficulty as the real thing but my impression is that the real thing is incorporating more and more calculus and organic chemistry that is not represented on the practice tests because they are a couple years old. Also, don't study like crazy the day before the test. You need to have all your wits on test day because you need to do the questions very quickly and solving them requires analytical thinking, not regurgitation of facts crammed in at the last minute. Good luck to all, and remember, this test is one small piece of the application process. Having gone through this process getting into medical school and residency, your score probably will be used to sort candidates initially but once you're granted an interview, it's the essays and interviews that will count much more than the difference between a composite of 75 and 95.

 

[acetyl]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
June 2006:

verbal...462--99
bio...500--99
reading comp...462--99
quantitative....481--99
chemistry....501--99
composite...481--99

writing... 4

2) How did you study for each section?
1-2 hrs daily for 3 wks. For verbal, reading comp, I familiarized myself the structure of each section and did practice problems. For the math, chem and bio, used Kaplan 06-07 edition almost exclusively. Used the practice tests in Kaplan book and one of the Harcourt assessment practice tests. The last couple of days I browsed at Barron's (I think)and realized it had a bunch more organic chemistry than the Kaplan book. If I had to do it over again, I may consider PCAT professor as that looks like a good resource.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
See above

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
See above

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
This is where I may have a bit of an advantage. I finished a Chem B.A. and also completed an MD in 2004 and decided I'd prefer pharmacy.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
See above

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
Yes. Taking the test made me realize the Kaplan book did not contain any trigonometry, graphing problems in math and also the organic chemistry section was very sparse.

8) Do you have any other advice?
Take practice tests. Also, do a few practice essays (fitting an essay into 30 minutes takes practice). Speed is particularly important so do practice tests under timed conditions. The Harcourt practice test was the same level of difficulty as the real thing but my impression is that the real thing is incorporating more and more calculus and organic chemistry that is not represented on the practice tests because they are a couple years old. Also, don't study like crazy the day before the test. You need to have all your wits on test day because you need to do the questions very quickly and solving them requires analytical thinking, not regurgitation of facts crammed in at the last minute. Good luck to all, and remember, this test is one small piece of the application process. Having gone through this process getting into medical school and residency, your score probably will be used to sort candidates initially but once you're granted an interview, it's the essays and interviews that will count much more than the difference between a composite of 75 and 95.

I'm curious to if your medical school required the MCAT, and if so, what your impression of the MCAT versus the PCAT is? I wonder what it would be for a non crazy good standardize test taker. Congrats on your score, I have not seen anyone get the highest percentile in every section and I think it's worthy of some congratulations.

 

[SobeGekko]

I'm curious to if your medical school required the MCAT, and if so, what your impression of the MCAT versus the PCAT is? I wonder what it would be for a non crazy good standardize test taker. Congrats on your score, I have not seen anyone get the highest percentile in every section and I think it's worthy of some congratulations.

I did take the MCAT back in about 1998. You may be aware of the scoring on the MCAT is on a scale up to 15 per section with average accepted applicants scoring about 10 per section. I think I had 8 on Verbal, and 12 on each of the science sections. Given that I took the 2 tests many years apart, here is my impression. The PCAT has a Math section, whereas MCAT does not. The MCAT includes a year of college level Physics that is tested not on the PCAT, and will test you on a year's worth of Organic chemistry in more detail than the PCAT. In general, the MCAT science questions are preceeded by a passage that gives you some info so the format is a bit different. But, overall, I would say the MCAT a fare bit tougher requiring more detailed knowledge from your science courses. The PCAT requires simpler calculations and a more cursory knowledge base. That being said, I think the PCAT requires you to move much more quickly through the questions than the MCAT. If you compare an MCAT review book to a PCAT review book, you'll notice the difference in the thoroughness of the MCAT book. This is representative of the test.

 

[confuseddd]

I want to post here but only got 90+ in 2 sections (composite 96).
Very embarrassed about the others sections.

But i still want you to answer how you prepared for the test so that i can have an insight on how not to study for the PCAT.

 

[SarahLorraine]

bumpity bump

 

[wannabeSS]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
Verbal 90
Bio 93
Reading comp 82
Quantitative 96
Chemisty 95
Composite 96

2) How did you study for each section?
All I did was take the practice test to see what was on it and a basis for how I was going to do.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
The amount of time to take the practice test

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
In the middle of my second year of undergrad, Jan 07

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
Biology/pre-pharmacy

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
A LOT of organic on the test
8) Do you have any other advice?
Make sure you are very comfortable with your bio and organic chem

 

[Knickerbocker]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
June 2007:

Verbal 96
Biology 98
Reading 92
Quant 95
Chem 97
Comp 99

Writing 3,3

2) How did you study for each section?
Honestly, I had excellent prep from taking my prereqs very seriously. I also did Supplemental Instruction for a little while. Beyond that, I went through the Kaplan 2007 book. I also looked at various websites for some refreshers on basic organic reactions.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
Kaplan 2007; various university websites

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
~1 month

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
I took it at the end of my third year.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
My major is chemistry. I have a minor in biology and math.

