preparing for PCat

[lucy86]

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hey everyone...I'm planning to take the Pcat next year this time, can you guys give me some advices, like what to do and what not to do starting now. where to get help from, what's the best way to prepare and all the other reccomendations and suggestions. I am going to be done with my prereq's by summer 07, and will transfer into a four year from a CC in fall 07.
thank u 😉

 

[penguins429]

as for studying - do whatever works best for you
but as for a test taking tip that i think really helped me do well was counting the number of each letter choice -- it may seem ridiculous or superstitious - but when i felt myself running out of time, with unanswered questions, or questions i was unsure about, i would count the number of A's, B's, C's, and D's to try to make them all about even -- I wouldn't actually change any answers that I was sure about, but if I noticed that there was a significantly lower number of A's than all the other answers - I would fill in the ones I left blank with A's (as long as the answer wasn't ridiculous). I would never waste time doing this when I have time to answer questions right, but when I had time at the end of a section, and was stuck without a clue on a few questions, this helped me out ...

 

[HarcourtMonopol]

as for studying - do whatever works best for you
but as for a test taking tip that i think really helped me do well was counting the number of each letter choice -- it may seem ridiculous or superstitious - but when i felt myself running out of time, with unanswered questions, or questions i was unsure about, i would count the number of A's, B's, C's, and D's to try to make them all about even -- I wouldn't actually change any answers that I was sure about, but if I noticed that there was a significantly lower number of A's than all the other answers - I would fill in the ones I left blank with A's (as long as the answer wasn't ridiculous). I would never waste time doing this when I have time to answer questions right, but when I had time at the end of a section, and was stuck without a clue on a few questions, this helped me out ...

Wow. Do you honestly believe that actually helped you out? Seriously? If it were me, I would just take credit for my good score rather than attribute it to some fallacious guessing scheme.

Let's make sure we clear something up. For a question with four possible answers (A,B,C and D), the probability that A is correct is 25%, the probability that B is correct is 25%, C - 25%, and D - 25%. This is completely independent, I repeat, completely independent, of your other answers in that subsection or for any other section on the PCAT. In fact, it is completely independent of any other answer choices you have ever answered on any multiple choice test in your entire academic career. A significantly lower number of A's in the quantitative section does not increase the probability that a future answer in the quantitative section will be A. Likewise, a significantly higher number of A's in a section does not decrease the probability that a future answer in that section will be A. I can see how some could intuitively think this way, but this thinking is simply wrong and not something I'd pass on to any future PCAT takers.

I did 99th percentile the first time I took it and I found that what helped me the most was relearning how to do calculations quickly and accurately by hand. It's not much advice, but I think it can definitely help improve quantitative and chem scores. Hope this helps.

 

[penguins429]

i dont think thats why i did so good-i did good because i knew the material -- however, i do believe that this strategy helped me get the majority questions i did not know, right-which could bump me up a few percentage points
---and maybe it had no effect on my score whatsoever, theres no way to really know

 

[Me+PharmD]

Practice tests, practice test, practice tests. Going into the PCAT you should already have an idea of the material but you pretty much have to refresh yourself. I would suggest getting a couple of different study books (really cheap on amazon, I saved over $37.00 on the Kapan book and it was $46.00) and practice under timed conditions. The time is the biggest killer! In Oct. I scored a composite of 83% but unfortunately my reading and verbal were both 56%. I scored 93% in the chemistry while taking Organ. I, 87% in the math while taking Calc. I, and 78% in biology with only one general bio. class under my belt. This past test I was much more confident because I knew the material (having completed Organ. and Calc.) and I feel as if I scored well into the 90%. Definitely use different practice tests (combination of Barrons, Cliffs, and Kaplan) because it's pivotal to practice under timed conditions. One more thing, eliminating bogus answers is extremely benificial if you have to guess (which you will), because this increases your chances of being correct from 25% to 50%.