Question for people who took July 2012

[royalblue6]

Hey guys I'm registered for writing the PCAT this September and I'm a little concerned about the new revisions they've made and have a few questions about it.

I took orgo I this summer but haven't taken either orgo II or microbiology which scares me because of the addition of the microbiology section. Also the diseases and drugs section has me confused.

I'm also not sure how thoroughly I should review the science subjects, should I know every intricate detail or have a firm grasp on the main concepts and the reason for why they occur? I've heard PCAT wants to test your ability to problem-solve more than your ability to memorize.

Also, what kind of microbiology questions are there on the PCAT? I borrowed my friends microbiology textbook and it seems like the whole textbook is supposed to be tested, all of which I obviously have no time to study. What kind of topics should I mainly focus on?

Thank you all in advance!

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[gopher13]

With only a month left there is no use in trying to read the entire book (99.999% would be useless anyway). I would start by looking at the PCAT site and seeing what areas they focus on within the bio section and find those chapters, read the summaries and if you don't understand it look over the specific sections in the chapter.
From Microbiology here are some things that I would focus on:
Prokaryote vs Eukaryote (what the differences are, exc)
What each organelle is used for
Difference between gram +/-
Cell Cycle (lysogenic vs lytic, meosis vs mitosis)
Have you taken Human Physiology/Anatomy?

 

[royalblue6]

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I took it about 2 years ago but I'm obviously going to review it again. What are the questions like on the test btw?

I'm assuming lots of conceptual ones right?

 

[sodiumd]

I've heard PCAT wants to test your ability to problem-solve more than your ability to memorize.

This doesn't make sense. Memorization is inherently involved in any kind of study. I guess what they mean is don't memorize the genetic code.

 

[gopher13]

. What are the questions like on the test btw?

I'm assuming lots of conceptual ones right?

If I were you I would take a kaplan(free)/pearson(more accurate) practice test and see what they are like. From what i can remember however, many are pretty specific such as what hormone does what, where that hormone is produce, exc.

 

[royalblue6]

This doesn't make sense. Memorization is inherently involved in any kind of study. I guess what they mean is don't memorize the genetic code.

Yeah sorry I meant that you cant just memorize a bunch of words and that's it. You need to UNDERSTAND the material as well and be able to apply them successfully.

 

[sodiumd]

Yeah sorry I meant that you cant just memorize a bunch of words and that's it. You need to UNDERSTAND the material as well and be able to apply them successfully.

I didn't intend for you to take it personally. I was simply making a joke out of this meaningless claim that is perpetuated among the PCAT community. I even saw this claim in the Kaplan book. I think it messes with people's minds.

 

[Mouat]

That drugs & disease section got me badly on July pcat. There was that section, then a lot of microbio & human system questions were also based on diseases and drugs. Dr Collins bio review was helpful to certain extent in microbial diseases but July pcat (bio section) had some unexpected disease / drugs questions.

 

[royalblue6]

That drugs & disease section got me badly on July pcat. There was that section, then a lot of microbio & human system questions were also based on diseases and drugs. Dr Collins bio review was helpful to certain extent in microbial diseases but July pcat (bio section) had some unexpected disease / drugs questions.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of. Did you take Microbiology before the PCAT?

 

[Mouat]

That's exactly what I'm afraid of. Did you take Microbiology before the PCAT?

No I didnt. Recently picked up Schaum's outlines Microbio book, hoping it will help in sept retake.

 

[Ezoption]

No I didnt. Recently picked up Schaum's outlines Microbio book, hoping it will help in sept retake.

I found that the videos on YouTube by khan academy helped me with studying microbiology.
It might also help those that have not taken the class yet.

 

[sr804]

When you say " drugs and diseases section" do you mean that the questions are as specific as asking what kind of drug to use for a specific disease? Can you please elaborate a bit? Thanks.

 

[tinkerD]

Some of the questions in the microbio section were insanely specific that even my college microbio course didn't help. The course covered a lot of bacteria and diseases but I obviously couldn't remember all of them. I just studied mainly the Collins microbio review and was able to pull of a 99 in Bio