PCAT Survey

[nims]

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how many months/weeks/days before the PCAT did you begin to study?
how many hours per day?
what sources best prepared you?
score?

I have noticed that some of you score very high with little effort. Personally, I think I have probably forgot a lot of the little details from classes such as gen chem II, trig, and geometry; therefore, I wanted to see if any of you were in my same boat, and see how you faired by how you prepared.

 

[drhemi70]

Howdy,
I am a graduate from montana state. I had been out of school for 4 years. Went back to begin picking up prereqs. Took gen chem II anat and phys and was in the middle of calc I. I studied most of the summer using the kaplan book, and taking practice test as much as possible from other books. Took the test in oct. and scored 92%. My stats.
92% pcat
3.0 GPA
degree biochem
degree biomed
4 years research at a pharmaceutical company (this helps as I can perform most calculations in my head since I do it every day. 695 G are how many uG and things like that.MW = 400 how many grams for 500mL at 1 M )
In all the prereqs since starting school again ( still working of couse and taking 1-2 classes a semester) I have a 4.0 these classes include anat and phys, econ, gen chem II ( had been 7 years since taking it) calc I and II.

I had an interview at wyo and am waiting to see.
also applied to
south dak state
univ of utah
midwestern glendale
didn't get interviews at any of these schools
good luck and study hard what is one summer to the rest of your life.
DR

GOT INTO UNIV OF WYO 4-25-05

 

[kayjay]

I think I studied 3-4 months before the PCAT, 1-2 hours a day..right before I did my other homework..It works! If you do ur homework beforehand, you'll get too lazy to study for the PCAT and will want to put it off.

I studied from Kaplan, and did a few practice tests.

 

[fairyofsong]

I guess I didn't quite catch on to the "studying for the PCAT" thing--I took it two times when I was in Inorganic Chem just to get a feel for it--I made a 33 and 43 then. In Organic I and II, my scores improved as I studied about a week or two before the exam... I got a 53, 64 and 70. Scores that I was happy with! 🙂 I have been accepted to South University in Georgia and have an interview scheduled at Mercer University. Good luck!

 

[nikkai]

how many months/weeks/days before the PCAT did you begin to study?
how many hours per day?
what sources best prepared you?
score?

I have noticed that some of you score very high with little effort. Personally, I think I have probably forgot a lot of the little details from classes such as gen chem II, trig, and geometry; therefore, I wanted to see if any of you were in my same boat, and see how you faired by how you prepared.

2 months
~3-4 hours/day
Kaplan Test Prep PCAT book (only used this)
98% composite with a 99% in Chemistry.
And it had been about 4 years since my gen chem class - this stuff comes back to you, it just takes practice. The hardest thing is the massive amount of problems you have to do in thirty minutes.

G'luck 👍

 

[Laferno]

Ok, lets see.
I studied only 2-3 hours a day for a month before the test. Probably light compared to some other people. But, I really only studied Chemistry because I am good at math and english and am a Bio major. I worked through the Chem section of the Kaplan book and that definately prepared me for the super easy (comparatively) PCAT Chem questions.
Score: 99% composite. 98% Chemistry. 99% Quantitative. Everything else was 84-95% and my lowest section was Bio...go figure.

My comment on PCAT prep: Most of the time it is an illusion when it seems that someone scored high with very little effort. Even if they did not study for the test, the effort was there when they were learning the material the first time.

 

[WVURxGal]

Let's see here... I had a 96 overall, lowest score was 90 in chem, highest 97 in reading comprehension. I studied fairly sporadically for 2 months... maybe it averaged to 3, 4 hours a week. If other stats matter (I'm too lazy to re-read the OP!), my GPA is 3.78, it'll probably be 3.83 after this semester, I'm an undergrad junior (well, second year in college, but I took a lot of extra credits), no plans on a BA/BS and I'm admitted to WVU for the fall. I was in the middle of Organic 2 when I took the exam. I honestly focused most of my studying on reading and bio... but that's because I like reading comp and bio, lol... I could have used the chemistry help more than anything but I'd read it for 20 minutes and fall asleep. I say get really good at the areas you know you can be good in so you don't make any dumb mistakes, study as much as you can tolerate in areas that bore you, and all will be well.

