PCAT question

[PHARMD_Maybe?]

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The school I want to attend recently just required the PCAT and I was wondering what is a competitive score? And how many out of the average 58 questions in each section can you miss to achieve good scores? And what study guides are good for calculus because I have not had that in several years and I remember little. Thanks,

 

[Apple]

The school I want to attend recently just required the PCAT and I was wondering what is a competitive score? And how many out of the average 58 questions in each section can you miss to achieve good scores? And what study guides are good for calculus because I have not had that in several years and I remember little. Thanks,

Hi PHARMD_Maybe?! Sorry, I can't answer any of your questions.

However, I did take the PCAT on Sat, and the only calculus that were on there were differentiation and integration. If I recall correctly, there were only 3-4 of those questions. Hope this small piece of info helped somehow 😉

 

[rougemarie]

The school I want to attend recently just required the PCAT and I was wondering what is a competitive score? And how many out of the average 58 questions in each section can you miss to achieve good scores? And what study guides are good for calculus because I have not had that in several years and I remember little. Thanks,

I use "pre-calculus" book by ?? (I'll have to look it up for you; I forgot cause I borrowed this from local community college's library and it's for business major, but it covers all topics very well, so I can imagine any pre-calculus books will do) It is v. good especially if you have took calculus in the past and just need to brush up on some concepts.

I may be wrong, but calculus on PCAT do not contain the transcendental functions (such as logs, exp, and trigs), all of them are integration/differentiation of polynomial. That's why the pre-calc book is excellent since it covers pretty much everything else like limits, series, transcendental functions, intro to differential (such as chain rule, etc.) and polynomial manipulations (finding point of inflections, range, domain, factoring, etc.) --> all of which will make it easier for you to do the actual calculus.

I also study from "Calculus" by Larson/Hostetler/Edwards (my husband's copy from 10 years ago). Still v. good, but this one's more for engineers so tons of analytic geometry (which you won't need for PCAT). Hope this helps some!

 

[bananaface]

I think composite score of 80th percentile or higher is a good score. 70s is so-so. Any lower and you should probably consider retaking the exam.

 

[PHARMD_Maybe?]

I think composite score of 80th percentile or higher is a good score. 70s is so-so. Any lower and you should probably consider retaking the exam.

Thanks everyone for their input. How about study guides? Is Kaplan good enough with the Calculus supplement? And how hard is it to achieve a 80th percentile? Is there a place to view standardized scores of others like the MCAT has to judge yourself? thanks

 

[rougemarie]

Thanks everyone for their input. How about study guides? Is Kaplan good enough with the Calculus supplement? And how hard is it to achieve a 80th percentile? Is there a place to view standardized scores of others like the MCAT has to judge yourself? thanks

In my humble opinion, Kaplan prep does NOTHING on the transcendental functions, polynomial functions (finding domain, range, point of inflections, solution to inequalities, etc.), inverse functions, limits, vectors, etc. which came out quite a bit, I'd say perhaps almost about half of the overall questions. The calculus addition on the website is no help either since it only cover differentiation/integral & didn't have any of the above mentioned pre-calculus part. Anyone agree/disagree on this?

 

[PHARMD_Maybe?]

In my humble opinion, Kaplan prep does NOTHING on the transcendental functions, polynomial functions (finding domain, range, point of inflections, solution to inequalities, etc.), inverse functions, limits, vectors, etc. which came out quite a bit, I'd say perhaps almost about half of the overall questions. The calculus addition on the website is no help either since it only cover differentiation/integral & didn't have any of the above mentioned pre-calculus part. Anyone agree/disagree on this?

How much actual calculus problems did you think was on the test? I have thought about buying "Calculus for Dummies" for a review because I remember almost nothing. Did the actual PCAT have more algebra or pre-cal and cal.

Also, is there a place to take a practice PCAT that resembles the real thing so that I know what I need to study for the math. I know everything else pretty well (hopefully).

 

[RUN DMV]

From what I've been told, 70 percentile is necessary to be competitive.

 

[rougemarie]

How much actual calculus problems did you think was on the test? I have thought about buying "Calculus for Dummies" for a review because I remember almost nothing. Did the actual PCAT have more algebra or pre-cal and cal.

Also, is there a place to take a practice PCAT that resembles the real thing so that I know what I need to study for the math. I know everything else pretty well (hopefully).

I recall perhaps 3-5 questions of pure calculus (differential/integral of polynomial) and they're very straight forward; I'd say the review on Kaplan website should be able to cover it.

I think if you check PCAT website, you can pay $19 to take the "real" PCAT test, which may/maynot give you a taste of the real deal. I didn't take it, so I cannot attest to that. Best of luck 👍

 

[craziness824]

Keep in mind that if a school has only recently started to require the PCAT, then they don't have a good idea of what score you will need to be accepted. So the better you do, the better off you'll be. As for what score is competitive, it depends on the school, but I would suggest at least high 70s. Also, keep in mind that they might not weigh the PCAT score as heavily in the admissions process(since they don't have a score range in mind).

