September PCAT 2013

[vic89]

A thread for people who are taking the PCAT in September

How's everyone's studying going? I realized it's only a month away... and I haven't even started studying . I just bought all three Pearson's practice tests today. I'm taking Test 2 at the moment so I know what I need to focus on the most.

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[Khlorine]

did you use the newest dr collins with the july update as well? if so, are you willing to sell a copy of the chem section and new upate? i took my pcat today and did HORRIBLE and will need to sign up for the oct one if htere are any more seats. and i have to be on lock down for the next month or so... sigh.

I didn't. I just had the January 2013 update.

 

[isanders]

Nope, I wish I did better in July and finished my app in time or I would have... Haha

No worries, I'm sure youll have no problem getting in with your score anyways!

 

[chinsupak]

Verbal 33
RC 18
BIO 50 (WTF??)
CHEM 72
QA 61
Comp 45

Did absolutely terrible..
I studied for two weeks and I only mainly focused on Dr. Collins. Kinda funny because only 2 questions out of 400 questions from Collins were on the Bio exam. Chem was okay, I could've done better and QA, I ran out of time.. I don't think if I apply to any pharmacy school I will get an interview.. although my GPA is 3.6... Idk if it will happen.. Anyone?

 

[lilmamba]

Took the PCAT early this morning and got a 95 composite

I thought I completely bombed Chemistry but I ended up getting a 91. I EXCLUSIVELY used Collins, but I've been studying since June. I usually studied an average of 1 hour everyday. I probably went over all the Math, Quant, and Bio Collins Practice tests 3 or 4 times over. Didn't really touch Verbal (although I memorized all their vocab) or Reading Comprehension tests.

Collins=amazing. You will never need anything else for PCAT. I was so hesitant in the beginning to pay for it. But it's an investment and it is sooooo worth it.

 

[macrofied]

VB: 368/5
Bio: 402/46
RC: 379/17
QA: 393/33
Chem: 405/56
Com: 381/21

GPA: 3.79
Science GPA: 3.8
Mat GPA: 4.0

....any chance here? my time was off for chem where I only have 15min left for 28 questions. My verbal is so bad

 

[chinsupak]

Took the PCAT early this morning and got a 95 composite

I thought I completely bombed Chemistry but I ended up getting a 91. I EXCLUSIVELY used Collins, but I've been studying since June. I usually studied an average of 1 hour everyday. I probably went over all the Math, Quant, and Bio Collins Practice tests 3 or 4 times over. Didn't really touch Verbal (although I memorized all their vocab) or Reading Comprehension tests.

Collins=amazing. You will never need anything else for PCAT. I was so hesitant in the beginning to pay for it. But it's an investment and it is sooooo worth it.

Did you use the 2013 updated version? because I saw barely any similar questions from Collins when I took it..

 

[chinsupak]

VB: 368/5
Bio: 402/46
RC: 379/17
QA: 393/33
Chem: 405/56
Com: 381/21

GPA: 3.79
Science GPA: 3.8
Mat GPA: 4.0

....any chance here? my time was off for chem where I only have 15min left for 28 questions. My verbal is so bad

For some reason, PCAT this time was extremely hard for me >.< although this was my first time hehe..

 

[kishire]

I'm the complete opposite, my GPA (around 2.5 :\) is horrendous due to stupidity on my part my first two years of college. I guess my PCAT is ok and I've been volunteering in the pharmacy for a couple years now.

 

[lilmamba]

I had A LOT of questions from Collins pop up on mine. I believe mine is only the 2012 version.

 

[Wallace12]

No worries, I'm sure youll have no problem getting in with your score anyways!

Hope so, are you applying anywhere else if you don't get in early decision?

 

[ciestar]

Also took mine today:

VA: 416/74
Bio: 421/79
RC: 417/81
QA: 405/58
Chem: 455/98
Composite: 423/89

My math score sucks. My pace was awful and it killed me on my score. Chem really surprised me though...
I hardly studied on top of that. I can't be too disappointed

 

[Confambigboi]

Is it just me or was today's exam really hard, tried my best!!! did average, and i studied my ass off! Most of my bio was Microbiology and 60% of my chem was organic, well i guess thats my luck!! Nothing dey happen!!

