Pcat 2012 tips

[MBar]

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Hi,
I'm starting this thread for anyone who is going to take the PCAT this year in November (yes they opened up a new cycle before January 2013) and for people who have taken the PCAT already (this year pref) and can give us feedback.

Prep-books
I read a post from 2010 about the difference between Dr. Collins and KAPLAN's chemistry prep section; whether Dr. Collins prepares you better for chem. My first resource for studying has been from the Pearson PCAT practice tests (those 3 you can buy). Of course I did terribly so I decided I would get the prep-books. I heard you can't go wrong with KAPLAN so I got it. I've compared the practice test's chemistry problems to KAPLAN's sample problems. KAPLAN's is harder! (which means the possibility that this could prepare you even better). But what about Dr. Collins? Is it still worth getting it?
I'm mostly focusing on prepping for the chemistry and the quantitative section; meaning I'm ok when it comes to Bio.
I'm in awe that you are given an average of 35 seconds per question for the chem section, I can't even finish reading a problem correctly in that miniscule amount of time!!!!!!
Which now leads me to discuss...

Test-taking skills (any feed back greatly appreciated too).
Correct me if I'm unrealistic when I'm choosing this method: I'm not a chem genius and those long problems I SKIP. Let's face it, I just know I'm not going to have enough time, I've already come to terms. So what do I do?
- If I have SOME idea or know part of the concept, I try to use my common sense as much as possible to at least gravitate toward the possibility of a right answer.
- If I don't have ANY idea and I know i will be pressed for time, I will just have to blindly guess 🙁, which feels so demoralizing.


TIPS on health
What health routine or diet do you suggest before and on exam day to feel at your physical and mental optimum?
-Getting plenty of night's rest is a no-brainer; cramming is just going to make me even more anxious and unable to recall information.
-My exam is at 8:00AM, I'm not sure what I should eat beforehand since i'll be up so early without an appetite and I have to be fueled for the next 4 hours of the day.
-Should I exercise a little that morning to get my circulation going or is that not a good idea if I get really hungry during test-time?

Any more tips GREATLY appreciated! My exam is in 3 weeks.

* the Kaplan PCAT book I got was for 2012-2013

 

[tommyVoltage]

I am taking the PCAT November 9 and didn't want to start studying more than 30 days before the test. I have Dr. Collins and Kaplan from this year.
Kaplan seems like a lot of extra information that I will probably just skim over once. Dr. Collins whole chemistry section is about 80 pages (not including the dozen practice tests), but if it was written in the same format as Kaplan it would be only 50-60 pages.
Quant section is all about timing in my opinion since Dr. Collins review took an hour. Practice, practice, and practice. You will get faster.

What date are you taking it? Dr. Collins takes about 4-5 days to ship to you if you are from the east coast. Just the tests alone are about 30 hours of studying.

 

[Sugoi Travis]

I swear by the Dr. Collins' chemistry tests. Those tests along with my general/o chem classes (believe me, I did not get good grades in chem) are the reason why I scored a 98 in the chem section. I also bought the Kaplan book, but didn't use it much at all. I pretty much winged the bio exam by remembering what I learned in my physiology, biochemistry and general bio classes. I didn't take microbiology, but from reading random articles about bacteria, viruses and disease, over the course of my high school/undergrad life, I felt prepared for mic. Nailed a 91 in bio.

In terms of test-taking, if you haven't already attempted this on the official practice tests, try and finish each section with at least 10 minutes left on the clock (minus the QA section for reasons you probably know already). If you're running down the wire with a minute left or so and have multiple questions that you have no idea on the answer, go ahead and blindly guess, but do it "cleanly." Take your favorite letter from A, B, C or D and select that answer for all of the unanswered questions. Chances are in your favor that you'll at least get a couple correct answers rather than guessing all over the place.

For the morning before the test, just do what you normally do; don't do anything fancy that you haven't done because you don't want your body to react, whether physically or mentally, in a different way because it might mess you up. Just eat a relatively large breakfast calorie-wise, try to relax as much as possible, and come in on test day with the attitude that you know what you know and that it's time to show it.

 

[Member 559246]

I would see if I could get out of that 8AM start time. I originally scheduled a 8AM time and then a 12:30PM time opened up two days before and I switched over. I know for a fact there is no way I would have gotten any sleep before the 8AM. I made the change two days before the date I changed to so don't be afraid to look at different times close to when your exam is coming up. Times are always opening up.

The best advice I can give is skip the hard ones and make sure you get a look at all 48 questions in each section. Make sure you get the easy pts. Especially in math. Flag the questions and use that screen where they show a list of the questions and the ones you flagged. That screen was a lifesaver for me.

