June 19 pcat!

[hwaiting]

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It's right around the corner!!! I don't know about the rest you folks...but i'm getting more nervous by the day...i can't even fall asleep peacefully at night!!!

What will you guys be doing the week before the june 19 test? studying? resting? looking over quick study guides?

 

[luuluu4chem]

I just want this over and done with so I can actually go out and have a life for a little while!


GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

 

[BrendanR]

btw a good resource I've been using for calc/chem etc. is Open Courseware (OCW) from MIT. Bascially you can watch lectures and see their lectures notes online all for free.

www.ocw.mit.edu/courses

I think Yale and a couple others do this as well.

 

[hwaiting]

yeah i think its under a diff form. i prob already said this before, but remember to take some sharpened #2 pencils with good erasers (break them in!!!) and no mechanical!!!!

i cant wait for it to b over on saturday either. i finished my pharmcas, just waiting for LoRs to come in and my transcript to show up...i'm probably going to wait as well to e-submit until the pcat score is up.

 

[DreaMeRgrL18]

yeah i think its under a diff form. i prob already said this before, but remember to take some sharpened #2 pencils with good erasers (break them in!!!) and no mechanical!!!!

no mechanical pencils??? you serious? why?? it's not like we can cheat with it. man, this is a strict test!

 

[SarahLorraine]

Unless it has changed, the scantron is a separate form.

I'd look up the no mechanical pencils thing...I'm not sure that's a rule. It may be preference.

 

[pinksparkly]

no mechanical pencils??? you serious? why?? it's not like we can cheat with it. man, this is a strict test!

Maybe it is the noise? I am so used to using mechanical pencils that I actually went and bought a pack of wooden ones to do practice tests with so I could get used to them.

I am so done with studying! Tomorrow night, I'll review a little, but mostly relax - all. by. my. self! I can't wait. It has been almost a year since sleeping without an infant in my bed, waking me up to get fed several times a night. I should claim to have to take the PCAT once a month.

 

[SarahLorraine]

Bring several sharpened No. 2 pencils (also called HB pencils) with erasers to your Test
Center. For accurate scoring, only No. 2 (HB) pencils can be used. Other pencils, ink
pens, felt-tip pens, or ballpoint pens cannot be used


-Pearson Candidate Information Booklet

 

[pharmlove]

First I just wanted to say good luck to everyone! One night and one full day of studying left!

So is anyone in the same boat I am. I would say I am fairly decent at chemistry, but doing math in my head, I suck. I know this is horrible to say, but with a calculator, I am a math whiz, but without I am still using my fingers (ok maybe I am not that bad, but you get the point ). Anyway I am worried about any calculations we have to perform in the chem section. I know it is going to slow me down and I am freaking out about it. Has anyone taken the PCAT before and know how difficult some of the math is? Is anyone else worried at all about that?

 

[UFKOIVY]

Has anyone taken the PCAT before and know how difficult some of the math is? Is anyone else worried at all about that?

Be prepared to guess ~10 questions due to time running out! 😱

 

[pinksparkly]

Anyway I am worried about any calculations we have to perform in the chem section. I know it is going to slow me down and I am freaking out about it. Has anyone taken the PCAT before and know how difficult some of the math is? Is anyone else worried at all about that?

This is my first time taking the PCAT, but based on the Pearson practice exams, my strategy will be to make several passes - first one to do the blatantly easy problems, second one to do the easy-but-time-consuming ones, third to stare at the difficult-but-possibly-doable ones, then bubble in "C," fourth one to bubble in "C" for anything I missed. This was kind of difficult/annoying to do on the computer exam - it should work much better (in theory) during the real paper exam.

 

[JJVmom]

I'm following the same strategy!

 

[pharmlove]

Be prepared to guess ~10 questions due to time running out! 😱

haha I was talking to some people I work with and they all said the same thing, that if you can finish the math section before time runs out, you are a genius...

good luck everyone!

 

[diastole]

no mechanical pencils??? you serious? why?? it's not like we can cheat with it. man, this is a strict test!

I brought mechanical pencils to my PCAT and I wasn't allowed to use them. I read on here that the reason is that you may be able to roll up a tiny note and hide it inside them. I don't know if that is true or not but it is better than any explanation I can come up with.

 

[quimicosoy]

Good luck every one.
Tomorrow is the big day, don't forget a good night sleep, good breakfast, and positive thoughts. 👍

 

[Rubisco]

Personally, I think some of those math questions are just there to waste your time. I'm gonna seek them out and skip them too

 

[jnmnh]

As far as packing for the PCAT... want to make sure I don't kick myself later! I plan to show up with:
ticket, drivers license, credit card
a bundle of sharp #2's in a rubber band
an analog watch
some granola bars/trail mix & water for the break

Am I gonna wish I had anything else? I assume there'll be time between sections to reset my watch?

