PCAT study tips

[Ploqt54]

Hi guys! For those of you who did well on the PCAT, I need some advice. I plan on starting to study for the pcat this week, and take it September 5 2018. So that gives me about 3 months to study.

what materials do you recommend using to study? How did you study for the writing section of the pcat?

Lastly, I heard Dr. Collins is best for chemistry. I have all of Dr Collins 2016 material except the chemistry practice exams (what are the odds right?) Do you think I should just purchase the 2018 dr collins or will i be fine with what I have?

Thank you all!!

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[DagS132]

I havn't taken the PCAT yet but I have been studying for a month and a half so far.

I used the DAT prep schedule thats listed in the DAT Discussion forum from this site and its been going really well. I am able to answer all of the 2017 Dr. Collins questions without a problem. However I have shortened down the 8-10 hour study days down to 6-8 hour study days since I used 2.5 months to study. Since you are using 4 months, you may only need 4 hours or less to study per day which is awesome.

 

[NextStepTutor_4]

Hey @Ploqt54! I think you ask some great questions. One of the resources that I like to use is the Pearson's practice tests. They're an official resource and has practice tests that gets updated every year reflecting any changes to the PCAT.

I remember I studied the writing section by practicing with a lot of prompts. Generally, on the writing section, the PCAT would ask you to present a solution to a particular problem. The more I practiced, the more cohesive I got with my wording and essay structure. Another good way to study and prepare is to time yourself when writing the essay. Because there is limited time, it is a good idea to get acquainted with brainstorming possible solutions quickly so that you'll still have time to write the essay.

Hope this helps and good luck in studying!

 

[HipHopHippo]

How did you study for the writing section of the pcat?

Prompts, prompts, prompts. One of the two essays on the GRE has the same format as the PCAT so you can use those as practice too.

Create an outline before you type a single word so once you do start writing you aren't stopping because you don't know what to write next. The outline process should take about 5 minutes. Don't feel constrained by having to reach a certain # of paragraphs. Sometimes you'll need more than 5, sometimes you'll need less. Leave a few minutes at the end to proofread. If you are not a good critic of your own writing have someone else help you grade them.

When you review your essays, look for superfluous words that you can remove from a sentence without effecting their meaning. Avoid using any cliches. Make sure you are writing in the active and not the passive voice. You should also try to vary your sentence structure and choice of transition words so you aren't always starting a sentence or paragraph with the same words. These are all things that essay readers generally look at. Most of this also applies to your PharmCAS essay.

You should also only use words you 100% know the meaning of. An essay with simple vocabulary but a clear meaning will outscore an essay full of "five-dollar" words used incorrectly.