How similar is Dr.Collins Practice problems to the actual PCAT?

[DrillSynchron]

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[sooverthepcat]

I am taking the PCAT for the first time in July, so I can't really answer your question from personal experience. Most people on here say that Dr. Collins' practice questions are almost like having the actual test. However, most people on here also say that the full length official practice questions are also great predictors of how you will do on the actual test. The problem is that I have both and my performance on the two are miles apart. I am timing myself doing each Collins practice question set, and I am doing very well on those. I have taken the official practice tests 5 and 6, and I am doing much worse on those. I am praying that the Collins materials end up being a better indicator for me.

 

[DrillSynchron]

How did you do on Collins versus the official practice tests? like how many did you get wrong on collins versus pearsons. I'm taking the test in july too, but I haven't taken the pearson practice exams.

 

[9each]

I am taking the PCAT for the first time in July, so I can't really answer your question from personal experience. Most people on here say that Dr. Collins' practice questions are almost like having the actual test. However, most people on here also say that the full length official practice questions are also great predictors of how you will do on the actual test. The problem is that I have both and my performance on the two are miles apart. I am timing myself doing each Collins practice question set, and I am doing very well on those. I have taken the official practice tests 5 and 6, and I am doing much worse on those. I am praying that the Collins materials end up being a better indicator for me.

Can you view the questions on the Pearsons again or does it just give you the right answer and you can't view the question anymore?

 

[s.razz]

For what it's worth, I used both collins and the pearson tests. I crammed with collins for about 2 weeks. A week before my PCAT I took the pearson practice tests.

On the actual PCAT I scored exactly where pearson predicted I would in each subject.

 

[sooverthepcat]

How did you do on Collins versus the official practice tests? like how many did you get wrong on collins versus pearsons. I'm taking the test in july too, but I haven't taken the pearson practice exams.

I am missing 8-10 more questions on each subject on the practice tests than I am on the Collins outline.

 

[sooverthepcat]

Can you view the questions on the Pearsons again or does it just give you the right answer and you can't view the question anymore?

You can still view the questions. I think you can even reset the test and take the whole thing again. I haven't tried it, but there is option that seems to allow that.

 

[sooverthepcat]

For what it's worth, I used both collins and the pearson tests. I crammed with collins for about 2 weeks. A week before my PCAT I took the pearson practice tests.

On the actual PCAT I scored exactly where pearson predicted I would in each subject.

Did you score approximately the same on all three practice tests? I have only taken 2 of them, but I scored better on 6 than I did on 5. Still, neither was as good as I was doing on the Collins practice questions at the time.

 

[sooverthepcat]

For what it's worth, I used both collins and the pearson tests. I crammed with collins for about 2 weeks. A week before my PCAT I took the pearson practice tests.

On the actual PCAT I scored exactly where pearson predicted I would in each subject.

Also, those practice tests don't give you an actual score. They give you a score range that is a 20 percentile point range. Did you score on the actual PCAT fall at the low end or the high end of that range? My score on test 6 could be not good but decent if the score was toward the high end of the range.

 

[s.razz]

Did you score approximately the same on all three practice tests? I have only taken 2 of them, but I scored better on 6 than I did on 5. Still, neither was as good

Also, those practice tests don't give you an actual score. They give you a score range that is a 20 percentile point range. Did you score on the actual PCAT fall at the low end or the high end of that range? My score on test 6 could be not good but decent if the score was toward the high end of the range.

as I was doing on the Collins practice questions at the time.

I only took 2/3 of the three practice tests. on both tests, my scores were similar. if i remember correctly. quant was between 60 and high 80s, cr was between 40 and 60, and bio and chem were top 20%. On the actual pcat I scored high 90s in chem and bio, high 80s in quant, and low 50's in CR. I'd say collins helped me prepare the bulk of the information and pearson gave me a good idea where I stood. I spent much more time focusing on collins.

When I was taking the Collins tests, I scored well on all the bio passages. Maybe like 1 or 2 wrong, 3 tops. On the PCAT I scored 99% in bio.
For the chem sections I was probably scoring around a raw C+ ~ B-, but on the actual PCAT I scored a 95%
For Quant I was scoring low 60's, on the PCAT I scored 87% --on the actual PCAT I didnt even have time to finish the section, and I guessed on a lot. It might have been luck, but I think a lot of people do bad on quant in general, so that's why my score ended up being as good as it was.
On CR i did crappy on collins and the actual PCAT.

Also, I had a 2016-2017 collins. On the actual PCAT there were a lot more passage questions than in the collins practice tests.