 

[pharmdx92]

VB: 368/5
Bio: 402/46
RC: 379/17
QA: 393/33
Chem: 405/56
Com: 381/21

GPA: 3.79
Science GPA: 3.8
Mat GPA: 4.0

....any chance here? my time was off for chem where I only have 15min left for 28 questions. My verbal is so bad

Great GPA. Poor PCAT that I would definitely recommend retaking.

 

[JuT]

Is it just me or was today's exam really hard, tried my best!!! did average, and i studied my ass off! Most of my bio was Microbiology and 60% of my chem was organic, well i guess thats my luck!! Nothing dey happen!!

I got the same format as urs.... most of it is diseases and organic and derivative and intergals....... or some long statistics problems. I did pretty decent in Chem

 

[vic89]

Took the test today. Was really surprised I did so well.

VA- 74
Bio- 95
RC- 91
QA- 61
Chem- 95
Composite- 92

 

[arri]

VB: 368/5
Bio: 402/46
RC: 379/17
QA: 393/33
Chem: 405/56
Com: 381/21

GPA: 3.79
Science GPA: 3.8
Mat GPA: 4.0

....any chance here? my time was off for chem where I only have 15min left for 28 questions. My verbal is so bad

I feel your pain man....VA and RC were super hard for me as well I feel as though the other sections had a LOT of similar questions to the collins material, NOT THE EXACT QUESTIONS...but the concept of how to attack a problem - collins does a great job for preparing you in chem. Even though people might disagree with me, I feel as though Dr Collins really also helped in math. It helped improve my score from a 45 to an 85.

 

[arri]

I got the same format as urs.... most of it is diseases and organic and derivative and intergals....... or some long statistics problems. I did pretty decent in Chem

I feel like bio was all over for me. I remember I encountered A TON of biochem stuff, nothing that I've seen in collins material or the pearson practice exams - however I remembered a lot of little details from undergrad. I also had quite a few of problems on the endocrine system (I hate hormones)

Ochem - I felt like it wasn't too bad, it wasn't anything Collins doesn't cover. Also, I feel like collins helped prepare for math, except for the few trig problems I encountered.

collins should update their RC material lol.

 

[macrofied]

I feel your pain man....VA and RC were super hard for me as well I feel as though the other sections had a LOT of similar questions to the collins material, NOT THE EXACT QUESTIONS...but the concept of how to attack a problem - collins does a great job for preparing you in chem. Even though people might disagree with me, I feel as though Dr Collins really also helped in math. It helped improve my score from a 45 to an 85.

I got most of my study from the Kaplan book and their math was not any close to the Pcat. Definitely going to retake and buying the Collins book for the next battle. No calculator sux lol I thought they would give me the most simple one at least. I haven't take any biochem so that caused me problem as well.

 

[nyc76]

I feel like bio was all over for me. I remember I encountered A TON of biochem stuff, nothing that I've seen in collins material or the pearson practice exams - however I remembered a lot of little details from undergrad. I also had quite a few of problems on the endocrine system (I hate hormones)

Ochem - I felt like it wasn't too bad, it wasn't anything Collins doesn't cover. Also, I feel like collins helped prepare for math, except for the few trig problems I encountered.

collins should update their RC material lol.

Oh hey man I feel you on hormones. I used Collins/Kaplan/Princeton PCAT cracker for bio. Collins gives you a good summary of bio topics that could be covered. Kaplan to me is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too detailed and harder to understand. Princeton Review I feel presented the Bio info in an easier to digest format. Easier to understand. You can get that book at the library and save you some money.