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
A little bit of the math... Can't go into details, unfortunately.

8) Do you have any other advice?
Skip questions that will eat up your time and come back to them at the end if you can. Getting flustered is the worst thing that can happen to you during an exam.

 

[azPharmD2B]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
Comp: 96
Lowest 2 were Chem & Math: 89

2) How did you study for each section?
I didnt really.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
I bought the Kaplan book for that year just to take a practice test to get a feel for what the real thing would be like. I also used it to review geometry since it had been 15 years since I had taken it.

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
Very little.

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
I hadn't taken Calc, O-Chem 2, A&P or Micro.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
Pre-Pharm

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
There was 1 word in the verbal section I didn't know. I still don't remember what word it was and it bugs the heck out of me.

8) Do you have any other advice?
I made a huge post a couple months ago about this, search for my oldest post and that should be it.

 

[^=^]

You all make me feel like a little ency wincy mouse running around, I should get some steriods from the pharmacy before taking the pcat





JK!!!!!!!! Thanks for your valuable advice everyone! If anyone has a sample p.s. they can allow me to look at shoot a pm! Again, thanks!

 

[omnione]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?

Chemistry: 89
Math: 96
Verbal: 94
Reading: 92
Biology: 71
Writing: 4 (out of 5)
Composite: 94

2) How did you study for each section?

I spent the dead hours of my summer studying from old textbooks and test-prep stuff.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)

Examkrackers materials

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?

Approximately 200-300 hours.

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?

After I took the prereqs and during my fifth year in college.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?

Biochemistry major, math minor

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?

I did very well on the reading section, which is strange because reading comprehension sections have always been my lowest score on standardized exams, even the practice PCATs! Otherwise, the exam seemed very easy compared to the MCAT.

8) Do you have any other advice?

Come up with a study schedule, especially during school, when other commitments make studying an easier target for procrastination. I wish that I spent more time reviewing math and biology as I relied too much on past knowledge.

 

[Brandie28]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?

Chemistry: 89
Math: 96
Verbal: 94
Reading: 92
Biology: 71
Writing: 4 (out of 5)
Composite: 94

2) How did you study for each section?

I spent the dead hours of my summer studying from old textbooks and test-prep stuff.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)

Examkrackers materials

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?

Approximately 200-300 hours.

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?

After I took the prereqs and during my fifth year in college.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?

Biochemistry major, math minor

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?

I did very well on the reading section, which is strange because reading comprehension sections have always been my lowest score on standardized exams, even the practice PCATs! Otherwise, the exam seemed very easy compared to the MCAT.

8) Do you have any other advice?

Come up with a study schedule, especially during school, when other commitments make studying an easier target for procrastination. I wish that I spent more time reviewing math and biology as I relied too much on past knowledge.

when did you take the PCAT?

 

[omnione]

when did you take the PCAT?

Last October.

 

[Falokis]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?

(don't remember exactly, something like......)

Verbal 87/428
Biology 99/478
Reading Comp 62/408
Quantitative 61/404
Chemistry 99/451
Composite 91


2) How did you study for each section?

Worked alot on verbal. How to break words into the roots. Math, chem, bio are my strong points. I didn't spend too much time on them. Not reviewing math was a mistake. I have never made less than an A in any math. I was too cocky there and it cost me.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)

Kaplan was okay. cliff's was the best for me. Most of the test is getting the timing down good.

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?

A couple of days.

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?

After my 2 BS degrees

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?

Biology and chemistry

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?

Math: for some reason I thought it would be more calculus and more time. It was a ton of algebra. I haven't had it in 14 years. I was getting them right but it was slow. I ran out of time in a big way. If I knew this ahead of time, my composite would have been 99 for sure.

Verbal is easily my weakest area and I did well in that section. Learning how to break the words down helped a ton. Even if you can't get the whole words meaning, having a clue can help pick the right one.

8) Do you have any other advice?

You either know your material or not. Timing and knowing when to skip a question is very key in this exam. Do not waste more than a min on any problem even if you know it. Look at the answers FIRST!! Alot of them are gimme's if you look at the answers.

PCAT Date - Jan 07

 

[evildarklord198]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?

verbal 64
biology 60
reading 74
math 98
chemistry 99
composite 91

Essay: 3.0/3.0

PCAT date: August 2007

2) How did you study for each section?

