PCAT Question difficulty

[kishire]

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Hi Everyone,

I apologize in advance if this question has been answered in a different thread but looking at the other threads that SDN was kind enough to provide for me, it didn't look like it was answered.

Currently, I'm studying out of the Princeton review and the Barron's PCAT review books. The Barron's seems incredibly easy and the questions seem like questions that anyone could answer. I wanted to know how much more difficult the questions on the PCAT were and if anyone could give me some examples of biology or chemistry questions that they could remember. Preferably the hardest ones you can remember. I've been looking at the questions on testprepreview.com and they are rather difficult so I'm beginning to question whether I've been studying the wrong material all this time. The Princeton review book never went into detail many of the biology/chemistry problems that I saw on this that website.

I understand that the PCAT changes every time, but I'm just trying to get a rough idea of what I should expect. I literally have no idea how difficult the questions will be so my confidence in the material I know fluctuates every day.

Thanks in advance and good luck to all of you

 

[Binchen222]

You should purchase those pearson's practice texts. They will give you an idea of it

 

[Jessica1992]

You should purchase those pearson's practice texts. They will give you an idea of it

I agree! Those practice tests really help. I just took the PCAT a couple days ago, and they difficulty was pretty similar for VA, RC, and QA. I thought the biology section was a lot more specific and the chemistry section was a lot easier - but, that could have been due to the random draw of questions I received.

Also, the tests give you an idea of what your score will be. These were my estimated composite ranges on the 3 practice tests: 65-85, 65-85, and 80-99 (I took the last one a week before the actual PCAT - the rest were early on in studying to see what I needed to focus on.) Long story short, I got an 84 so it was pretty accurate!

 

[miscer]

Dr Collin's practice tests were really helpful. I did all of the 8 practice tests for bio and I was able to get a 99 in bio. I didn't get as much time to take all of the other tests, but I'm sure my other scores would have been better if I had studied those more.

 

[isanders]

I agree with everyone else, and Dr. Collins is fantastic. I only studied chem through collins and got a 99%. Also, pearson practice tests are as close to the pcat as you can get, I scored 80-99 and 75-95% (the hardest test #4) and my pcat score of 94 definitely fell right within that range.

 

[Member20192019]

Is there a score conversion between Dr. Collins chemistry practice tests and the actual PCAT? I am getting around 10 questions wrong out of 50 on Dr. Collins chemistry tests-- would that be in the 80th percentile?

 

[feartheturtle]

I agree with everyone else, and Dr. Collins is fantastic. I only studied chem through collins and got a 99%. Also, pearson practice tests are as close to the pcat as you can get, I scored 80-99 and 75-95% (the hardest test #4) and my pcat score of 94 definitely fell right within that range.

Is your Dr. Collin's guide 2010 w/2012 update or the newest one? I have Collin's 2010 guide which I'm using to study for the September PCAT but I don't know if I'll be at a disadvantage. Some of the bio questions on my Collin's guide seem to be about plant biology and evolution which I think are no longer part of the current PCAT.

 

[Binchen222]

does it matter which version of dr collins we are using?

 

[isanders]

does it matter which version of dr collins we are using?

as long as its the newer ones like 2010 and up it really doesn't matter. I only skimmed through the updates like once, but the core information in the practice tests doesn't change from what I've heard.

 

[TheDuce]

along with Dr. Collins which I find extremely useful, im using PCAT destroyer. iv only covered biology and it has helped tons, over 400 questions on bio alone with complete explanations. anyone else like the destroyer book?

 

[AlPacino]

They are very similar to Dr Collins. I would recommend doing ALL PRACTICE TESTS. That imo will give you great preparation.

 

[Ayase]

As other people have already mentioned, Collins plus the three Pearson tests is THE BEST way to go for the sciences. However, Collins is a bit lacking in the VA and RC sections, so you'd definitely want some extra practice.

 

[kishire]

Thanks for the responses guys,

I ended up getting the Pearson practice tests and they've been really helpful. Scored in the 80th to 99th percentile so I hope that is a sign of things to come.

I have one more question, I know that some questions on the PCAT aren't graded. Some questions on the pearson practice tests are things I've never learned in all my years of school, an example being 'what bacteria causes leprosy' are these the types of questions that are not graded?

Thanks everyone

 

[tuanthetiger]

Thanks for the responses guys,

I ended up getting the Pearson practice tests and they've been really helpful. Scored in the 80th to 99th percentile so I hope that is a sign of things to come.

I have one more question, I know that some questions on the PCAT aren't graded. Some questions on the pearson practice tests are things I've never learned in all my years of school, an example being 'what bacteria causes leprosy' are these the types of questions that are not graded?

Thanks everyone

The questions that aren't graded are the experimental questions. There are eight of them for each section, there is no way of telling them apart from the actual questions.

 

[isanders]

Thanks for the responses guys,

I ended up getting the Pearson practice tests and they've been really helpful. Scored in the 80th to 99th percentile so I hope that is a sign of things to come.

I have one more question, I know that some questions on the PCAT aren't graded. Some questions on the pearson practice tests are things I've never learned in all my years of school, an example being 'what bacteria causes leprosy' are these the types of questions that are not graded?

Thanks everyone

PCAT is very similar to pearson practice tests so doing well is a great indication of how you will do on the real test! Diseases/nutrition can be a difficult set of questions because there are many diseases which they can ask and you kind of just get lucky if you remember it from microbiology or not.

 

[kintagee]

does it matter which version of dr collins we are using?

Yes it matters alot. You should get the 2013 guide. It really helped me score 96 percentile. I have my 2013 guide and is every new. email me if you re interested. [email protected]. Dr collins guide is a life saver. You will never regret.

 

[Superfans]

Questions are all within reason to be answered instantaneously for biology (except punnett squares maybe) and some of the disease questions I found were unfair, but I knew them luckily and ended up with a 99 here... Its just a recall test. Math takes the longest. I was down to the wire but still managed a 99. All questions in math were reasonable... Look at the answers! its really easy to just pick an answer if you know the processes. For example, if you have a function that you need to chain rule 6 times, DONT DO IT! look for the answer with 6 chain rules! Saves yourself about 5 minutes. Chem always always stress the gas law... and the pressure stuff. ATLEAST 6-8 questions on ANY practice exam from anywhere i've ever taken.. Otherwise.. most of the stuff are one step equations. I've never really encountered a problem where two steps are required mathematically. VR and RC just wing it!