 

[sooverthepcat]

I only took 2/3 of the three practice tests. on both tests, my scores were similar. if i remember correctly. quant was between 60 and high 80s, cr was between 40 and 60, and bio and chem were top 20%. On the actual pcat I scored high 90s in chem and bio, high 80s in quant, and low 50's in CR. I'd say collins helped me prepare the bulk of the information and pearson gave me a good idea where I stood. I spent much more time focusing on collins.

When I was taking the Collins tests, I scored well on all the bio passages. Maybe like 1 or 2 wrong, 3 tops. On the PCAT I scored 99% in bio.
For the chem sections I was probably scoring around a raw C+ ~ B-, but on the actual PCAT I scored a 95%
For Quant I was scoring low 60's, on the PCAT I scored 87% --on the actual PCAT I didnt even have time to finish the section, and I guessed on a lot. It might have been luck, but I think a lot of people do bad on quant in general, so that's why my score ended up being as good as it was.
On CR i did crappy on collins and the actual PCAT.

Also, I had a 2016-2017 collins. On the actual PCAT there were a lot more passage questions than in the collins practice tests.

On the second practice test I took, I scored 40 to 60 in Chem and CR and 60 to 80 on Bio and QR. If my scores are closer to the 60 and 80, then that's much better than if they are closer to the 40 and 60. I just wish the ranges they give were not so wide. I don't feel like that helps me know where I really am at this point.

 

[sooverthepcat]

On the second practice test I took, I scored 40 to 60 in Chem and CR and 60 to 80 on Bio and QR. If my scores are closer to the 60 and 80, then that's much better than if they are closer to the 40 and 60. I just wish the ranges they give were not so wide. I don't feel like that helps me know where I really am at this point.

Also, at this point I am missing 5-8 questions on each of the subjects when I am timing myself on the Collins' practice questions. As I said, that is way better than what I am doing on the official practice tests. I think I am missing around 15-18 on Bio and QR and 20+ on Chem and CR on those tests. I have worked through 9 sets of the Collins' questions, timing myself. Tomorrow, I think I am going to put together a full practice test with all four subject areas using those Collins' questions and see how I don with them in one long session.

 

[sooverthepcat]

For anyone still following along, I took test 7. While I did better than tests 5 & 6, it is still much lower than what I am doing on the Collins practice questions. I did 70-90 in CR, 60-80 QR, high 50 to high 70 in Biol, 40 to 60 Chem. My cummulative was between about 55 and 75. I don't know why my performance on Collins and the official practice tests are so far apart. I am down to missing only 5-9 on each subject out of 50+ questions on the Collins practice questions. Overall, I am satisfied with where I'm at for now. I will take the PCAT on July 19th for the first time. I am not finished with my pre-reqs. I have not had Organic I or II, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or Anatomy II. Taking those classes will help my Chem and Bio scores significantly. I am taking the PCAT now just to see where I'm at. I plan to retake it. Going to spend the next two weeks doing as many practice questions as I can. I will let everyone know how I do on the actual test. Praying that my normal test anxiety does not kick in and praying that I get lucky and have very little Organic on my test.

 

[MissMPharmD]

You'd be surprise, there are some VERY similar questions on the PCAT from Dr. Collins practice problems. Pearson's shows you the exact same level of toughness as the PCAT which is good (I scored 10-20 percentile better than pearson), but I benefited from Collins more.

 

[sooverthepcat]

You'd be surprise, there are some VERY similar questions on the PCAT from Dr. Collins practice problems. Pearson's shows you the exact same level of toughness as the PCAT which is good (I scored 10-20 percentile better than pearson), but I benefited from Collins more.

This is what I am hoping for. I have had several people tell me that on an average people score about 15 percentile higher on the actual test than they do on the Pearson practice tests. But, most people on this forum say that their scores were actually about the same. If I add 15 to my practice tests, my scores on Collins and Pearson are pretty even. Either way, I am really glad to I purchased both. It's a lot of money, but I see it as a necessary investment.

 

[sooverthepcat]

For anyone still following along, I took test 7. While I did better than tests 5 & 6, it is still much lower than what I am doing on the Collins practice questions. I did 70-90 in CR, 60-80 QR, high 50 to high 70 in Biol, 40 to 60 Chem. My cummulative was between about 55 and 75. I don't know why my performance on Collins and the official practice tests are so far apart. I am down to missing only 5-9 on each subject out of 50+ questions on the Collins practice questions. Overall, I am satisfied with where I'm at for now. I will take the PCAT on July 19th for the first time. I am not finished with my pre-reqs. I have not had Organic I or II, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or Anatomy II. Taking those classes will help my Chem and Bio scores significantly. I am taking the PCAT now just to see where I'm at. I plan to retake it. Going to spend the next two weeks doing as many practice questions as I can. I will let everyone know how I do on the actual test. Praying that my normal test anxiety does not kick in and praying that I get lucky and have very little Organic on my test.