 

[nparikh84]

Test Date:
January 2005
Study Method:
Summer 2004--Kaplan Book, just reading review material and doing questions after each chapter; I was too lazy to do the actual Practice Exams
Winter Break 2005--PCAT Professor, just did the practice questions over and over again (probably about 1-2 hours a day...skippin a few days every now and then); Once again I got too lazy and didn't do the practice exams on pcat professor
Score:
95th percentile

 

[Allie_g81]

You need to think about what kind of test taker you are...did you do well on the SAT/ACT - how did you study for those tests? I knew I was good at standardized tests, plus the school I really wanted didn't require the PCAT but I thought I'd take it anyway, just in case. I have a background in science (BA's in Chem and Biochem) but I wasn't sure how much O-chem, and general Bio stuff I remembered. I studied only the 3-4 days before the test by just reading through the review sections in the Kaplan book and taking the practice test once. I ended up with a 97%. My advice to take a second look at the O-chem and Calc stuff in the reviews b/c there was a lot more than I was anticipating. Also, the Anatomy and Phys. class I was taking really helped out on some of the Bio stuff. Good luck!

 

[jdpharmd?]

Use the search feature. There are lots of PCAT posts with scores, books, courses, timeframes, etc all posted.

Barrons book for a week or two, 96% composite... 2002?

 

[hopeful05]

5 hrs!! (i did the Q's in barron)
I took it in March 2004 and I thought i would just walk in..see what its like...then prepare for the october one...but i didn't have too...it was easier back in march..we didn't even have an essay...I was lucky....I had just taken A & P and organic chem...it all helped me more than i thought it would...98%

other than that--i think the best thing is to stick to one book and make sure you know it cover to cover...that always works for me-- instead of wasting my time on a couple of books...i make sure i understand all the principles and concepts...then get practise so that you can develop some speed...if you get in the habit of doing some calculations...it gets easier day by day...and in the test you are that much comfortable with it.... just make sure you know the life of a RBC...LOL...they put that on every test... 😉

but other than that--i do think everyone has their own study style...and u know what ur strong subjects are and what the weak ones are...do what suits you best.... If you work at it..you'll get the rewards...G'Luck... 👍

 

[ForgetMeNot]

However long it took to look at those few sample questions in the PCAT registration booklet.

 

[fairyofsong]

Geeeezze! You all did excellent on the PCAT... reading your scores makes me feel horrible!! 🙂 lol You all should be really proud-the highest mine got was 70% overall due to Biology mostly.. but anyways, good job!!!

 

[GoMeesh]

I'm somewhat of a procrastinator with these things... haha.

I studied during the week before the exam. I had planned on going through the whole Kaplan review book (which I recommend!) but that obviously didn't happen. I was only able to get through the Chemistry section.

I took the partial sample exam from the PCAT website.

I have a BS in Biological Sciences (Cell, molecular, developmental bio concentration).

91 Composite.

Good LUCK!

 

[Betty'sBeast]

There are some super studiers around this forum. 3-4 hours a day for a couple of months is, in my opinion, a crazy amount of time to spend on studying for a standardized test. I have said this before and I will say it again, if you actually learn what you are taught in your pre-reqs, you don't need to study for the PCAT. It's just review questions! But, if you've been out of school for a while, I can understand brushing up on a few areas. I recommend doing it the easy way, learn it the first time, and remember it!

 

[Betty'sBeast]

BTW, I got a 98% composite. I know, I know, I should have studied more so I could have had a 99% Seriously though, if you know what you were doing in your science classes, you'll do fine.

 

[nikkai]

There are some super studiers around this forum. 3-4 hours a day for a couple of months is, in my opinion, a crazy amount of time to spend on studying for a standardized test. I have said this before and I will say it again, if you actually learn what you are taught in your pre-reqs, you don't need to study for the PCAT. It's just review questions! But, if you've been out of school for a while, I can understand brushing up on a few areas. I recommend doing it the easy way, learn it the first time, and remember it!

