My Experience Today!!!! Pcat Day

[Carboxilic774]

Well, It is 5:30 am and I am leaving my house now because I want to give myself plenty of time to get to the center, which is 1:30 minutes away from my house. I need to be there at 8:30
Good luck to you all!!!!!!

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[fenil2005]

its 6:30 am right now. i have to take shower and get ready. But the test center is 10 min away from my house. isn't that awesome? i don't have to drive. anyways good luck to u all and hope u get the score u want on the Pcat.

 

[attia]

hey good luck guys
when u are back let us know what u thought of it ... etc.
best of luck to all!!

 

[i.<3.pharmacy]

Good Luck!!!

 

[Dig0]

Well, I just got back...this was my 2nd time taking it. The only real surprise for me was that there were at least 10 questions relating to trig on the quantitative, and overall that section seemed more difficult than in January.

 

[janeno]

I am finally done... It was harder than I thought it would be. I am pretty sure that I failed verbal ability... Oh well, I am just glad i am done... I guess the hardest part is to wait for the scores now...

 

[fenil2005]

Didn't study at all for the test. i think it wasn't harder than i thought it to be. got to work on verbal ability and chemistry(ran out of time). Also it was lot of stuff and i was not ready. I am not great in math but still did good on that section. there is no trig except 1 question which i think no one can miss. I will take it again in oct. now i know how to prepare and ace it next time

 

[highlyfavored]

The hardest part for me was chem. I'm just glad to get my nights back. Tired of studying for the test!

 

[nubian_princess]

I thought biology was the easiest part. Math was hard, alot of calculus stuff that I wasn't prepared for! I'll end up retaking it in October again..but it was a good experience overall!
and I actually hated my essay that I had to write at the end, I think I did really bad, cuz I didn't really know what I was talking about! but all, I'm done! I get to enjoy the rest of the summer I guess

 

[Ijeoma]

I thought biology was the easiest part. Math was hard, alot of calculus stuff that I wasn't prepared for! I'll end up retaking it in October again..but it was a good experience overall!
and I actually hated my essay that I had to write at the end, I think I did really bad, cuz I didn't really know what I was talking about! but all, I'm done! I get to enjoy the rest of the summer I guess

I went to On the Border after the exam for my 2nd mexican food experience. It was good to eat and forget the PCAT. good way of celebrating how over it is. And yeah, i do not think i made sense in my essay, my grammar was good though.
There were a lotta questions repeated in the exam from last year June, anyone notice?

 

[taloddar2002]

The math section was really difficult for me. I ran out of time with about 10 problems unsolved However, i thought the chemistry section was the easiest out of all of them.

 

[Carboxilic774]

Well, I thought the math part was insane. I didn't have enought time for it and I was not expecting trig. Chemistry was ok, but I din't expect all of that orgo in it. My essay was OK, I guess. I was scared about the essay thinking they would give me a topic I never heard of.
Now...let's just wait

 

[jessicaholland1]

i didnt think it was so bad actually. The Kaplan book had me scared to death! I read the whole bio section and was trying to memorize stuff like what part of the brain each hormone is produced in....but the questions were more along the lines of "what is a hormone" haha.

I had a few math questions left at the end..but even with more time I probably wouldnt have gotten them. I guessed on about 10. oh well.

Some of the chem really threw me off b/c i havent take organic yet. i hope i didnt do too bad, but i guessed on quite a few.

Anyone know how long it takes for scores to come back?

 

[bigalaz1]

Well, I took the PCAT in January and it took 5 weeks to get the results, to answer the previous poster. What is quite interesting is how many repeat questions there are on the tests, even two of my reading comp passages were the same as in January with the same questions. Some of the bio questions were the same, along with the math. My math test had a small amount of calc but a good amount of trig, which wasn't too bad since I took it last semester. Overall, the bio was the worst for me and involved a bit of guessing, along with a good 5-8 guesses on chem and math. Probably guessed on 15-20 bio questions. Verbal wasn't bad though and reading was the same. I'm hoping for 90's but expect 80's composite.

 

[RachGator]

Just wanted to say good luck to all of you that took the PCAT today. My Jan. scores took 7 weeks!!! to get to me so be as patient as humanly possible . I actually found mine out at an interview. The interviewer asked me about how I felt about my scores and I told him I had no idea what I got . He was then kind enough to leave my folder open on the desk for a few minuites while he tossed me easy questions . Harcourt has a monopoly on this test and is very unhelpful when scores are late coming. Be patient if you can. You can always retake in October. Just try to get it done by then because waiting for those Jan. scores during interview season is too stressful. Then again, what part of this process isn't stressful .
Good !

