COUNTDOWN to the August 21st 2010 PCAT...

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
J

Ji the Captain

The Unbreakable
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
259
Reaction score
0
Members do not see this ad.
8 DAYS LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Greetings Pharm hopefuls

been stuyding hardcore since may for this PCAT and I STILL feel unprepared.:scared:

Just wanted to open this thread up and discuss the study methods that everyone is using.

I've been working practice tests from a "2008 Cliff notes 5 practice tests" book.

I've been reading the Kaplan 2010-11 Review book (the big purple one)

I've been reading my old OCHEM textbook. LOTS of typos in both my kaplan and cliffnotes review books so i feel kinda jumpy😕

Anyone wanna share their methods? experiences? feelings at the moment?:meanie:
Anyways GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!! i'll see you on the battle field in 23 days👍
 
Last edited:
Sort by date Sort by votes
aznhomieboi1689 said:
what have u been scoring on practice tests?
Click to expand...

Hi, not to sound cocky, I started with the may 2010 test and got a 78-98 which was ok but not great, but as I continued to take the other two test my scores really increased and I scored 80-99 on practice test one and two. My best scores were from practice test two. The math was intense I must say, but nonetheless I did well. I hope I can do well this Saturday. Good luck to you all.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
PharmJunkie said:
Hi, not to sound cocky, I started with the may 2010 test and got a 78-98 which was ok but not great, but as I continued to take the other two test my scores really increased and I scored 80-99 on practice test one and two. My best scores were from practice test two. The math was intense I must say, but nonetheless I did well. I hope I can do well this Saturday. Good luck to you all.
Click to expand...

Not at all! lol I didn't do so well on test two. I'm gonna try hard to make it up, but we'll seee 🙁
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
AH I hate this test...and am SICK OF STUDYING! Less than a week left!!! How is everyone spending their last days studying?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Here are the topics I am studying for bio, chem and math

Biology:
1.) Anatomy and Physiology: anybody seen really specific questions on the past PCATs on anatomy and physiology

2.) Microbiology: was there also specific microbiology questions asked?

3.) General biology: studied genetics, ecology, cells, chemicals, body functions

Chemistry:
general chemistry
-acids/bases
-nuclear chemistry (particles, alpha, beta, etc)
-sublimation/condensation/vaporization/etc
-atoms
-ionic/covalent bonding
-gas laws (what type of gas laws should we know?)
-electron affinity, electronnegativity, atomic radius
-oxidation-reduction

anything I am missing on general chemistry?

ochem
-nomenclature
-SN1, E1, SN2, E2 (anybody know how specific they ask these questions?)
-do we have to know other reactions? (ie Alder reactions)
-carbon chain

anything else I am missing on ochem?

math:
-basic math
-stats (what should I study on stats there so many topics)
-basic trig (quad 1-4, sin, cos, tan, 0, 90, pi, and 2pi, anything else I should study?0
-what type of calc questions has there been in the past? i have studied derivatives, anti-derivatives, sin & cos of calc. not sure if thats enough


I did well on the 3 pearson exams but I am worried that the actual PCAT will be much harder. what topics I am missing? I felt uncomfortable doing some of the general chemistry and math problems even though some of them sure looked like experimental questions. How do I tackle some of the calculus and trigonometry word problems? Any tips would be nice and please feel free to add more topics?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
BH07 said:
-gas laws (what type of gas laws should we know?)
Click to expand...

Like Ideal Gas Law, and the PV=nRT is pretty much a must!

BH07 said:
ochem
-do we have to know other reactions? (ie Alder reactions)
Click to expand...

yea, like hydration(w/ strong base), dehydration (w/strong acid),

BH07 said:
-stats (what should I study on stats there so many topics)
Click to expand...

Yea, I worry about this too. No idea what kind of topics should be covered on the PCAT. I have seen z-score, mean, mode, median, probabilities (OMG, there are whole bunch of types of this P problems)

BH07 said:
I felt uncomfortable doing some of the general chemistry and math problems even though some of them sure looked like experimental questions.
Click to expand...
Wondering how do you recognize those are exp. questions....?😕
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
FarmGurl said:
AH I hate this test...and am SICK OF STUDYING! Less than a week left!!! How is everyone spending their last days studying?
Click to expand...

It is recommended that you should let yourself free of studying and relax 1 day before the test.
But for me, I don't think I can be "free of studying"......I always worry that I miss something somewhere....🙄
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I read the cliffnotes for biology in 4 days and now reading the cliffnotes for chemistry to review gen chem since I haven't taken that class since 2006. I hope this helps me! And for math I'm going to review some basic math and sin, cos, etc... as I have completed up to linear algebra due to being an engineering major for 2 and 1/2 years before I switched to pharmacy, so that part shouldn't be too bad for me.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
UyenRita said:
It is recommended that you should let yourself free of studying and relax 1 day before the test.
But for me, I don't think I can be "free of studying"......I always worry that I miss something somewhere....🙄
Click to expand...