I didn't study at all for Math and Chem. I read a little bit over my old General Bio 1 & 2 notes, and Microbio notes.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)

I did some practice tests with Kaplan 2006-2007. Read over the summarized materials they have for Biology and Chemistry.

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?

Well...I seriously studied like a week before the test date... I was thinking that I could just take this as a practice test... this was my first time taking PCAT anyhow...

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?

It was last summer, between my junior and my senior year

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?

Biochemistry major.

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?

Biology of course ....I haven't taken Anatomy & Phys. yet, plus I vaguely recalled anything from Micro, so I bombed it....since English is not my first language, and even though I'm not so thrilled with my score in Verbal section, but it's acceptable....at least I improved much since SAT verbal back in 2003

8) Do you have any other advice?

Be relaxing and chilled when you actually take the test...don't let pressure take over you at any points....and do study real hard at school, because once you get your stuff at school straight down, you don't actually need to study for PCAT...it's a matter of recalling stuff you have already known and learned.

 

[spacepoints]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?

verbal 87
biology 90
reading 92
math 91
chemistry 95
composite 95

Essay: 3.0/3.0

PCAT date: August 2007

2) How did you study for each section?

I used study material for the MCAT through Kaplan for the Chem and Bio sections, and looked over old Calc I notes for the quant section. I didn't study for the reading or verbal section.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)

Kaplan MCAT 2007. I know this post is about the PCAT, but as I took the MCAT too. I found that the MCAT science preparation is much more difficult and thorough, which made the science sections easier on the PCAT.

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?

Just about a month before the exam.

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?

After my first year of pre-reqs. Gen Chem, Bio 100 series and I took O-Chem I over the summer.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?

I have a B.A. in Music Education, this is my second venture in school.

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?

WOW that quantitative section was ROUGH. There was a lot of calc there that I thought I had prepared for. I think I made some good guesses or the ones I got wrong were some of the 8/48 test questions.

8) Do you have any other advice?

I know it has been said many times over, but get a good night sleep before the exam. Take a couple of practice exams (TIMED) so you can try to get your pacing down. Bring a watch so you don't get time called on you when you don't expect it. My testing center didn't give time warnings and there were a lot of people who looked surprised when time was called.

I got a 27Q on the MCAT, which isn't horrible, but I like my PCAT score better. I may retake the MCAT after I have the rest of the pre-reqs done.

Good luck to all!

 

[freezedry]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?
VA 74
Biology 96
Reading Comp 92
Quantitative Ability 68
Chemistry 91
Composite 91
Writing 3/3

2) How did you study for each section?
Since I got 60's around chem and VA last year on PCAT so I mainly studied those sections; bought PCAT prep books from bookstore

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)
Used last year's Kaplan book and Barron's book, and also Cliff's and AP Chem review book (princeton review). For some reason I was never good at chem no matter what I did, so I devoted 90% of my studying to chem. What I didn't realized was that I should've studied ochem too, which I kind of forgot about. One thing about the prep books is that I didn't think Barron was very good (too easy compared to current PCAT). I wished Kaplan would have more practice questions and I felt it was overly detailed in some sections but not detailed enough in other sections. Cliff's was all right, except few weird questions...

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
I decided to take august PCAT during march, and thought I would start studying in May, but really couldn't really get my self to study until late July.

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
I've taken all my prerequisites last year so it's been a while since I took chem/ochem, biology, and calculus classes. I would say it would be better to take PCATs while you are taking classes or right after so you'll remember better.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
Microbiology... chem minor.

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
Math section! I got 95 on the last year's test so I didn't think I would need to study for it. Tons more calc questions and it was a LOT harder than last time I took it. I'm usually very good with math but I was taken aback when I got to that section. I wonder what the schools will think once they see I went down from 95 to 68... hmmm. Also, chem section has more ochem questions now, so study those ochem materials!! I recommend spending time to study calc even if you know you are good at it, just so you won't become like me.

8) Do you have any other advice?
I would say get a PCAT prep book of choice and study that to get general ideas of what to study. Also take Harcourt's test and see what it's like in real test to know what your weak spots are. If you are really weak on particular subject like chem or calc I recommend getting separate books for those sections like AP chem review/ AP Calc review. Oh, and practice timing!!

 

[eric4321]

verbal 98
biology 99
reading 74
math 76
chemistry 91
composite 97

Essay: 4.0/4.0 out of 5.0

PCAT date: August 2007

Used Kaplan 2008, Collins practice tests for Chem, knew most all the Verbal words already [unfair advantage sort of] and big help was AudioLearn which kept reminding me what was on the test for chem & bio. I did great in school on Bio/A&P, I enjoyed those classes a lot.

