Hey any one here taking a pcat on july 18th 2012..........
Pcat july 18 2012
- Thread starter City Boy
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ok. this is weird. i just tried to register for the september one but it says that i'm not authorized to schedule a new appointment at this time. this is my first time taking it so it shouldn't be a problem should it?
maybe i have to wait until tomorrow or something?
I thought we all had the same exams for a certain test day.. Like 8am on July 18th all had the same exam. I suppose thats how they figure out percentile.
There was a decent amount of organic chemistry on it. The general chemistry on it was super easy and straight forward. I hardly did any calculation on that section but then again I know my biology and chemistry really well.
Pearson practice exam is the closest to the real thing for biology, chemistry and math. Verbal passages were harder and so were the analogies.
There was a decent amount of organic chemistry on it. The general chemistry on it was super easy and straight forward. I hardly did any calculation on that section but then again I know my biology and chemistry really well.
Pearson practice exam is the closest to the real thing for biology, chemistry and math. Verbal passages were harder and so were the analogies.
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You guys are scaring me man...........I dnt know what to do.........Was it close to GRE VOcabulary list.........Should I review Kaplan..........I am lossing my mind......Also, Biochemistry what should I expect.........
You guys are scaring me man...........I dnt know what to do.........Was it close to GRE VOcabulary list.........Should I review Kaplan..........I am lossing my mind......Also, Biochemistry what should I expect.........
Finally done, such a relief to no longer have to worry about the exam.
My preliminary scores were surprisingly higher
VA- 432, 91
Bio- 466, 99
RC- 409, 68
I have never been great at reading sections on exams, not in terranovas, not on Explore, not on ACT, not on PSAT etc...
QA- 447, 97
Chem- 463, 99
Comp- 443,99
As time ran out on my QA section and I realized I couldn't check my flagged questions, I felt as if I bombed the QA and that my PCAT overall would be about 85 or so
Surprisingly, I received a 99 for my comp score which I'm ecstatic about; however, after seeing other scores, I feel as if scoring a comp score of 90+ is nothing special, or it just happens to be the case that SDN has only the highest scorers responding.
The 443, 99 is probably a borderline 99 considering that usually only 450+ is a 99
My preliminary scores were surprisingly higher
VA- 432, 91
Bio- 466, 99
RC- 409, 68
I have never been great at reading sections on exams, not in terranovas, not on Explore, not on ACT, not on PSAT etc...QA- 447, 97
Chem- 463, 99
Comp- 443,99
As time ran out on my QA section and I realized I couldn't check my flagged questions
, I felt as if I bombed the QA and that my PCAT overall would be about 85 or soSurprisingly, I received a 99 for my comp score which I'm ecstatic about; however, after seeing other scores, I feel as if scoring a comp score of 90+ is nothing special, or it just happens to be the case that SDN has only the highest scorers responding.
The 443, 99 is probably a borderline 99 considering that usually only 450+ is a 99
Finally done, such a relief to no longer have to worry about the exam.
My preliminary scores were surprisingly higher
VA- 432, 91
Bio- 466, 99
RC- 409, 68
QA- 447, 97
Chem- 463, 99
Comp- 443,99
As time ran out on my QA section and I realized I couldn't check my flagged questions
Surprisingly, I received a 99 for my comp score which I'm ecstatic about; however, after seeing other scores, I feel as if scoring a comp score of 90+ is nothing special, or it just happens to be the case that SDN has only the highest scorers responding.
The 443, 99 is probably a borderline 99 considering that usually only 450+ is a 99
Congratulations!
I wish those were my scores!
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Sigh, so glad it's done.
VA- 412, 68
Bio- 435, 92
RC- 431, 94.
QA- 426, 88
Chem- 443, 95
Comp- 429, 94
The verbal was harder, but not much I could do about it.
I would look to pearson practice for bio/QA/chem.
VA- 412, 68
Bio- 435, 92
RC- 431, 94.
