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As a long lurker here at SDN forums, I finally decided to post because this forum has provided me with a wealth of valuable information, and I decided to finally contribute to the dialogue.
I took my first PCAT on June 2009 and got an 87 composite. Although my scores are very well rounded, they are not spectacular like some posters in this forum. Had it not for the advices of some posters on how to study for the PCAT, I felt I could have easily gotten a 60-70. These are my results:
Verbal ability: 89%
Biology: 84%
Reading comprehension: 85%
Quantitative Ability: 73%
Chemistry: 81%
Composite: 87%
Writing scores: conventional language =3; problem solving=3
As a very non-disciplined person, I had to constantly force myself to study, and I trained myself to follow a very strict study plan over the course of 2 months. After work, I would go to the library/Barnes and Nobles/Borders and study for about 5-6hours. I am the type of person who cannot study alone, therefore I always need to see other people studying to encourage me to do the same. Also, as a poor college graduate, I couldn't afford anything fancy, so these are the only books I bought to study:
1) Kaplan's 2008-2009 PCAT (25 bucks online):
I would recommend buying this book for the inorganic chemistry section and biology section only because it is very thorough. The organic chemistry section is very shallow and lacking. The math is decent, and the verbal ability/reading comprehension is just a copy paste from their GRE book. The practice questions are very tough (some problems take more than a minute to do), and do not reflect what type of questions will be on the test, but they are a good practice to make sure you truly understand the concepts.
2) Cliffs test prep: 5 PCAT practice test book (12bucks):
I do not recommend this book. It is very outdated and riddled with many errors. The practice tests are very, very easy. PCAT questions will be a lot tougher.
3) Barnes &Nobles/Borders (Free):
The bookstore is a cheap source for you to learn for free! In particular I use GRE books to do their practice verbal ability, reading comprehension, and math tests. I also use the Kaplan MCAT verbal reasoning book and the 101 passages book. These 2 are a great practice for reading comprehension, and there are a million reading passages for you to practice for!
VERBAL ABILITY:
Estimated time studying: 5days
Strategy: Do not get freaked out about memorizing tons of words. Most of these words you should already know or learned in college. Although I did study the "Most common used words in the GRE," it was not all that helpful because they only use a couple of GRE words.
For the analogy part, the main goal is to find the relationship between the two words. The relationship will be very specific, and they will not give you words with ambiguous relationships. Try to form a sentence out of the two words.
Example: PENNILESS: MONEY
Someone who is penniless lacks money.
Some of the common relationships words have:
1) The words are opposite in meaning
2) The words are synonyms
3) One is a part of a whole/group
4) Characteristics (someone who is frugal is cheap)
5) Extremities (ex: Hatred is the extreme form of dislike)
Fill in the blanks is the easiest section in the exam. Basically try to anticipate what word will fit into the sentence. The two blank questions are even easier because you can use the process of elimination to determine what 2 words will fit. Keep an eye out for context clues in the sentence. For example, words like "and," "also" imply that you need to pick a synonym to fill into the blank. Context words like "yet" "Nonetheless" "rather" "but" imply that you need to use an antonym to fill into the blank.
Practice, practice, practice! I did so many practice problems using the GRE books that this section becomes the easiest for me. Some of the analogy questions on the June PCAT were very tricky because I could not come up with specific relationship between the two words.
BIOLOGY:
Estimated time studying: 1-2days
Strategy: I recommend reading through the whole Kaplan Biology section even though it is long and tedious. It mostly covers everything. Two days before my PCAT exam, I spent the whole day reading the Kaplan section, so Bio was very fresh on my mind. The actual bio section on my PCAT was very random. It had everything from anatomy, ecology, cellular biology, taxonomy, genetics, and even a drawing of a plant. They threw all sorts of weird questions at you, so be prepared for educated guesses if you are unsure.
CHEMISTRY:
Estimated time studying: 3 days for inorganic chem/ 5 days for o-chem
Strategy: Study hard for this section because Pharmacy schools will look at this score more closely than the other sections. The Kaplan book is very thorough for the inorganic section.
