Low Jan PCAT score, advice for taking Jun and Aug PCAT

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quimicosoy

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Hi there:
I received my pcat score yesterday, this is my first time. The score was so low that it actually reflected the fact that one has to REALLY study and PRACTICE for this test. Duh :cool:

Here are my stats:

Verbal Ability: 11 (english not my first language)
Biology: 71
Reading Comprehension: 19
Quantitative Ability: 13
Chemistry: 58
Composite: 27

Writing Scores:
Conventions of language: Score 3.0 Mean 2.68
Problem Solving: Score 3.0 Mean 2.70

I KNOW IT IS SO BAD :(.

Reflections for those who might feel the same:

-I had a feeling about these scores because I did not study enough for it, I only study for less than a month for the january pcat.

-Also, I went cheap and I did not buy any preparation books, I just used one that is only the mc graw hills from 2007, and regular textbooks. :scared:

-I actually only studied for Biology and Chemistry, never tried to memorize vocabulary, studied only for 2 days for the math section ( and mostly calculus the hard ones which they did not show in the exam).

-Never took a practice test. Therefore, the real pcat was my timing test :eek:. I know, bad choice. I did finish bio and chem on time because I had my timer :thumbup:.

-Christmas time is not the best time, too much food, too much to do, family loves you and wants to see you...but not necessarily reading books!! :rolleyes::D

Advice, Solutions and Opinions:


-I would like to hear your opinions for my solutions:

1)I am planning to take the June and august pcat.

2)Stop undergraduate studying for summer (I already completed all prerequisites), and BURIED MYSELF for a month studying for the june pcat, and then for 3 months (included the time studied for the june pcat) for the august pcat.

3)I live in south florida, and plan to take Dr-Collins class in person.

4)THESE TIME I WON'T GO CHEAP! :D. And buy some of the preparation books.


Let's hear it from those in the same boat (retaking pcat), and those who are in the other boat (good pcat scores) :idea:

Thanks for looking. :thumbup:

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I'm on the same boat as you. I did not do very well either my composite is very low too. However, I didn't study at all, I just took this test as a what I know without studying and to be honest, I don't know crap... so yeah you are right, you HAVE to study for this test. There is no other get by for it.

If anyone have tips please shoot on this topic. I'm very ashamed and almost giving up even though this was my first time.
 
DON'T GET DISCOURAGED!!! Honestly I started out with a very low score as well because I didn't study... If you give it time you will do amazing! Even with an average score I still got into some schools so don't worry it's not ALL about the PCAT!!! But I suggest you pay the money and take Collins class IT SAVED ME! :thumbup: :laugh:
 
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I wouldn't put a hiatus on your studies just to study for the PCAT unless you really feel you need to. I decided to take my first PCAT just 3 weeks before the actual test, all while trying to keep up with a full term load. Honestly, if you study for the PCAT for the entire day, every day, you're going to feel really bored and probably depressed.

Also, definitely buy the the practice tests from Pearson. But this is mostly for people who have never taken the PCAT before, but it's still good practice if you're willing to fork out the money.

If you have enough time and money, use different sources to study the material. I'd say Kaplan and Dr. Collins is best, although I'm not sure if it's such a good idea to take a PCAT Prep course in person. I'm just told it's not worth the money.

Anyways, that's all I have for now.. good luck with your studies!
 
Well, I found out my PCAT score today and I wish I had not. I scored really bad-high 20's. I had only completed Gen Bio and Gen Chem before I took the test in Jan. I have a 3.75 GPA and I served (and currently am serving) 7+ years in the military as a pharmacy technician. I am also a URM. I have alot of EC's and work experience due to my military background. I was a CPR instructor, vault custodian, high dollar custodian, etc. I am just afraid that this PCAT will break me tremendously! I am already prepping to take the PCAT again in August, but I still have a little hope. What do you guys think? Will everything else in my application offset my PCAT score and still give me a chance? Do I have no hope at all? Please let me know. I am very disappointed in myself, but I know that I can do better. Thanks! I am applying to UMKC (they do not have a minumum PCAT score).
 
am just afraid that this PCAT will break me tremendously! I am already prepping to take the PCAT again in August, but I still have a little hope. What do you guys think? Will everything else in my application offset my PCAT score and still give me a chance? Do I have no hope at all? Please let me know.


I am not an expert, especially with the school u mentioned. If I were u, I would go talk to the person in charge of admissions and ask them what they think. That is the only one who can answer your question.

A 20 percentile is very low, but look on the bright side, there is plenty of room for improvement. Study, study, study and pray.

If I were you, look into schools that don’t look at PCATs. With out the PCATs you would be very desirable and almost a “shoe in”.

- Underrepresented Minority??? IDK, check with the school. Some schools state they don’t consider race when accepting applicants and I believe that is the way it should be.

 
don't get discouraged when i took my first PCAT in august 2009(13%) i was no where near to get a admission or even think about getting in now i gave my second shot in january 2010 ended up with (84%) by taking practice tests from pearson and Dr.collins material and also Kaplan and i use to follow this forum which really helped me out. so don't get disappointed all you need is to study well and hard success will come searching for you .
 
hey rammo, since your score jumped 50+ percentile points, did you have to do anything special to verify your score?
 
