Hello everyone!! My test is tomorrow and I’m a bit nervous! I’m scoring above 90th percentile on the chemistry, biology, and math, but I’m having trouble with the critical reading. Any tips on how to higher my critical reading score? Also, how representative is the Pearson practice test scoring to the actual PCAT? Thank you!
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Started by Ns96
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Hello! My tip for the critical reading: NEVER ASSUME!
A lot of the questions will have answer choices that seem like they could be correct because it is not blatantly wrong but always go back to the source and check whether they even mentioned that to begin with! The reading is not very long (about 3-4 paragraphs I think?) so it should be easy for you to go back and re-read parts before answering a question. Good luck!
A lot of the questions will have answer choices that seem like they could be correct because it is not blatantly wrong but always go back to the source and check whether they even mentioned that to begin with! The reading is not very long (about 3-4 paragraphs I think?) so it should be easy for you to go back and re-read parts before answering a question. Good luck!
@Ns96 - good luck! Try to figure out whatever the main idea is of each paragraph and the passage as a whole, in just a few words, because (1) almost every passage will ask for the main idea and (2) the correct answer for many questions will be the one that relates most closely to the main idea. Don't try to memorize details while reading - go back to the passage for your evidence because there will be something there that "proves" your answer for each question. Also, check the time after your second passage or so you have time to adjust your pacing up or down (you'll want to be at a pace of about 1 question per minute, so you should have 50 - 16 = 34 minutes left, more or less, after the second passage). Make sure you mark an answer for every question even if you don't know the answer because there's no penalty for guessing or wrong answers!
Now go get your 90%+ score!
P.S. If you're score above the 90th percentile in the 3 science sections, your composite score can still be in the 90s even if the critical reading section didn't go very well, so don't stress too much at this point! Besides, pharmacy programs are going to be really impressed by your high scores in the challenging science sections.
Now go get your 90%+ score!
P.S. If you're score above the 90th percentile in the 3 science sections, your composite score can still be in the 90s even if the critical reading section didn't go very well, so don't stress too much at this point! Besides, pharmacy programs are going to be really impressed by your high scores in the challenging science sections.
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