For the organic chemistry section, I cracked open my O-chem book and notes. If you are short on time, just learn nomenclature, because 50-60% of the O-chem questions were "what is the name of this molecule?" Cliff's 5 PCAT tests have some decent practice problems.
Be aware that since you have to answer 45(?) questions in 35 minutes, there will be no complex questions that take more than a minute to calculate. Do not stress out about the practice questions on the Kaplan review section because some of them are too lengthy. If you feel that a problem will take you more than a minute, skip it! Also, since there are so many questions in a short amount of time, they will have to throw "fact" questions at you (takes less than 1sec to answer). For example: Whose law states that at constant temperature, the volume of gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature? (Answer: Charles' law). They had about 4 of these types of "fact" questions on my test. Skip around, answer the ones you do know, especially the easy nomenclature questions.
READING COMPREHENSION:
Estimated time studying: 5days
Strategy: As a non-native born speaker, I struggled with this section immensely. I read very slow and struggle for time. My biggest recommendation is practice! I use the Kaplan book, GRE book, MCAT book, and 101 passages book to practice for this section.The MCAT book is extremely useful because it is a lot harder than the PCAT reading section and it allows you to practice time management. Another recommendation is to PRETEND that you are interested in the passage so that your mind does not get bored and lose focus. I really loathe reading astronomy and social science passages, so I have to force myself to endure through it.
Disclaimer: I know that these strategies might not work for everyone, since we all have different learning styles. I usually read through the passage ONCE thoroughly. Don't skim it because you have to waste time reading through the passage again if you did not catch the main idea the first time. I also read the questions beforehand so I can anticipate what sort of things I need to be on the watch for. UNDERLINING important concepts in the passage is very useful because you can refer back to that later.
The easiest type of questions that you should always answer first is the "what does this word mean?" They even underline the word in bold for you. On the PCAT, they had one of these types of questions per every passage. The hardest type of question is: what can you infer from this passage or what would the author of agree with?
QUANTITATIVE:
Estimated time studying: 1 day
Strategy: Use the Kaplan book to review basic algebra, geometry, statistics, and calculus. Once again: Practice, practice, and more practice. Brush up on your adding, multiplying, dividing skills because you cannot use a calculator on the test. Use the GRE book/5 PCAT test. Ignore the trigonometry questions on the GRE books. The calculus section is very easy to me. Just know your basic differentiation, integration, limits, how to find the area under a curve between two points, and Le Hospital's rule.
The quantitative section during my PCAT was extremely difficult, possibly because I was underestimating it. It was the last section so I ran out of mental juju, and my mind was getting slower and slower. I recommend bring an energy bar, banana, and something to drink so that you have energy in the end. The main strategy here is to skip around and find problems you can do CORRECTLY. Find all the problems with "solve for X" and "what is the differentiation of this" and do them. Skip lengthy problems with a lot of reading (statistics/probability questions). Concentrate on getting more problems CORRECTLY than trying answer everything.
WRITING:
Time spent studying: 0days
Honestly I did not study this section, I ran out of time so I decided to wing it. It is actually not too bad. You will have to write 2 essay prompts (one will be experimental, so it won't even be graded). The essay prompts are very easy: Propose a solution to (blank). You will have to write fast (30 minutes per essay). I also advise to make an outline before you begin writing to make your essay more structuralized and concise.
I use this very simple essay guideline:
Introduction: Tell them a little bit more about the problem. In the thesis mention multiple solutions to this problem.
Body 1: solution 1
Body 2: solution 2
Body 3: solution 3 (if you want to write more)
Conclusion: Summarize your whole essay.
SUGGESTIONS BEFORE THE TEST:
1) Eat a big breakfast! I only had a bagel and that was a bad idea. The test was 8am-1pm, and during the last section (Math), I literally ran out of steam.
2) Print a map of the campus of your testing center. Also print the directions to the nearest payable parking structure. Get there early because they could decide to reassign you to a different building based on your last name.
3) Bring food, water, lots of pencils, your registration paper, a watch for time, and 2 IDs.
4) Go to the bathroom before the test, just in case you decide to soil in your pants during the exam.
5) RELAX and stop worrying. You can worry about the results after you leave!
