Real PCAT compared to Pearson Practice Tests

[pharmislife]

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How similiar were they and how many questions were used/seen from the pearson's practice exam on the actual pcat?

 

[alexyoonable]

If my memory works well, I think I saw at least 5 similar questions for bio and a few for verbal. They give you the exact same figure but the question is either worded differently or is opposite of the practice one. I dont think the practice composite is correct though since they calculate that based on the questions you get right out of 40, while in the real exam the composite is based on the test taker pool. For reading, most of the questions were "what is the purpose of a paragraph or what is implied in a paragraph" so you can't exactly skim through to find the key words :/

 

[pharmislife]

If my memory works well, I think I saw at least 5 similar questions for bio and a few for verbal. They give you the exact same figure but the question is either worded differently or is opposite of the practice one. I dont think the practice composite is correct though since they calculate that based on the questions you get right out of 40, while in the real exam the composite is based on the test taker pool. For reading, most of the questions were "what is the purpose of a paragraph or what is implied in a paragraph" so you can't exactly skim through to find the key words :/

how was chem and the quant section? i have dr collins and noticed the quant section for it was a bit easier than on the pearson practice

 

[alexyoonable]

how was chem and the quant section? i have dr collins and noticed the quant section for it was a bit easier than on the pearson practice

I kinda have no memory of the chem section. it was kinda easy. there are multiple tricky/long questions in quantitative but i believe they are experimental. I randomly guessed a bunch and got 99%. Timing is everything for quant section 😀

 

[pharmislife]

ohh okay! any studying tips? 🙂

 

[Breathe_Easy]

To answer the original question, I thought the Pearson exams reflected the exam pretty well. It allowed me to prepare for what was to come on the actual exam, which I found to be a little more difficult--but scored better than on the practice exams.

Taking the PCAT in July for the first time, my studying was basically purchasing the official tests from the Pearson site and taking them as if they were the real deal. I sat in an unfamiliar room with nothing but paper, a pencil, and noise cancelling earbuds (no music!!!). I took the exam in the exact order as it was presented in the actual exam, timing myself to make sure my pace was good and to get a feel for what the questions would be asking. I feel like this was extremely helpful to me when I took the exam.

 

[Sandra Molina]

To answer the original question, I thought the Pearson exams reflected the exam pretty well. It allowed me to prepare for what was to come on the actual exam, which I found to be a little more difficult--but scored better than on the practice exams.

Taking the PCAT in July for the first time, my studying was basically purchasing the official tests from the Pearson site and taking them as if they were the real deal. I sat in an unfamiliar room with nothing but paper, a pencil, and noise cancelling earbuds (no music!!!). I took the exam in the exact order as it was presented in the actual exam, timing myself to make sure my pace was good and to get a feel for what the questions would be asking. I feel like this was extremely helpful to me when I took the exam.

Hi, are you able to print the Pearson test so that u can practice, or are these test only to be taken once?

 

[Breathe_Easy]

Hi, are you able to print the Pearson test so that u can practice, or are these test only to be taken once?

You may take the test once, then review it after. You get a score report after that shows what your estimated PR score would be for each section as well as composite. I don't believe you can print it, I'm looking at it now and do not see an option.

 

[Son_Goku]

The Pearson exams are harder because they word every question longer than it needs to be.

On the PCAT, questions are much more streamlined.

 

[hopeful pharm]

How is bio and chem compared to the pearson practice exams? Chem seems really easy on pearson practice tests.

 

[pharmislife]

To answer the original question, I thought the Pearson exams reflected the exam pretty well. It allowed me to prepare for what was to come on the actual exam, which I found to be a little more difficult--but scored better than on the practice exams.

Taking the PCAT in July for the first time, my studying was basically purchasing the official tests from the Pearson site and taking them as if they were the real deal. I sat in an unfamiliar room with nothing but paper, a pencil, and noise cancelling earbuds (no music!!!). I took the exam in the exact order as it was presented in the actual exam, timing myself to make sure my pace was good and to get a feel for what the questions would be asking. I feel like this was extremely helpful to me when I took the exam.

which exams on the pearson reflected the real exam the most? test 2, 3 or 4?

 

[hopeful pharm]

which exams on the pearson reflected the real exam the most? test 2, 3 or 4?

Which date are you taking the pcat, mine is on sept 18th and do you have any idea about what can be experimental questions? I think the passage based ones might be experimental since it did not count on pearson exams

 

[Son_Goku]

which exams on the pearson reflected the real exam the most? test 2, 3 or 4?

The one with the most difficult math.

 

[Boomz]

I think the Pearson practice tests were quite similar to the actual PCAT. Even the score range that Pearson gives you is close to how you'll do on the PCAT. I found the critical reading section harder on the PCAT than Pearson's, though. The overall difficulty level of Pearson's practice tests is close to the PCAT.