PCAT FEB VS JULY

[lhs9696]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering when I should retake my PCAT. Is it like true that the PCAT in October, Nov, January is easier than in September and July?

I just took the PCAT a couple days ago, and I only did well on the Bio section. The only similar questions to Collins was in the biology section. I am scared to take it again, but I did horrible on my PCAT. I need to get at least in the 70s. I am struggling in the math and chemistry sections. I dont know if I can pull it off right now and do it again in a month, or should I wait till July.
I really need help and I need help from someone who maybe has good testing strategies or who was able to do well the second time around.

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[NextStepTutor_4]

Hi @lhs9696 - I'm sorry you didn't do as well as you wanted to on your PCAT, but the good news is that getting a few more questions right can result in a big improvement in your percentile rank (in the order of 20-30% on a given section). How do you feel studying for this PCAT went for you, and is there anything you'd do differently? A lot of the time, someone will take the PCAT without much studying, then re-take it and see a huge difference in their score!

Unfortunately it's a myth that the PCAT is easier or harder during certain testing windows. It's equal in difficulty at any given testing, and then your percentile rank is determined by how you do relative to other test-takers - and since there are thousands of test-takers during any given testing window, you should get about the same percentile ranking regardless of the testing window.

You can sign up for a Feb 1-14 PCAT (you might want to start the registration process just to see if there are seats left near you on the dates you would want to test) until Jan 17 under the regular deadline, and you can continue to register until Jan 24 for an added $49 fee. You can cancel you registration for a partial refund until Jan 26, so you might want to think about signing up in the next few weeks, and canceling if you don't feel quite ready yet.

There's no real advantage to taking the PCAT in February rather than July if you're applying next year (except to get it over with sooner!). If you feel prepared, maybe take it this February, and if you're not yet happy with your score, you can re-test in July. You can even submit your PharmCAS application before you officially take the PCAT, provided you submit the date you'll be taking it. A million PCAT re-takes might jump out at an admissions committee, but 2 or 3 PCAT scores is something they will see a lot of and isn't much to worry about, especially if you really improve your score. Some schools will just look at your highest score, some will look at your superscore (combination of highest section scores), and some will take a holistic approach and look at your improvement over time.

Anyway...I hope my two cents is helpful - and there's no reason you can't do amazing on the PCAT. Good luck studying!!

 

[lalaland33]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering when I should retake my PCAT. Is it like true that the PCAT in October, Nov, January is easier than in September and July?

I just took the PCAT a couple days ago, and I only did well on the Bio section. The only similar questions to Collins was in the biology section. I am scared to take it again, but I did horrible on my PCAT. I need to get at least in the 70s. I am struggling in the math and chemistry sections. I dont know if I can pull it off right now and do it again in a month, or should I wait till July.
I really need help and I need help from someone who maybe has good testing strategies or who was able to do well the second time around.

Try using Dr. Collins packets for the Chemistry section. It's the best review for Chem.
For Math, it's kind of a hit-or-miss but I used Dr. Collins (which featured very little calculus) and Kaplan (not enough Statistics review) for it.
For reading, just keep doing practice reading exams again and again until you start seeing what they're looking for. A lot of the answer choices for this section will be something that the article never mentioned (it's basically checking if you're assuming things or if you're capable of looking back at the source).
Also, I don't think it's true that the PCAT is easier during any specific time of the year.