 

[lostplato]

So I dont know how many of you took the PCAT at Howard University in DC, but man...it was an experience. First thing in the morning the proctor informed us that the air conditioning was not working. I had to take the test in awful humidity. I know it sounds like I am whining...there isnt enough time as it is, not try and imagine how difficult the test is when your sitting there sweating and trying to keep the pages from sticking to you...mind you I do not sweat that much but you get my point.

 

[dave233]

So I dont know how many of you took the PCAT at Howard University in DC, but man...it was an experience. First thing in the morning the proctor informed us that the air conditioning was not working. I had to take the test in awful humidity. I know it sounds like I am whining...there isnt enough time as it is, not try and imagine how difficult the test is when your sitting there sweating and trying to keep the pages from sticking to you...mind you I do not sweat that much but you get my point.

damn.. that sucks...

 

[FSUNOLE]

I took the PCAt for the first time today. I wasn't nervous at all, and the cold temperature in the testing room kept me awake and alert the whole time. It was originally a mistake not to bring a sweather, but it turned out to be good. I think I did between somewhat well, what I mean is that I knew how to do most of them, although I didn't have sufficient time to finish the essay and math. I was surprised at how much organic chem. and calculus were on each respective section.

I am now just like everyone else waiting to see the results. I really want to now how well I score among you all. By the way, have anyone took the Kaplan PCAT course before? Did it help? Because 1000 dollars are very hard to come by, so I really want to know if it was worth taking!

 

[hitmenow]

I took the PCAt for the first time today. I wasn't nervous at all, and the cold temperature in the testing room kept me awake and alert the whole time. It was originally a mistake not to bring a sweather, but it turned out to be good.

I know what you mean. It was freezing at UMBC!

 

[savvysearch]

I left at 6:15am from OC to LA, ready for rush hour. I thought "what unusually light traffic!" Then I realised that's its a saturday.

Bio- piece of cake. I guess that's pretty much the consensus here.
Verbal/reading- okay. A little harder than expected especially analogies, but not bad.
Chemistry: Harder than I thought. Okay performance.
Math-awful. Ran out of time. Too much calculus.
Essay-awful. Not time to think. Just keeping writing. Really really sucky essay with terrible thesis and full of idiotic cliches and stupid ideas. Atleast I had 5 paragraphs.

I wasn't nervous though. Just wanted to get it over with. I had a bout of irritable bowel syndrome during section right before the break. It was impossible. I think that was chemistry. I think I had a 5 question guess due to the impossible pain and discomfort.

 

[enchanted]

I leave the house at 7 and got to my school at 7:35 am. The day was so beautiful though and I wasn't nervous at all since I keep telling myself if I don't do well, I can always retake it. While waiting I spent 20 minutes walking around trying to find an open restroom and all of them were locks! The first part of the test before the break went by ok since I finish all of them on time and has time to check my answers. The second part was so horrible since I was confident I would do well on the Chem and Math part. I didn't finish both part and even half shaded one of the answer choice. It was so much harder than I thought it would be since I hardly remember any trig and geometry. The essay was bad since I can't think of anything until 5 minutes after. Hopefully, I didn't bomb it too bad and will take it again this fall. I went home and told my mom before hand that I think I didn't do too well.

 

[Benzoic Acid]

What type of organic was on the test? Just Organic I stuff? Lol, I hope they replace all the inorganic with organic, no math, just memorization . Also could anyone be more specific on the type of trig on the test?

 

[TennisBoy78]

What type of organic was on the test? Just Organic I stuff? Lol, I hope they replace all the inorganic with organic, no math, just memorization . Also could anyone be more specific on the type of trig on the test?

Someone can correct me on this, but there were only a couple of trig problems (at least on my test), and since I don't know any of this, it wouldn't be fair of me to state what kind of problems they are. You would be better off focusing on limit problems from calculus and log problems (much more of these than trig).

There were several Organic II questions on my test, and it seemed like there were more Organic questions this time that in the January test. I agree, Organic questions can be solved more quickly than inorganic. I would still advise someone to take this test without having taken Organic II, but no, there are definitely some questions covered in Organic II.

 

[Benzoic Acid]

Thanks tennis, those limit problems didn't have nasty factoring did they? Also was there much if any, sin cos.. etc?