So, I took the PCAT yesterday and I'm back to let you know how I did and what I think about the different materials. First off, not having Organic prior to the PCAT is fatal. Someone who took the test Tuesday said they had very little Organic. Wednesday, I had a ton of it. I ended up with a 32 in Chem and that killed me score. Also, I had at least 7-8 disease/drugs/vitamin questions on the Biol section. That isn't covered by Kaplan or Collins and I guessed at every single one of them. If anyone has any good sources for this please let me know. I am scheduled to retake the PCAT and I have to find something to study for this area.

The post I quoted above gives my numbers on both the Collins and Pearson material just before the test. Yesterday I pulled an 85 in QR which was a little higher than I did on Test 7 and about what I was doing on Collins. I got a 49 on the CR. That score was extremely low compared to how I was doing on either Collins or Pearson. In fact, it is lower than I did on any practice test I took all summer, even Kaplan. However, people are posting that they got all 90's but on CR, and they got 20's to 40's, so I am thinking our CR was just unusually difficult. Like I said, I got a 32 in Chem (and it brought tears to my eyes). I was doing 40-60 on Pearson tests and missing right around 8 on each Collins, so this is much lower than either. Finally, on biol, I was doing 50 to 70 on Pearson tests and missing about 5 on the Collins. I ended up with a 62. Honestly, I expected a much higher schore on the Biol. Other than the disease/drug/vitamin questions, I felt like I did extremely well on this section. Even if I missed all of those, I expected better than a 62. However, my score is dead center what I did on Pearson's test 7.

So all of this averaged out to me getting a 59 composite. Not as impressive as the 90's that so many of you guys are reporting, but not everyone is going to get 90's. I think its not too bad considering all the classes I still have left to take. I'm not satisfied with it on a personal level, but the truth is it is high enough for me to get accepted at the pharmacy school I am planning to apply to. I am retaking it because I don't want to live the rest of my life knowing I got a 32 in Chem. As for the materials, people will strongly disagree with me, but I am not sure if Dr. Collins materials are worth the money. Collins is way better than Kaplan for QR, and Kaplan is way better than Collins for Biol, especially the anatomy/phyisiology materials. Kaplan was better than Collins for General Chem. Kaplan's Orgainic materials was about 200 pages and Collins was 30 or so. I knew that I did not have time to learn 200 pages of material that was 100% new to me in just 4 weeks, so I went with Collins. I got a basic understanding of what Organic was all about, but obviously I did not learn enough to perform well on the PCAT. During studying, I thought the Collins materials were worth the money just to get all those practice questions, but now that I have taken the PCAT, I have changed my mind. The Collins practice questions are so much easier than the actual PCAT that I think it gives you a false impression of where you stand. DO NOT go to your PCAT test thinking you will see Collins level difficulty. Some questions will be on that level, but most will be way harder. The Pearson tests are pretty much dead on, and DO NOT let anyone tell you to add the 10-15 points in predicting your score. Then, neither Kaplan nor Collins provided enough practice with the new passages that have been added. Those were so much harder than the stand alone questions, and neither set of study materials prepare you for it. For my retake, I don't think I'm going to touch my Collins stuff. I am going to dig into that Kaplan Organic outline a couple hours every day from now to September. I am going to attempt to find a source for learning those disease/drug/vitamins, but I have no idea where to start with that. Then, I am going to look for MCAT biology and chemistry practice quesions because they have more passages to practice with. All of this is just my opinion based on my experience, and I realize that others are going to disagree.

 

[9each]

So, I took the PCAT yesterday and I'm back to let you know how I did and what I think about the different materials. First off, not having Organic prior to the PCAT is fatal. Someone who took the test Tuesday said they had very little Organic. Wednesday, I had a ton of it. I ended up with a 32 in Chem and that killed me score. Also, I had at least 7-8 disease/drugs/vitamin questions on the Biol section. That isn't covered by Kaplan or Collins and I guessed at every single one of them. If anyone has any good sources for this please let me know. I am scheduled to retake the PCAT and I have to find something to study for this area.