 

[ibunny89]

I don't know about everyone but i am having a panic attack, since i never learned A&P. As for vocab and reading is really no my strongest points.

 

[adma826]

Good luck tomorrow everyone!

So if it says 8:30 on the ticket, do you think planning on getting to the test center by 8:10 is good? (that is along with allowing for time for any traffic or parking difficulties - which I don't think will happen but you never know).

 

[SarahLorraine]

I'm leaving with plenty of time. The last thing I want is to get stressed about being late. Yeah math is horrible for me. I studied mostly for the other sections and I guess we'll just see what happens in math. I'm pretty glad it's last actually.

 

[hwaiting]

Yeah I'm at 8:30 tomorrow as well, but I'm getting there by at least 7:30. I already checked out the lecture hall... it realli realli sux... the desks are small! and i don't know if Ill have enough space for the test & pencils!!! *sigh* good luck to everyone!!!

 

[88888888]

im so screwed.. i only studied a for like 9 days... im taking it at usc.. see you guys there.. ill be wearing my kobe jersey

 

[kidkay]

Good luck to everyone !!!! 👍

 

[Trankuil]

So how did it go? I remember last year my brain felt like mush and I couldnt think straight for a few days, its a rough test. But worth it 🙂

 

[BlackOPPS]

I hope you all performed well and God willing the scores will reflect your hard work.

 

[ibunny89]

I think the math and chem part crushed me pretty badly, i guess i'm taking it again august...

tips anyone?

 

[Cangri One]

wow studied dr. collins review like crazy for a whole month everyday. knew that chemistry section up and down. studied every practice. and got my ass kicked today very disappointing. there was 5 minutes left and I had 13 questions to go. they really need to allow calculators, this manual stuff is way too time consuming.

the collins math section had like 10 pages on triangles, circles, spheres, etc and there wasn't even one question on that wtf?

 

[Sitagliptin]

I felt that the test I got was very similar to the three Pearson ones. I think that the Bio was slightly harder, and Chem and Reading Comprehension were slightly easier, however. One of the things I did to prepare for Chem was to drill on AP Chem questions, and I think it may have paid off. It was a very intense experience, but I was able to finish in time, and got to check most of my answers.

Of course, this will mean absolutely nothing until I get the scores, for which, unfortunately, we all have to wait six weeks 🙁.

 

[wmw]

slightly harder

 

[DreaMeRgrL18]

it's OVERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! time to play =DD

 

[adma826]

I think the math and chem part crushed me pretty badly,

Oh yeah me too.

The essay portion, surprisingly, energized me.

 

[pinksparkly]

.
the collins math section had like 10 pages on triangles, circles, spheres, etc and there wasn't even one question on that wtf?

I noticed that when taking the Pearson practice exams. I did a search on SDN, and it looks like at some point a few years back, the PCAT took geometry off the exam in favor of upping the calc questions.

I have yet to find a good prep source for PCAT quant questions.

 

[JJVmom]

I brought mechanical pencils to my PCAT and I wasn't allowed to use them. I read on here that the reason is that you may be able to roll up a tiny note and hide it inside them. I don't know if that is true or not but it is better than any explanation I can come up with.

The proctor today made students put away their mechanical pencils and said that they scantron machine has a hard time reading them.

 

[BuBbLiEbOo]

The proctor today made students put away their mechanical pencils and said that they scantron machine has a hard time reading them.

I brought a mechanical pencil with me but I didn't use it. I saw some other people in the test center used mechanical pencils though. The proctors didn't say anything about that.


But now that you've mention about Pearson's scantron machine, I felt like I couldn't completely (cleanly) erase the answers. There were still light but noticeable marks of the erased answers. Should I be worried??😕

 

[88888888]

I brought a mechanical pencil with me but I didn't use it. I saw some other people in the test center used mechanical pencils though. The proctors didn't say anything about that.


But now that you've mention about Pearson's scantron machine, I felt like I couldn't completely (cleanly) erase the answers. There were still light but noticeable marks of the erased answers. Should I be worried??😕

they told us all that too.. i just used it anyways 😎 hope its fine lol

 

[justhanging]

I brought a mechanical pencil with me but I didn't use it. I saw some other people in the test center used mechanical pencils though. The proctors didn't say anything about that.


But now that you've mention about Pearson's scantron machine, I felt like I couldn't completely (cleanly) erase the answers. There were still light but noticeable marks of the erased answers. Should I be worried??😕

Same thing with me. I don't think it should be a problem those machines should be good enough to ignore that kind of thing.