For those with 90% + Overall

[islandboy401]

For those who scored in the 90th percentile:

What resources did you use to study for the PCAT (for each section). What seemed to help you the most in preparing for that particular section (was it a class, a specific review book, or a combination of those two resources). Also, if you list the Kaplan book as a resource, please state which version you were using.

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[JURGIS]

First time taking PCAT. Studied Kaplan PCAT for 3 weeks. Results:

Writing: Conventions of Language 3.0
Problem Solving 3.0

Verbal 450 97%
Bio 90%
Reading Comp 426 83%
Quant 412 62%
Chem 450 95%

Composite 434 94%

About me: GPA 3.2, nontrad student, taken 2 years of prereqs

I also listened to ExamKrackers Audio Osmosis (this is a 12 CD set of MCAT prep material). I listen to it in the car to and from wherever I go. (You can skip the first 4 CDs, they cover Physics). I've got an hour commute time (minimum) every day so I'm able to listen to the entire set about once every 10 days. It definitely helped me with "concepts". But you've got to do practice problems (esp. for Quant section).

I'm not sure what version of Kaplan PCAT I picked up, whatever the most recent version was at the bookstore.

I completely ran out of time for the Quant section and guessed on the last 10-12 problems. So, I'm looking for a good math resource as well.

I plan to take test again in October. Here's my plan of action:

1. Most universities have a math resource center that you can go to for assistance with math classes. I think I'll take some time this coming semester to visit them and see if that is helpful.

2. Do practice problems out of my Gen Chem book. I think reviewing textbooks, in general, is not an efficient use of your study time. For me, though, the more problems I do, the more comfortable/faster I get. This will be one of the more frustrating/slow parts of my prep but will pay good dividends I think.

3. Can't remember the name of the O Chem review book that I bought when I started O Chem 1 last year, but it helped a lot with concepts and overview. I'll dig it out and edit this post with the name of the book once I find it.

4. Buy and do problems in the ExamKrackers 1001 books. Practice, practice, practice is what it's all about.

5. Will look into Harcourt and Cliff Notes Practice Tests.

6. Bring a watch (didn't do that first time and ran out of time on Quant section)

7. Take an Immodium the morning of the test. Self explanatory.


8. Do more timed tests. I did the practice test in the Kaplan book but not timed. I didn't think time would be a big factor but it was.

9. Do timed practice essays. I was disappointed with average results (3/3) I got.

10. ExamKrackers 101 Reading Passages. I'm a fast and good reader but my scores weren't as high as I think they should have been. I had a good 10 minutes left after getting done with the reading section and thought it would be one of my highest scores. Didn't turn out that way, so more practice.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[homeslice]

Like the person above, I studied the Kaplan book (2007 version) for about three weeks (about an hour a day) before the PCAT. Like many other people have said, it's really only good for the bio and gen. chem. sections. In my opinion, the practice tests you could buy online were the best practice in terms of difficulty compared to the actual PCAT. I thought the pre-test in the Kaplan book was too hard and the post-test was too easy. For organic chem I just found some random websites online that covered lots of different basic reactions. The other sections I didn't bother studying for.

There's really no subsitute for having lots of relevant classes under your belt though.

 

[phuang06]

Retention of material from classes definitely play a huge role in doing well on the PCATs. It also helps a ton when you're studying and reviewing as opposed to learning something new entirely from scratch. I also studied from the Kaplan book (2008) for review and there isn't really much I can say about studying for the verbal and reading comprehension because I have to assume that so many people are just inherently good at picking out analogies and ideas from a paragraph that it's hard to do well. I guess just read a lot and learn vocabulary?

For all of the sections though, math especially, you'll want to learn to skip problems and go to the ones you know you can do and can do correctly and do those problems first because those problems will give you an edge over those people who go through problem after problem trying to solve those ridiculous ones that no one thought would ever show up on such an examination.

 

[undprepharm]

I got a 99% composite, 95% verbal, 95% bio, 76% reading, 99% quant, and 98% chem.

I used a PCAT flashcard book for about 5 months prior, trying to do 1 flashcard per subject per day. I think the only really positive thing I got out of the flashcards was a better vocabulary.

I, like many of the others listed, also used the Kaplan 2008 book. I took the diagnostic test and used it to guide my studying. For the diagnostic, verbal and chemistry were my worst so I focused on them. I really just used the tests, not really the reviews.

The most helpful thing I did was take the online practice PCAT from the official website. It helped me realize I didn't need to worry about chemistry. The Kaplan book had a lot of heavy duty calculations, and I ran out of time. The online one was a lot quicker.

My overall suggestion would be do as many practice problems/tests as possible and try to narrow down the subject areas you need to work on. Also, it's a good idea to take classes that pertain to the subject shortly before or during the time of the PCAT. Having physiology right before made biology much simpler.

 

[saida1]

My scores were:
Verbal Ability 97%
Biology 95%
Reading Comp. 99%
Quantitative Ability 88%
Chemistry 90%
Composite 99%
I studied for a month using the Kaplan book. Kaplan is not the best for quantitative and orgo, so I recommend finding other resources for those subjects. I think the most helpful thing for me was my knowledge base from my prereq. classes. Also, the official harcourt practice tests gave me a good idea of what the real test would be like and what I needed to focus on in my studies.

 

[Hiper]

93% composite.

Used Kaplan 07-08 book and Cliff's

I think Kaplan's quantitative ability section is lacks substance. I don't know about the Orgo part since I was taking advance o chem while doing kaplans... although I though kaplan did orgo quite well... but there were advantages to taking higher level o chem. The writing part.... I didn't really prepare for it and though I bombed it... but ended up with 4's for both.

Edit: kaplan handles bio section very well in my opinion, try to memorize most of it. Gizzard. Ha, out of so many things to memorize, this word helped me in reading comp and bio section. I will never forget that word.

good luck

 

[Markovnikov]

I scored a 83% and only used the kaplan book less than one week before the exam to study.

I know 83% isn't a 90%...but it's good enough to go to pharmacy school.

I plan to retake it again though.

 

[bklyngirl]

I scored a 83% and only used the kaplan book less than one week before the exam to study.

I know 83% isn't a 90%...but it's good enough to go to pharmacy school.

I plan to retake it again though.

If it's good enough, why do you plan on retaking?

 

[Markovnikov]

83% is good enough to go to a pharmacy school such as Auburn or Univ. of Cinn. but for Ohio State or UK (my two top choices) it is still below average.

Also I need a 90% to be able to teach the kaplan course