But then how would you catch up on the sleep you missed in class? 😴

 

[Betty'sBeast]

This is another thing I have always wondered about, sleeping in class. Now I'm sure that nobody here has ever slept in class, but I just don't understand it. You're already out of bed, the hardest part of class!

 

[Sosumi]

This is another thing I have always wondered about, sleeping in class. Now I'm sure that nobody here has ever slept in class, but I just don't understand it. You're already out of bed, the hardest part of class!

Oh believe you me it's very easy! Some professors, either by the dryness of their lecture or the monotone of their voice, will make you doze off without realizing it. Also, so many students are sleep deprived that if they do make it to class, the other half of your effort is trying to concentrate enough to stay awake and follow the lecture.

 

[Meo_em]

I think it's true about if you learned it the first time or not. I took the pcat about a year after grad with my bio degree and had not taken chem and calc since freshman year or so. so i guess a few years of not looking at any chem or o chem. I just took out my old books and went through every chapter or so working the in chapter problems of chem and o chem. well half way through the organic book. then knew there would be calc so looked at the first few chapters and took out a algebra book to remind myself of the formulas needed. Who remembers the area of a cylinder? I had an old barron pcat book but didn't find it too helpful. oh i think the most helpful thing was making myself put away the calculator and do all calc by hand or mind. solving problems just became automatic. This all sounds like alot of time but i actually barely spent a week or so to look at it. sometimes less than an hour a day or a ch. a day because i just had a newborn and he was always up every two hours. So between being a full-time mom and skimming old text books I managoed to show up to the pcat without sleep and make an 89 comp. It's no 98 but I was very proud at the moment considering how much i had to juggle. So if you have plenty of free time and aren't tied down with a baby you probably will do even better!

 

[tongiecc]

how many months/weeks/days before the PCAT did you begin to study?
how many hours per day?
what sources best prepared you?
score?

Try to begin studing a few months before you take the test, but not so far in advance that you will forget everything. Additionally, it will help to get a Barron's or Peterson's study guide as these will expose you to the format/structure of the test, provide practice questions, and tell you the answer to those questions as well as when the incorrect choices would be correct(very useful, practically triples the study guide's effectiveness). Dependent upon what kind of student/studier you are will determine how much time you should dedicate to this, but try to set it up where you are studing the information more often as you near the test date. Also one KEY thing to realize is your time limits and time/question ratio for each section (be especially careful on the quant section), or in essence be aware of the pace you need to work at. I studied with the Barron's/Peterson's guides a few weeks before the test and got 99% on the composite with a 99% on every section but quant where I got a 95%, so bascially, the books can do you a lot of good and it pays to study and be prepared.

Best of luck, I'm sure you will do great 👍

J

 

[Raining]

how many months/weeks/days before the PCAT did you begin to study?
how many hours per day?
what sources best prepared you?
score?

I have noticed that some of you score very high with little effort. Personally, I think I have probably forgot a lot of the little details from classes such as gen chem II, trig, and geometry; therefore, I wanted to see if any of you were in my same boat, and see how you faired by how you prepared.

1. Start from summer to prepare for the November 2004 PCAT. 2 hours/week for biology, no preparation for chemistry, 1 hour total for math, just went over the calculus and statistics formula. In my personal opinion, math and chemistry are easy if you study pretty well on the pre-requisite classes. Build up the habit of using NO CALCULATOR when working on the problems. Biology is a job of memorization, keep to go over the material once in a while.

2. English is my second language, so 1-2 hours/day reading the magazines and GRE vocalbulary.

3. Source: biology Cliffnotes, no source for math and chemistry, GRE kalplan verbal workbook for verbal section

4. 95 percentile.

 

[bananaface]

I didn't study. hehe

 

[laura_mideon]

Studied 2 times (about 2 hours each)
Studied from a kaplan book
Only studied the verbal section
85% composite (without taking either of the required chemistry's or studying them [it's disgustingly easy to guess on this section]....or maybe just lucky...and was only 1/4th of the way through the second bio...that was my worst section)