How many days did you spend studying for the PCAT?

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mjmjoa

mjmjoa

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And what was your score, and how many times did you take it?

This will be my first ever "CAT" test, and I'm a little nervous. Am starting studying tomorrow, which gives me 60 days before I take it. I have parts of Dr. Collins (a friend gave it to me, it's not complete but it's still a good amount), using coursesaver (Chad's videos) and a random PCAT study book. Any advice or tips would help!
 
Took 3x, 47th to 64th to 84th percentile, last time bought the three official practice tests, answered first couple questions then:

Biology: When I got to question I didn't know, I studied/took notes on that specific topic only(KAPLAN book and Bio I course study guide, only used Dr.Collins for MICROBIO) , then I went to next question I didn't know, repeat

Math: Same, but it gets more question specific for studying so I had free online tutors on deck for each question I couldn't get

I did it this way since I only had 3 weeks to study :shrug:
 
98th %ile. I took it once after studying inconsistently for one or two months when I had "down time" during my work-study job over the summer. Honestly, your prereqs should give you all the info you need.
 
I took it once and got 99th percentile. I just took a pearson practice test the day before, and reviewed some basic A&P and that was all of the studying I did. Like y0ssarian87 said, your prereqs should give you everything you need to know to score well. It's not a difficult exam at all if you have taken and done well in your classes thus far.
 
mjmjoa said:
And what was your score, and how many times did you take it?

This will be my first ever "CAT" test, and I'm a little nervous. Am starting studying tomorrow, which gives me 60 days before I take it. I have parts of Dr. Collins (a friend gave it to me, it's not complete but it's still a good amount), using coursesaver (Chad's videos) and a random PCAT study book. Any advice or tips would help!
Click to expand...
I used only Dr. Collins 60 days out and by the time test day came I was able to get 80's or 90's on exams. I got a 89 comp score.
 
Dr. Collin is good enough. You wont need anything else. Just go over the Dr.Collins study 10x over and you will be fine for the exam. Good luck. Made a 86% first time.
 
I took it without studying at all and got a 68, then studied 3-4 hours a day for 2 weeks and got a 90 with Dr. Collins.
 
three months five hours a day with dr collins and kaplan 75 overall first time. only took once
 
Studied very inconsistently over 3 months but I mastered all material . 98% composite. Only took once
 
Pearson pcat book works good I think... Went through it twice over a 2 month period and got a 94
 
mjmjoa said:
Would you recommend I take the official PCAT practice exams? These ones: https://tpc-etesting.com/PCATopt/
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Absolutely! When you do you will see how close those exams are to dr Collins. Take all three if you can. It really helped me for RC because dr Collins packets is practically useless for that section.

It's totally doable man, I mainly dr Collins and took Pearson test and I did great.

With dr Collins, master Chem and bio like its the back of your hand. Don't just memorize, understand how the problem is done. Master diff types of math questions.

Most important, believe in yourself.
 
IDontHateYou said:
Absolutely! When you do you will see how close those exams are to dr Collins. Take all three if you can. It really helped me for RC because dr Collins packets is practically useless for that section.

It's totally doable man, I mainly dr Collins and took Pearson test and I did great.

With dr Collins, master Chem and bio like its the back of your hand. Don't just memorize, understand how the problem is done. Master diff types of math questions.

Most important, believe in yourself.
Click to expand...

I went through every single question in the packet dozens of times. I timed myself each time I took a test. My goal was to finish each test with a lot of time to spare. For example, bio section was 35 minutes, I finish those sections in 10-15 minutes. Chemistry, I would finish in 20 minutes. I would rework each problem out every single time, even if I remembered the answer.
 
IDontHateYou said:
I went through every single question in the packet dozens of times. I timed myself each time I took a test. My goal was to finish each test with a lot of time to spare. For example, bio section was 35 minutes, I finish those sections in 10-15 minutes. Chemistry, I would finish in 20 minutes. I would rework each problem out every single time, even if I remembered the answer.
Click to expand...
What is the Verbal section like? I have a bunch of definitions and analogies from Dr. Collins, do they show up again on PCAT? It's not really something you can study, but just memorize so hopefully the same ones show up again on the PCAT.

And for the Pearson test, can you save and print those after you take them to study, or do they not let you do that?
 
mjmjoa said:
What is the Verbal section like? I have a bunch of definitions and analogies from Dr. Collins, do they show up again on PCAT? It's not really something you can study, but just memorize so hopefully the same ones show up again on the PCAT.

And for the Pearson test, can you save and print those after you take them to study, or do they not let you do that?
Click to expand...

As far as verbal - It really just depends on what questions you get the day you take it. The verbal is VERY random, if you ask me. For example, first time I took pearson practice test, I got a 75-95% in verbal, I did very well. Second time I used Pearson test for verbal I completely BOMBED that section with a 40-60%. On actual PCAT, I scored a horrible 52%, I only got a 98 composite because my other scores were very high. For my test, I saw about 5 questions from Dr. Collins, the rest was random, atleast to me anyway. Some people say they saw 16-17 questions on their actual pcat... so you never know. Definitely study Dr. Collins though but unless you already have a STRONG vocabulary or intend to study vocal for 6 months, your vocab is already set in stone. I would focus on the Big 3 (CHEM, BIO, MATH). If you can ROCK two of those sections and do "okay" on the rest of the test you will atleast land an 80%.

As far as pearson practice test - after you take the test, the test and answers with explanations are saved into your profile, you can log in at anytime to view them. They are good for a while, like up until jan 31 (or something like that) of the next year.
 
I took the PCAT twice and scored like 55 on verbal the first time then 87 on verbal the second time. The funny thing is that I literally never studied verbal either of the two times that I took the test. I think it comes down to focus/luck more so than preparation. The second time I took the test I had studied for the other sections so this confidence/focus carried over and improved my score in verbal as well.
 
I never understood those types of question: Cat: Hat: Bear. Or whatever.. do those show up a lot?

And is the Dr. Collins study guide + a few sample exams enough to get a 90+ in the Biology section?
 
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mjmjoa said:
I never understood those types of question: Cat: Hat: Bear. Or whatever.. do those show up a lot?

And is the Dr. Collins study guide + a few sample exams enough to get a 90+ in the Biology section?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is the verbal portion of the test. Kaplan helps outline the "types of questions" in the verbal section.
 
mjmjoa said:
I never understood those types of question: Cat: Hat: Bear. Or whatever.. do those show up a lot?

And is the Dr. Collins study guide + a few sample exams enough to get a 90+ in the Biology section?
Click to expand...

It all depends. I got a 92% in Bio section but I also am a Biology major and Biology has always been my favorite subject. Studying Dr. Collins and Pearson Test are good but NOT every question will come from there. There will be those questions that require common sense and general knowledge. Its hard to say if it will be enough for you to get a 90% because everyone is different but it's definitely the best way to spend your time studying for the test. For the Bio section, if you really want a 99% I would master Dr. Collins, inside and out, Master Pearson practice test inside and out, and cover up the rest with Kaplans Bio section (which I've heard is very over the top, but could fill in some of the blanks).
 
Took once, studied hardcore for 3 months. Got 92% but bombed the reading section...
 
only studied the bio and chemistry section. The writing, math and reading section i feel like is more comprehension and you either know it or you don't. I got a 90th percentile on math reading and writing and didnt study for it. So i spent all my time on the chemistry and bio section and did very well.
 
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