Pcat

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pharm2010

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Hi friends,

Please suggest me a good study guide for PCAT. :confused:

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I used barron's, but pretty much as a guide of what I needed to study. I don't know how good it is on it's own except maybe for the practice exams, which are fairly close to the real thing.
 
I read a Cliffs quick review for biology during the week leading up to the test. For chem, the night before the test, I did the practice problems that are dispersed in the chapters of my gen chem book - not the problems at the end of the chapter. Don't worry about memorizing the formulas, they're provided. Math is super simple. Reading and vocab - I don't know that you can prep much for. I think the prep books are good for taking practice exams, not really for reviewing the material. Microbus out
 
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I found the best study guide for the PCAT was an old edition of a MCaT science review book from princeton review my brother gave me. If you could get your ends on a science book the mcat kaplan or PR course that will be the only thing you need. I did not study for the Reading part, the math is just converting fractions to percents so really be comfortable with that, and the section with word analogies use a Miller analogies book unless you read alot. The analogy section you either know it or dont.
 
in my opinion barron's pcat review and cliff's notes are the best. the pcat doesn't go into very much detail so using textbooks is really too much. the review book has a very good outline and the cliff's notes gives you just what you need to know. i used them and scored into the 99th percentile
 
I used Cliff notes for Anatomy and Physiology - in my opinion, there was alot of that in the Bio section. I also used a HUGE word list (which I didn't get through) from an old SAT prep class. Also, Barron's as usual but I think the most useful thing for me was the A & P Cliff notes. Good luck on your PCAT!
 
I used Barrons and Kaplan PCAT.. for all I complain about the Kaplan PCAT book , the subject review was good... but WAY TO SIMILAR to their MCATS books which makes me suspicious... i also used cliff note for A and P and something called Schwan's reviews for General Chem... (just like Cliff notes but a buck cheaper!) and I got a score which no one would complain about! Best of luck.... I also found it useful to use the subject headings of the outlines in Barron's, and study them using my Gen Chem text book, most relevantly for points i was weak on... best of luck
 
Hello already PCAT takers!

I'm graduated with a Chemistry degree. I will be taking the PCAT in October. It will be best for me to decide how to prepare for it if I can get some information from the already PCAT takers. How long did you prepare for the PCAT and what was your over all score ? (if you don't mind) :) Which prep book did you use and would you recommend it? Your inputs are greatly appreciated!
 
pre-pharm said:
Hello already PCAT takers!

I'm graduated with a Chemistry degree. I will be taking the PCAT in October. It will be best for me to decide how to prepare for it if I can get some information from the already PCAT takers. How long did you prepare for the PCAT and what was your over all score ? (if you don't mind) :) Which prep book did you use and would you recommend it? Your inputs are greatly appreciated!

Hi Pre-pharm, I already PMed you with most of the questions you asked in this post but I wanted to add that it's probably not as bad as you expect. When I took the test, it was a lot easier than I thought it'd be. I probably studied a little here and there a month before and crammed the week before.
 
64microbus said:
I read a Cliffs quick review for biology during the week leading up to the test. For chem, the night before the test, I did the practice problems that are dispersed in the chapters of my gen chem book - not the problems at the end of the chapter. Don't worry about memorizing the formulas, they're provided. Math is super simple. Reading and vocab - I don't know that you can prep much for. I think the prep books are good for taking practice exams, not really for reviewing the material. Microbus out

What the hell are you doing in pharmacy if you think the math needs no practice??? You should be at MIT or something doing advanced mathmatics! . I sure can't figure out whats 1/3 of 40% without having to think about it for a moment or two. If you do that on the test, you will only get thru half of the test!!!
 
True, they don't give you much time, but the math skills needed to solve most of the problems, you learned by the 9th grade. I thought the math section of the PCAT was super simple, so I should be at MIT? I have a feeling they go a little deeper than 1/3 of 40% - Microbus out
 
South2006 said:
What the hell are you doing in pharmacy if you think the math needs no practice??? You should be at MIT or something doing advanced mathmatics! . I sure can't figure out whats 1/3 of 40% without having to think about it for a moment or two. If you do that on the test, you will only get thru half of the test!!!
One of my classmates has a degree in Applied Mathmatics from UCLA. People frequently ask him the same question. I would assume that it has something to do with actually getting a JOB, and not just having some cool degree.
 
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