Should I risk the money to sign up for another PCAT?

[bozeefus]

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I took PCAT on August 22. I won't know my score until 6 weeks from now so that would be October 3 (if it was exactly 6 weeks).

Now, PCAT deadline for the October 17 test (the last one pharm schools will accept for this-year applicants!) is on September 4.

My question is, should I apply to retake the PCAT?

If I sign up now, I will have to dish out $150.

If I get my score BEFORE September 25, and I am satisfied, I can cancel to get half my money back, $75. However, I'm doubtful I will get my score back by September 25. In which case, I blew $150 down the drain

I'm hoping for an 80% since my GPA is decent enough.
What do you guys think?

edit: I "feel" confident that I got my 80%. However, when I was in high school and I took ACT, I thought I did great and only got a 28. I retook it. The 2nd time, I thought I did horrible but ended up with a 29. Weird.

Currently attending UIC.
Wish to go to UIC, Midwestern, Chicago state.

Random:
Anyone familiar with University of Illinois College of Pharmacy at Rockford?? Is it part of UIC or is it a separate entity?

In direct response to the continued shortage of pharmacists in Illinois and the need to train pharmacists to practice in rural areas of the state, the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy has created the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy at Rockford as a regional campus. The Rockford Program will admit its first class of 50 students in the fall of 2010 and graduate its first class in the spring of 2014. The College will provide all four years of pharmacy education at the Rockford campus. The first three years will be didactic with early practice experiences, followed by a series of six, six-week advance rotations conducted at sites in the Rockford area, as well as throughout Illinois. The College of Pharmacy will be viewed as a single institution with one accreditation but two campuses: Chicago and Rockford. Students in Rockford will complete the identical curriculum as students on the Chicago campus. The core classes will be taught via distance education using state-of-the art technology. Laboratory and recitations sessions, as well as many electives, will be taught locally by faculty at the Rockford campus. Select students will be admitted to the Rural Pharmacy (RPharm) program. These students will have rural backgrounds and will receive training and mentorship focusing on the health care needs of rural communities in Illinois. Students in this program will train collaboratively with medical students from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford Rural Medicine (RMED) program to help prepare them to meet the health care needs of rural communities. Another unique component of the program will be an Affiliation Program with Northern Illinois University (NIU) where selected students will be guaranteed admission to the UIC College of Pharmacy following completion of their bachelors degree at NIU.

The College of Pharmacy will share facilities with the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, which is located on a beautiful 20-acre wooded site in residential Rockford. The facilities include an auditorium, classrooms, teaching and research laboratories, a library, computer lab, media services, an activity center, and faculty and administrative offices. A new building adjacent to the existing structure will be completed by 2010. When fully staffed, the College of Pharmacy at Rockford will have approximately 15-20 full-time faculty, 12 support staff members and 5-10 teaching assistants (TA's).

 

[poorlilrich]

Some schools will look at the January PCAT


I'm applying to pittsburg and buffalo and I'm pretty sure they will accept the January one.

If they don't then I gotta sign up for the October one too

 

[bozeefus]

Some schools will look at the January PCAT


I'm applying to pittsburg and buffalo and I'm pretty sure they will accept the January one.

If they don't then I gotta sign up for the October one too

Oops sorry. You're completely right. I was being close-minded and disregarded other schools completely. Illinois schools only consider up to the October one, as far as I know.

But if you decide to sign up, do it by the 4th!

 

[kidkay]

There is late registration for PCAT at the cost an extra $50

 

[FarscapeGirl]

So I signed up for both the August and the October PCAT last year. I took the August one and did pretty well. But then I was able to take the October one and improve in a few areas and do even better.

I thought it was worth it, but it had been awhile since I had had calculus and some other classes, and after the first test, I was able to study particular areas that I hadn't done as well in.

 

[kakme]

I signed up for both the August and October tests about 5 months ago. I'm waiting for the August score and hoping I won't have to sit for the one in October to better my score. But anyway, this was how I thought about this whole "Do I wanna waste money signing up.............?" You may want to think about the pros and cons of not signing up for the October test.

Pros - You get the scores from the August test and they're good so you prevented yoursef from wasting 150 bucks by not signing up for the October test.

Cons - You get the scores from the August test and they're not competitive. There's no way you can better your scores for the 2010 admission (most schools don't accept a test taken in January for admission that same year). Now you have to wait another year to get into pharm school because you didn't want to waste 150 bucks.

So there you have it.

 

[kidkay]

There is a late registration signup october 2 deadline....

 

[diastole]

You should get your scores before the late registration deadline. If you are satisfied, it costs you nothing. If you don't like your scores, it will cost you an extra $50 bucks, I believe. If you have bad mail service, they will most likely have your scores online before the late registration deadline and it will cost you an extra $20 to see them. Worst case scenario is that you don't get your scores in time and you pay the $200 bucks for a test that you decide not to take. That most likely won't happen but I just thought I would throw it out there to help with your decision making.

 

[bozeefus]

You should get your scores before the late registration deadline. If you are satisfied, it costs you nothing. If you don't like your scores, it will cost you an extra $50 bucks, I believe. If you have bad mail service, they will most likely have your scores online before the late registration deadline and it will cost you an extra $20 to see them. Worst case scenario is that you don't get your scores in time and you pay the $200 bucks for a test that you decide not to take. That most likely won't happen but I just thought I would throw it out there to help with your decision making.

Yes, I think I am going to take that route. Thanks for the suggestion 🙂

Being able to save $150 would be awesome. I would actually be able to afford stuff then. Like food lol