Well... since I took the test at such a late date, I guess whatever I have to say will only interest people planning to apply in the next cycle.
Prelim Scores:
VA - 82
Bio - 84
RC - 81
QA - 97
Chem - 88
Composite - 93
Okay so I'm not qualified to post any "How to get 99%" or "How to Succeed" threads, but I'll post my experience in case it helps anyone.
I used Kaplan 2012-2013 Study Guide. First of all, even though it says 2012-2013, it actually does not include any content that reflects the PCAT curriculum changes this year. That would include nutrition and disease, and the removal of non-animal biology questions. I basically spent 5 hours a week for 3 weeks before my pcat (and one full day of studying the day before) going through this book. Just highlighting key components.
The Good:
- Pretty extensive biology section
- Diagnostic section at the start is useful at gauging your proficiency at the subject
- Good review at the end of every chapter
- Includes a free practice test online
The Bad:
- Does not reflect new curriculum
- Essentially has zero O-Chem content
- Felt that only 20-30% of content was actually on the test
I recommend doing the review problems at the end of every chapter. Actually do it. So write it on paper don't just think of the answer in your head and move on. When you get an answer wrong, try not to read the explanation given; instead, go back and review that section again. Consult the explanation only to confirm or if you are really stumped and can't find it in the book.
Once you've prepared enough (really shouldn't spend too much time on it), do the Kaplan practice test. The score or the questions don't truly reflect what is on the test, but the format and the time allotted gives you a feel of how fast you need to go through each section.
As for the test itself, there's not much. In my opinion, I feel that PCAT tests more of how well you can deduce answers from clues rather than straight up facts. I'm pretty sure I covered most the biology from the Kaplan book (and there is an extensive section on biology), yet when I did the test I felt like I couldn't apply much of what I learned. The questions were so random and specific. So basically this is how I answered questions:
1) Give myself only ~30 seconds to do the question.
2) If I don't know the answer right away, eliminate as many possible answers as I can. Instead of thinking what the answer could be, think of what it couldn't be.
3) If I've spent more than 1 minute, follow my gut and pick a random answer and flag the question for review. Move on.
4) Always gauge how well you are progressing. If you're given 40 minutes on QA to solve 48 questions, you better be at least past question 12 when there is 30 minutes left. Even though I scored 97 on QA, I was forced to randomly pick answers for about 3-5 questions (because I didn't know how to do it) and the last 5 questions I never got to answer because I was too stubborn on one of the questions.
5) Don't get hung up on previous questions. Remind yourself that you'll have a chance to review the flagged questions later, and that the PCAT doesn't score some questions anyways so you may have gotten lucky. Last thing you need is for the last question to interfere with your current question.
Really, I felt that everything on the test I did not know how to do and that it wasn't in the Kaplan book. Really specific biology questions and a crap load of organic chemistry really killed me (I don't know anything about orgo). Basically I almost considered the "no score" option at the end but decided against it (I seriously felt that I didn't know anything in chemistry or biology). My results surprised me quite a bit. So when you have your break, just relax and don't freak out about the test!
As for what I would have done if I could have done it again, I would say space out my studies. Have a plan to get a certain amount of studying done per week and plan for special circumstances. I managed my time extremely poorly, and only got through biology and skimmed through chem before doing the test. I never touched QA RC or VA. If you're feeling up to it, I know there are apps for smartphones that have vocabulary flashcard testing. I'm pretty sure VA analogies pulls their words from a giant databank, and if you spend half an hour to an hour a day just doing the flashcards, you'll eventually know most the words. I didn't do this, but my brother did the GRE and that's how he studied for his VA (told me it worked out pretty well).
Yeup. That's basically my experience with Kaplan and PCAT.