 

[calmcoolcompose]

So I took my exam in September. This was my second time taking it since January. My first composite score was a 56% 🙁 So I bought the kaplan books, princeton reviews, cliff notes practice exams, and barrons. Honestly, the kaplan book and princeton reviews helped out the most for me. The readings in Kaplan were by far the most similar to the PCATs and the biology was helpful in both books. Along with that, I also bought the 3 practice tests. Don't just solve them and see your scores. Really understand why you got the questions right and wrong. Also, time yourself strictly. With my entire summer spent on PCATs, I finally took the exam and passed with a 87% composite 🙂

I highly recommend the Kaplan books and the pearson tests. I hope this helps you and good luck on your exam!!!

sorry for the lack of coherency

 

[MBar]

I really appreciate it, I just can't spend any more money on prep books and practice tests, knowing that the practice tests and Kaplan is good works for me. I'm trying not to worry too much since I have a really good GPA, but just so I can increase my chances of getting in to the school I want.

thanks again for all the feedback

So I took my exam in September. This was my second time taking it since January. My first composite score was a 56% 🙁 So I bought the kaplan books, princeton reviews, cliff notes practice exams, and barrons. Honestly, the kaplan book and princeton reviews helped out the most for me. The readings in Kaplan were by far the most similar to the PCATs and the biology was helpful in both books. Along with that, I also bought the 3 practice tests. Don't just solve them and see your scores. Really understand why you got the questions right and wrong. Also, time yourself strictly. With my entire summer spent on PCATs, I finally took the exam and passed with a 87% composite 🙂

I highly recommend the Kaplan books and the pearson tests. I hope this helps you and good luck on your exam!!!

sorry for the lack of coherency

 

[Beneamata]

Took the PCAT for the first time this past September and got 90th percentile composite.

My tips:

-For bio, I used the Princeton Review Cracking the PCAT book. Yes, it has quite a bit of extra information, but it is good to know and will ultimately help you in case you somehow get asked a detailed question. However, do skip the plant section as it's no longer required on the PCAT.
-For chem and math, I used Dr. Collins and boy did it save my ass in both sections. Make sure you study the material well, do the unit tests and then try to complete them within the time constraints of the actual test.
-Absolutely purchase the official practice tests on Pearson's site. It's VERY helpful and although they are a little easier than the actual test, they are the most accurate representation of the final test.
-For verbal and RC, I also used the Princeton book. They have some very good strategies for handling these sections and also saved my ass.

All in all, just get used to the time constraints and study your ****. I was on vacation in Europe for 6 weeks, came back, and studied for a month for the exam (studied anywhere from 2-5 hours a day, but while taking days off when my brain was fried) and was still able to hang out with friends every night.

As long as you stay on top of your stuff, you'll be golden.

My 2 cents 🙂

 

[tommyVoltage]

Took the PCAT for the first time this past September and got 90th percentile composite.

My tips:

-For bio, I used the Princeton Review Cracking the PCAT book. Yes, it has quite a bit of extra information, but it is good to know and will ultimately help you in case you somehow get asked a detailed question. However, do skip the plant section as it's no longer required on the PCAT.
-For chem and math, I used Dr. Collins and boy did it save my ass in both sections. Make sure you study the material well, do the unit tests and then try to complete them within the time constraints of the actual test.
-Absolutely purchase the official practice tests on Pearson's site. It's VERY helpful and although they are a little easier than the actual test, they are the most accurate representation of the final test.
-For verbal and RC, I also used the Princeton book. They have some very good strategies for handling these sections and also saved my ass.

All in all, just get used to the time constraints and study your ****. I was on vacation in Europe for 6 weeks, came back, and studied for a month for the exam (studied anywhere from 2-5 hours a day, but while taking days off when my brain was fried) and was still able to hang out with friends every night.

As long as you stay on top of your stuff, you'll be golden.

My 2 cents 🙂

Well I'm glad I found out plants are no longer on the PCAT because I was going to spend time studying diagrams. My friend took the PCAT in 2009 and said he had to label the parts.

 

[jerbearox]

Took the PCAT for the first time this past September and got 90th percentile composite.

My tips:

-For bio, I used the Princeton Review Cracking the PCAT book. Yes, it has quite a bit of extra information, but it is good to know and will ultimately help you in case you somehow get asked a detailed question. However, do skip the plant section as it's no longer required on the PCAT.
-For chem and math, I used Dr. Collins and boy did it save my ass in both sections. Make sure you study the material well, do the unit tests and then try to complete them within the time constraints of the actual test.
-Absolutely purchase the official practice tests on Pearson's site. It's VERY helpful and although they are a little easier than the actual test, they are the most accurate representation of the final test.
-For verbal and RC, I also used the Princeton book. They have some very good strategies for handling these sections and also saved my ass.