Biggest PCAT help for me was using a watch and making sure I had 12 questions done [or guessed] by 1/4-time, 24 questions done by 1/2-time & so on. Was overconfident on Chem coming in & saw that I was falling behind the time limit at 1/2-way so I sped up to finish barely on time.

Stopwatch showed how desperate the Math situation was; probably scribbled "B" to get 4 out of the 16 where I had no idea - many ppl didn't mark every answer in, because Math was last & the proctors are screaming "close your books!" & running around like Nazi's picking up your stuff.

 

[kame00]

verbal 98
biology 99
reading 74
math 76
chemistry 91
composite 97

Essay: 4.0/4.0 out of 5.0

PCAT date: August 2007

Used Kaplan 2008, Collins practice tests for Chem, knew most all the Verbal words already [unfair advantage sort of] and big help was AudioLearn which kept reminding me what was on the test for chem & bio. I did great in school on Bio/A&P, I enjoyed those classes a lot.

Biggest PCAT help for me was using a watch and making sure I had 12 questions done [or guessed] by 1/4-time, 24 questions done by 1/2-time & so on. Was overconfident on Chem coming in & saw that I was falling behind the time limit at 1/2-way so I sped up to finish barely on time.

Stopwatch showed how desperate the Math situation was; probably scribbled "B" to get 4 out of the 16 where I had no idea - many ppl didn't mark every answer in, because Math was last & the proctors are screaming "close your books!" & running around like Nazi's picking up your stuff.

Did you order AudioLearn from their website or did you find it on ebay?

 

[eric4321]

I got AudioLearn for free from other students, along with about $1500 worth of other [free] pcat study material.

I have seen them online for $60 - make sure you don't pay $100 for it.

The General Chemistry I had to sit with my notebooks & textbook & keep pausing the CD player to look it all up. This was after listening about 5 times just as sort of "background music" for school study or internet surfing.

On the way to the pcat test i listened to the Anatomy CD starting at track number 5 and repeating track 6 [kidneys] several times. The real pcat is big on kidneys, liver, hormones, and enzymes - just study the ones you'll find on the CD or in Kaplan or in Collins - they all stress the same topics.

 

[GSP]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?

V: 96
B: 96
R: 92
Q: 68
C: 85

Composite: 94

2) How did you study for each section? Chem: used o-chem for dummies book and cliffs notes. Bio and other sections: Kaplan, Audiolearn on ipod and Barrons, also took the Harcourt practice tests.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.) Same as above.

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?
4 months out studied about twice a week, listened to audiolearn at work, 2 months out studied for a couple hours about 5 times/week.
5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?
Had both Gen Chem, no O-Chem, both General Bio courses, A&P, brief calc.
6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?
NA
7) Did anything catch you by surprise?
I thought the test was harder than any of the practice tests, I didnt feel good about the test after takking it, I guess its a tough one to gauge.
8) Do you have any other advice?
Time management is important, I felt rushed the entire time. Eat a high carb meal the night before and dont study too much on the day before.

 

[Happy Hounds]

1) What did you score on the individual sections and the composite score?

Verbal 96
Biology 90
Reading 87
Math 87
Chemistry 78
Composite 93 Raw Scaled 430

2) How did you study for each section?

I skimmed over reading and verbal and used some word flashcards (from GRE, though I don't think any of them showed up on the test,) spent most of my time on Biology and Chemistry (much to my dismay, I still sucked at that section) and math. I wanted to study about 10 hours per week but in reality probably only did 3-4.

3) What materials you used for each section (Kaplan, Peterson's, Barron's, etc.)

Pretty much Kaplan exclusively. Yes, they are a bit sloppy on editing (quite a few typos and leaving MCAT instead of PCAT in a lot of places,) but I guess it worked out ok. I think they are best for a broad REVIEW and practice at timing yourself for the exam. And don't waste your money on a real instructor course--everything you get from an instructor is in the online course which costs quite a bit less. I feel like the books alone aren't 100% useful--the online supplements really fill in the gaps.

4) How long did you study for the PCAT?

Maybe 8 weeks really hard, just not all together.

5) At what point in your coursework did you take the PCAT?

I'm a returning graduate (non-science) and had just finished Organic I and both basic Biologies--no micro yet.

6) What is/was your major and/or emphasis of study, if applicable?

Chem and Bio

7) Did anything catch you by surprise?

Apparently I overthought the chemistry section since everyone else thought it was easy and i though most were trick questions. So I was surprised that it was actually so straight forward. I was really suprised at some of the micro questions in bio asking if you know if a specific oranism causes a specific ailment.. ?????

8) Do you have any other advice?

Just study your keister off--take as many timed practice tests as possible. Find ways to specifically target your weak spots.