QA- 426, 88
Chem- 443, 95
Comp- 429, 94
The verbal was harder, but not much I could do about it.
I would look to pearson practice for bio/QA/chem.
can anyone who has taken the pearson practice test do some compare and contrast to the actual PCAT they took today? Is your composite scores on the pearson test a good range of where you could end up on the acutal PCAT?
Sigh, so glad it's done.
VA- 412, 68
Bio- 435, 92
RC- 431, 94.
QA- 426, 88
Chem- 443, 95
Comp- 429, 94
The verbal was harder, but not much I could do about it.
I would look to pearson practice for bio/QA/chem.
as compare to pearson practice test, how harder was bio, chem, maths section was ??? is the questions are outside of the syllabus given by peasron website or by using same pearson syllabus questions are hard ????????
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Boooombed it.
Verbal - 78
Biology - 63
RC - 60
Quant - 72
Chemistry - 34
Composite - 64
Three quarters of biology and gen. chem. No studying. Will retake & try to be better prepared.
Solid score man.
Good job, don't be down. There's people who get in the 20s,30s, 40s (srs).
Boooombed it.
Verbal - 78
Biology - 63
RC - 60
Quant - 72
Chemistry - 34
Composite - 64
Three quarters of biology and gen. chem. No studying. Will retake & try to be better prepared.
I think you should talk to the advisor at the university you are applying to. I know at some university it is good enough score........especially if your GPA is close to the average +- 5 %
D
deleted481886
Boooombed it.
Verbal - 78
Biology - 63
RC - 60
Quant - 72
Chemistry - 34
Composite - 64
Three quarters of biology and gen. chem. No studying. Will retake & try to be better prepared.
Honestly, that's pretty impressive without any studying.
VA:70
Bio:79
RC:4
QA:51
Chem:88
Composite:59
I am not sure how to improve my reading and quantitative skill.This is my second time taking and I am so depressed. I understand that English is my second language and will score lower in RC, but I am not expecting to get 4% of reading.
For Quantitative, I was hoping to get at least 70%, but it turned out 51%. I am so upset. Oh well, I just have to retake it in october. I spent 12 hours a day in the library for a month to prepare for it. May be I am not just good at taking standardized tests.
Can anyone tell me how to prepare for Bio parts? I used Princeton/Cracking and it doesn't cover everything in the exam, especially for immunology part. Sine I am not a Bio major, I am having difficulty in finding the most effective way to study for it.
Bio:79
RC:4
QA:51
Chem:88
Composite:59
I am not sure how to improve my reading and quantitative skill.This is my second time taking and I am so depressed. I understand that English is my second language and will score lower in RC, but I am not expecting to get 4% of reading.
For Quantitative, I was hoping to get at least 70%, but it turned out 51%. I am so upset. Oh well, I just have to retake it in october. I spent 12 hours a day in the library for a month to prepare for it. May be I am not just good at taking standardized tests.
Can anyone tell me how to prepare for Bio parts? I used Princeton/Cracking and it doesn't cover everything in the exam, especially for immunology part. Sine I am not a Bio major, I am having difficulty in finding the most effective way to study for it.
VA:70
Bio:79
RC:4
QA:51
Chem:88
Composite:59
I am not sure how to improve my reading and quantitative skill.This is my second time taking and I am so depressed. I understand that English is my second language and will score lower in RC, but I am not expecting to get 4% of reading.
For Quantitative, I was hoping to get at least 70%, but it turned out 51%. I am so upset. Oh well, I just have to retake it in october. I spent 12 hours a day in the library for a month to prepare for it. May be I am not just good at taking standardized tests.
Can anyone tell me how to prepare for Bio parts? I used Princeton/Cracking and it doesn't cover everything in the exam, especially for immunology part. Sine I am not a Bio major, I am having difficulty in finding the most effective way to study for it.
What happened with quantitative section........
