How long to study for PCAT?

Started by halfempty84
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halfempty84

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How long do you study for the PCATs? If possible, could you tell which books you found most helpful in prepping?

Thanks.
 
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I found the Kaplan book most helpful. There was a lot of good bio stuff to review. The Cliff's prep tests were good to review areas you needed to improve in. Also, I can't stress the importance of using the Harcourt Practice Tests...Those are key...Let's hope my results pay off--I just took the PCAT on Saturday...

halfempty84 said:
How long do you study for the PCATs? If possible, could you tell which books you found most helpful in prepping?

Thanks.
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Study MAINLY biology, calc, stats, basic algebra, general chemistry 1 and 2, and organic. Verbal and reading comprehension require practice too, but not as much studying in my opinion.
 
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I spent a couple hours a week studying during the second half of the Spring semester, then once the semester was over I studied 2-3 hours a day for a month until the test. (June '08 test) I mainly used the Kaplan book, but had an additional book for Calculus and Organic Chemistry.
 
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I used the kaplan book and bought some audio tapes.. the tapes didn't help me that much. I just listened to them once and typed out some notes, but the book helped because it had practice problems. Then again, I know of a guy who didn't buy ANY books or anything - he just studied past notes from core science classes and got an amazing score. The book is more just a compact/organized version of all your collective science notes.
 
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dmd20000 said:
why some people say kaplan book is not helpful? they said most of their bio questions came from microbiology and some anatomy. kaplan doesn't cover these.
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Each PCAT exam is different, so the August exam may have more microbiology while the October exam may have more anatomy. My exam actually had more ecology than I expected.

The Kaplan book is a great general overview for the biology section.
 
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The amount that you need to study depends on your current knowledge. If you're an average student, I would say study at least a month and a half straight but if you've retained a lot of your materials from your pre-pharm classes, you can probably get away with 3 weeks.
 
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