Im having a mental breakdown..

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I decided to apply this summer to pharmacy and everything is going wrong. MY stats are 3.35sc and 3.45 overall. I graduate next fall and the for the past 2 semesters i had all As. However i am preparing for the August 22 Pcat and i am having a nightmare with chemistry section. I was never good in Chem to begin with and i got Bs in all my chem and orgo classes which i took 3 years ago.
I went through the whole Kaplan Chemistry Section from the PCAT and after reviewing all of it in around one month i cant answer one single question on the exam. I dont know what is wrong with me, i just wasn't good in chemistry and now i am freaking out.
I need some advice on how to overcome this problem and if any of your had a similar issue before taking th e PCAT.

 

[Kirbypuff]

I'm a Chem-hater too. No worries. I found the Kaplan review to be perfectly adequate for relearning the material. Read the chapters slowly and concentrate on each paragraph and write down what they're trying to teach you. Then, perhaps you might consider hiring a tutor for a couple of hours to help you be certain of what you learned or missed. I had to read Chemistry paragraphs over and over again to drill my brain into remembering. I think I got a 91 on the chem section. And I HATED chem. Got a D+ in Chem1 LOL.

 

[diastole]

If you really can't answer any questions, I suggest you put aside calculations for the moment and concentrate on concepts. Start with the trends of the periodic table. Be able to name what is more electronegative. Know what has a larger radius and understand why. Know your intramolecular forces and which ones are stronger. Be able to tell what is polar and non-polar and why. Use this knowledge to determine which molecule has the highest boiling point (hint: on the PCAT, it is usually an alcohol because of hydrogen bonding.)

For organic chemistry, at the very least know your functional groups. Know what a sigma and pi bond is and how many there are in single, double, triple bonds. Learn your bond angles, hybridization and molecular geometry.

For the time being, skip the problems with numbers in it unless that is your strong suit. You just need to maximize points. When you understand the concepts, then go back and try to learn how to do the problems with calculations. Maybe if you don't try to do too much at once, you can get past this mental block you seem to be having.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

Definitely learn the functional groups for o-chem. I put all of them on flash cards and carried them around with me.

Actually, after I took o-chem, I started writing the notes for all my classes on note cards. You could try that technique with the chem section in the Kaplan book.

And you still have more than a month. That's a long time, in a lot of ways. Try some de-stressing techniques. If you're too stressed, you won't be able to learn much.

 

[pcproduct]

Which is giving you more trouble, the conceptual or the math problems? If the latter, you could go through the Kaplan book's section on chemistry and write down every formula's name and equation along with little notes to help you retain the information.

 

[tydt]

I know this may sound like it's hard to do right now, but I was in the same position as you once. I just took a few days off the subject to calm myself down first, which was very important because it helps me concentrate and tackling the concepts directly instead of just read and memorize. I was able to answer almost all the Chem questions correctly after going through 40 chapters of Kaplan 2008-2009 edition. 😱

Also refer back to your old chem book if you have to, so you can reiterate the subject more firmly.

Best of luck!

 

[charfdorn]

I decided to apply this summer to pharmacy and everything is going wrong. MY stats are 3.35sc and 3.45 overall. I graduate next fall and the for the past 2 semesters i had all As. However i am preparing for the August 22 Pcat and i am having a nightmare with chemistry section. I was never good in Chem to begin with and i got Bs in all my chem and orgo classes which i took 3 years ago.
I went through the whole Kaplan Chemistry Section from the PCAT and after reviewing all of it in around one month i cant answer one single question on the exam. I dont know what is wrong with me, i just wasn't good in chemistry and now i am freaking out.
I need some advice on how to overcome this problem and if any of your had a similar issue before taking th e PCAT.

Take a deep breath. Go see a movie, or go to the water park all day, or whatever you do for fun and relaxation. You have six weeks to study. Take one or two days now to reset.

You know what you need to do; it's just a lot of work and not very fun. Let yourself relax completely before you start tackling this. Then go at it full force. If you get this feeling again in a few weeks, take another day off. But aside from those total days off, you should be hitting the chem books every day.

 

[Passion4Sci]

You could always move to California and avoid the PCAT entirely if you so desire. If your stats stay the same between now and when you graduate, you'll be fine.

 

[fuCl]

you can start by not whining.

 

[charfdorn]

you can start by not whining.

Zing!

 

[AKN16]

I decided to apply this summer to pharmacy and everything is going wrong. MY stats are 3.35sc and 3.45 overall. I graduate next fall and the for the past 2 semesters i had all As. However i am preparing for the August 22 Pcat and i am having a nightmare with chemistry section. I was never good in Chem to begin with and i got Bs in all my chem and orgo classes which i took 3 years ago.
I went through the whole Kaplan Chemistry Section from the PCAT and after reviewing all of it in around one month i cant answer one single question on the exam. I dont know what is wrong with me, i just wasn't good in chemistry and now i am freaking out.
I need some advice on how to overcome this problem and if any of your had a similar issue before taking th e PCAT.

I hate being so harsh, but if your having a mental breakdown than all of us should be on the floor, rolling around in circles, and screaming at the top of our lungs, "OH MY GOD, OHHH HELP ME."

Listen, you have great stats that most pre-health ppl would love to have. The PCAT chemistry section was my best section out of all of the other sections. This is taking into account I love math, and was sure that one was going to my best section... The Kaplan PCAT is a good book to use, it has everything you would ever need to know for the chemistry section. But that's the problem, that kaplan chemistry section goes beyond what you need to know for the exam, SO DON"T STRESS OUT..

With that, you will do fine on that chem section, I'm sure. I was a B avg student myself, so I know where your coming from, but don't stress over it..

Good luck

 

[trailrider400]

Keep in mind that even if you bomb one section the others that you are able to do well in should even it out. I got a 96ish in bio and it pretty much made up for two low sections. Also make sure you are reading and LEARNING the material not just trying to blow through it because you're stressed. Also, generally the questions in kaplan are not like the ones you will find on the pcat. The kaplan questions are much more involved. Just calm down and keep studying.

 

[pharmtechgirl26]

I decided to apply this summer to pharmacy and everything is going wrong. MY stats are 3.35sc and 3.45 overall. I graduate next fall and the for the past 2 semesters i had all As. However i am preparing for the August 22 Pcat and i am having a nightmare with chemistry section. I was never good in Chem to begin with and i got Bs in all my chem and orgo classes which i took 3 years ago.
I went through the whole Kaplan Chemistry Section from the PCAT and after reviewing all of it in around one month i cant answer one single question on the exam. I dont know what is wrong with me, i just wasn't good in chemistry and now i am freaking out.
I need some advice on how to overcome this problem and if any of your had a similar issue before taking th e PCAT.

I understand what you are going through completely. Chemistry is my worst subject. Its one of those situations where I really do know the concepts but it takes me a bit longer to get there than it does other people. I took my gen chem series in the year 2000 and o chem in 2005. I really felt like I forgot a lot when I went to take my PCAT. and when I got my score report that was reaffirmed. I choked and I didn't do well. All I ever dreamed about was getting into UW but my only thing holding me back was my chemistry score...UGH! On the other hand, even with that score, I was offered 9 interviews!!! I got into four schools and waitlisted some of the others and even declined a few interviews! My point is, have confidence in yourself! If you really want it that bad, and you get interviews, it will come across in that amount of time. They will see that this is what you want to do! Just do the best you can and everything will fall into place. Good luck!