Important Notice about the PCAT (PCAT FAQs)

[Glycerin]

You may also be interested in visiting the Pre-Pharmacy FAQ and the Pharmacy FAQ.

The following notice is taken directly from Pearson's website. Additionally, we've had a similar notice stickied to the top of our PCAT forum for quite some time. Please abide by it!

Notice:
Candidates cannot disclose--in whole or in part--any exam questions or answers to anyone during or after the exam, whether orally, in writing, in any internet "chat rooms or blogs", or otherwise. The PCAT is a secure examination, protected by U.S. copyright laws, and any unauthorized disclosure of the exam's contents could result in civil liability, criminal penalties, and/or cancellation of test scores. Examinees are encouraged to report any internet activities that disclose information about test questions, so that Pearson may investigate and take any necessary action.

Get the most current information about the PCAT here.

What Schools Require the PCAT?
How can I best prepare myself for the PCAT?
Are calculators allowed during the PCAT?
Are any free practice exams available?

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[Glycerin]

Be sure to register on time. Test dates, locations and deadlines can be found on PCATWeb.info.

To get a feel for the PCAT, you can take the PCAT practice test. The test is online, half the length of the PCAT, and requires a fee.

Many people do not finish the math portion of the exam. Practice until you are able to do simple math problems (decimals, fractions, ratios, etc.) very quickly.

To increase your vocabulary score, you might try memorizing the GRE top 200 words list, or studying Latin and Greek word roots.

Helpful study guides include:
Kaplan PCAT (2006 - 2007 edition) - very highly recommended
Barron's PCAT
Peterson's PCAT Success
PCAT Professor
Reference Guide for the Pharmacy College Admission Test PCAT
PCAT Audiolearn, 3rd edition

Thanks to bananaface for originally authoring this section and to crossjb for the updated suggestions.

 

[Glycerin]

That would be a NO.

 

[SDN]

Do not discuss any specific PCAT questions as Harcourt Assessment, Inc. takes it very seriously.

By discussing specific questions, you may be giving an unfair advantage to future PCAT examinees.

The PCAT is a secure examination, protected by U.S. copyright laws, and any unauthorized disclosure of the exam's contents could result in civil liability, criminal penalties, and/or cancellation of test scores.

 

[Julianne]

*This link has practice questions for the PCAT separated into 31 modules. After you complete a module it shows which questions were missed and the correct answer. It also has links to sites that can help you improve in a specific area.

*Click here for hundreds of short vocabulary tests for the PCAT.

 

[Julianne]

Visit the AACP website. They have a cool search feature that can be used if you're looking for particular schools in the US that do (or do not) require the PCAT for admission. You can also search other criteria such as first year tuition costs and length of the program.

 

[bananaface]

http://www.pearsonassessments.com/hai/Images/dotCom/pcatweb.info/PCAT_CIB.pdf

Updated link to Candidate Information Booklet.

 

[owlegrad]

Hi PCAT Students,

I would like to invite you to browse and post your science questions in our new MCAT Q & A sub-forum. Here is the link: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=134

Right now we have a general chemistry thread and an organic chemistry thread that you might find helpful, and we hope to have a biology one up and running soon as well.

Please keep the following in mind when visiting the new forum:

Two excellent users, Shrike and QofQuimica, have proposed setting up a Q&A subforum within the MCAT forum. They will make themselves available to answer questions for those studying for the MCAT.

This forum will operate differently than the standard forum. Only posts asking specific questions or providing direct answers will be allowed. Other discussions about the MCAT will be moved to the main MCAT forum.

All "Volunteer Advisors" and "SDN Moderators" are allowed to moderate this forum.

Those appointed to answer the questions have advanced studies in their particular fields. Please leave the answering to the experts.

There are now two biology threads as well, one for organismic biology questions and one for cell/molecular biology questions.

 

[owlegrad]

Please be considerate of others when posting in the PCAT forum. The SDN community has always been a place for students to come together for advice, encouragement, and information. For it to stay as such, it is important for each of us to maintain civility in our interactions with others.

If you see posts that are problematic, please report them to the moderator staff for evaluation. But, refrain from responding in kind. Your actions set the tone for this forum and you alone are accountable for your own words and actions.

SDN does reserve the right to remove members who are non-contributory, including those who are consistently or repeatedly mean or uncivil. But, our volunteer moderator staff would much rather see all of our members use this forum as a place to begin developing your professional and communication skills. Please take advantage of it!