 

[PHARMD_Maybe?]

Keep in mind that if a school has only recently started to require the PCAT, then they don't have a good idea of what score you will need to be accepted. So the better you do, the better off you'll be. As for what score is competitive, it depends on the school, but I would suggest at least high 70s. Also, keep in mind that they might not weigh the PCAT score as heavily in the admissions process(since they don't have a score range in mind).

I am hoping they do not value it as high as GPA. I found out today the University of South Carolina expects a 75 to be competitive. And thanks rougemarie only 5 questions is not that bad because I know through pre-cal pretty well. Although I do stink at geometry. Thanks everyone.

 

[crossjb]

I am hoping they do not value it as high as GPA. I found out today the University of South Carolina expects a 75 to be competitive. And thanks rougemarie only 5 questions is not that bad because I know through pre-cal pretty well. Although I do stink at geometry. Thanks everyone.

Don't sweat it -- there's hardly any geometry at all. Maybe 2-3 questions total.

If you're competent at algebra, you'll do great. 👍

 

[PHARMD_Maybe?]

Don't sweat it -- there's hardly any geometry at all. Maybe 2-3 questions total.

If you're competent at algebra, you'll do great. 👍

Thanks for the advice! I do alegebra for fun like crosswords. 🙂

 

[jamboo54]

The school I want to attend recently just required the PCAT and I was wondering what is a competitive score? And how many out of the average 58 questions in each section can you miss to achieve good scores? And what study guides are good for calculus because I have not had that in several years and I remember little. Thanks,

A competitive score depends on all your other stats. Normally, people say you need at least a 70 percentile but that is pretty low. I think to have high chances you should at least have an 80. I used to wonder the same thing about how many questions you can miss to get a certain percentile. No one ever knew the answer to that question. I realize it is based off of how well everyone does but I figured there would be a pattern or something. To answer that, after being accepted to schools, I actually do not know. They do not tell you how many questions you missed. I got a 97 percentile and the following are my estimations of how many questions I missed on each section based off of a gut feeling.

Math - I think there were 48 questions or so....I think I missed about 10-12 questions

Verbal - Out of 58 I think I missed 8-10 questions

Chemistry - Out of 58 questions I think I missed 10-14 questions

Biology - Out of 58 questions I think I missed 8-10 questions

Reading Comp - Out of i think 40 questions (im not sure how many there were) I think I missed like 10 questions

From my unofficial research I think getting like 75% of the questions correct turns out to be at least in the 85th percentile.

but that is just my opinion

 

[crossjb]

Is a 91 percentile considered competitive by most programs?

That's my score for June's exam and I hope it puts me in the running for admittance next fall.

 

[FuturePharm008]

Hey crossjb I have around the same score, 92 percentile. I was wondering what your GPA was. Maybe we can comfort each other into thinking we can make it.

 

[crossjb]

Hey crossjb I have around the same score, 92 percentile. I was wondering what your GPA was. Maybe we can comfort each other into thinking we can make it.

It's a 3.92 GPA. FuturePharm008, I saw your score breakdown in scoring in an earlier post. Verbal/Reading brought me down too, but your Quantitative/Chemistry scores were awesome. Take pride in that. If you do decide to take the exam again -- keep in mind I'm not sure you have to -- focus mainly on increasing your Biology score. You'd easily destroy the exam a second time around if you do so. Try not to waste $1000 on a Kaplan course you don't need. Instead, invest in several Biology sources. I also received a 4/5 on Writing too. I wonder how you get a 5/5? Seems fairly subjective to who grades you. Anyway, stay focused and let's get in! 👍

 

[FuturePharm008]

WOW!!! You have an amazing GPA crossjb!! I have full faith in you getting into Pharm School but I am not so sure about my self. I mean my GPA is a 3.11. I know I have to bring it up but hopefully I will get lucky and get in the first time around. Wish me luck.

 

[crossjb]

FuturePharm008, definitely wishing you luck. You've more than got the stuff.

That 99 Quantitative score of yours is ill! 😎

I'm focusing on schools mainly in the Midwest. How about yourself?

 

[missa]

Hi PHARMD_Maybe?! Sorry, I can't answer any of your questions.

However, I did take the PCAT on Sat, and the only calculus that were on there were differentiation and integration. If I recall correctly, there were only 3-4 of those questions. Hope this small piece of info helped somehow 😉

Wow. It is surprising you only had 3-4 question of calculus material on your exam. I would have to say that at least 25%-33% of the questions on my test(2005 January) were calculus related.

I would buy a very general review book for Calculus or just use your old text book. Not too much detail calculus material was on the exam.

Best of Luck