I took the PCAT on July 27th & I'm retaking it on Sept 21 because I didn't do so well as I wanted to. Esp. the RC & Verbal. I found RC to be very dense and the questions were really ambiguos. I really thought I did well on the verbal section but the score doesn't show that
🙁 My computer actually froze and logged me out after that section so I'm trying to contact pearson if there was any glich in the system that may have affected the score (27) because I thought I did well on it! I also had atleast 5Q's from Collins review! English is my third language so I didn't expect to improve my vocab in 3 weeks for Verbal so I concentrated on the subjects that were more important for me to do well on - QA, Chem, BIO!
Anyways I used Dr. Collins dated as far as 2009 also. It was extremely helpful for chem, QA, and bio. I actually thought that Kaplan Bio was very helpful too. I thoroughly read ALL the bio chapters from it, made my small notes, reviewed all the study reviews from Collins and did the practice sets. I scored the highest in BIO (84) and apparently the only section I finished in 25 minutes. The rest I need to work on timing - i ran out of time for ~3?'s per section because I spent too much time on them. I only had 3 weeks - 3 hrs/day of studying due to summer class, and work. QA and Chem review questions in Dr. Collins were really close to whats on the exam. (maybe the new updates have more recent questions because there's geometry on my packets which isn't on the exam)
I have more material than time to study
🙁 I got the Kaplan classroom material from a friend who took the class with flashcards, the kaplan self study book, Dr. Collins, REA flashcards - great for reviewing, barrons - 2002 version from family member! I also have the Princeton Review MCAT material from the class I received for free in a raffle. Might use that for practicing for RC! If you think you do not need to study for that section because you really can't study for it - I thought the same and didn't do so well
🙁 I didn't get a chance to purchase the Pearson practice tests - def. will do that for the next one.
I personally found watching the videos for chem and bio at below link to be helpful - I am a visual learner and its great to have someone reteach you the material in a more interactive way! They are short & on the point.
http://www.brightstorm.com/science
Sorry for the long msg but i really hope this helps! I took a standardized test after a VERY long time - last time I took one was during HS for the AP test in a firehouse - lol!!
🙂 So the testing center and the computerized version itself had a hugh impact on me - I kind of felt overwhelming when I got there and nervous throughout the test! idk why! It was in the evening too - 5PM
🙁 For anyone taking the PCAT for the first time - prepare well ahead!
👍