All in all, just get used to the time constraints and study your ****. I was on vacation in Europe for 6 weeks, came back, and studied for a month for the exam (studied anywhere from 2-5 hours a day, but while taking days off when my brain was fried) and was still able to hang out with friends every night.

As long as you stay on top of your stuff, you'll be golden.

My 2 cents 🙂

i second this. but instead of using princeton + dr. c + pearson practice tests, i used kaplan instead of dr. c, studied for 2 months ~2-3hrs a night and ended up with a 92 🙂

 

[PeruvianLilies]

I've taken the PCAT a few times and haven't managed to get a decent composite score.

I'm taking the PCAT again in January 2013 and this is what I'm using to study:

-The Princeton Review - this study book was HIGHLY recommended to me by a family friend who is a lawyer and used The Princeton Review to study for the LSAT. I've flipped through their PCAT prep book and find it to be a much more "easier" read than Kaplan's Prep book. I also like that The Princeton Review doesn't just present the material for review, but it also offers strategies, which I can definitely appreciate.

-Dr. Collins - I am attending the Dr. Collins prep course ($695) this November in Las Vegas. Dr. Collins seems to be highly regarded and recommended here in the forums. The course is offered over 4 days (Friday-Monday). A self-study guide ($350) is available for those who can't attend the live prep sessions (offered in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Chicago, Houston, and Las Vegas).

-Pearson Practice Tests - I purchased access to 3 of the official PCAT practice tests which I will also use to help study for the PCAT.

Hopefully this time around, with all of the [new] study materials I'll be using and the techniques I will learn, I hope to finally get the composite score I want.

Beforehand, I used solely Kaplan's prep books to study and I have their books from 3 or 4 different years. I have also used the official PCAT practice tests as well as my notes from general and organic chemistry, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, etc.

Hope this helps!

 

[Aestatis]

As a person that was cheap and didn't want to do prep-courses, I just bought the 3 practice tests and studied on my own using advice from around here on what is on the test. I found this old post useful for what is on the math: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-169034.html

Keep in mind, I still have all of my textbooks though so this won't work if you don't have yours still. This free online site was used as my Calculus book though. It has Algebra on it too. http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/

I would say the #1 thing is to buy the practice tests and take them seriously. Pretend that you are taking the actual test and time it out. The time is the real killer on the test, though mostly in Chemistry and Quantitative Ability unless you read slowly.

Just know what you can do quickly and skip (but always mark down an answer) for the ones you know will take a long time. It doesn't matter if you have to skip 10 problems in a row- if you're like me, you'll feel much better about going back after then running out of time before you've even looked at all of the problems once. There's always some really easy questions peppered throughout- you never know if they're near the end!

I studied for a month beforehand, but really went hardcore the week before the test because I was on vacation. I spaced my practice tests throughout my studying to see my progress, and I took the last one the day before the test. I mostly focused on Quant to refresh the basics such as logarithms, integrals and derivatives (they don't ask you to mess with any trig functions unless it's sine or cosine!), and the basic graph stuff you learn in algebra.

My composite was 91.

 

[JPD36]

As a person that was cheap and didn't want to do prep-courses, I just bought the 3 practice tests and studied on my own using advice from around here on what is on the test. I found this old post useful for what is on the math: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-169034.html

Keep in mind, I still have all of my textbooks though so this won't work if you don't have yours still. This free online site was used as my Calculus book though. It has Algebra on it too. http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/

I would say the #1 thing is to buy the practice tests and take them seriously. Pretend that you are taking the actual test and time it out. The time is the real killer on the test, though mostly in Chemistry and Quantitative Ability unless you read slowly.

Just know what you can do quickly and skip (but always mark down an answer) for the ones you know will take a long time. It doesn't matter if you have to skip 10 problems in a row- if you're like me, you'll feel much better about going back after then running out of time before you've even looked at all of the problems once. There's always some really easy questions peppered throughout- you never know if they're near the end!

I studied for a month beforehand, but really went hardcore the week before the test because I was on vacation. I spaced my practice tests throughout my studying to see my progress, and I took the last one the day before the test. I mostly focused on Quant to refresh the basics such as logarithms, integrals and derivatives (they don't ask you to mess with any trig functions unless it's sine or cosine!), and the basic graph stuff you learn in algebra.

My composite was 91.

Very useful post. Thank you.