level of difficulty of the actual PCAT

[futurpharmacis]

for those who have taken the actual PCAT recently, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much harder was it compared to the practice Pearson PCATs?

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[xtsukiyox]

I'm not sure I understand the 1-10 scale. I guess I'd put it at an even 5, because I felt the material was neither easier nor harder than the PCAT practice tests.

I found it easier to concentrate for the "real deal" than the PCAT practice tests - fewer distractions - and I was able to settle down from tester's anxiety a little better than I thought I would be able to. I kind of wish I had practiced writing the essays, just because they do add an hour to the test & I felt my mental stamina was tested somewhat. However, the first essay in particular seemed like a good warm up for beginning the test - better than just jumping straight into Verbal.

 

[CrazyChemist]

for those who have taken the actual PCAT recently, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much harder was it compared to the practice Pearson PCATs?

Chemistry - easier
Quant - harder
Reading Comp - harder
BIO - same
Analogies/setence completion - easier

 

[chemtopharm]

Chemistry - easier
Quant - harder
Reading Comp - harder
BIO - same
Analogies/setence completion - easier

I agree completely. Quant especially was rough, the time limit flies by!

 

[Selladore]

for those who have taken the actual PCAT recently, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much harder was it compared to the practice Pearson PCATs?

I thought the difficulty level was similar to the actual PCAT test.

 

[iBeast]

For those of you who say the Quant is harder... is the material harder or you just weren't quick enough?

 

[frankdahtank]

For those of you who say the Quant is harder... is the material harder or you just weren't quick enough?

The quant was surprisingly difficult and I don't think that any specific test or study guide will prepare you enough for it. I mean Collin's was great don't get me wrong, but some of the questions were just way too difficult. I seriously almost crapped my pants at one point during the quant section. I looked at the clock and had 10 minutes left to do 18 questions, which didn't included marked questions either. I almost had a panic attack but I just settled down and seriously just skipped/guessed on questions I felt would take too long. I either got really lucky and/or got every questions I actually answered correct. Either that or everyone else did really poorly so my mediocre score turned out to not be that bad.

 

[iBeast]

The quant was surprisingly difficult and I don't think that any specific test or study guide will prepare you enough for it. I mean Collin's was great don't get me wrong, but some of the questions were just way too difficult. I seriously almost crapped my pants at one point during the quant section. I looked at the clock and had 10 minutes left to do 18 questions, which didn't included marked questions either. I almost had a panic attack but I just settled down and seriously just skipped/guessed on questions I felt would take too long. I either got really lucky and/or got every questions I actually answered correct. Either that or everyone else did really poorly so my mediocre score turned out to not be that bad.

What do you mean it was way too difficult? Like you flat out had no idea how to approach the problem or were they word problems that you had a hard time understanding? Or was it questions types you have never practiced before?

Sorry for all the questions

 

[R2pharmD2]

The quant was surprisingly difficult and I don't think that any specific test or study guide will prepare you enough for it. I mean Collin's was great don't get me wrong, but some of the questions were just way too difficult. I seriously almost crapped my pants at one point during the quant section. I looked at the clock and had 10 minutes left to do 18 questions, which didn't included marked questions either. I almost had a panic attack but I just settled down and seriously just skipped/guessed on questions I felt would take too long. I either got really lucky and/or got every questions I actually answered correct. Either that or everyone else did really poorly so my mediocre score turned out to not be that bad.

Seems like a lot of people struggle with the math portion of the exam. I definitely had some timing issues too though. I knew how to do the stuff, but had to rush through the end rather than run out of time, and I finished every other section with time to spare.

 

[futurpharmacis]

The quant was surprisingly difficult and I don't think that any specific test or study guide will prepare you enough for it. I mean Collin's was great don't get me wrong, but some of the questions were just way too difficult. I seriously almost crapped my pants at one point during the quant section. I looked at the clock and had 10 minutes left to do 18 questions, which didn't included marked questions either. I almost had a panic attack but I just settled down and seriously just skipped/guessed on questions I felt would take too long. I either got really lucky and/or got every questions I actually answered correct. Either that or everyone else did really poorly so my mediocre score turned out to not be that bad.

Just out of curiosity, what did you end up getting on the Quant section?

 

[frankdahtank]

What do you mean it was way too difficult? Like you flat out had no idea how to approach the problem or were they word problems that you had a hard time understanding? Or was it questions types you have never practiced before?

Sorry for all the questions

Well some of the questions I didn't know how to do and there were other questions that I didn't know the definition of certain topics so I couldn't really answer the questions. The time factor doesn't help because I could probably work out most of the questions if I had like 2 hours instead of 40 minutes, but I think most people feel that way. Just prepare to feel like you got raped and still come out okay.

Just out of curiosity, what did you end up getting on the Quant section?

My scores are on the score thread for sept 19th.

 

[futurpharmacis]

I agree completely. Quant especially was rough, the time limit flies by!

Was the passages of the reading comprehenision too long or too technical or the questions were difficult?

 

[frankdahtank]

Was the passages of the reading comprehenision too long or too technical or the questions were difficult?

Passages were very long and the questions always seemed to have two possible correct answers, so you had to pick the "BEST" one.