The post I quoted above gives my numbers on both the Collins and Pearson material just before the test. Yesterday I pulled an 85 in QR which was a little higher than I did on Test 7 and about what I was doing on Collins. I got a 49 on the CR. That score was extremely low compared to how I was doing on either Collins or Pearson. In fact, it is lower than I did on any practice test I took all summer, even Kaplan. However, people are posting that they got all 90's but on CR, and they got 20's to 40's, so I am thinking our CR was just unusually difficult. Like I said, I got a 32 in Chem (and it brought tears to my eyes). I was doing 40-60 on Pearson tests and missing right around 8 on each Collins, so this is much lower than either. Finally, on biol, I was doing 50 to 70 on Pearson tests and missing about 5 on the Collins. I ended up with a 62. Honestly, I expected a much higher schore on the Biol. Other than the disease/drug/vitamin questions, I felt like I did extremely well on this section. Even if I missed all of those, I expected better than a 62. However, my score is dead center what I did on Pearson's test 7.

So all of this averaged out to me getting a 59 composite. Not as impressive as the 90's that so many of you guys are reporting, but not everyone is going to get 90's. I think its not too bad considering all the classes I still have left to take. I'm not satisfied with it on a personal level, but the truth is it is high enough for me to get accepted at the pharmacy school I am planning to apply to. I am retaking it because I don't want to live the rest of my life knowing I got a 32 in Chem. As for the materials, people will strongly disagree with me, but I am not sure if Dr. Collins materials are worth the money. Collins is way better than Kaplan for QR, and Kaplan is way better than Collins for Biol, especially the anatomy/phyisiology materials. Kaplan was better than Collins for General Chem. Kaplan's Orgainic materials was about 200 pages and Collins was 30 or so. I knew that I did not have time to learn 200 pages of material that was 100% new to me in just 4 weeks, so I went with Collins. I got a basic understanding of what Organic was all about, but obviously I did not learn enough to perform well on the PCAT. During studying, I thought the Collins materials were worth the money just to get all those practice questions, but now that I have taken the PCAT, I have changed my mind. The Collins practice questions are so much easier than the actual PCAT that I think it gives you a false impression of where you stand. DO NOT go to your PCAT test thinking you will see Collins level difficulty. Some questions will be on that level, but most will be way harder. The Pearson tests are pretty much dead on, and DO NOT let anyone tell you to add the 10-15 points in predicting your score. Then, neither Kaplan nor Collins provided enough practice with the new passages that have been added. Those were so much harder than the stand alone questions, and neither set of study materials prepare you for it. For my retake, I don't think I'm going to touch my Collins stuff. I am going to dig into that Kaplan Organic outline a couple hours every day from now to September. I am going to attempt to find a source for learning those disease/drug/vitamins, but I have no idea where to start with that. Then, I am going to look for MCAT biology and chemistry practice quesions because they have more passages to practice with. All of this is just my opinion based on my experience, and I realize that others are going to disagree.

So you did not see any word for word questions on the PCAT from Collins or the Pearson Practice tests? Also, how long did you study for and did you have ochem?

 

[sooverthepcat]

So you did not see any word for word questions on the PCAT from Collins or the Pearson Practice tests? Also, how long did you study for and did you have ochem?

I did have 3 questions that were from the Pearson Practice tests. I didn't have any that repeated from Collins. I have not taken the Organic Chem I or II yet. It really hurt me on the Chem section. My test was heavy in Organic. I studied for about 2 months around my daily schedule. I tried to study for some period of time at least 5 days each week. Some days I only had 2 hours and others I had 8-10 hours. I would estimate that I studied about 4 hours a day, 5 days a week as an average. I spent a large part of that time working through all those practice questions from Collins. If you have them, you know that there are 9-18 different test under each subject. I did them all. If I had it to do over, I would not have invested that much time in them. I would have done some of them, but not all.

 

[pharmD2022]

Bio: Some of them are literally exactly the same. In general, these are way too high-level and not nearly challenging enough to compare to the real thing. But for the simpler straightforward questions, these are pretty true. The first question on the bio section of my PCAT was straight from one of the Dr. C practice tests. Passage based questions are WAY more difficult than Dr. C in my opinion.

Chem: Pretty accurate. I found these to be right on par. The one discrepancy was my chem section had a TON of passage based questions, way more than Dr. C practice tests. I took it earlier this month so maybe that's a new development but I remember during the test thinking that there were so many more PBQs than I was expecting.

Quant: Pretty accurate.

Reading: Not even close. The passages I got were much more difficult and in depth than any of the Dr. C ones I went through.

I recommend doing Dr. C for studying and practice. But the Pearson practice tests were closest to the real thing. And they'll score your test so you know where you stand and what you need to focus on.

I studied using only Dr. Collins and Pearson Practice tests, have not taken any organic, biochem, microbio or A&P2 yet and scored 93 composite (86 chem, 90 bio, 98 reading and 72 quant - ran out of time). I did use Khan Academy to learn some basic orgo. So I definitely think the Dr. C and Pearson are sufficient if you put the time in!