Those are the success stories that low-score people want to hear rammo. thanks for sharing.
Hey tm79602 don't worry that much about the low-score just become patience and make sure YOU DOUBLE YOUR EFFORTS for next pcat test. If you do you will eventually get a better grade. Just don't give up for ONE low score. In my case I feel so sad about the score, but that gives me strength to study much more for the next round. You are in the military, you should know very well that one could lose a battle but not the entire war.

Let's study harder, let's Ace the pcat, let's do this. :thumbup:

Question: What should I do for the verbal ability, that is the only section that I don't know if memorize tons of words, or read poetry, or complex literature, any suggestions?
 
I got my scores. This was my first time and i scored very low :(

Bio 71
Chem 64
Math 88
Reading 22
Verbal 27
Composite 56 :(

I am so depressed :(
 
. :thumbup:

Question: What should I do for the verbal ability, that is the only section that I don't know if memorize tons of words, or read poetry, or complex literature, any suggestions?

Honestly, I think VA and RC are things that you are either good at or you are not and there is very little that you can do about it if you are not good at it. I've always been good at it, so I don't know how helpful this is but I would just find as many practice tests as you can for verbal ability and that way you will at least get used to the questions and how to approach them. It's very hard to predict which words/phrases/etcetera are going to be used so I really wouldn't bother going out of your way to read poetry or literature. Maybe poke your head in a dictionary and read a thesaurus, but really our grasp on language is formed over a long period of time so I don't know how helpful that will be considering your VA is basically a product of a lifetime.
 
Nice advice lllix. I know what you mean. I took a Spanish test no long ago for extra credit and I got a 100% without studying for a second.

English is not my first language, actually I am still learning it. But yes I will follow your advice and I will buy a decent dictionary to carry around campus :D.

ASuw your scores are better than mine...don't be so hard on yourself we will do better.
 
It is tuff to study for verbal and reading, but practicing will help you at. Studying common words will help and figuring out a strategy for the reading helps. My strategy is I skim the questions in about 20 seconds, then I read the passage and if i see info that pertained to the question I make note of it.

This test is percentile based and just a few more right answers could move you 10 percentage.

FYI- Apathetic vocab word was on my test at least 5 times on my test.

I am very poor when it comes to vocab and reading comprehension. I was able to get my verbal and reading scores in the 50's which helped a lot, so don't give up. The second time my brother took his PCAT, two of the reading sections he has seen on the first PCAT. That would really help out if you are already familiar with some of the sections.
 
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Hi All,

I got my PCAT scores and they are not that great. I have a composite score of 69%. I am applying to UBC. My GPA is 3.99 and I studied in the US. Do you guys think I have a reasonable chance of getting into UBC?
 
If there is still any body worried about their scores, I recommend to use Collins study guide and I advice you to leave everything to god. Again pcat is not the end. It is just a part of requirements. If you do have a good GPA and extra activities. I applied to many schools with my previous scores and I got interviews from couple of those. Good luck.


I have taken 2 pcats ( january 2009:- 24 & october 2009:- 26 percentile) prior two these. I did not prepare well for those tests. This time I used Collins study guide and prayed a lot. I studied during the christmas holidays. Now I jumped from 26% to 73%. I am happy with my scores. These are my scores
Verbal 73
Biology 84
Reading 12 (English is my second language)
Quantitative ablilty 82
Chemistry 88
Composite 73 :).

If you are determined, you will attain success.
 
Hey guys don’t get discouraged! I was where you are at after August ’09 scores, 47 composite and October scores, 65 composite. Just got back my January PCAT scores and I got an 84 composite. For me it was all about timing and taking practice tests. I highly recommend Dr. Collins. My math was atrocious <40 both times, and this time a received a 94 in quantitative ability. Because I practiced tests with the appropriate timing, I could finish all the sections on time. That was the key for me. I completely understand your frustrations, and I know you can and will do great the next time! :)
 
Nice advice lllix. I know what you mean. I took a Spanish test no long ago for extra credit and I got a 100% without studying for a second.

English is not my first language, actually I am still learning it. But yes I will follow your advice and I will buy a decent dictionary to carry around campus :D.

ASuw your scores are better than mine...don't be so hard on yourself we will do better.

Yea...practice makes a man perfect :D we will do better next time :) and btw english is not my first language either and may be thats why i did so horrible in reading and VA :(
 
I got my scores. This was my first time and i scored very low :(

Bio 71
Chem 64
Math 88
Reading 22
Verbal 27
Composite 56 :(

I am so depressed :(



Me too bro. This is my first time and I also feel horrible. I totally hate verbal and reading part. Why do we have to study for words that we do not see much in real life?

