Recommendations from PCAT math geeks!

[pharmschooler]

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Help a girl out!

I'm having difficulty bringing my score up on the PCAT's math section. I seem to be scoring right in the middle, but I'd much rather score around ~70 - 80 (at least).

I'm pretty sure a big part of the problem is that I start on a problem, realize it's long and complicated, try to bang it out, and waste a bunch of time on that one question.

If you've scored well on the math section, what's your secret? Do you do the easy/quick questions first then go back and work on the harder questions? Do you practice all the time and are able to finish the whole section quickly?

I find that much of what's covered in the math section doesn't come intuitively for me and often doesn't reflect what my math courses have covered (unlike all the other sections, which seem to mesh very well with what I've studied). I'm finishing Calc I this semester.

For the record...I have Dr. Collins' material, but find it sort of useless. I've been practicing with the official practice PCATs; they seem more helpful to my style of learning.

 

[Notecard]

I went through and did all the problems I knew how to do, regardless of how long/difficult they were. I ended up finishing the section with maybe 10 unanswered around the 5 minute mark. After that just worked the last ones as much as possible. Got a 77, which isn't great, but that's what I did.

I wouldn't study Collin's math section though. I used his packets as well but didn't study the math because it was so easy. I did two packets and missed two to three questions on each and just stopped. The math part of the PCAT caught me off guard completely. I'd say around half of the questions were more difficult than I expected.

 

[crazybob]

When I took math classes in high school and in undergrad, I was the type of person to do the homework that night when it was assigned. I was usually done with it before I woke up the next morning. Then in class the next day, when we reviewed some problems, I'd already remember how to do them from the homework.

It usually takes practice to just figure out how to work those problems in a given amount of time.

When I got to some calculus questions on QA that would have taken me too long, I skipped them and answered the ones I could. Then I came back to the calculus questions, and sometimes I just had to stare at it to figure out how to solve it.

 

[wmw]

I scored a 97% on the quant section. Here's my advice. Speed is the most important thing about this section. Build serous speed on all algebraic manipulation including work problems, know ALL basic stats concepts, ALL. For calc, work the intense type of word problems you can find in the pearson practice tests, they are of comparable difficulty to the real deal. Work integrals and derivatives with quotient rule, chain rule etc.. get quick on those. If you want to score in the high 90s youll need to get the tough calc word problems right, theres usually 2-3 of them on any given PCAT. If you can't get those down you can still hit in the upper 80s with good performance on the rest of the probs.

 

[pharmschooler]

I scored a 97% on the quant section. Here's my advice. Speed is the most important thing about this section. Build serous speed on all algebraic manipulation including work problems, know ALL basic stats concepts, ALL. For calc, work the intense type of word problems you can find in the pearson practice tests, they are of comparable difficulty to the real deal. Work integrals and derivatives with quotient rule, chain rule etc.. get quick on those. If you want to score in the high 90s youll need to get the tough calc word problems right, theres usually 2-3 of them on any given PCAT. If you can't get those down you can still hit in the upper 80s with good performance on the rest of the probs.

Thanks; this sounds like some solid advice. It's been about 8 years since I've seen statistics, so I could use some review...it has been my weakest area (though I was really good at it at one point in time)!

 

[OptimistPrime]

timing is key. practice questions over and over, i would do any question i can get my hands on. i got 91 on my last quant section and i was very disappointed because i was expecting higher. this time around i will do more practice questions including the dr collins, kaplan and the ones in the official pearson practice tests. also go over all the questions you did whether correct or incorrect. sometimes you come to a question while studying and you dont know if you should do it in one method or another...you do it and you get it correct but if you dont go back to review it you will find yourself in the same situation on the real exam, trying to figure out if you should do it using one method or another but this time you may pick the wrong method if you don't remember the question exactly. goodluck

 

[banalday]

Thanks; this sounds like some solid advice. It's been about 8 years since I've seen statistics, so I could use some review...it has been my weakest area (though I was really good at it at one point in time)!

you're tested on stats on the PCAT? but that isn't even a pre-req 🙁 i won't be taking statistics, but i'll be taking biostatistics (bio major) is that sort of the same thing?

 

[dudecoolname]

Yea im not taking statistics this next semester, I was planning to take it after that...

Is there any other way I can learn all the stat. concepts?

 

[pharmschooler]

I (finally!) got my math scores up by quite a bit on the practice tests.

I think (for me, at least) the key lies in remaining calm, reading rather than freaking out, and knowing which problems will take too long to solve completely and being willing to take educated guesses to quickly rule answers out. Solving completely is a huge time-waster for most problems. Also, making sure I don't run out of time by ramping up my speed after 20 minutes helps a lot, too. Power through!

 

[pharmschooler]

Yea im not taking statistics this next semester, I was planning to take it after that...

Is there any other way I can learn all the stat. concepts?

Based on the practice tests, it appears there are only a few key statistical concepts covered, which wouldn't require a large statistics knowledge base.

That said, the Khan Academy is a lifesaver for reviewing concepts in many subjects. They have lots of videos here:http://www.khanacademy.org/