help interpreting PCAT score

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shroomhead

shroomhead
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15+ Year Member
I am really confused about PCAT scoring. How do you know if you get a 80 or 50. Are you looking it the scaled score column or the percentile column?😕
my composite score was 40. What does that mean?
 
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shroomhead said:
I am really confused about PCAT scoring. How do you know if you get a 80 or 50. Are you looking it the scaled score column or the percentile column?😕
my composite score was 40. What does that mean?
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The most important stats are the percentiles. The most important percentile is your composite percentile.

It looks like your composite percentile is a 40, meaning that you scored overall in the 40th percentile. Though I've heard that the scale is based on a past testing period, that means that out of 100 people, 60 of them did better than you. This is just an estimation of course.

Anything below an 80 is an uncompetitive (lower than average) score for pharmacy school but many people do get in with scores in the 70s if the GPA is higher than the average accepted applicant. Anything below a 70 means that you need to retake the PCAT to get a better score regardless of your GPA.

It looks like you need to study more, take any missing prereqs you haven't taken, and do better on the next PCAT if you want to have a shot at getting into a PCAT school.
 
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so I know that the real PCAT score is all relative to the others that take it, and is by the percentile out of those others, but is there a general way to estimate what I would be getting by taking practice test?

Like for example, like the raw score percentile would have to be over 80% or 90% or something??

could anyone that has been practicing with Kaplan, Barrons, or cliff notes practice exams who took the real exam generally compare the scores? Or a general trend?

Just trying to see where I'm at and how much more i need to study 🙂

Thanks!
 
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rosepig7 said:
so I know that the real PCAT score is all relative to the others that take it, and is by the percentile out of those others, but is there a general way to estimate what I would be getting by taking practice test?

Like for example, like the raw score percentile would have to be over 80% or 90% or something??

could anyone that has been practicing with Kaplan, Barrons, or cliff notes practice exams who took the real exam generally compare the scores? Or a general trend?

Just trying to see where I'm at and how much more i need to study 🙂

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Well, recalling how I did on the practice tests before the real thing, I found myself missing about 5 to 6 questions per section except math (mostly due to poorly worded questions and questions with no proper answers) The PCAT is of course much better worded and makes sure the answers are clear without any doubt, so I did really well on the real thing. I used all sorts of practice tests (including kaplan, arco, barrons). Also, my level of concentration and confidence are much higher when i take real tests, so I'm sure that factor had a lot to do with it too.
 
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