should I take PCAT? please advise!

[summerof13]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a dilemma as to whether it is beneficial for me to attempt the PCAT. I have a noncompetitive cGPA 3.1 which qualifies me to apply to schools that do not require PCAT. I have Pharmacy Tech experience and many ECs. Those schools are also my top choices but because of my low GPA would it help me to take the PCAT and I can apply to more schools? What concerns me is scoring a so low that will do more harm to my app than help. I can foresee doing very poorly on the verbal and RC sections (English is not my first language).So should I try to study extremely hard for a decent score? Or don't bother at all in case I score so bad. Please help advise me. Thank you

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[cubpanda]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a dilemma as to whether it is beneficial for me to attempt the PCAT. I have a noncompetitive cGPA 3.1 which qualifies me to apply to schools that do not require PCAT. I have Pharmacy Tech experience and many ECs. Those schools are also my top choices but because of my low GPA would it help me to take the PCAT and I can apply to more schools? What concerns me is scoring a so low that will do more harm to my app than help. I can foresee doing very poorly on the verbal and RC sections (English is not my first language).So should I try to study extremely hard for a decent score? Or don't bother at all in case I score so bad. Please help advise me. Thank you

My guess is that you are from CA?

I was in the same situation as you - am in the lower end of the GPA scale and was worried about the schools that would find me competitive.

Have you received/will you have received a Bachelor's degree? I think that you should take the PCAT if you are worried - the test itself is not hard at all (I studied for a little less than 1 month full-time and ended up getting above a 90 composite) and it opens you up to tons of school outside of CA. If you are worried about the RC and Verbal, I got a 68 and 78 on those sections but my Quantitative, Bio, and Chem were able to balance it out. IMO, taking the PCAT and doing well can show schools that you are more capable than what your lower GPA might say about you (at least this was what I had hoped for).

Hope it helps!

 

[summerof13]

My guess is that you are from CA?

I was in the same situation as you - am in the lower end of the GPA scale and was worried about the schools that would find me competitive.

Have you received/will you have received a Bachelor's degree? I think that you should take the PCAT if you are worried - the test itself is not hard at all (I studied for a little less than 1 month full-time and ended up getting above a 90 composite) and it opens you up to tons of school outside of CA. If you are worried about the RC and Verbal, I got a 68 and 78 on those sections but my Quantitative, Bio, and Chem were able to balance it out. IMO, taking the PCAT and doing well can show schools that you are more capable than what your lower GPA might say about you (at least this was what I had hoped for).

Hope it helps!

I have received a bachelor degree and am from Cali. I am hoping to apply next cycle and debating if I should take PCAT in the meantime while taking my last couple pre reqs. There are also a few schools I believe outside of CA that do not need PCAT. But that was what I needed to know - the difficulty of the test so thank you for the insight. It just worries me that I will score so poorly that it will make me an even worse applicant. I just don't know what to expect from this exam and how well I can perform on it.

 

[pharmdx92]

The PCAT can only help your application if you do well. I can only imagine that you will have ample time to study for it since you will be applying next cycle and would definitely recommend you to take the PCAT. It will allow you to have more options as to which schools to apply to and may make you even more competitive with your average cGPA.

 

[68quebec]

taking PCAT will not only give you more chance to other pcat-required school but also to have you more prepared for school. Well, in my case, I took PCAT last July, and this helped me a lot remembering all forgotten materials such as bio, general chem, math, blah blah..

anyways, if you don't know whether to take it or not, go try it!

 

[summerof13]

thanks everyone! i understand that it will benefit me no doubt if i perform well on the exam. my concern is not being able to score so highly so another question i have is if i don't like my score am i required to include it in my pharmcas app even to schools that do not require pcat?

 

[pharmdx92]

thanks everyone! i understand that it will benefit me no doubt if i perform well on the exam. my concern is not being able to score so highly so another question i have is if i don't like my score am i required to include it in my pharmcas app even to schools that do not require pcat?

When signing up for the PCAT it requires you to choose applicants to send to, (make sure to only select PharmCas-Watertown 104. I made that mistake) so I believe your score will be automatically sent to the recipient you choose. It might be possible to not link your PCAT ID to your PharmCas application, but it's a hypothetical scenario so just ask the folks at Pearson and I am sure they can give you the answer you're looking for.

 

[88888888]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a dilemma as to whether it is beneficial for me to attempt the PCAT. I have a noncompetitive cGPA 3.1 which qualifies me to apply to schools that do not require PCAT. I have Pharmacy Tech experience and many ECs. Those schools are also my top choices but because of my low GPA would it help me to take the PCAT and I can apply to more schools? What concerns me is scoring a so low that will do more harm to my app than help. I can foresee doing very poorly on the verbal and RC sections (English is not my first language).So should I try to study extremely hard for a decent score? Or don't bother at all in case I score so bad. Please help advise me. Thank you

Take pcat do well on math bio and chem like above 90 then it doesn't matter how low your reading and verbal is. Just know how to write an essay and express yourself in the interview.

 

[summerof13]

Take pcat do well on math bio and chem like above 90 then it doesn't matter how low your reading and verbal is. Just know how to write an essay and express yourself in the interview.

how does that work? reading and verbal are not weighted the same as the other portions? i feel much more relieved if that is that case. i'm also nervous about calculus which i don't remember much at all

 

[88888888]

how does that work? reading and verbal are not weighted the same as the other portions? i feel much more relieved if that is that case. i'm also nervous about calculus which i don't remember much at all

I got a 25 on reading and I'm going to pharmacy school.. Just know how to write a good essay and express yourself in the interview.

Use Dr Collins time yourself and make sure you know the concepts. Timing is really key in math portion

 

[Amicable Angora]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a dilemma as to whether it is beneficial for me to attempt the PCAT. I have a noncompetitive cGPA 3.1 which qualifies me to apply to schools that do not require PCAT. I have Pharmacy Tech experience and many ECs. Those schools are also my top choices but because of my low GPA would it help me to take the PCAT and I can apply to more schools? What concerns me is scoring a so low that will do more harm to my app than help. I can foresee doing very poorly on the verbal and RC sections (English is not my first language).So should I try to study extremely hard for a decent score? Or don't bother at all in case I score so bad. Please help advise me. Thank you

Your GPA is way too low to limit yourself only to non PCAT schools.

Make your best attempt on the PCAT, and only worry later if your score really does turn out to be horrible.

 

[88888888]

Your GPA is way too low to limit yourself only to non PCAT schools.

Make your best attempt on the PCAT, and only worry later if your score really does turn out to be horrible.

Yea take pcat for better chances. You probably have decent chance at mcphs if you apply early

 

[summerof13]

would it make me more competitive to schools that do not require PCAT to have a good PCAT score? since they do not even consider the PCAT at all would it make any difference? are schools without the pcat requirement much harder to get into?

 

[88888888]

would it make me more competitive to schools that do not require PCAT to have a good PCAT score? since they do not even consider the PCAT at all would it make any difference? are schools without the pcat requirement much harder to get into?

Schools without pcat only look at GPA as measure of academics so you better have a good GPA. Pcat gives a leeway for a lower GPA. If schools don't consider it they won't bother to look at it.