ochem and quant Q's(june 08 test takers please help!!)

[jccrew]

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im taking the august pcat. after reading some posts on the june pcat chem and quant sections..im starting to get really nervous. im pretty much done w/the kaplan 08 book and from what i gathered on this forum...i should be good to go on the biology w/just a bit more review.

but on the chem section, many said that there's a lot of ochem now. and the kaplan book was really basic on that. were there just a lot of ochem reactions?? or was it a lot of concepts? and were the reactions pretty basic? because my entire ochem 1 class was pretty much just rexns and there were a LOT. were there any ochem 2 questions?

and kaplan book was super brief on the quant section. as far as calc went, all it went over was integrations and differentiations. is kaplan math adequate for at least most of the math on actual pcat or should i go more in depth? and if yes...what would be a good resource to use?

sorry for having so many questions...but im really desperate here as the test is approaching and i really don't want to be studying the wrong material. any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mug3n]

Expect reactions like dehydration, hydrogenation... your basic organic chem I reactions. I'd say from the June PCAT, approximately 6-8 questions were of A+B ---(condition)---> what product.

All the organic chemistry questions in the PCAT can be done with only ochem I knowledge. Ochem II isn't necessary.

Kaplan is not going to do you any favours in the quantitative section at all. Use your high school precalculus notes if that's still available to you. Brush up on your Calculus I too, that would be an asset considering how there will be calculus. In the practice tests I could swear I saw higher level integration problems.

 

[ffpickle]

Expect reactions like dehydration, hydrogenation... your basic organic chem I reactions. I'd say from the June PCAT, approximately 6-8 questions were of A+B ---(condition)---> what product.

All the organic chemistry questions in the PCAT can be done with only ochem I knowledge. Ochem II isn't necessary.

Kaplan is not going to do you any favours in the quantitative section at all. Use your high school precalculus notes if that's still available to you. Brush up on your Calculus I too, that would be an asset considering how there will be calculus. In the practice tests I could swear I saw higher level integration problems.

is the o-chem moreso stereochemistry (enantiomers, structural isomers, chirality, S & R, all that other type of stuff) or mechanisms or reactions?

 

[Rhodon]

I think the prin of chem I and II already cover the ochem question in PCAT. They're easy and simple (a little bit complex in PCAT, but it is what we have learned).

The Kaplan math has nothing to review and it's misleading......cos and sin should not forget, cal I is enough for PCAT. Most question are tough, you have to use all your high school math technique to solve them, instead of follow what Kaplan said.

I didn't see chirality in PCAT chem, but it's in prin of chem II, you should already know. 2 to 3 questions may use structural theory and find the number of isomers etc, but ochem is not the most part of chem, just know how it works will be enough. PCAT chem is all about equations and theories. Remember them and know when to use, you will ACE in PCAT.

 

[jccrew]

thanks so much for all the replies! so basically..as far as ochem goes...should i be ok if i understand the general topics like finding isomers, enantiomers, chirality, nomenclature of course, and the basic reaction equations? anything more in depth that you guys can remember? cuz there's a lot to ochem and I don't want to be spending most of the little amount of time i have left to study all for that.

and everyone is saying math is hard and requires skills we learned in class...i finished all my math junior year of hs and so i don't really remember anything other than the basic stuff and i don't have my hs notes. any suggestions on maybe a good website that i can use?? and also, could anyone please give an example of a hard math question that's pcat quality? cuz the math on kaplan practice test was easy and i really need a good idea of what the math on the actual pcat looks like.

thanks so so much again!

 

[Bully Worm]

thanks so much for all the replies! so basically..as far as ochem goes...should i be ok if i understand the general topics like finding isomers, enantiomers, chirality, nomenclature of course, and the basic reaction equations? anything more in depth that you guys can remember? cuz there's a lot to ochem and I don't want to be spending most of the little amount of time i have left to study all for that.

and everyone is saying math is hard and requires skills we learned in class...i finished all my math junior year of hs and so i don't really remember anything other than the basic stuff and i don't have my hs notes. any suggestions on maybe a good website that i can use?? and also, could anyone please give an example of a hard math question that's pcat quality? cuz the math on kaplan practice test was easy and i really need a good idea of what the math on the actual pcat looks like.

thanks so so much again!

I would also like to know this as well. Someone shed some light here. =)

 

[laimyours]

Honestly, not too many math questions they ask are really THAT hard. It really comes down to a time issue. You have about 1 minute per problem and no calculator. So doing small things like long division and percentages takes longer than it would at home (obviously because we all use calculators, or take our time). I would practice what they give you in the kaplan book or any other study aid and concentrate on speed. I feel that is what ALWAYS holds me back. I score in the 50s and in the 60s when i took it. Neither time did i actually finish the whole section. If i was able to finish I feel it would have improved my score significantly!

 

[Transformer]

thanks so much for all the replies! so basically..as far as ochem goes...should i be ok if i understand the general topics like finding isomers, enantiomers, chirality, nomenclature of course, and the basic reaction equations? anything more in depth that you guys can remember? cuz there's a lot to ochem and I don't want to be spending most of the little amount of time i have left to study all for that.

and everyone is saying math is hard and requires skills we learned in class...i finished all my math junior year of hs and so i don't really remember anything other than the basic stuff and i don't have my hs notes. any suggestions on maybe a good website that i can use?? and also, could anyone please give an example of a hard math question that's pcat quality? cuz the math on kaplan practice test was easy and i really need a good idea of what the math on the actual pcat looks like.

thanks so so much again!

For a good idea and feel of what the actual math pcat looks like, buy the 2 practice test Pearson (the makers of PCAT) has on its website. After taking the two practice exams, you will get a good idea of what the real PCAT looks like.

http://tpc-etesting.com/PCATOPT/

good luck 🙂

 

[tharper14]

I took the pcat in january and from what I remember, the ochem questions were really, really basic. No reactions, and definitely nothing from ochem II. There was one or two questions on naming organic structures. I would spend a lot of time studying chem I + II and just the basics from ochem I. Know that stuff inside out because the better you know it the faster you'll get through the section and that's what you're really being tested on. Speed = knowing the material really well, as far as the pcat is concerned.

 

[jccrew]

so do you guys think the august pcat will be more like june's or january's

 

[Farcus]

so do you guys think the august pcat will be more like june's or january's

this is seriously like asking if we know when you're gonna win the lottery...


as for the test are you sure about just ochem 1? I thought I saw carboxylic acid reactions and aromatic reaction placement and thats definitely ochem 2.