July 2013 PCAT: Borderline Composite?

[ricardinho10]

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I took the PCAT last week and I've been tossing and turning night after night because I feel like my score is right on the border..

Verbal 409/63
Biology 425/84
Reading 396/43
Quantitative 420/82
Chemistry 422/81
Composite 414/76

I was really expecting to at least hit mid 80's but maybe I should have been a little more strict with my study habits. What was really weird to me was that I bought the 3 practice tests from Pearson and Reading was my highest score on each practice test (got 90's+ on each one) so I definitely did not expect to get a 43 on the reading section!🙁 I felt terrible upon receiving my scores because although it is not terrible, some of my friends took it the day before and scored high 90's.

I would be more comfortable with my score BUT.. my GPA is only a 3.4 and I have not had much experience. I have shadowed at two hospitals for about a week and I have volunteered for a couple of clinics for minimal hours. I am looking a for tech job for when I go back in the fall but as of right now, I do not feel good about the amount of experience I have had.

Should I retake and hope that a higher composite would compensate for a lesser amount of experience?

I know I can do better in chemistry and quant. since I'll have more time to work on my speed and that was the only real issue for me on those sections. and I feel like I HAVE to better on reading, there's no way that I can get a 43 on that again. I felt great about Dr. Collin's Verbal and Biology practice tests, but I guess the questions on the real thing were just a bit harder this time around.. or I simply choked <-that's more like it.

Let's say I want to go to Ohio State..

 

[Jibby321]

I took the PCAT last week and I've been tossing and turning night after night because I feel like my score is right on the border..

Verbal 409/63
Biology 425/84
Reading 396/43
Quantitative 420/82
Chemistry 422/81
Composite 414/76

I was really expecting to at least hit mid 80's but maybe I should have been a little more strict with my study habits. What was really weird to me was that I bought the 3 practice tests from Pearson and Reading was my highest score on each practice test (got 90's+ on each one) so I definitely did not expect to get a 43 on the reading section!🙁 I felt terrible upon receiving my scores because although it is not terrible, some of my friends took it the day before and scored high 90's.

I would be more comfortable with my score BUT.. my GPA is only a 3.4 and I have not had much experience. I have shadowed at two hospitals for about a week and I have volunteered for a couple of clinics for minimal hours. I am looking a for tech job for when I go back in the fall but as of right now, I do not feel good about the amount of experience I have had.

Should I retake and hope that a higher composite would compensate for a lesser amount of experience?

I know I can do better in chemistry and quant. since I'll have more time to work on my speed and that was the only real issue for me on those sections. and I feel like I HAVE to better on reading, there's no way that I can get a 43 on that again. I felt great about Dr. Collin's Verbal and Biology practice tests, but I guess the questions on the real thing were just a bit harder this time around.. or I simply choked <-that's more like it.

Let's say I want to go to Ohio State..

You have a solid score. Are you in-state? Usually they accept lower statistics. I would check out their average statistics and see where you fall and maybe speak to an advisor of you are still unsure. Remember PCAT is only one part of the application.

 

[ricardinho10]

I'm from TN and the school I'm looking at here is Lipscomb University, but I wanted to keep my options open so I was looking at schools in OH and SC. I guess my real concern is the fact that my score is just solid and I do not have a lot of experience..

 

[jmeEATworld]

I also am interested in going to OSU for Pharmacy, and when I met with an advisor, she gave me an info sheet with the following stats
Average science GPA: 3.41
Average overall GPA: 3.54
Average PCAT percentile score: 79

Personally, I wouldn't retake it, but I'm sure you could get in contact with the admissions office and ask their opinion, as they would know better than I would.

 

[AlPacino]

I took the PCAT last week and I've been tossing and turning night after night because I feel like my score is right on the border..

Verbal 409/63
Biology 425/84
Reading 396/43
Quantitative 420/82
Chemistry 422/81
Composite 414/76

I was really expecting to at least hit mid 80's but maybe I should have been a little more strict with my study habits. What was really weird to me was that I bought the 3 practice tests from Pearson and Reading was my highest score on each practice test (got 90's+ on each one) so I definitely did not expect to get a 43 on the reading section!🙁 I felt terrible upon receiving my scores because although it is not terrible, some of my friends took it the day before and scored high 90's.

I would be more comfortable with my score BUT.. my GPA is only a 3.4 and I have not had much experience. I have shadowed at two hospitals for about a week and I have volunteered for a couple of clinics for minimal hours. I am looking a for tech job for when I go back in the fall but as of right now, I do not feel good about the amount of experience I have had.

Should I retake and hope that a higher composite would compensate for a lesser amount of experience?

I know I can do better in chemistry and quant. since I'll have more time to work on my speed and that was the only real issue for me on those sections. and I feel like I HAVE to better on reading, there's no way that I can get a 43 on that again. I felt great about Dr. Collin's Verbal and Biology practice tests, but I guess the questions on the real thing were just a bit harder this time around.. or I simply choked <-that's more like it.

Let's say I want to go to Ohio State..

Your test scores are nearly identical to mine. You did very well on the sciences(section pharmcacy schools mostly look at) and math but the reading and verbal brought your overall down. I too scored a 76 composite and was upset how I performed in the reading/verbal. I thought about retaking but I am just going to apply early and go with it. If by the end of year I don't get an interview I will retake on January and shoot for 90+.