PCAT crammage? Need advice.

[shreas]

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Hello everyone,

I stumbled upon this forum a few weeks ago and, I have to say, it's a real goldmine when it comes to helpful tips and advice, and was wondering if anyone could give me a bit of individual advice. I'm planning on taking the PCAT for the first time in June. However, I will be taking it without haven taken either Biology, Ochem, or Calculus. I'll be taking both biology courses over the summer, organic chem I in the fall, and ochem II in the spring semester of 2007. I plan on taking the PCAT three times, first in June, then October, then January (I'm applying this fall for the 2007 fall semester). What I'm wondering is if it would even be worth taking in the summer before haven taken atleast Bio I and II (I hear they take only your best scores, so maybe it would be worth taking just for the heck of it). Would it be possible to learn most of the information I need to know by vigorously studying Kaplan's and the basics of these subjects online?

Also, as far as biology goes, I pretty much have no choice but to take both of them in the summer over a two month period. I aced chem 1211, and I'm doing well in chem 1212, but I hear bio is a completely different story. Could anyone give me a heads up as to how much of a nightmare this is going to be?

Thanks guys.

 

[DHG]

Hello everyone,

I stumbled upon this forum a few weeks ago and, I have to say, it's a real goldmine when it comes to helpful tips and advice, and was wondering if anyone could give me a bit of individual advice. I'm planning on taking the PCAT for the first time in June. However, I will be taking it without haven taken either Biology, Ochem, or Calculus. I'll be taking both biology courses over the summer, organic chem I in the fall, and ochem II in the spring semester of 2007. I plan on taking the PCAT three times, first in June, then October, then January (I'm applying this fall for the 2007 fall semester). What I'm wondering is if it would even be worth taking in the summer before haven taken atleast Bio I and II (I hear they take only your best scores, so maybe it would be worth taking just for the heck of it). Would it be possible to learn most of the information I need to know by vigorously studying Kaplan's and the basics of these subjects online?

Also, as far as biology goes, I pretty much have no choice but to take both of them in the summer over a two month period. I aced chem 1211, and I'm doing well in chem 1212, but I hear bio is a completely different story. Could anyone give me a heads up as to how much of a nightmare this is going to be?

Thanks guys.

I wouldn't take it in June unless you had some AP biology in highschool or something. Taking it without Bio is not a good idea. I don't know that taking it "just for the heck of it" is a great idea either. I assume you want to apply for Fall 2007? You will still have two opportunities to take it: October and January. I don't think I'd waste my money. It may not be a good idea to take a "practice" PCAT run, either. You should study your butt off and go into it as prepared as possible. Just my opinion.

 

[rkothari]

Hello everyone,

I stumbled upon this forum a few weeks ago and, I have to say, it's a real goldmine when it comes to helpful tips and advice, and was wondering if anyone could give me a bit of individual advice. I'm planning on taking the PCAT for the first time in June. However, I will be taking it without haven taken either Biology, Ochem, or Calculus. I'll be taking both biology courses over the summer, organic chem I in the fall, and ochem II in the spring semester of 2007. I plan on taking the PCAT three times, first in June, then October, then January (I'm applying this fall for the 2007 fall semester). What I'm wondering is if it would even be worth taking in the summer before haven taken atleast Bio I and II (I hear they take only your best scores, so maybe it would be worth taking just for the heck of it). Would it be possible to learn most of the information I need to know by vigorously studying Kaplan's and the basics of these subjects online?

Also, as far as biology goes, I pretty much have no choice but to take both of them in the summer over a two month period. I aced chem 1211, and I'm doing well in chem 1212, but I hear bio is a completely different story. Could anyone give me a heads up as to how much of a nightmare this is going to be?

Thanks guys.

Bio is a big portion of all sections of pcat not just bio. An understanding of anetomy & phys and bio I and II is important to scoring well on pcat. I would rather study and get used to pcat on practice tests and do not recommend taking it in june

 

[calrx]

I wouldn't take it in June unless you had some AP biology in highschool or something. Taking it without Bio is not a good idea. I don't know that taking it "just for the heck of it" is a great idea either. I assume you want to apply for Fall 2007? You will still have two opportunities to take it: October and January. I don't think I'd waste my money. It may not be a good idea to take a "practice" PCAT run, either. You should study your butt off and go into it as prepared as possible. Just my opinion.

DHG wrote word-for-word basically what I was going to write!

 

[shreas]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll hold off and take the test after I take care of Biology I and II. That way, when I take the test in October, I'll have a little organic chem and calc experience as well.

One other question - must you have taken the PCAT atleast once before you apply / will they interview you if you have not taken it?

 

[rxlynn]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll hold off and take the test after I take care of Biology I and II. That way, when I take the test in October, I'll have a little organic chem and calc experience as well.

One other question - must you have taken the PCAT atleast once before you apply / will they interview you if you have not taken it?

You will be able to go ahead and do your PharmCAS application and send the completed app to schools without taking the PCAT - you just have to tell them what date you are planning to take it. However, there are a lot of schools that will not even look at the rest ot your application until they have PCAT scores to look at. I think that a majority of people do use October scores, and I totally agree with other posters - I wouldn't take this test until you have Calculus I and bios. Schools will see all the scores, and there's no point in showing them a bad score for the first time out.

 

[DC1120]

HOw long did everyone study for the PCATS? i've been out of schoolf or about two years now, and I was hoping to take the October test, so how long do I need to prepare for to do well on the test? Is a PCAT course needed or buying those Kaplan books and other books good enough?

 

[Ritzy]

HOw long did everyone study for the PCATS? i've been out of schoolf or about two years now, and I was hoping to take the October test, so how long do I need to prepare for to do well on the test? Is a PCAT course needed or buying those Kaplan books and other books good enough?

I just took every prereq course there is for any pharmacy school before I took the PCAT, and studied for a week straight before the test. Got a 90. I definitely think having a complete understanding of the material when you are in the courses will surpass any amount of studying you could do on the subjects before taking the courses.

 

[rxlynn]

HOw long did everyone study for the PCATS? i've been out of schoolf or about two years now, and I was hoping to take the October test, so how long do I need to prepare for to do well on the test? Is a PCAT course needed or buying those Kaplan books and other books good enough?

Well, I had been out a lot longer than 2 years (20, to be exact since I had done most of the prereqs), so I was basically starting from scratch, but I started studying for the Oct. test in mid-July. So, I'm thinking that you shouldn't need nearly that long to prepare, especially if you are able to devote several hours a day (which I couldn't, since I work full time and have kids). I do not think you need a prep class unless you know that you have problems taking standardized tests. I do think that you need to take as many practice tests and questions as you can get your hands on. Managing time is very important on this test, so you need to practice so you will know what it is like to do that many math problems in such a short amount of time, etc.