pcat scores

[Oaxaca]

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Did anyone here have a low pcat score but yet was accepted into pharacy school? if so what was your score and how did you improve your chances of admission

 

[28657]

I have a classmate who scored 12th percentile on the Verbal section, but I don't know what his composite was. And he is a native English speaker....from Arkansas. 😉

 

[jessicab]

I have a classmate who scored 12th percentile on the Verbal section, but I don't know what his composite was. And he is a native English speaker....from Arkansas. 😉

That's weird! I guess UAMS College of Pharmacy turned him down though. I wonder who accepted him???

 

[varum_99]

oxaca,
it depends on which section you have a low pcat score, like verabal, or biology, chemistry....i, myself is native, i don't blame myself if i score low on verbal, i am from india. but if i do good in all other section, than verbal wouldn't matter much..i mean the admission guys don't look at verbal that closely, they llook closely at chemstry and sciences..also ..you must have good GPA.

 

[Mags]

oxaca,
it depends on which section you have a low pcat score, like verabal, or biology, chemistry....i, myself is native, i don't blame myself if i score low on verbal, i am from india. but if i do good in all other section, than verbal wouldn't matter much..i mean the admission guys don't look at verbal that closely, they llook closely at chemstry and sciences..also ..you must have good GPA.

i disagree, and only on one account.. they do look at verbal.. you can know all the science and chemistry in the world, but if you cant communicate, how are you going to deal with patients???

that being said.. i got a 68 or something awful like that on my verbal, but in the interview my "true" communication skills mustve shown through.. b/c they accepted that low score

 

[bananaface]

That's weird! I guess UAMS College of Pharmacy turned him down though. I wonder who accepted him???

Since Amanda goes to Midwestern's Glendale campus, I am going to take a long shot and say that her classmate does too. 😀

One of my classmates got a 34 on one section. She didn't say which.

 

[dgroulx]

oxaca,
it depends on which section you have a low pcat score, like verabal, or biology, chemistry....i, myself is native, i don't blame myself if i score low on verbal, i am from india. but if i do good in all other section, than verbal wouldn't matter much..i mean the admission guys don't look at verbal that closely, they llook closely at chemstry and sciences..also ..you must have good GPA.

Verbal does make a difference. During orientation last year, we were told that we will be graded on communication skills during rotations. You have to be able to communicate with your patients. Our communication type classes have essay exam questions, too. Another example: we were graded on grammar last year on a fake letter we wrote to a concerned customer. It's not all biology and chemistry.

 

[kwakster928]

verbal was my least scored section on PCAT. But I got in. I got like 68 percentile or something. i know.. i should have read more books, but english is my second language (well it is my first language now hehe) anyway, if you can get your points across and express your opinion freely and clearly at the interview, my thought is that ADCOM will black out your bad verbal pcat score. if english is not your first language, they might take that as a consideration as well. there is always TOFEL. which is a cake.

 

[jessicab]

Since Amanda goes to Midwestern's Glendale campus, I am going to take a long shot and say that her classmate does too. 😀

One of my classmates got a 34 on one section. She didn't say which.

Someone's sarcasm meter is turned off..... 😉

 

[OSURxgirl]

I don't think knowing obscure words in analogy and antonym questions has anything to do with your communication skills. If that were true, the committees would just skip the interview and look at your PCAT verbal score instead.

 

[ForgetMeNot]

I don't think knowing obscure words in analogy and antonym questions has anything to do with your communication skills. If that were true, the committees would just skip the interview and look at your PCAT verbal score instead.

You should be able to pick out roots of words in those problems, though. So it's not the obscure word as a whole, but the prefix/root/suffix basics that you should be able to apply.

 

[dgroulx]

I don't think knowing obscure words in analogy and antonym questions has anything to do with your communication skills. If that were true, the committees would just skip the interview and look at your PCAT verbal score instead.

I didn't find any of the words obscure. Having a good vocabulary is at least somewhat of an indicator of communication skills. Analogies and antonym usage are a big part of most IQ tests. It tests your reasoning ability.

Another part of the PCAT that people don't pay much attention to, is the reading comprehension section. Most of our readings in school are straight out of medical journals. Scoring well on reading will show an ability to understand the type of articles you will be required to read for class.

Overall, the PCAT is a useful device for predicting how well an individual will perform in pharmacy school. Interviews and essays given at interviews are the best way to judge communication skills, but you can't interview every applicant. The PCAT can help with the "weed out" process.

 

[OSURxgirl]

They are "obscure" in the sense that they are not used in day to day vocabulary. These are not the types of words a pharmacist will be using in conversations with patients on a day to day basis. And while there may be a correlation between PCAT score and academic performance in pharmacy school, I refuse to buy the idea that there's a correlation between PCAT score and job performance as a pharmacist...including communication skills. And although they do look at the verbal score at my school, I have been told by the pre-pharm advisor that bio and chem scores are much more strongly emphasized. A 50 bio or chem score cannot be compensated for with a 99 verbal, but a 99 bio or chem score will easily cover up a 50 on verbal.