Bio 80
Chem 95
Math 99
Reading 3
Verbal 1
Composite 58 :(

By the ways, anyone suggest me the ways to effectively study and improve my verbal and reading? Thanks.
 
It's been a few years since I took the PCAT (2005) but the best advice that I can give is to take it just after completing Organic Chemistry and Micro-Biology. These two courses will do more for your score than anything else. I took Org Chem II and Micro-Biology in a spring semester and scheduled my PCAT a few weeks after that when I was not studying other topics. I also had the Kaplan book to review. Don't worry about the verbal - you either have it now or not. I am a life-long reader so it was not a problem. Look over some basic algebra, etc but don't spend a lot of time on this. I got an overall 98% with Chem=99, Bio=97, and Verbal=99. My other scores were not near these but the goal is a high composite so scoring well in a a few areas will bring the overall score up.
 
As everyone is saying that verbal and reading is life long product than i guess there is no way to improve VA and Reading :( I think then we would have to ace in bio chem and math so that scores just get balance...
PharmDprep i can understand your situation...just because of VA and RC ur composite score decreased
 
good luck guys im glad the program i applied for did not require pcat score :D
 
Hey guys, I took the Jan 2010 PCAT and compared to the last time I took it I did pretty well:
Verbal: 65
Bio: 94 ( up from 49!)
RC: 76
Quant: 70 ( up from 35 !)
Chem : 85 ( up from 60)
essays: 3/3

I took the August pcat, was very disappointed with my scores. After that the fall semester started and I really had no time to prep. for the pcat. This left only one month of January to prepare and I couldn't have done it without The PCAT Destroyer, I owe my biology and chemistry scores to that book. In general I get really nervous during these tests so tend to score lower than I could otherwise .... for anyone looking for an effective studying tool, this is the only one you'll need ...
 
don't get discouraged when i took my first PCAT in august 2009(13%) i was no where near to get a admission or even think about getting in now i gave my second shot in january 2010 ended up with (84%) by taking practice tests from pearson and Dr.collins material and also Kaplan and i use to follow this forum which really helped me out. so don't get disappointed all you need is to study well and hard success will come searching for you .
Thanks a lot for your posting it gives me hope. I have a 3.55 Gpa and I took the Pcat this past January for the first time and I got a 22 percentile. I took a Kaplan class but with 17 credits last semester I known I didn't really have time to focus on it 100%. During the break I had to weeks to get ready. After receiving my scores I was devastated and angry at myself, today I feel better, I know pharmacy is what I want to do and I will study my A* off to to get a good score,
Ps: I really need help and study tips
 
Hey guys, I took the Jan 2010 PCAT and compared to the last time I took it I did pretty well:
Verbal: 65
Bio: 94 ( up from 49!)
RC: 76
Quant: 70 ( up from 35 !)
Chem : 85 ( up from 60)
essays: 3/3

I took the August pcat, was very disappointed with my scores. After that the fall semester started and I really had no time to prep. for the pcat. This left only one month of January to prepare and I couldn't have done it without The PCAT Destroyer, I owe my biology and chemistry scores to that book. In general I get really nervous during these tests so tend to score lower than I could otherwise .... for anyone looking for an effective studying tool, this is the only one you'll need ...
Let me know if you are selling it please
 
I don't plan to sell mine, I have a younger brother I am going to pass it on to, besides it's good to have around for other tests as well .... def. get the book directly or from someone else if you can, at least as far as the bio section goes, just study all of the questions + answers and you'll be set.
 
Thanks, I appreciate..

I, too took the PCAT this January for the first time. I also received Avery low score after taking a few classes and using Kaplan. The upside to my situation is that I received an interview to the only school I applied to. The positive is that I can be accepted or waitlisted. The big factors that helped me is the fact that I have a 3.75 GPA and I have 7+ years experience as a pharmacy technician in the Air Force. I am still serving in the military. There is hope. Good luck!
 
tm79602

Nice ... You are one of those non regular applicants. Those 7 years of pharmacy work are application killers. Congratulations. :thumbup:...

I bought the Dr Collins course, and the pcat destroyer as well. Also, I got some GRE words, and I am already learning new words now and then. I would like to start studying right now for pcat in full but taking full time load chem classes at the senior level. IS KILLING ME SOFTLY!!!

Should I stop sleeping? lol :D
 
hey pcatmalla, i'm actually a student at UBC and i'm also trying to apply to pharmacy. but i can tell you, they;re realy looking for people with high GPA and PCAT scores. ( at least thats what I've heard from past students) 69% meets the requirements but in the past, students who enter have a 80% or above. hope this helps
 
quimicosoy, the first time i took the PCAT i got the same mark as u. 27% but after taking a course with KAPLAN over 2 weeks of christmas break, i bumped my mark up ot 62%. I know 62% is still a really low score but I think it was a huge improvement for me so don't worry too much!
 
Hey thanks pch. It is nice to hear those comments. I will try to score as much as I can. The only part that scares me is the verbal and RC. But as I said I am learning a few words know and then...

Let's see what happens...
 
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