VA:70
Bio:79
RC:4
QA:51
Chem:88
Composite:59
I am not sure how to improve my reading and quantitative skill.This is my second time taking and I am so depressed. I understand that English is my second language and will score lower in RC, but I am not expecting to get 4% of reading.
For Quantitative, I was hoping to get at least 70%, but it turned out 51%. I am so upset. Oh well, I just have to retake it in october. I spent 12 hours a day in the library for a month to prepare for it. May be I am not just good at taking standardized tests.
Can anyone tell me how to prepare for Bio parts? I used Princeton/Cracking and it doesn't cover everything in the exam, especially for immunology part. Sine I am not a Bio major, I am having difficulty in finding the most effective way to study for it.
as compare to pearson practice test, how harder was bio, chem, maths section was ??? is the questions are outside of the syllabus given by peasron website or by using same pearson syllabus questions are hard ????????
There were just a few words and 1 or 2 sentence completion like Dr. Collins...wasn't super helpful.
As for me, reading was extremely hard, like somebody said before, they had a lot questions asking about what's author's point in paragraph 3, 4, 5, or what did he/she meant in the last sentence of paragraph 1. So I'd suggest not to waste your time on reading whole passage, just read a question first and then search for the answer because most of the time you will need to reread a paragraph again to answer the question and it takes a lot of time.
As for me, reading was extremely hard, like somebody said before, they had a lot questions asking about what's author's point in paragraph 3, 4, 5, or what did he/she meant in the last sentence of paragraph 1. So I'd suggest not to waste your time on reading whole passage, just read a question first and then search for the answer because most of the time you will need to reread a paragraph again to answer the question and it takes a lot of time.
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Thanks for the tip. Any areas you weren't able to finish in time??
Also, is there an easy way to mark Qs to come back to later?
Yeah, on top of the right corner it will say "flag this question", so once you are done with all questions, you can go to "review this section" (you actually can do this any time) and you'll see what questions you flagged. For math, I wish I had a few more minutes, cause I started to go back and work on marked questions.
D
deleted437652
Most likely no, but it could depend on how you feel your shot is to get into your pharmacy schools. Most schools I've found are looking for 70-99, with a couple of the schools I have been personally looking at with an average of ~85. If the rest of your app is fine, then probably no need. If it is lacking in some way though, or you are applying to only the most prestigious of pharmacy schools, when then it is your prerogative to take it again.
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Just curious, are the preliminary scores the actual scores we get in the mail?
Anyways, here are my scores
Verbal 78
RC 51
Bio 67
Chem 85
Quant 91
Composite 82
I want an honest opinion, but understand that I am really busy and don't want to go through that stresss again, should I retake? I plan on applying to a couple dozen schools. Really nervous.
Breakdown
Verbal- If anything was considered easier than the actual practice exams it would have to be this section. The sentence completion was not very difficult, which was a huge weak point for me on the practice exams, and the analogies didn't have too many tough words. This was my weakest part on the practice exams and I would get 40-60percentile, and it's really nice to see an improvement.
RC- Nothing in the world could prepare me for this section, it was a lot harder than anything I have come across in any other practice reading test. The passages were too long and the questions were really challenging. The third passage of this section blew me away. I had no idea what it was about. It was the only passage I couldn't understand at all. It was something about taxes. I left this passage and got to question 48 with only a minute left and I went back to passage 3 and blindly filled in the B bubble for all 8 questions. Honestly, make sure you get a good night sleep, I only managed to sleep 4 hours and it affected me in this section. All I could think about was how bad I did here as I was doing the math. I am really surprised I even got a 51.
Biology- this section was unfair, they made it more difficult. I swear I don't remember if there was any cell biology in here. There were few Genetics questions, no Punnet square questions and a **** ton of questions on diseases and health. Neither Collins nor the practice tests helped out here. It's a shame really, I got ~80-99% on two practice tests and a ~75-95% on the other one for the Bio section.