I took my first PCAT on June 2009 and got an 87 composite. Although my scores are very well rounded, they are not spectacular like some posters in this forum. Had it not for the advices of some posters on how to study for the PCAT, I felt I could have easily gotten a 60-70. These are my results:
Verbal ability: 89%
Biology: 84%
Reading comprehension: 85%
Quantitative Ability: 73%
Chemistry: 81%
Composite: 87%
Writing scores: conventional language =3; problem solving=3
As a very non-disciplined person, I had to constantly force myself to study, and I trained myself to follow a very strict study plan over the course of 2 months. After work, I would go to the library/Barnes and Nobles/Borders and study for about 5-6hours. I am the type of person who cannot study alone, therefore I always need to see other people studying to encourage me to do the same. Also, as a poor college graduate, I couldn't afford anything fancy, so these are the only books I bought to study:
1) Kaplan's 2008-2009 PCAT (25 bucks online):
I would recommend buying this book for the inorganic chemistry section and biology section only because it is very thorough. The organic chemistry section is very shallow and lacking. The math is decent, and the verbal ability/reading comprehension is just a copy paste from their GRE book. The practice questions are very tough (some problems take more than a minute to do), and do not reflect what type of questions will be on the test, but they are a good practice to make sure you truly understand the concepts.
2) Cliffs test prep: 5 PCAT practice test book (12bucks):
I do not recommend this book. It is very outdated and riddled with many errors. The practice tests are very, very easy. PCAT questions will be a lot tougher.
3) Barnes &Nobles/Borders (Free):
The bookstore is a cheap source for you to learn for free! In particular I use GRE books to do their practice verbal ability, reading comprehension, and math tests. I also use the Kaplan MCAT verbal reasoning book and the 101 passages book. These 2 are a great practice for reading comprehension, and there are a million reading passages for you to practice for!
VERBAL ABILITY:
Estimated time studying: 5days
Strategy: Do not get freaked out about memorizing tons of words. Most of these words you should already know or learned in college. Although I did study the "Most common used words in the GRE," it was not all that helpful because they only use a couple of GRE words.
For the analogy part, the main goal is to find the relationship between the two words. The relationship will be very specific, and they will not give you words with ambiguous relationships. Try to form a sentence out of the two words.
Example: PENNILESS: MONEY
Someone who is penniless lacks money.
Some of the common relationships words have:
1) The words are opposite in meaning
2) The words are synonyms
3) One is a part of a whole/group
4) Characteristics (someone who is frugal is cheap)
5) Extremities (ex: Hatred is the extreme form of dislike)
Fill in the blanks is the easiest section in the exam. Basically try to anticipate what word will fit into the sentence. The two blank questions are even easier because you can use the process of elimination to determine what 2 words will fit. Keep an eye out for context clues in the sentence. For example, words like "and," "also" imply that you need to pick a synonym to fill into the blank. Context words like "yet" "Nonetheless" "rather" "but" imply that you need to use an antonym to fill into the blank.
Practice, practice, practice! I did so many practice problems using the GRE books that this section becomes the easiest for me. Some of the analogy questions on the June PCAT were very tricky because I could not come up with specific relationship between the two words.
BIOLOGY:
Estimated time studying: 1-2days
Strategy: I recommend reading through the whole Kaplan Biology section even though it is long and tedious. It mostly covers everything. Two days before my PCAT exam, I spent the whole day reading the Kaplan section, so Bio was very fresh on my mind. The actual bio section on my PCAT was very random. It had everything from anatomy, ecology, cellular biology, taxonomy, genetics, and even a drawing of a plant. They threw all sorts of weird questions at you, so be prepared for educated guesses if you are unsure.
CHEMISTRY:
Estimated time studying: 3 days for inorganic chem/ 5 days for o-chem
Strategy: Study hard for this section because Pharmacy schools will look at this score more closely than the other sections. The Kaplan book is very thorough for the inorganic section.
For the organic chemistry section, I cracked open my O-chem book and notes. If you are short on time, just learn nomenclature, because 50-60% of the O-chem questions were "what is the name of this molecule?" Cliff's 5 PCAT tests have some decent practice problems.
