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PCAT Quantitative section
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No it is not....I am good at math...however, Kaplan is just algerba...which is no way the format of the PCAT.....they have so many random stuff on there...vectors, sumation......the best way is to grab a pre calc book and a calc book and go through the sections skim them and do problems in there.....that is my advice...they can choose any topic in there practically......there is algebra on the test but not as much as kpalan indicates...
Kaplan is probably the worst book. What I did was I just searched online for some calculus practice problems and tutorials. Going through the calculus book is probably a good idea, but I just didn't have time for that. I think I scored a 99 on the math section and I don't think it was easy.
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i actually thought the kaplan book was pretty good - it gave a great generalized picture of what to expect, without going into the extra little details that you didn't have to worry about ... just my opinion though
I have moved this thread to the PCAT forum - you should get more info./advice there.
KAPLAN PCAT '07 contains a lot more math than the previous versions. I think calculus is the easy part, its the damn geometry (it's been many years) that gets me. Also know your logarithms because that's important in standardized tests 😉
Do you think, or do you know? Because I know I would remember whether or not I scored a 99% in a certain section. I actually remember all my subsection scores from both tests taken (even the lower scores). I guess the point that I'm getting to is that it's important to KNOW things when leaving posts on a forum.
Kaplan was not a good source for the math section. Kaplan had very little if any Calc and my test was at least 75% calc. (I took calc 15 years ago), So the math section was very hard. If you old calc notes or book use that
Good Luck
Good Luck
I didn't think Kaplan adequately prepared me for the math section at all. Of course, it may depend on how recently you have taken the classes. I hadn't had ANY math class in nearly 10 years, so I brushed up on what Kaplan presented, but it ended up being a very small portion of what was on the actual exam. Quantitative ability was my lowest sub-section.
I searched Amazon and picked up a book called "Forgotten Calculus" - it is a much better review, though not geared specifically towards the PCAT, and its only about $10.
Good luck!
I searched Amazon and picked up a book called "Forgotten Calculus" - it is a much better review, though not geared specifically towards the PCAT, and its only about $10.
Good luck!
Yeah I agree with the above posters, I think a pre-calculus book would be your best choice. Maybe even a little bit of a refresher with some calculus as well might help. There was also a lot of trig and geometry when I took the exam that I can remember as well...but not basic trig and geometry, it was the hard and advanced stuff. For me personally, the quantitative section was the toughest secction by far...
Ok...I just checked...I got a 98, not 99. I guess I'm not like you, remembering every little detail.
I found the Kaplan review to be adequate for the quantitative section. I would also recommend learning the Unit Circle and skimming through the Cliff's notes for Trig/Calculus.
The quantitative section is extremely difficult to finish and i think the key is to learn how to skip around and answer all the easy questions first! I know it seems like common sense but it is easy to fall into the trap of solving EVERYTHING regardless of the difficulty level and the time needed to solve them.
I took the PCAT twice and managed to get 87 and 91 for the quantitative section.
I can't claim to have gotten a 98 or 99, but I did get an 85 on the quantitative section this past October. (I listed my stats below)
My suggestions: I used Barron's PCAT (I got mine at walmart.com for about $15 shipped), and a very little known guide - Pexam's PCAT v.1 by Manan H. Shroff (which cost me about $50).
The algebra, pre-cal, geometry and probability were EXCELLENT in the Pexam book, and were pretty decent in the Barron's book. The Caculus was a good REFRESHER in the Barron's book, but certainly could not reteach me from scratch if I was terrible in math and got by with C's in math courses, or had not taken math in several years. I would suggest what (I believe) KellyBean suggested doing - getting some calculus guides and slaving away at those.
However, in order to finish the actual exam in time, I only worked out about 3 or 4 out of the 10 calculus problems on my exam, and guessed the rest. This allowed me to finish that subsection on time and to not miss any of the really easy algebra, geometry, etc. problems.
I studied probably about... 100 hours total for the PCAT (over a long time). I did every problem in both of the books and every time I couldn't do a problem correctly, I wrote the whole problem, solution, and answer down on a legal pad and the studied those in the weeks before the PCAT.
56 Verbal (VERY appalled...)
73 Reading Comprehension (Also in disbelief...)
85 Quantitative
86 Biology
95 Chemistry
86 Composite
My suggestions: I used Barron's PCAT (I got mine at walmart.com for about $15 shipped), and a very little known guide - Pexam's PCAT v.1 by Manan H. Shroff (which cost me about $50).
The algebra, pre-cal, geometry and probability were EXCELLENT in the Pexam book, and were pretty decent in the Barron's book. The Caculus was a good REFRESHER in the Barron's book, but certainly could not reteach me from scratch if I was terrible in math and got by with C's in math courses, or had not taken math in several years. I would suggest what (I believe) KellyBean suggested doing - getting some calculus guides and slaving away at those.
However, in order to finish the actual exam in time, I only worked out about 3 or 4 out of the 10 calculus problems on my exam, and guessed the rest. This allowed me to finish that subsection on time and to not miss any of the really easy algebra, geometry, etc. problems.
I studied probably about... 100 hours total for the PCAT (over a long time). I did every problem in both of the books and every time I couldn't do a problem correctly, I wrote the whole problem, solution, and answer down on a legal pad and the studied those in the weeks before the PCAT.
56 Verbal (VERY appalled...)
73 Reading Comprehension (Also in disbelief...)
85 Quantitative
86 Biology
95 Chemistry
86 Composite
Well to tell the truth - I didn't know much about the PCAT other than that it existed (when I bought the book a few years ago). I just bought the first one that popped up in a google query.
Here it is (link grabbed from an earlier post of mine months back)
http://www.amazon.com/Reference-Gui...ef=sr_1_5/102-2110269-8367337?ie=UTF8&s=books
It worked well for me. Maybe it can for you too... The Biology and Chemistry sections were MUCH more difficult than the Barron's book (as best I recall), and I feel like they prepared me much more for the PCAT than did the Barron's book.
Check out this thread: lots of good suggestions for both the math and in general regarding the PCAT:
http://my.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=346998
Here it is (link grabbed from an earlier post of mine months back)
http://www.amazon.com/Reference-Gui...ef=sr_1_5/102-2110269-8367337?ie=UTF8&s=books
It worked well for me. Maybe it can for you too... The Biology and Chemistry sections were MUCH more difficult than the Barron's book (as best I recall), and I feel like they prepared me much more for the PCAT than did the Barron's book.
Check out this thread: lots of good suggestions for both the math and in general regarding the PCAT:
http://my.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=346998
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They removed the geometry for 07-08.
