please help me preparing for the Jan. PCAT

[kev1220]

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Is anyone who have taken the actual pcat practiced with the cliffs practice tests?
I have been studying for the pcat for about two month now. I've been out of school for a several years now so I feel like I need to restudy the whole materials for the pcat.

I just finished studying the Kaplan, Barron, and Rea pcat flashcard books. And now I'm trying to do some practice tests using Cliffs note and I found out that the chem section is pretty hard, including organic chem.
I never expected to see questions like proton NMR, Mass spectrograph, and infrared spectrum questions with those peaks and number (ex: alcohol with a broad strong peak at 3200-3550 cm).
So I just started to study organic chem using DAT Kaplan review book.
Do you think this will be sufficient for actual organic section in pcat?
I've heard that the organic chem in actual pcat is pretty basic stuff. Is that true?
Also, chem sections have very few calculation questions, but lots of concept questions. Is real pcat like this too?

Also, math section is okay for me except for the calculus part. I did took the calculus class, but that was about 6 years ago. So I'm currently using Idiot's calculus book, however when I do the practice tests it seems like most of the calculus questions are pretty basic and easy. I'm about a half way through this book and I feel like maybe I'm wasting too much time studying the calculus. I'm still little concern because I heard from people that there are lots of calculus problems in the actual pcat.

Please give me some advise on how i should study. I would appreciate any other advise regarding other sections too. Thanks.

 

[pcproduct]

I took the PCAT in August of this year. The organic chemistry was few and not too difficult. If I remember correctly, most of what was covered dealt with reagents in reactions. All I used for the chemistry section was my Kaplan PCAT book, so I guess the Kaplan DAT book will suffice for you.

 

[diastole]

Take the Pearsons practice tests to see how they ask their questions. It will be far more accurate than the Barrons exams. I thought the test was a pretty good representation of the real thing but some people have said that it was too easy. Regardless, it will point you in the right direction to direct your studies. Take the exam and fill in your weak spots.

 

[brittnic2008]

Take the Pearsons practice tests to see how they ask their questions. It will be far more accurate than the Barrons exams. I thought the test was a pretty good representation of the real thing but some people have said that it was too easy. Regardless, it will point you in the right direction to direct your studies. Take the exam and fill in your weak spots.

I recommend the practice tests as well, if nothing else to get a general idea of HOW the questions will be asked. Barrons is WAY too easy.

 

[kev1220]

Take the Pearsons practice tests to see how they ask their questions. It will be far more accurate than the Barrons exams. I thought the test was a pretty good representation of the real thing but some people have said that it was too easy. Regardless, it will point you in the right direction to direct your studies. Take the exam and fill in your weak spots.

I just finished one of the pearson's practice tests and I did really good on the biology and chem sections. The chem section was not bad at all. The general chem questions were more like concept questions than the calculation and the organic questions were pretty basic and easy. However, I was so shocked with the math section. The precalculus and calculus were so so hard. The calculus questions in the Barron and cliffs practice tests are nothing compare to the pearsons practice tests. I don't know what to do now. I don't have any good calculus book to review and I don't want to spend any more money on books.
Any suggestion Diastole?

 

[diastole]

I just finished one of the pearson's practice tests and I did really good on the biology and chem sections. The chem section was not bad at all. The general chem questions were more like concept questions than the calculation and the organic questions were pretty basic and easy. However, I was so shocked with the math section. The precalculus and calculus were so so hard. The calculus questions in the Barron and cliffs practice tests are nothing compare to the pearsons practice tests. I don't know what to do now. I don't have any good calculus book to review and I don't want to spend any more money on books.
Any suggestion Diastole?

That was my experience too. I went in with lots of overconfidence because I saw the questions they were asking in the Kaplan exam and came out shocked at the types of questions on the Pearsons PCAT. Some of that math I barely remembered learning. I went to mathtv.com to review concepts I didn't remember. They have some videos that teach you how to do problems. It has been a year but I don't think there was a lot on calculus but that might have changed since.

If you don't want to spend money on books, maybe you can borrow a textbook from a friend or borrow from the library. If you have a bit of money, try one of those guidebooks like a Schaums guide for Calculus. Here is one on amazon for about $15. http://www.amazon.com/Schaums-Outli...=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260945569&sr=8-6

I haven't used this so you should check it out first to see if it works for you.

I learned the calculus basics so I could answer some questions quickly and on the real test I skipped harder calculus questions without really looking at them. On the math section, you want to maximize the amount of questions you get right more than you want to try to answer every question. You can miss a lot of questions on this section and still do well so it won't kill your score if you just skip some of the tougher ones. Most people run out of time anyway so it is in your best interest to skip questions that are time consuming so you make sure you have time to answer all the questions you know how to do.

The good news from this experience is that you didn't have this shock on test day in January. You still have plenty of time to review the concepts that were giving you trouble.