 

[Aquasonic]

It was also my first PCAT. I took it at UCLA. It's about 40 minutes from my house.The room was little cold and that helped me to stay awake. I was very confident and ready to take the test. I did OK with Verbal, Bio, and Reading. I have at least 7 minutes left for each session before the proctor said time was up. After short 10 minutes break (actually they gave us more than 10), the Quant and Chem made me lose my confident. 5 minutes left and I still had 6-7 questions that I wasn't sure. Before the test, I thought I was going to do well on Quant and Chem but it turned out the opposite. I had to guess for at least 5 chem and 4 math questions. The problem was timing. It went so fast. The essay part wasn't fun at all. I couldn't gather my thought so I just wrote whatever came up. There's more orchem questions than I expected.
I might retake it on Oct but I hope I don't have to. I will post my score here so we can compare.
~Aquasonic

 

[Ijeoma]

It was also my first PCAT. I took it at UCLA. It's about 40 minutes from my house. I got there early, walked around to visit my old school, which I dropped out 8 years ago to follow the internet boom.
The room was little cold and that help me to stay awake. I was very confident and ready to take the test. I did OK with Verbal, Bio, and Reading. I have at least 7 minutes left for each session before the proctor said time was up. After short 10 minutes break (actually they gave us more than 10), the Quant and Chem made me lose my confident. 5 minutes left and I still had 6-7 questions that I wasn’t sure. Before the test, I thought I was going to do well on Quant and Chem but it turned out the opposite. I had to guess for at least 5 chem and 4 math questions. The problem was timing. It went so fast. The essay part wasn’t fun at all. I couldn’t gather my thought so I just wrote whatever came up. There’s more orchem questions than I expected.
I might retake it on Oct but I hope I don’t have to. I will post my score here so we can compare.
~Aquasonic

Wow Aquasonic, are you sure you did not steal my story? That was exactly the same case with me. Except dat i took it in Texas and i do not plan on retaking the test....EVER!

 

[BackeyWackey]

I did well on all sections, and got finished early, on the first three sections of the pcat except chemistry and math. I have not had any organic chem, so I pretty much had to guess on all of those because I had no clue as into what the answers were. I at least tried to make an educated guess, but that really didn't do much. Now, on the PCAT application signup, they asked you a question about how many chemistry classes you have taken. I have only completed my first semester of Gen. Chem I, and am taking Gen Chem II now in the summer. Now, do you think that the schools you apply to will realize how many chemistry classes I had taken prior to taking the test? And since I probably did not do too hot on that section, do you think they will take that into consideration? Or not really? Just curious.

 

[Aquasonic]

Wow Aquasonic, are you sure you did not steal my story? That was exactly the same case with me. Except dat i took it in Texas and i do not plan on retaking the test....EVER!

No, I only want to steal your avatar
Wish you get a good score so you don't have to think about PCAT again.
~Aquasonic

 

[AznGTOi3oi]

good luck and best of luck to everybody

 

[rxlynn]

I did well on all sections, and got finished early, on the first three sections of the pcat except chemistry and math. I have not had any organic chem, so I pretty much had to guess on all of those because I had no clue as into what the answers were. I at least tried to make an educated guess, but that really didn't do much. Now, on the PCAT application signup, they asked you a question about how many chemistry classes you have taken. I have only completed my first semester of Gen. Chem I, and am taking Gen Chem II now in the summer. Now, do you think that the schools you apply to will realize how many chemistry classes I had taken prior to taking the test? And since I probably did not do too hot on that section, do you think they will take that into consideration? Or not really? Just curious.

No, I do not think they will match that fact up and take it into consideration. There really isn't any way for them to know whether your score on chemistry is low because of the organic questions specifically or just because you didn't do well in general. Also, I think a majority of people wait to take it until they have at least Orgo I. Look on the bright side - if you did really well with all the general questions, then maybe it won't matter too much.

 

[aboveliquidice]

From what I have seen - the people on SDN are the sameones that tend to do really well during the application process. If you are posting on this forum - it means that you are taking an interest in your chosen field, instead of just going through the motions.

My PCAT exp was very similar to those of you that posted above. It was a really nice morning - my roommate, his gf, and I were all taking it at the same site - so we rode together. Got there with plenty of time, and the rooms were a tad on the cold side. The proctor for my room was very nice, and procedeed smoothly through the test.
The Bio/chem/reading comp were all good for me. I answered all of the verbal ablility questions in adequate time, with enough remaining to double check 25 questions. I just dont know how many I got right (anybody else feel this way???). The Math portion was what really got me. I was plodding along, and simply didnt rush enough. In the end - I had to guess on nearly 10 questions. I only glanced at them - as the proctor had already said "5 minutes". Not finishing this section really is killing me - I just hope I did well enough on the other subjects. I'm glad we all got through this one (maybe one of two or three) with our heads high.
Now we get to wait... I dont know about the rest of ya - but I went and played Ping Pong and Pool for about an hour afterwards just to release the stress...

Good everyone