I am planning on taking the PCAT for the first time on August 21st. I only have a friends old (2007) Kaplan books and a 2007 Dr. Collins packet. I was wondering if anyone thinks that the PCAT has changed enough to where these books might be useless. I'm getting really worried because I've only been studying for about 2 weeks and these books are the only sources I've used to prepare myself for the exam.
ANY advice on whether these books are okay to use, or what else I should try and work into my studying...or just tips in general would be greatly appreciated! I have really bad anxiety about taking this for the first time 😕
I am a first time taker as well but a lot of friends who have taken it already. I don't know about the 2007 Kaplan book but I have the 2010-2011 kaplan PCAT review book and it is severely lacking in Ochem and math. I honestly do not think the PCATs have changed that much since 2007, but that's just my guess so if your not sure, make sure to check with Pearson. (I used an old 2006 Cliffnotes review book for the kaplan and they have the exact same test layout with the 2011 PCAT so i;m guessing everything is the same.
in terms of studying, I would stick with Collins. I have heard nothing but praise for the collins review book. (if you read some of the threads on here, some of the questions on the collins review book for 2008-09 were actaully seen on the actaul PCAT) I'm pretty sure a 1970s PCAT collins packet would do a better job than this piece of junk Kaplan review book.
As a general note: cliffnotes and Kaplan tend to overprep you, their material is harder. If i were you I would check out the cliffnotes PCAT review book and also the Cliff notes quick reviews for each section
e.g.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0764586165.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
MOST IMPORTANTLY, purchase at least one online practice exam from pearson. These exams were made by the same company who designed the exams and the questions on these practice tests very accurately reflect the questions on the PCAT. They provide you with answer explanations t the end and even give you a mock score report to see where you stand)
I read a science journal every day to improve reading comprehension, but if english is already your first language, then I don't think you should go through all the stuff I put myself through
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Im a first timer so I cannot provide a lot of info.
GOOD LUCK
