Quantitative 10/18 - wtf

[aleemmerani]

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Hey everyone, I'm new here. hello =). I just registered yesterday after my first PCAT experience (10/18). Sorry if this post is too huge - I wanted to explain my experience(s)!

So I had a couple questions, hoping some people could answer more accurately - I wasn't able to find enough concrete info.

I studied the entire Kaplan book - front to back - and did the practice exam. I did well on the practice, except not too well on verbal but it was late at night 😎. I deSTROYED chem on the practice, bio wasn't bad but I brushed up on everything I missed or wasn't solid in. HOWEVER - the quantitative section was ridiculously DIFFERENT on the ACTUAL pcat I wrote yesterday as opposed to kaplan AND the online harcourt exams (which I also did).

THERE WAS SO MUCH STATS😱!!!!!! The questions on the PCAT 10/18 for quantitative had so much more reading involved in teh questions. Where on the practice there were straightforward maybe 1-2 lines MAX, or 3 on a graph(?), there were what seemed like 2-5 lines in each question, and like paragraphs for graph/tables. WTF. I took stats 2 years ago, the max I expected to see was probability which I do great on but standard/pop deviations and alll that bull I don't even remember! I ran out of time and literally probably had 10-15 questions which I bubbled all "C" like a fiend.

(Btw I can't remember where I heard/read but, what's the theory behind bubbling all C's has a greater prob of receiving scores than others?)

I read some other threads which touched on QR from yesterday but it was a lot to hash through because people were analyzing all of their sections together. Did anyone else feel this way or was I the only one who was in this little terrified world? I did well on EVERYTHING except STATS.

ANYWAYS - now that that's over - what can I do to prepare for the jan pcat with respect to time management on the QR section? Bc I felt only like 60% of the Kaplan material was reflected on the actual pcat. What other books/guides do people use to score well on QR? (any 90+ pcat'ers?)

Thanks so much for your time guys, and I'd appreciate your input! 😀

 

[govtmule]

That's interesting because i thought Kaplan was a pretty thorough overall review. I had no trouble with the stats. I will tell you NOT to waste money on PCAT Professor. That thing is awful... lots of repeat questions, almost all one-liners, and none of them are anywhere near as difficult as the actual exam. Again, I don't know that it is gonna much better than Kaplan for quantitative review from the books I have used.

 

[aleemmerani]

Soft. Back to my uni textbook I guess 🙁.

 

[jmoini]

i would disagree and say kaplan is not very good for math.

use an old calc textbook or something, and then you need some stats/probability/algebra.

in my opinion kaplan's strength is bio (excluding microbio). chem/ochem are okay, but there has to be better review material out there.

 

[Transformer]

I've read and done almost all the practice exams there are for PCAT. The key to doing well on bio, chem, and math sections is knowing your weaknesses. The more practice tests you take, the more aware you are of the type of questions you are answering incorrectly. Instead of using only your review books, consider learning the material by reviewing your old notes and text books and possibly consider retaking the entire class.

You want to make sure you understand the concept and be able to recognize obvious wrong answers on the real exam. All in all, review books are there mainly to help you get used to the format and style of the test. It does not replace your text books nor those it serve as a good source of teaching material.

To OP, if I was you and I know I am weak at Stats problem, I would definitely save those questions for last and focus on the other questions I'm good at. No point stressing over a few stats questions when there are many other easier questions waiting for you to answer.

 

[PrepharmKID]

I know everyone got the email, but those practice tests are EXTREMELY helpful that they put out. They say that if you use both of the 2 practice tests, $50 i think for both, 80% of the PCAT are questions from them. Just a tip for those that are taking it again. I definitely saw questions from the practice test.