What I would do for example is if I was getting Bio questions wrong on the Collins tests on specific topics I would just review that topic completely using Kaplan and Princeton. So for hormones, for example, I was getting those wrong so what I did is I created an outline of alllllll the organs that released hormones and how they were interlinked. I didn't get super detailed but I would list Adrenal glands then all the hormones it released and what it did. Then Kidney, then Thyroid...etc. I made my own notes on several different topics like that and I made so many that towards the end I was simply reviewing off my own notes.

 

[JuT]

I got most of my study from the Kaplan book and their math was not any close to the Pcat. Definitely going to retake and buying the Collins book for the next battle. No calculator sux lol I thought they would give me the most simple one at least. I haven't take any biochem so that caused me problem as well.

Even though Dr. Collins did helped some of us. But make sure u study hard. I got dr. Collins but I didn't too well on my pcat yesterday bc I just skim through due to a busy schedule I have right now and didn't really study for it til 4 days prior to the test date. lol I am so disappointed and lost my interview chance for this Oct from my top choice school

 

[arri]

Even though Dr. Collins did helped some of us. But make sure u study hard. I got dr. Collins but I didn't too well on my pcat yesterday bc I just skim through due to a busy schedule I have right now and didn't really study for it til 4 days prior to the test date. lol I am so disappointed and lost my interview chance for this Oct from my top choice school

Omg I'm so sorry!!! They just withdrew your interview?!

Honestly, for Collins to WORK, you really need to put the work in, the material isn't going to teach you anything unless you physically go through and truly UNDERSTAND the concepts. If you just go through it leisurely, there's no way it's going to benefit you. My game plan was basically take notes from the Collins material and posted them on all my walls and white boards with all of the important information, this really helped me bc I am a visual person and I need to see it all laid out as a whole. This helped a lot for ochem bc I can see the differences between the reactions, also gchem for all of the concepts. This helped IMPROVE my chem and bio score, however, I need to study harder for bio. I don't take physio until the winter so this kind of hurt me.

What I also did, I went through the Collins testing material (not timed) and went through EACH question. If I had hesitation with answering any of the questions I compiled a word document with all of these questions, also included ALL of the questions that Collins indicates to "know it". It took some time making this, so I feel like if I went through it a bit more and reviewed, my chem score would have easily been in the 90's. However, I only did this for chem, BUT my score still improved by 20 points.

This time around ill probably do the same for bio.

Good luck studying!!! Everyone has their own study techniques. So the foundation is there, we just have to work on making that foundation stronger you got this!!

 

[arri]

Oh hey man I feel you on hormones. I used Collins/Kaplan/Princeton PCAT cracker for bio. Collins gives you a good summary of bio topics that could be covered. Kaplan to me is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too detailed and harder to understand. Princeton Review I feel presented the Bio info in an easier to digest format. Easier to understand. You can get that book at the library and save you some money.

What I would do for example is if I was getting Bio questions wrong on the Collins tests on specific topics I would just review that topic completely using Kaplan and Princeton. So for hormones, for example, I was getting those wrong so what I did is I created an outline of alllllll the organs that released hormones and how they were interlinked. I didn't get super detailed but I would list Adrenal glands then all the hormones it released and what it did. Then Kidney, then Thyroid...etc. I made my own notes on several different topics like that and I made so many that towards the end I was simply reviewing off my own notes.

Thanks!!!!!! I actually have the Princeton review book but I didn't really like it bc it's too much info!! But I'm definitely going to use the advice for bio!! Thanks a lot!!! Anything helps at this point!! Lol

 

[arri]

I got most of my study from the Kaplan book and their math was not any close to the Pcat. Definitely going to retake and buying the Collins book for the next battle. No calculator sux lol I thought they would give me the most simple one at least. I haven't take any biochem so that caused me problem as well.

Not many would agree with me, but I honestly feel like Collins helped me for quant. Yes it might be a little easier than the actual test, but he teaches you all of the concepts you need to know!! It helped increase my score 40 points from July. Supplement it with the ppt exams and I think you should be okay with quant!! and especially chem!! Good luck!!