haha, yeah I know they recommend that for the non slackers...:-/....and last time I checked I'm apart of the slackers club, so I will be spending these last days cramming information! esp vocab and organic chemistry... Organic chemistry just does not like to be kept in my long term memory...maybe cuz it just disgusts me. oh well 🙂 Happy studying, guys!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I spent a week studying chemistry, and then a week studying both biology and quantitative. That was last week, now I am trying to practice timing on chemistry and it's like everything has fallen out of my head. I completely didn't recognize a redox reaction on a practice test, and I also forgot that the pH of NaOH has to be taken from pOH then subtract that from 14..yep, just skipped right past it. Didn't even take a second glance at the NaOH. This is killing me. :scared: Anyone else having this problem?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
One of my good friends in pharmacy school told me to just do the kaplan book in three weeks and then take the test. In all honesty, I don't think any of it is that difficult with the exception of some of the -Rh chem problems and remembering formulas. Then again, I could fail this exam lol. Just remember, you have about 30 seconds to do a problem, so I can't imagine there being anything too ridiculous as far as chem/calc/or stats goes.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Please guys, don't stress out. We only have couple days left. Try your hard but please don't panic, you will be fine. Trust me, the material is wayyyy in your brain, they will bounce back when you see them on the test.
Remember,
"Study when you study, worry when you worry. Don't mix them."
Good luck!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
😀😀😀 Everyone will do great!! then we can all go to iHop and celebrate. JUST DONT FORGET TO REVIEW TRIG!!!! ahhhh
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Doe sanyone have any tips for the math part of Pcat like any other study books they want to suggest? im freaking out...I took Pearson test #1 and got 55% in math...did horibble in Calc...I took pearon #2 and did worse in basic algedra and better in Calc lol and got the same score 55% FMLLLLLLLLL I missed like 3 of the easiest questions on that dam test. Need math bookkkkkksss and advice....Im freakin gout.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Sorry if this is a dumb question but how do we know what is a dipole-dipole, dipole-hydrogen and london disperson moment. Can somebody show me some examples and why it is dipole-dipole or whatever it is?

Also another question I have is where can I find more info on why oxidizing agent are used to convert alcohols to ketones and aldehydes?

As you can see, I am unprepared for this PCAT exams with these basic questions
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
BH07- do you have a general chemistry book? Perhaps you could look it up in the index. Intermolecular forces isn't complicated but it isn't easy to explain in a post. Sure, I could give you examples but you really need to understand what it is and what it means for the PCAT. (There are many conceptual questions in the chem section)

If you don't have a chem book, try khanacademy on you tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qfzpJvsp04 . He talks a little about these forces here. It's not as detailed as a chem book, but since the PCAT is a few days away, I think he may serve you well. I've been using khanacademy to review certain topics in calc.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'm so anxious about the test. I can finish most of the sections in the time given except math and chem so i need practice my speedy calculations. I usually know how to do the calculations but it takes me a while to recognize what equation or method I should use.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I know this is really late...but does anyone have tips on how to finish the chem and quantitative sections in time? I NEVER finish!

Good luck to everyone!!! I can't believe it's in a day! AHH!!!! :scared:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Good luck to everyone! It will all be over in a little over 24 hours.😀

I took the test in June and it already feels like forever ago.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MolarExpress said:
I know this is really late...but does anyone have tips on how to finish the chem and quantitative sections in time? I NEVER finish!

Good luck to everyone!!! I can't believe it's in a day! AHH!!!! :scared:
Click to expand...

Work on the easy ones first.
Remember you have 8 experiment questions, so you should feel free to skip those would take you more than 1 minute and get back to them later.
Good luck!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
So what is everyone doing for the final hours before the test? I'm debating if I should study anymore. I may review some things but I am def. not staying up until 3-4 in the morning like I usually do. Good luck everyone tomorrow!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Heh. Kind of nervous. I understand we cannot bring notes cell phones, food, etc. in the exam room. Will there be another room to put our bags, books, and food?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I brought my purse with water, wallet and writing utensils. I needed to present my ID going into the room, getting the exam, leaving the room, re-entering the room and then had to have it on my table while taking the exam. I had to keep everything else in my bag which I had to leave under my chair the entire time. The ONLY thing I got to keep was my pencil, eraser and picture ID.

I didn't even bother with food because our break was just about 10 minutes and that barely gave me enough time to wait to use the bathroom and then make it back into the room in time since they re-check your ID and stuff.

& I didn't get any scratch paper... but you can write whatever you want in the test booklet, which is generally enough.

-I took it at USC in June '10.

Also wanted to say, Good luck!!! :luck: Don't stress and get enough sleep tonight.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

BC_89
  • Sticky
Retirement of the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) and PCAT forum
Replies
4
Views
6K
WildWing
WildWing
S
PCAT to PharmCAS
Replies
2
Views
3K
BC_89
BC_89
D
Hello! 2024 PCAT and applicant here
Replies
17
Views
5K
PharmtoCS
P
P
  • Question Question
Low PCAT score in math?
Replies
7
Views
3K
Xenophylia
Xenophylia
P
  • Question Question
How to be a competitive applicant and how to prepare for chemistry PCAT?
Replies
2
Views
4K
BC_89
BC_89
Top