PCAT in Jan

[Vermicularius]

I'll be taking my PCAT in Jan. This will be my very first time. I've mostly been studying for the Quant. reasoning section because i was told and have read that precal and calc topics are crucial for that section even thought my kaplan book as well as the pearson site stated that half of it was basic math/algebra. (i know this isnt the case). im wondering what general topics are the most reoccurring (i understand depending on the specificity, its illegal to share info but whatever helps). I'm great at math, however, relay so much on a calculator, is the calculator they provide easy to use or would it be best to try to do mental or even written math?? Was there a lot of trig and vector stuff? Also, is the chemistry mainly Orgo or gen? overall, i heard that the questions are meant to be answered within seconds therefore wouldnt be tricky or extremely difficult. how true is this? I'm not concerned so much on the biology because thats what i'm studying, but how detailed must we know that infectious microbes or pathology (i was told pathology was strong in this years cycle)?

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[aar44]

One thing about the math is watch out for your timing. As of the content, there was a lot of calculus material(I hope you have taken up to Calculus II at least to understand what derivates is or implicit). Kaplan sucks at the math section but if you practice from the Pearson practice exams or the Kaplan exams, you really should be fine. Try to score above 50 percentile. And for math, you should never rely on an calculator. I am saying this because I went through calculus and every math class without an calculator. I went to an tech school so I couldn't use an calculator. And I barely used the calculator on the exam. They have an simple calculator on the exam. There was two problems about vectors which isn't hard if you have taken calculus III or physics. Chemistry: mostly general chemistry, biochemistry and barely any organic chemistry. When I took the PCAT back in November I didn't see any problems with organic chemistry so do not bother stressing over it. Just study the basics and you will be fine! Just an rule of thumb, you shouldn't spend more than 35 seconds on an problem so that is true. It really depends on what is difficult to you. What is hard to you might not be hard to me or someone else so just PRACTICE. I am saying because I felt that I focused on too much content and didn't practice enough. The biology section had a quite few problems of microbiology that Kaplan went over vaguely. If you have taken more than three biology classes or microbiology class, those questions can be answered. Just focus on the passage based questions. If this is your first time taking it, just pace yourself.

 

[kp563]

Math-there was exactly 1 vector question when I took it in Sept. The test was mainly precal and algebra, although, I had a couple derivatives. The most important thing to worry about this section is time. Watch your time! The calculator is very similar to the one on your desktop. I suggest you buy a Pearson test, time yourself and use the computer calculator if needed. Don't use your TI calculator when you're practicing.

Chemistry--there was a lot of Orgo in my test. I mean a lot! Thankfully Dr Collins prepared me well for this section so I wasn't thrown off. I got an 89 without taking organic so it's absolutely doable.

Biology--absolutely know your A&P and your diseases/etiology from Micro. There was 1 genetic question, but the rest were very specific. Dr Collins study guide helped me a lot in this section. There were about a handful of them that were word for word from his practice sets. I got a 95 without taking APII and Microbiology.

Reading-you're on your own here. There's really no way to prepare for it.

 

[youngsoo1269]

Math-there was exactly 1 vector question when I took it in Dec. The test was mainly prevalent and algebra, although, I had a couple derivative. The most important thing to worry about this section is time. Watch your time! The calculator is very similar to the one on your desktop. I suggest you buy a Pearson test, time yourself and use the computer calculator if needed. Don't use your TI calculator when you're practicing.

Chemistry--there was a lot of Orgo in my test. I mean a lot! Thankfully Dr Collins prepared me well for this section so I wasn't thrown off. I got an 89 without taking organic so it's absolutely doable.

Biology--absolutely know your A&P and your diseases/etiology from Micro. There was 1 genetic question, but the rest were very specific. Dr Collins study guide helped me a lot in this section. There were about a handful of them that were word for word from his practice sets. I got a 95 without taking APII and Microbiology.

Reading-you're on your own here. There's really no way to prepare for it.

did you only use dr collins for bio?

 

[kp563]

did you only use dr collins for bio?

Yes.

 

[Vermicularius]

Math-there was exactly 1 vector question when I took it in Sept. The test was mainly precal and algebra, although, I had a couple derivatives. The most important thing to worry about this section is time. Watch your time! The calculator is very similar to the one on your desktop. I suggest you buy a Pearson test, time yourself and use the computer calculator if needed. Don't use your TI calculator when you're practicing.

Chemistry--there was a lot of Orgo in my test. I mean a lot! Thankfully Dr Collins prepared me well for this section so I wasn't thrown off. I got an 89 without taking organic so it's absolutely doable.

Biology--absolutely know your A&P and your diseases/etiology from Micro. There was 1 genetic question, but the rest were very specific. Dr Collins study guide helped me a lot in this section. There were about a handful of them that were word for word from his practice sets. I got a 95 without taking APII and Microbiology.

Reading-you're on your own here. There's really no way to prepare for it.

Oh, good job. Without taking the courses!! That's awesome! So for the O chem, would you say to memorize reactions and chemicals involved or? I don't have Dr. COLLINS material so I wouldn't really have problems to help me out.

 

[kp563]

Oh, good job. Without taking the courses!! That's awesome! So for the O chem, would you say to memorize reactions and chemicals involved or? I don't have Dr. COLLINS material so I wouldn't really have problems to help me out.

Yes, learn basic reactions like sn1, sn2, e1, e2, hudroxlyis, dehydration, etc. go on leah4sci.com and search for organic reactions. She gives a pretty thorough review about the most common reactions for Allene's and alkynes. Also, learn your naming.

 

[EMMANUEL016]

I'll be taking my PCAT in Jan. This will be my very first time. I've mostly been studying for the Quant. reasoning section because i was told and have read that precal and calc topics are crucial for that section even thought my kaplan book as well as the pearson site stated that half of it was basic math/algebra. (i know this isnt the case). im wondering what general topics are the most reoccurring (i understand depending on the specificity, its illegal to share info but whatever helps). I'm great at math, however, relay so much on a calculator, is the calculator they provide easy to use or would it be best to try to do mental or even written math?? Was there a lot of trig and vector stuff? Also, is the chemistry mainly Orgo or gen? overall, i heard that the questions are meant to be answered within seconds therefore wouldnt be tricky or extremely difficult. how true is this? I'm not concerned so much on the biology because thats what i'm studying, but how detailed must we know that infectious microbes or pathology (i was told pathology was strong in this years cycle)?

Do you know you can do pharmacy without pcat..?

 

[tann_carr]

I am taking the pcat in January too and I am stressing over the fact that I did not have enough time to study! I have the Dr. Collins study materials but this is A LOT to go through! For those of you with the Collins study prep, which sections do you find most insightful and similar to the questions on the pcat? I will try and focus on those sections more due to my lack of time. Also, how much time did you spend preparing for the pcat? Thank you in advance!