Chem- this is where the Practice tests and Dr Collins practice tests really came through. The Chemistry section wasn't as notoriously difficult as people have always told me, but I still ran out of time. The Biochem questions were harder than the practice tests though, but the Ochem was a joke. General Chen was similar in difficulty to Collins and the practice tests.
Quant- it is unbelievable what they expect us to do in this section within 40 minutes. The material is not hard, just lengthy. I got to question 48 with 10 minutes left and hadn't filled out 16 questions. I solved some problems and the rest were too damn long, so i made educated guesses. Lol, try taking the mean of 16 large numbers in 1 minute. I made educated guesses, it is easily possible to narrow down to two choices.
Anyways, goodluck to everyone taking tomorrows exam. Get some sleep, seriously.
Anyways, here are my scores
Verbal 78
RC 51
Bio 67
Chem 85
Quant 91
Composite 82
I want an honest opinion, but understand that I am really busy and don't want to go through that stresss again, should I retake? I plan on applying to a couple dozen schools. Really nervous.
Breakdown
Verbal- If anything was considered easier than the actual practice exams it would have to be this section. The sentence completion was not very difficult, which was a huge weak point for me on the practice exams, and the analogies didn't have too many tough words. This was my weakest part on the practice exams and I would get 40-60percentile, and it's really nice to see an improvement.
RC- Nothing in the world could prepare me for this section, it was a lot harder than anything I have come across in any other practice reading test. The passages were too long and the questions were really challenging. The third passage of this section blew me away. I had no idea what it was about. It was the only passage I couldn't understand at all. It was something about taxes. I left this passage and got to question 48 with only a minute left and I went back to passage 3 and blindly filled in the B bubble for all 8 questions. Honestly, make sure you get a good night sleep, I only managed to sleep 4 hours and it affected me in this section. All I could think about was how bad I did here as I was doing the math. I am really surprised I even got a 51.
Biology- this section was unfair, they made it more difficult. I swear I don't remember if there was any cell biology in here. There were few Genetics questions, no Punnet square questions and a **** ton of questions on diseases and health. Neither Collins nor the practice tests helped out here. It's a shame really, I got ~80-99% on two practice tests and a ~75-95% on the other one for the Bio section.
Chem- this is where the Practice tests and Dr Collins practice tests really came through. The Chemistry section wasn't as notoriously difficult as people have always told me, but I still ran out of time. The Biochem questions were harder than the practice tests though, but the Ochem was a joke. General Chen was similar in difficulty to Collins and the practice tests.
Quant- it is unbelievable what they expect us to do in this section within 40 minutes. The material is not hard, just lengthy. I got to question 48 with 10 minutes left and hadn't filled out 16 questions. I solved some problems and the rest were too damn long, so i made educated guesses. Lol, try taking the mean of 16 large numbers in 1 minute. I made educated guesses, it is easily possible to narrow down to two choices.
Anyways, goodluck to everyone taking tomorrows exam. Get some sleep, seriously.
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Collins was good for Chem and math. Although the questions on the real PCAT are longer. Same type of questions, but longer. Your test might be different though. Honestly Dr. Collins is the best PCAT prep I have come across. The Bio has changed somewhat so his practice tests won't accurately reflect the amount of ridiculous disease and health questions they had there.
