Biology Section

[ZAKHSTERN]

I'm taking the PCAT in June and I was wondering how the Biology section is really broken down. Harcourt says Human Physiology is only 20%, but every prep book puts the most emphasis on A&P. I'm also not sure if I should brush up on my plant biology. How's the Biology section really broken down? Cheers.

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[acetyl]

Very generic questions on the biology section from what I remember. I think the best approach is to study the biggest topics and study everything else. It's not hard and to get the answer right you have to simply practice taking these type of tests. Don't stress about what to study and simply look at everything you can.

 

[saradempsey]

I'm taking the PCAT in June and I was wondering how the Biology section is really broken down. Harcourt says Human Physiology is only 20%, but every prep book puts the most emphasis on A&P. I'm also not sure if I should brush up on my plant biology. How's the Biology section really broken down? Cheers.

I took it in October and there was some A&P, there was also genetics questions. I do remember one question about some disease that I had never heard of. ......hope this helps

 

[unreality]

I'm wondering the same thing...just how much plant biology is on there? I'm guessing basic material involving photosynthesis will show up, but what about structure, growth cycles, reproduction and that kind of stuff?

 

[skeksis]

I'm wondering the same thing...just how much plant biology is on there? I'm guessing basic material involving photosynthesis will show up, but what about structure, growth cycles, reproduction and that kind of stuff?

I only remember a few questions about plants on the PCAT at the most. Nothing really in depth. For the bio section, I mostly broke it down and put a lot of time in the heart/circulatory system, brain/nervous system, lungs, and kidneys. Other than that, I spent some time with genetics and endocrinology. With what I listed above, I studied the terminology and function, obviously. I suppose I did ok with that - at least good enough to be accepted to a school with my first PCAT score, and I don't think biology is my strong point. I know it's a daunting task to pore over the biology section in kaplan, especially with it taking up a third of the book and knowing that there are only 58 (?) questions on the PCAT. All in all, I wouldn't spend too much time on plants.

 

[melt36]

I spent a good two hours every day for 1.5 months studying bio & I felt like it was one of the easier sections on the exam. The questions are similar to the Barron's book -- pretty simple stuff I think. I'm not sure if it's just me, but the math portion was just plain tough compared to everything else. My advice would be to really look over math -- the Kaplan book did a poor job preparing me for it.

No doubt you'll do great on the exam!

 

[Stephie]

I didn't study much plant biology and I don't remember there being very many of those types of questions on the exam I took this past October. I would concentrate on other aspects of Bilogy. Good Luck!!!

 

[rxlynn]

I spent a good two hours every day for 1.5 months studying bio & I felt like it was one of the easier sections on the exam. The questions are similar to the Barron's book -- pretty simple stuff I think. I'm not sure if it's just me, but the math portion was just plain tough compared to everything else. My advice would be to really look over math -- the Kaplan book did a poor job preparing me for it.

No doubt you'll do great on the exam!

I'll second this - the math is really hard! A little bit of brushing up on your plant stuff wouldn't hurt. I took last Oct. and I came out feeling like I had spent too much time on A&P study. However, I also felt like the bio section was one of the easier ones to figure out what might be the correct answer if you weren't sure (sort of hard to do elimination on math). Plus, since you don't have much computation on the bio, I think the timing is a bit easier than the chem and math. Do look over your genetics though - I seem to remember some of those questions.

 

[PCAT_gal]

what do you guys mean by math was tough? a lot of complicated calculus or complicated problems in general throughout the section?

how was chem? lot of problems on molarity & calculations or more fact-based? how do you guys think Kaplan chem section and practice tests are compared to the the actual PCAT?

 

[shaq786]

Whats a good prep book for the math section?

 

[rxlynn]

what do you guys mean by math was tough? a lot of complicated calculus or complicated problems in general throughout the section?


how was chem? lot of problems on molarity & calculations or more fact-based? how do you guys think Kaplan chem section and practice tests are compared to the the actual PCAT?

Yes, and yes. To me, the most difficult part of math is the timing. You have to be able to do problems ridiculously fast to be able to do them all, IMHO. It's always taken me longer to figure out what is the correct approach for math questions - you just don't have time to ponder on the PCAT. The calculus was more difficult than I expected as well. Now, I did realized in advance that this would be a difficult section for me, so I had practiced things like how I would handle it when I was running out of time, etc.

For the chem, it was less computational than I was expecting. I felt, in general, the test was easier than the Kaplan book's tests. I'm not sure I ever got through a Kaplan in the allotted time, but I had no problem with time on the actual exam.

 

[BABY_GHOST]

I found Math and Chem section pretty easy for me, I finised both of them b4 time and got 97%... however I suck at verbal and biol. I studied Kaplan biol but it didn't help much

 

[PCAT_gal]

Geez ...and here I have been reading every word in the Bio section of Kaplan!

 

[bigalaz1]

when I took the PCAt this past January the chemistry section calculations were all mass problems and gas type calculations, maybe one thermo question.

 

[PCAT_gal]

how was the math bigalaz1?