July PCAT

[ceciij]

Hey guys, I'm new here and I just wanted to share how I feel, I'm so anxious after taking a kaplan practice test since english is not my first language and those chem/biol passages were killing me. It's a lot of pressure to read and analyze them on time to answer the questions, any tips on getting faster? Also, I stress so much thinking that I will run out of time that I can't be fully concentrated...I'm thinking on practicing chem/biol passages with some Kaplan's MCAT books of a friend of mine...

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[pharmdextradionaire]

I feel like the Kaplan practice tests are pretty hard compared to the practice tests offered through the Pearson website. [DISCLAIMER**: I haven't taken the PCAT yet but I have done two of the Pearson practice tests and one of Kaplans.] I've found that on the passage based chem/bio sections if you just skim the paragraphs its enough. They don't often ask questions that are based on the actual writing its usually more questions regarding the diagrams that they show, at least on the Pearson tests. Also if you're crunched for time (esp in the chem and bio sections) just flag answers you think you won't be able to answer in time and then come back to them. There are lots of easy questions in those sections so its better to get those right and then come back to the harder ones.

 

[atnguy13]

You can usually answer half the passage questions without even reading the passages, like the person above said; you don't really have to read the whole passage. Time yourself while you're doing the practice problems so don't feel rushed on the exam.

 

[ceciij]

I feel like the Kaplan practice tests are pretty hard compared to the practice tests offered through the Pearson website. [DISCLAIMER**: I haven't taken the PCAT yet but I have done two of the Pearson practice tests and one of Kaplans.] I've found that on the passage based chem/bio sections if you just skim the paragraphs its enough. They don't often ask questions that are based on the actual writing its usually more questions regarding the diagrams that they show, at least on the Pearson tests. Also if you're crunched for time (esp in the chem and bio sections) just flag answers you think you won't be able to answer in time and then come back to them. There are lots of easy questions in those sections so its better to get those right and then come back to the harder ones.

Ufff, what a relief, even though I'm still anxious as f-!!! Well, I did some passages that came with the Kaplan book and in order to answer them it was necessary to analyze a ton of reactions of consecutive experiments done, that's why I am so concerned...but thank you!! Btw were your scores similar on the practice tests? (Kaplan-pearson)

 

[pharmdextradionaire]

Ufff, what a relief, even though I'm still anxious as f-!!! Well, I did some passages that came with the Kaplan book and in order to answer them it was necessary to analyze a ton of reactions of consecutive experiments done, that's why I am so concerned...but thank you!! Btw were your scores similar on the practice tests? (Kaplan-pearson)

The Kaplan practice portions in the book are super lengthy and everything that I've come across in the practice tests aren't that in depth. So hopefully the PCAT won't be either. The admissions director at my school told me to take the practice tests that Pearson offers as they actually have questions that have been used on old PCATs. My scores were in pretty similar ranges on all of them, I did take the Kaplan test first so that was my lowest out of all of them.

 

[ceciij]

The Kaplan practice portions in the book are super lengthy and everything that I've come across in the practice tests aren't that in depth. So hopefully the PCAT won't be either. The admissions director at my school told me to take the practice tests that Pearson offers as they actually have questions that have been used on old PCATs. My scores were in pretty similar ranges on all of them, I did take the Kaplan test first so that was my lowest out of all of them.

Ok! I've been practicing with a princeton mcat science workbook and the passages are kinda easy. It's often not necessary to read the passage at all...I guess that's good news haha...when are you taking yours? good luck!

 

[pharmdextradionaire]

Ok! I've been practicing with a princeton mcat science workbook and the passages are kinda easy. It's often not necessary to read the passage at all...I guess that's good news haha...when are you taking yours? good luck!

I'm taking it Friday thanks! Happy studying and may the odds be ever in our favor. Lol.

 

[ceciij]

I'm taking it Friday thanks! Happy studying and may the odds be ever in our favor. Lol.

Oh god!!! That's around the corner, good luck!! You gotta tell us how it went haha

 

[hchu]

English is my second language also and I am super nervous about passage questions.
Timing and losing a concentration are my problems. I don't know if I am doing this right, but I read the question first and see if I can answer without reading the passage.

 

[ceciij]

English is my second language also and I am super nervous about passage questions.
Timing and losing a concentration are my problems. I don't know if I am doing this right, but I read the question first and see if I can answer without reading the passage.

Lol ! I think that we all do the same thing! I've noticed that some passages doesnt need to be read because they only contain theory and stuff that we should know....I'm crossing fingers that on test day the passages be like this.

 

[Mxt1990]

I've been answering them without reading the passages. ...saves me time and I don't get confused lol. Good luck everyone!

 

[pharmdextradionaire]

Has this method been working well?

It seems to work well for the Pearson practice test sections. However on the Kaplan practice tests you kind of have to read the passage as it usually goes more in depth on those. Not sure if how it'll be on the actual. I'd say practice doing a little bit of both, maybe get to where you can briefly skim the passage in in a couple of seconds and then read the question to see if you need any information from it or not.

 

[hchu]

Has this method been working well?

Yeah I think it works for Pearson practice tests. Hoping that the actual test is not as hard as Kaplan's.

 

[mba12]

I'm taking it Friday thanks! Happy studying and may the odds be ever in our favor. Lol.

Hi there, you're my test buddy lol I'm taking it Friday as well. How are u doing on the reading part? Ughhh I suck at all of the practice tests and I can't think of any strategies to tackle that portion of the exam...

 

[pharmdextradionaire]

Hi there, you're my test buddy lol I'm taking it Friday as well. How are u doing on the reading part? Ughhh I suck at all of the practice tests and I can't think of any strategies to tackle that portion of the exam...

hey good luck to you on Friday!! At this point I would just say go over any practice tests you've done to see which questions you missed and why you missed them. Really the trick to the reading sections is to not get bogged down in reading and trying to analyze the passage as a whole. Just try to skim read it quickly the first time and get a general idea of what it's about. This leaves you time to answer the questions with time to spare. Kaplan suggests making a mini outline in their test strategy portion and it helps if it's dealing with a topic you may be unfamiliar with or is more complex.