 

[macrofied]

Even though Dr. Collins did helped some of us. But make sure u study hard. I got dr. Collins but I didn't too well on my pcat yesterday bc I just skim through due to a busy schedule I have right now and didn't really study for it til 4 days prior to the test date. lol I am so disappointed and lost my interview chance for this Oct from my top choice school

Yes, I study on average 4hrs per day for the last two months. I think, I just read the wrong book. Collins in on my list now.

 

[YoAyDri]

Hey everyone. I finally took my PCAT this morning and here are the scores according to the preliminary report:

Verbal Ability - 82
Biology - 97
Reading Comprehension - 86
Quantitative Ability - 45
Chemistry - 98
Composite - 94

Needless to say, i'm very happy with my scores. I **** the bed a bit during the math section because I am not very good at math under pressure. The time just wasn't enough for me. I recently graduated with a Masters degree in Chemistry, but my undergraduate GPA isn't great at all. I have pharmacy experience and lab experience. Hopefully I can get into the schools I want with this score. Good luck to all of you and any questions I will happily answer!

CONGRATS!! What did you use for study material and how long did you take to prepare for the exam? Was it similar to the pearson exams?

The brunt of my preparation came from using The Princeton Review 2012-2013 PCAT book. I thought about buying Dr. Collins but that was just way too much money for me. I used that book to study all bio and gen chem. Their questions are way harder than anything I encountered on the PCAT. The math review was lacking a bit. For organic chem i knew most of that from working in the lab, but also spent most of the summer reviewing notes, MCAT study books and the website mastering organic chemistry. My degrees in chem really helped me. I also bought 2 practice tests from Pearson along with their study guide. Those helped a lot as well.

Now I just need these professors to send me my letters of rec. Should I submit before my scores show up on PharmCas btw?

EDIT: just realised i answered this twice...sorry!

 

[nyc76]

Now I just need these professors to send me my letters of rec. Should I submit before my scores show up on PharmCas btw?

EDIT: just realised i answered this twice...sorry!

Wow you know other than the PCAt that has been the most stressful thing about the application process. Sometimes those LOR's are like pulling teeth!

 

[isanders]

Hope so, are you applying anywhere else if you don't get in early decision?

Nope, OU is the only place I want to go to, so if by some chance I didn't get in I would apply again next year.

 

[tmitch42]

Just took my PCAT on September 17th.

Verbal- 91
Biology- 74
Chemistry- 61
Reading- 99
Quant- 13
Compositie- 82

Luckily I have a 51 on the quant on my previous attempt.

GPA: 3.7
Science GPA: 3.47

Schools applying to: UGA, Mercer, Belmont, UNC, Florida.

 

[arri]

Just took my PCAT on September 17th.

Verbal- 91
Biology- 74
Chemistry- 61
Reading- 99
Quant- 13
Compositie- 82

Luckily I have a 51 on the quant on my previous attempt.

GPA: 3.7
Science GPA: 3.47

Schools applying to: UGA, Mercer, Belmont, UNC, Florida.

Wow awesome job on verbal and RC!!!! How did you study?!?!

 

[Bluegirl1992]

Took PCAT wed and am super psyched with the results! I felt pretty bad on the RC and QA sections due to the time constraints so I almost couldn't believe the piece of paper!

Verbal:96
Biology:99
Chemistry:99
RC:81
QA:93
Comp:99

I mainly prepared using the Purple Pearson's book, an old biology book of mine (to learn basic physiology), and the 3 official practice tests.

 

[pharmerjohn]

Took PCAT wed and am super psyched with the results! I felt pretty bad on the RC and QA sections due to the time constraints so I almost couldn't believe the piece of paper!

Verbal:96
Biology:99
Chemistry:99
RC:81
QA:93
Comp:99

I mainly prepared using the Purple Pearson's book, an old biology book of mine (to learn basic physiology), and the 3 official practice tests.

Awesome scores across the board! You got 90+ on just about every subtest - that's a rarity. I hope I can do the same when I take mine next month.

BTW, the reading comprehension subtest was a lot harder on the real thing. I failed it miserably...