Best PCAT Study Materials

[Strong Affinity]

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I am new to SDN and have found many contradicting opinions on how and what to study for the PCAT. I would like this thread to be a simple response from people who have taken the PCAT and list:

1.What their scores were
2. What they used to study (what material, books or courses were helpful or a waste of time, please list from best to worst)
3.How long did they study for (from how many hours a day for how many weeks or months)
4. What they wished they did differently

Any information and suggestions would be great thanks!!!

 

[UFKOIVY]

You have found many contradicting opinions because the best way to study for the PCAT is your way and what is best for you. Some people just find it easier to review their old notes and do really well, while the others might need other prep resources. Those resources that you've found on these forums are all valid, but whether or not they are a waste of time is up to you. With that said, I'll give your "simple response":

1. My scores haven't arrived yet so anything below could be completely false.
2. Old bio notes, old gen chem notes, Kaplan, Collins, and Pearson's practice exams.
3. Study time started at around 3 hours a day and was asymptotic at 6-7 hours a day at the end of the month.
4. Study my orgo notes more, study more calc and stat. I should've balanced Collins and Kaplan and added more resources on what these two are weak at.

 

[Strong Affinity]

Thanks for all the info!

Did you take any courses or did you just go through the books? Also do you know or could you direct me to a thread of how the sections of the PCAT are weighted?

Thanks again!

 

[UFKOIVY]

No, I didn't take the Kaplan course so I can't really say if it's helpful or not.

What do you mean by "weighted"? If you want to know how each section is broken off or how much time for each section, try this site:

http://www.testpreppractice.net/PCAT/pcat-test-format.aspx

 

[Strong Affinity]

Thanks for the info!
I mean weighted as for example the DAT there are six main sections, which are:
-Bio (30 questions)
-Chem (40 questions)
-Orgo(30 questions)
-Reading (50 questions)
-Quantitative (40 questions)
-Three Dimension

However Bio, Chem, and Orgo combined are the same amount of points (not number of questions) as the reading section. So therefore if you did poorly on Bio, but did well on reading it would not hurt you that badly because the reading section is weighted heavier point wise than the bio. Does that make sense? I am curious if the PCAT is like that? From what I have read it seems not to be the case and looks like it is based on the number of questions per section.

Thanks again!

 

[UFKOIVY]

I think the PCAT is a little bit more straight forward than the DAT. Every section contains 48 questions so each section is probably weighed the same. The scoring is based on how well you do vs. % of other people.

I mean you can probably assume that Verbal and Reading sections are probably be the weakest if most of the people are science majors. Thus, if you score well on these, you can maybe score higher on your composite.