PCAT Practice Test - How'd I do?

[rs37982]

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Results of Pearson Practice Test #3 (I took #3 before #2)

Verbal: 80-99% (90% of questions correct)
Biology: 62-82% (75% of questions correct)
Chemistry: 80-99% (80% of questions correct)
Reading: 80-99% (85% of questions correct)
Quantitative: 73-93% (68% of questions correct -- although I did run out of time with about 10 questions left. I ended up completing them afterwards, and got 90% of the questions correct)

Composite: 80-99%


Results of my Pearson Practice Test #2

**Note I only have the raw score percentage, not the percentile. The reason being is because I'm sharing the tests with my sibling and we really didn't want to have to pay for two of the same thing, so we're 'splitting up' the tests we have. For this one, he gets the diagnostic report, so I only have my raw score. Anyway........

Verbal: 38/48 = 79.2%
Biology: 36/48 = 75%
Chemistry: 41/48 = 85.4%
Reading: 43/48 = 89.6%
Quantitative: 38/48 = 79.2%

Total Raw score = 81.67%

I'm disappointed I did a bit worse on the verbal, but everything else seemed to have improved.. I will be comparing these raw scores to my other diagnostic reports, although they don't include the experimental questions that don't count. Does anyone know generally what percentile score correlates with what raw score - and yeah I understand it's impossible to know exactly, but there has to be some general trend, right?

 

[sodiumd]

How do you do so well on the reading? No matter what I do, I never fail to miss questions such as "the main point of the passage" or "the subjective opinion of the author" and so on. It's like a curse. I would really appreciate some pointers. Anyway, those stats look good. Here is why: assuming the worst, lets say that only two of the eight that won't be counted will be ones you got wrong. This means:
Verbal: 32/40 = 80%
Biology: 30/40 = 75%
Chemistry: 35/40 = 87.5%
Reading: 37/40 = 92.5%
Quantitative: 32/40 = 80%

I am willing to bet you will make around an 85. Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear. But then again, that is 100% pure opinion and my opinioned analysis.

 

[rs37982]

How do you do so well on the reading? No matter what I do, I never fail to miss questions such as "the main point of the passage" or "the subjective opinion of the author" and so on. It's like a curse. I would really appreciate some pointers. Anyway, those stats look good. Here is why: assuming the worst, lets say that only two of the eight that won't be counted will be ones you got wrong. This means:
Verbal: 32/40 = 80%
Biology: 30/40 = 75%
Chemistry: 35/40 = 87.5%
Reading: 37/40 = 92.5%
Quantitative: 32/40 = 80%

I am willing to bet you will make around an 85. Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear. But then again, that is 100% pure opinion and my opinioned analysis.

Nah, I definitely appreciate your input! The goal for me is at least 90% composite, but anything over 80% will probably be acceptable for me.

And I really don't know how to give tips on reading... like we all probably know it's sort of an ability you can condition over time, not something you can study. What really helps is to REALLY focus on reading the passage and try to find out what the author is arguing in the passage - is the author just detailing the history of a disease or technology or something? Trying to persuade the audience to do something? In terms of finding what is an opinion, look for the answer that has some subjectivity to it -- look for words like "should", "probably", "possible" (any words that describe something as probable or possible) and descriptive words that are based on opinion, for example if a line from the passage describes something is "eerie", that's usually an opinion. Eliminate answer choices that use statistics or facts. All in all, just focus on reading (if you're a slower reader, skimming would probably be better) and try to extrapolate what the author is arguing in the passage or each paragraph and how it is argued (through anecdotes, statistics, etc.) I doubt this will help much, as I said it's really more of an innate skill. Good luck!