Good idea to take computer based PCAT or will I be a guinea pig??

[daisy2]

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Has anyone signed up for this? What are your thoughts?

I have back problems that got worse recently (sitting and studying) so I requested to take the Oct computer PCAT so I can look up at the screen and ease back stress.

Thanks

 

[Ji the Captain]

I rejected the invitation.

Studies have shown that students who actively engage in marking up their test booklets with work will do better on standardized exams.

On computer exam, you wont be able to physically mark out wrong answers, circled skipped questions, or perform a lot of work. For me, it helps me on (for example, Genetics problems) to draw out punnett squares and eliminate wrong answers in the test booklet. You won't be able to do that because you obviously cannot write on the monitor.

but this is just opinion. if you can work problems in your head, that's even better good luck🙂👍

 

[Rubisco]

I rejected the invitation.

Studies have shown that students who actively engage in marking up their test booklets with work will do better on standardized exams.

On computer exam, you wont be able to physically mark out wrong answers, circled skipped questions, or perform a lot of work. For me, it helps me on (for example, Genetics problems) to draw out punnett squares and eliminate wrong answers in the test booklet. You won't be able to do that because you obviously cannot write on the monitor.

but this is just opinion. if you can work problems in your head, that's even better good luck🙂👍

Well, for the MCAT CBT you are able to mark out answers by clicking on them (it will cross out with a line through it) and at the end, theres a total list where you can look at unanswered/answered questions. You can also highlight the passages as you go along.

However, for me, I felt better taking the paper PCAT than the CBT MCAT but that's just personal preference. There are no marking/crossing out/etc options on the PCAT CBT?

 

[Ujjaval]

Hey guys... I was just wondering about the CBT PCAT.... I am taking it in this september...., how's their organization about the scratch papers and stuff because I am kind of a person who always wants to work out any sort of problem in detail and I've heard that they provide a dry erase board? I've also heard that you can not erase it and they'd take old one away before giving out a new one... I am I am hearing these all different things from everywhere so just wanted to make sure from a person who has already taken the exam....

 

[flyerschickxox]

I took it July 20th. Its really not that bad. You can "flag" questions and then at the end of the section you can click on those questions to go back and review them/answer them if you skipped them. You are given a small erase board that has multiple pages so you really dont need more than that one booklet. You cannot erase it because its just a crappy board, not because you arn't allowed to. Overall, I was a bit afraid of it because personally I like paper tests better but I dont think the computer test makes you perform better/worse than if it was a paper test.

 

[pharm313]

Wait so is it a booklet or a dry erase board? lol you guys have me worried with this whole not-being-able-to-erase thing

 

[thesituation559]

I signed up for septemeber. How do I know if I'm taking the computer based one? I would rather take it the old school way lol

 

[phabulous]

I took it on July 20. It's fine. It's almost like the pearson 3 tests if you bought them. Except you can flag things and at the end review those flags.

And btw, time starts the minute the section page goes up. For the first couple of sections, I didn't realize it.

 

[PharmEcon]

Wait so is it a booklet or a dry erase board? lol you guys have me worried with this whole not-being-able-to-erase thing

It's a booklet of pages that you can write on with a dry erase marker. Physically you can erase if you want but they just tell you to raise your hand and ask for another booklet if you fill yours up. (at least for me they did)

 

[Timbo]

I think the computer test is going to be better because not only does it make the writing section easier but you actually get scratch paper to work on. If you take the paper PCAT there is no scratch paper to work on except for what little space there is inbetween questions on your question booklet. Also in the writing section of the paper PCAT, you get a page to brainstorm and outline ideas on but it is inconveniently placed on the other side of the page you are supposed to write your essay on, so you'll find yourself flipping back and forth between pages when writing your essay. terrible.

 

[Ujjaval]

Thanks guys for great replies...
I personally THINK that CBT will be better because I've heard that you only get one problem a page or something so then you wouldn't get distracted or anything from looking at other question which always happens to me...
Anyways I am taking it this September so let's see how it works out.

and btw, what do you guys say about the best practice.. I just bought Kaplan 2012-2013 addition but I kinda not like that... there are so many wrong answer or probably typos I would say.... McGrow hill's the best!!!

Any other ideas for good practice exams other then pearson 3???

 

[Phattrng]

I took on July 27, and I don't really like computer test because you constantly clicking each question.I feel like I wasted a few second doing that. It would have been better if they have put every questions on one page and have a portion to see what we didn't answered. Instead of clicking back and forward, wasted valuable time doing that.

 

[ah123]

the computer based one was much better than the written version. you get a dry erase board but you don't erase...if you fill it up you raise your hand and they give you another one quickly. (i didn't even use half of mine though). Also if you wanna see how its set up but don't want to waste money on buying pearson exams go to http://pearsonvue.com/athena/ and install that tutorial. it's set up exactly how the exam is.

 

[harmonidrum]

the computer based one was much better than the written version. you get a dry erase board but you don't erase...if you fill it up you raise your hand and they give you another one quickly. (i didn't even use half of mine though). Also if you wanna see how its set up but don't want to waste money on buying pearson exams go to http://pearsonvue.com/athena/ and install that tutorial. it's set up exactly how the exam is.

I don't think the Pearson exams were a waste. They closely mimicked the format of the real exam, and were very helpful for RC (I scored 97 RC).

 

[G8T0RGRL00]

Things I liked about the paper version (standardized tests in general not necessarily PCAT because I didn't take PCAT paper version)
- Questions are on the test sheet/booklet (usually how high school/college class tests are given)
- Can physically cross out the wrong answer, circle the right answer, and put a big star next to the ones I'm iffy about
- Can skip around questions without much effort

Things I didn't like about the paper version (standardized tests in general not necessarily PCAT because I didn't take PCAT paper version)
- A lot more test takers in the same room = a lot of annoying noise (flipping pages, tapping, sneezing etc)
- Have to wait for all the other test takers to finish the section in order to move on
- As someone said earlier, no scratch paper? = little room to do calculation/plan for essays

Things I liked about the PCAT CBT version
- Can take the test at own pace
- Can put on headphone/earplugs to block out extra noise
- Questions are delivered one question at a time so I don't get distracted
- Has a useful function called "flagging". It made reviewing at the end of the section easier because I didn't have to look through all the questions

Things I didn't like about the PCAT CBT version
- Reading passages on the computer screen 😴
- As someone said earlier, takes more effort to get to the next question with an extra click (waste of time)
- Timer started counting down right after the section page showed up in the beginning. Also, after the end of a section, it started next section immediately and started counting down too 😡

Just my thought