Dr. Collins Chemistry vs. Actual PCAT Chemistry

[bradcunningham]

Hello, I am going to be taking my PCAT for the first time in September and I have yet to take organic chemistry at my university. I have been studying Dr. Collins and Khan Academy and have also taken 1 Pearson Practice Test. When I take the Dr. Collins practice tests, the chemistry seemed manageable, however when I took the first Pearson PCAT exam, I found it to be much harder (scored in approximately the 40-60 percentile range for chemistry). For those that have taken the PCAT a few days ago, how much harder would you say the actual PCAT chemistry section is compared to the Dr. Collins chemistry portion? Was organic chemistry a huge chunk of them chemistry section?

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[futurepharmD103]

I saw some same/similar stand-alone questions from Dr. Collins on the real PCAT. There were a lot of O chem questions on my version, but they were not too bad. Mostly simple reactions, I think. How long have you been studying with Dr. Collins?

 

[bradcunningham]

I saw some same/similar stand-alone questions from Dr. Collins on the real PCAT. There were a lot of O chem questions on my version, but they were not too bad. Mostly simple reactions, I think. How long have you been studying with Dr. Collins?

I would say since about June. Do you think studying that and watching all of the Khan academy videos on organic chemistry should be enough for someone with no experience in orgo?

 

[EyeC92]

I actually only took OrgChem 1 and still managed to do well in the chem portion. The collins & kaplan sections would suffice. The problems were along those lines.

 

[futurepharmD103]

I would say since about June. Do you think studying that and watching all of the Khan academy videos on organic chemistry should be enough for someone with no experience in orgo?

I think so! You don't really need to know all the complicated reactions but just the simple ones and functional groups which are not too hard to memorize!

 

[RMarquez05]

Def had a lot of ochem in my pcat and also acid and base questions. Just study the reactions well you will do fine. Let us know how it goes!

 

[Mao263]

Maybe off topic, but I am comparing dr Collins and Kaplan chemistry. And Kaplan takes me forever to solve it. Also Kaplan has more Chem than Collins. So I heard a lot that ppl recommend to study Collins for Chem, but it looks less and easier than Kaplan. Only drawing Lewis structures takes forever, meanwhile Collins skipped them
I am confused.

 

[DuavoB]

I actually only took OrgChem 1 and still managed to do well in the chem portion. The collins & kaplan sections would suffice. The problems were along those lines.

Do we have to remember formulas from gen chem? Such as quantum numbers , acid-base, etc

 

[DuavoB]

Def had a lot of ochem in my pcat and also acid and base questions. Just study the reactions well you will do fine. Let us know how it goes!

Was there a lot of biochem? I'm not taking that until the spring but I just want to make sure I'm prepared

 

[DuavoB]

Def had a lot of ochem in my pcat and also acid and base questions. Just study the reactions well you will do fine. Let us know how it goes!

Is there a lot of biochem as well?