Be aware that since you have to answer 45(?) questions in 35 minutes, there will be no complex questions that take more than a minute to calculate. Do not stress out about the practice questions on the Kaplan review section because some of them are too lengthy. If you feel that a problem will take you more than a minute, skip it! Also, since there are so many questions in a short amount of time, they will have to throw "fact" questions at you (takes less than 1sec to answer). For example: Whose law states that at constant temperature, the volume of gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature? (Answer: Charles' law). They had about 4 of these types of "fact" questions on my test. Skip around, answer the ones you do know, especially the easy nomenclature questions.
READING COMPREHENSION:
Estimated time studying: 5days
Strategy: As a non-native born speaker, I struggled with this section immensely. I read very slow and struggle for time. My biggest recommendation is practice! I use the Kaplan book, GRE book, MCAT book, and 101 passages book to practice for this section.The MCAT book is extremely useful because it is a lot harder than the PCAT reading section and it allows you to practice time management. Another recommendation is to PRETEND that you are interested in the passage so that your mind does not get bored and lose focus. I really loathe reading astronomy and social science passages, so I have to force myself to endure through it.
Disclaimer: I know that these strategies might not work for everyone, since we all have different learning styles. I usually read through the passage ONCE thoroughly. Don't skim it because you have to waste time reading through the passage again if you did not catch the main idea the first time. I also read the questions beforehand so I can anticipate what sort of things I need to be on the watch for. UNDERLINING important concepts in the passage is very useful because you can refer back to that later.
The easiest type of questions that you should always answer first is the "what does this word mean?" They even underline the word in bold for you. On the PCAT, they had one of these types of questions per every passage. The hardest type of question is: what can you infer from this passage or what would the author of agree with?
QUANTITATIVE:
Estimated time studying: 1 day
Strategy: Use the Kaplan book to review basic algebra, geometry, statistics, and calculus. Once again: Practice, practice, and more practice. Brush up on your adding, multiplying, dividing skills because you cannot use a calculator on the test. Use the GRE book/5 PCAT test. Ignore the trigonometry questions on the GRE books. The calculus section is very easy to me. Just know your basic differentiation, integration, limits, how to find the area under a curve between two points, and Le Hospital's rule.
The quantitative section during my PCAT was extremely difficult, possibly because I was underestimating it. It was the last section so I ran out of mental juju, and my mind was getting slower and slower. I recommend bring an energy bar, banana, and something to drink so that you have energy in the end. The main strategy here is to skip around and find problems you can do CORRECTLY. Find all the problems with "solve for X" and "what is the differentiation of this" and do them. Skip lengthy problems with a lot of reading (statistics/probability questions). Concentrate on getting more problems CORRECTLY than trying answer everything.
WRITING:
Time spent studying: 0days
Honestly I did not study this section, I ran out of time so I decided to wing it. It is actually not too bad. You will have to write 2 essay prompts (one will be experimental, so it won't even be graded). The essay prompts are very easy: Propose a solution to (blank). You will have to write fast (30 minutes per essay). I also advise to make an outline before you begin writing to make your essay more structuralized and concise.
I use this very simple essay guideline:
Introduction: Tell them a little bit more about the problem. In the thesis mention multiple solutions to this problem.
Body 1: solution 1
Body 2: solution 2
Body 3: solution 3 (if you want to write more)
Conclusion: Summarize your whole essay.
SUGGESTIONS BEFORE THE TEST:
1) Eat a big breakfast! I only had a bagel and that was a bad idea. The test was 8am-1pm, and during the last section (Math), I literally ran out of steam.
2) Print a map of the campus of your testing center. Also print the directions to the nearest payable parking structure. Get there early because they could decide to reassign you to a different building based on your last name.
3) Bring food, water, lots of pencils, your registration paper, a watch for time, and 2 IDs.
4) Go to the bathroom before the test, just in case you decide to soil in your pants during the exam.
5) RELAX and stop worrying. You can worry about the results after you leave!
Last edited:
Why in the WORLD would you find any reason to comment on this thread, then?...This is NOT you own, personal thread...
