pre-PCAT jitters

[lusciousleelee]

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I'm taking the PCAT on the 10th in Jan and I've been studying all Christmas break for about 6-10 hrs a day. I'm using the Dr. Collins study material and so far it's helped me a lot to review everything, but for some reason I'm still nervous about going in and taking the PCAT. I'm not expecting to score in the 90's, but I just need a 50 to get an interview at the school I'm going to. I guess I'm just afraid that when I walk in and take the test none of the questions will be over any of the material I've studied. I've taken all of my pre-requisites and I've made A's in all chemistry courses and even immunology. This is like my 3rd time taking this test, because the first 2 times I didn't study at all. I'm not sure how similar the questions from the material I've studied will be compared to the actual PCAT.

 

[Celticspride58]

Try not to stress it or worry too much. The worst thing you can do at this point is to stress. It sounds like you have prepared the best that you can, and now all you have left to do is execute it. Personally, it wouldn't have mattered to me whether or not I studied 5 days, 5 months, or even 5 years... I would be nervous and have jitters regardless. Don't let them get the best of you. Just be confident in what you are doing and focus more on now timing and the bigger concepts to get you through! Good luck!

 

[owlegrad]

Hopefully someone in the PCAT forum can help. 👍

 

[kys2000]

I'm taking the PCAT on the 10th in Jan and I've been studying all Christmas break for about 6-10 hrs a day. I'm using the Dr. Collins study material and so far it's helped me a lot to review everything, but for some reason I'm still nervous about going in and taking the PCAT. I'm not expecting to score in the 90's, but I just need a 50 to get an interview at the school I'm going to. I guess I'm just afraid that when I walk in and take the test none of the questions will be over any of the material I've studied. I've taken all of my pre-requisites and I've made A's in all chemistry courses and even immunology. This is like my 3rd time taking this test, because the first 2 times I didn't study at all. I'm not sure how similar the questions from the material I've studied will be compared to the actual PCAT.

If this is your 3rd, I would say to expect questions with difficulty similar to your 1st and 2nd times. I found the PCAT to be harder than the practice questions and Dr. Collins. Even though both are a great resource, direct memorization, I feel, is not as helpful as really understanding the problem. For example, in stoichiometry, if you memorize the process of conversion but don't really understand how the process works then you will most likely not be able to adapt to the new problem that you will find on the PCAT. I would also focus down this last week to the any weak areas you might have and time management. I found the first time I took the examine, time allotment was an issue for me. Not only should you know the material but also be able to retrieve it quickly. I didn't study for the last two days before the examine, ate a breakfast consisting of carbs (oatmeal) and protein (also ate choco coffee beans to get some caffeine without drinking coffee - didn't want the urge to go the bathroom to be an issue) and went to bed early for the two nights leading up to it. Be confident, do something stress relieving (workout, video games, movies, etc.)

If you are like me, don't eat anything that may upset your stomach a few days before the test.

 

[lusciousleelee]

I don't remember what the questions were like on either times I took the test. It was all a blur. I'm more worried about the biology section. How detailed are the questions? Because with the practice tests, the questions were really generic.

 

[lusciousleelee]

I don't know why I was freaking out. After studying the Dr. Collins review packet I jumped 33 points on my composite score! And I scored a 96 on the biology section!

 

[kys2000]

congrats and goodluck on your applications