PCAT Writing Scores!!!

[amritchiluwalia]

HOw important is PCAT writing score?? I got a 2, and I am really worried because of it. That section was after 4 sections of MCQ's, and by that time, my brain was fried. Obviously, I wasn't able to write a good essay. Is it as unimportant as the writing score of MCAT???

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[SobeGekko]

This is a very anecdotal answer because I don't know what schools look for but if you look and many who post their scores on SDN, many get 2s and 3s even if their composite is in the 90s. Their are a few 4s and very few 5s so my impression is that it is hard to score high on the writing portion.

 

[sASU]

This is a very anecdotal answer because I don't know what schools look for but if you look and many who post their scores on SDN, many get 2s and 3s even if their composite is in the 90s. Their are a few 4s and very few 5s so my impression is that it is hard to score high on the writing portion.

I got a 4 on the writing section, I thought it was by far the easiest portion of the exam. You just write about your opinion. Now the chem section, that bad boy is no joke.

 

[amritchiluwalia]

Actually, for me it was the exact opposite. Chem was the easiest (97th percentile), and writing was the hardest!

 

[acetyl]

I have taken the exam twice now and made 4's on the writing section both times. I've never claimed to be a right brained individual and as such, have never really been a good writer. I approached this section as if I was a grader of the exam and what I would look for to make a score of 4.

First, you want to make sure you follow the directions and you don't add any superfluous information to make their life any harder. I made sure I had an intro paragraph with a clear thesis and three main points that I could talk about in entire paragraphs down the road. Then I wrote 3 paragraphs, which were generally short and restated what I said in the thesis statement and had supporting statements. Last, I wrote a conclusion paragraph that restated everything I said before and maybe a suggestion to the issue. If you don't have many grammitical errors this strategy should get you a score of 4.

 

[TennisBoy78]

I've taken it three times, and got a range. First time: 5. Second time: 3. This last time (Oct 2006): 2. I can tell you that your essay depends so much on the topic you have to write about. I had a lot to say on my first attempt simply because the topic was more interesting to me. Also, you want to complete the essay before time is up. I didn't finish in my second and third attempts because I spent a lot of time trying to find out how I was going to write about such a stupid and trivial topic.

I got admitted to two pharmacy schools (out of the two that I applied) and the topics I had to write about during my interview were much more appealing. Maybe the PCAT will take note of this. Harcourt, you listening?

Don't get down by the writing section. It is the most subjective part of the exam, and pharmacy schools should not base your writing ability by a crammed 30 minute section based on such stupid topics!