 

[kev1220]

That was my experience too. I went in with lots of overconfidence because I saw the questions they were asking in the Kaplan exam and came out shocked at the types of questions on the Pearsons PCAT. Some of that math I barely remembered learning. I went to mathtv.com to review concepts I didn't remember. They have some videos that teach you how to do problems. It has been a year but I don't think there was a lot on calculus but that might have changed since.

If you don't want to spend money on books, maybe you can borrow a textbook from a friend or borrow from the library. If you have a bit of money, try one of those guidebooks like a Schaums guide for Calculus. Here is one on amazon for about $15. http://www.amazon.com/Schaums-Outli...=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260945569&sr=8-6

I haven't used this so you should check it out first to see if it works for you.

I learned the calculus basics so I could answer some questions quickly and on the real test I skipped harder calculus questions without really looking at them. On the math section, you want to maximize the amount of questions you get right more than you want to try to answer every question. You can miss a lot of questions on this section and still do well so it won't kill your score if you just skip some of the tougher ones. Most people run out of time anyway so it is in your best interest to skip questions that are time consuming so you make sure you have time to answer all the questions you know how to do.

The good news from this experience is that you didn't have this shock on test day in January. You still have plenty of time to review the concepts that were giving you trouble.

I studied calculus for few hours earier today with "Mathtv.com". I love this website. It's almost like i'm in actual calculus class. It is very helpful. Thanks to you diastole. Also it seems like they are covering a pretty good amount of variety of calculus questions. I feel like just studying with the Mathtv would be enough for the actual pcat test. What do you think?

 

[diastole]

I studied calculus for few hours earier today with "Mathtv.com". I love this website. It's almost like i'm in actual calculus class. It is very helpful. Thanks to you diastole. Also it seems like they are covering a pretty good amount of variety of calculus questions. I feel like just studying with the Mathtv would be enough for the actual pcat test. What do you think?

Maybe if you really understand the concepts. The actual calculations on the PCAT aren't too difficult so if you know how to set up the problem, it should be easy to get the right answer. Do they have enough practice problems there so you can internalize those lessons? Sometimes on a exam you may know how to do a problem but when you see all of these problems in random order on an exam with the added time pressure, you get mixed up. Practice usually solves that problem. If there are enough practice problems or you can find them from another source, you should be fine.

 

[nonzerosum]

I've heard that calc trig substitution and trig functions, improper integrals are on the math section of the PCAT, is this true?

Has the math section really gotten this much more difficult?

thanks

 

[diastole]

I've heard that calc trig substitution and trig functions, improper integrals are on the math section of the PCAT, is this true?

Has the math section really gotten this much more difficult?

thanks

I skipped any problem with trig functions or more difficult integrals so I can't say what type they were. If I didn't know the attack method of doing a problem within a second or two or I did know but there was too much calculation involved, I guessed and moved on right away. Most people run out of time so if you are worried about those questions, just skip them. Make sure you aren't leaving huge chunks of material that you don't know though. It won't help your score if you decide not to answer any algebra questions, for example.

 

[pharm B]

I think I googled Trig Chart or something like that and found a site that had free pdf downloads of Trig function and Calc properties charts. I paid for the 2 electronic practice tests on the Pearson site and studied out of the Kaplan book.

My only gripe is that the Kaplan book didn't prepare me at all for the Bio portion.

 

[luckyphooey]

I also suggest taking the official Pearson's Practice Test. It was crazy reflective of my composite PCAT score once I took the actual test and plus you get a feel of what the test is like.

 

[akatba]

well actually i have just started the prerequisites for phar D program.. so i was also preparing myself for PCAT as i have heard its very hard. so maybe we should help each other? what do you say?as i am very new and i need alot of advice.

 

[jet1]

Just go into like any other exam.

I studied for it, but not to what the extent of some people I know. I used roughly my whole summer to prepare.

When I have time and receptive to actually prepare, I will actually study. I will be no farther than a couple of feet from my PCAT book. Maybe it is not open, but it is close to me.

Since it is only a week away, I recommend to take this time to try to just to keep everything fresh in your mind. DO NOT BRING YOUR STUDY MATERIAL WITH YOU TO THE EXAM. It will freak you out before the exam. That is if you are comfortable without it being with you.

While taking the exam, just treat it like any college exam honestly. Answer the ones you know first for easy points. If you can't get an answer within a few seconds, then skip it. When you go back to the ones you skip, DO NOT FREAK OUT IF YOU NOTICE YOU SKIPPED EVERY OTHER QUESTION. Just go back to the ones you know you can finish. Always allow time to fill in all unanswered questions at the end of each section. IT won't harm your score. BRING A SIMPLE ANALOG WATCH. IT WILL HELP YOU PACE YOURSELF.

The only section you should be really concerned about is the math because that is the last section, and I heard majority of the test takers do not finish this section. If you don't remember how to intergrate a problem, skip it.

GENERAL TIPS:
ANSWER EVERY QUESTION
STAY CALM
WORK FAST AND PACE YOURSELF

Those are my 2 cents.