was Collins verbal practice all at helpful. I don't like how so many people have mentioned random disease and things for bio when no pcat book that I have come across focus so highly on it. Was the quant full of questions that were just long and time consuming for the 40 minutes you get
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Let me start off by saying this PCAT was RIDICULOUSLY harder than the provided practice tests and the other numerous tests I took, courtesy of Kaplan
I got
409, 63 Verbal
434, 91 Biology
415, 72 Chemistry
388, 29 Reading Comprehension
415, 88 Quantatative Ability
414, 76 composite
It was bad; I had absolutely no idea what I was reading about in RC. I gave up and began guessing. I'm shocked since i scored high during the practice exams. Looks like I'm going to retake it. Have no clue how I'm going to boost Verbal Ability and RC, though
I got
409, 63 Verbal
434, 91 Biology
415, 72 Chemistry
388, 29 Reading Comprehension
415, 88 Quantatative Ability
414, 76 composite
It was bad; I had absolutely no idea what I was reading about in RC. I gave up and began guessing. I'm shocked since i scored high during the practice exams. Looks like I'm going to retake it. Have no clue how I'm going to boost Verbal Ability and RC, though
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I think you did a fine job. I wouldn't retake if you have a good GPA (better than 3.1) but that's just MY opinion. I know if I get that composite I am NOT taking it again.. this has been too stressful!!
Good luck to all who are taking it tomorrow!
I took it today, wound up with:
Verbal - 99
Biology - 55
RC - 99
Quant - 51
Chem - 95
Composite - 98
I was pleasantly surprised by the composite score, and not surprised at all that my Bio and Quant were lower than my other scores. The sections were just harder in my opinion. The Quant questions I didn't feel were super hard, except I wish I'd studied the section more, I was only on about question 30 out of 48 when I had 10 minutes to go. Make sure you are watching your time on that section, and try not to spend a TON of time doing calculations if you can avoid it. If you can tell a question will take longer, just flag it and come back to it. Better to answer 3 questions with certain answers than spend the same amount of time on one question.
Also, for those who are worried about the computer format, I found the method of flagging/reviewing the flagged was really nice. I wish the online classes at my school had a flagging method that good!
I'm not sure if the 2 lower subsections really mean much, or if I should just be happy with my composite and move forward. My GPA is kind of iffy, so I'm relying on my PCAT to help make me look better on paper.
I took it today, wound up with:
Verbal - 99
Biology - 55
RC - 99
Quant - 51
Chem - 95
Composite - 98
I was pleasantly surprised by the composite score, and not surprised at all that my Bio and Quant were lower than my other scores. The sections were just harder in my opinion. The Quant questions I didn't feel were super hard, except I wish I'd studied the section more, I was only on about question 30 out of 48 when I had 10 minutes to go. Make sure you are watching your time on that section, and try not to spend a TON of time doing calculations if you can avoid it. If you can tell a question will take longer, just flag it and come back to it. Better to answer 3 questions with certain answers than spend the same amount of time on one question.
Also, for those who are worried about the computer format, I found the method of flagging/reviewing the flagged was really nice. I wish the online classes at my school had a flagging method that good!
I'm not sure if the 2 lower subsections really mean much, or if I should just be happy with my composite and move forward. My GPA is kind of iffy, so I'm relying on my PCAT to help make me look better on paper.
Couldnt agree with you more about the disease/ health related questions! I was constantly getting above 80% on my bio sections and got a 68%.... My advice for those taking it soon is touch up on ... different diseases, forms of treating them... Biochemistry was pretty extensive as well
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Yes, know Collins words. They did show up on the exam. I ran into words I've seen in his study guide. They may or may not help, depends on your luck on how many words you have seen before. There is nothing you can do about the Bio at this point, just go in with your knowledge of biology and just eliminate wrong choices and narrow it down to two choices and just take the best guess. Math was difficult particularly for the length. My advice is to be as quick as you can and don't worry if you skip a third of the exam. Do all the easy ones first and then come back to the lengthy ones, Collins and the pearson practice tests helped me for this section
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I think they're very similar, with the exception being that they've included your essay grades in official?
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^ nice score.
How many passages are there in the reading part?
How many passages are there in the reading part?
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I just bought the book.
I had extensive knowledge in ecology, micro, physio etc and I still found the book to include WAYY to much.
A good hint I can give is that if it's a disease or says human, MEMORIZE it.
I got asked a question on PKU today, which i totally did not expect.
Kaplan is crap for QA. I had to review all my integral functions.
Guess what, they DO test trigonometic integrals.
