July PCAT Preliminary Score

[avocadolime]

Hello guys,

I took the PCAT on 7/22 and did better than I thought. So I would like to share how I studied for the test for future test takers!

Here are my scores:
Bio 96
Chem 99
Reading 65
Quan 97
Composite 99

I studied seven weeks before the test. I used only Dr. Collins (2016 version). For the first two weeks, I focused on chemistry (study guide + practice tests). Then I spent one week on biology, one week on math, one week on reading and essay. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention to reading/ essay as I knew I would do bad on them as English is my second language. I did the reading practice tests just to have a feel of what it would be like on the PCAT. During 6th-7th week, I reviewed the study guides and my notes, did the questions I got wrong on the practice tests (chem, bio, and math) and took the 3 Pearson practice tests.

The actual test was not that bad! I literally guessed 10-15 questions on both reading and math and thought I bombed these two sections. On both bio and chem, I saw questions that appeared on the Collins practice tests. I am also willing to sell the Dr. Collins packet (with no writing or highlighting) if anyone is interested!

So the bottom line is: try to give yourself a lot of time to prepare for the PCAT. If you didn't do too well on the practice tests (like me), don't be discouraged! Go back to your notes/ youtube videos/ whatever resources to review the questions you got wrong or weren't sure.

Thank you for reading this far! Good luck! Feel free to message me if you have any questions

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[bkim84]

Hi. I also took July PCAT, but did terrible. I studied with Dr.Collins 2015 with kaplan. I think what threw me off was the passage questions in chem and bio section (English is my second language). Does Dr.collins 2016 have passage questions in Bio and Chem? Also did you find doing those problems helpful although the contents in real pcat might have been different? My budget is very tight that I would really like to study with the ones that I already have.

I just registered for Sep PCAT, and I really need to score well. Any comment/ advice would be much appreciated!

 

[dcshw2]

@avocadolime I would love to buy your Dr. Collins if you're selling.

 

[avocadolime]

Hi. I also took July PCAT, but did terrible. I studied with Dr.Collins 2015 with kaplan. I think what threw me off was the passage questions in chem and bio section (English is my second language). Does Dr.collins 2016 have passage questions in Bio and Chem? Also did you find doing those problems helpful although the contents in real pcat might have been different? My budget is very tight that I would really like to study with the ones that I already have.

I just registered for Sep PCAT, and I really need to score well. Any comment/ advice would be much appreciated!

Dr. Collins 2016 does have passage questions on Bio and Chem, about 1-2 per practice tests and more on each update. I found them helpful, but the content of the passages on the actual PCAT was harder. But I could answer the questions without looking at the passages for most questions on the test, especially for Chem. Good luck! Let me know if you have any more questions


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[avocadolime]

@avocadolime I would love to buy your Dr. Collins if you're selling.

Messaged you


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[eevee]

I also did better than I expected! Used the Dr. Collins 2016 edition as well starting at the beginning of June up until my exam date on the 22nd. If I'm being honest, I only did about 1-2 hours a day on average, some days not at all. I spent probably the first 2-3 weeks on chemistry, then 2 weeks on biology, and about 1 week each on math and reading. I reviewed some common writing topics the day before the test. The chemistry/biology passage sections were helpful, although I found the ones on the actual exam to be much more extensive and difficult (in my opinion)... I honestly thought they gave me the wrong score report lol but I'm not complaining!

Bio 96
Chem 99
Reading 94
Quant 94
Composite 98

 

[atnguy13]

I also did better than I expected! Used the Dr. Collins 2016 edition as well starting at the beginning of June up until my exam date on the 22nd. If I'm being honest, I only did about 1-2 hours a day on average, some days not at all. I spent probably the first 2-3 weeks on chemistry, then 2 weeks on biology, and about 1 week each on math and reading. I reviewed some common writing topics the day before the test. The chemistry/biology passage sections were helpful, although I found the ones on the actual exam to be much more extensive and difficult (in my opinion)... I honestly thought they gave me the wrong score report lol but I'm not complaining!

Bio 96
Chem 99
Reading 94
Quant 94
Composite 98

Are you naturally good at reading and math? I used collins to do reading and it wasn't helpful at all. Math I hardly studied and not sure how I should approach collin's with it; through the study guides or practice exam?

 

[eevee]

Are you naturally good at reading and math? I used collins to do reading and it wasn't helpful at all. Math I hardly studied and not sure how I should approach collin's with it; through the study guides or practice exam?

Yeah, I'm naturally pretty good with reading but I think the practice did help with what type of questions I should be expecting. I didn't do particularly well on the practice tests but I got used to what they might ask, tried to be extra attentive to the passage while reading it instead of just trying to read it quickly, and looked up terms I wasn't familiar with that were in the questions.

I took math up to calculus II a couple years ago and just got done with physics I, so a lot of the material was familiar to me/came back easily. I did all of the questions in the study guide and all of the practice tests, going over and making sure I understood what I missed. My actual PCAT had a lot of calculus-related material on it, imo.

 

[Iris Z L]

Congrats! How did you prepare for writing? Thanks.

 

[avocadolime]

Congrats! How did you prepare for writing? Thanks.

I didn't really prepare for writing. I looked up beforehand the format they're looking for and came up with solutions to the prompts provided on Collins.


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[Iris Z L]

I didn't really prepare for writing. I looked up beforehand the format they're looking for and came up with solutions to the prompts provided on Collins.


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So you just writing solutions as bullet points instead of actually writing the entire essay for prepare?

 

[avocadolime]

So you just writing solutions as bullet points instead of actually writing the entire essay for prepare?

Yup! But it was because I got lazy and wanted to focus my time on other sections. But if you have the time, definitely practice writing some essays before the real thing


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[Iris Z L]

Yup! But it was because I got lazy and wanted to focus my time on other sections. But if you have the time, definitely practice writing some essays before the real thing


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I see. Thanks for your advice! Good luck on your applications.