Should I wait till August to take PCAT?

[373885]

Hi everyone,

Today is the registration deadline for the June PCAT test, and I was wondering whether you guys think I should register for it despite not having done any studying for it (I bought the Kaplan prep book but have barely looked at it). I have never taken the test before. Do you guys think I should go ahead and attempt it in June? FYI I have finished O Chem I and II as well as Physiology, Calc and many bio courses. I have virtually no plans after the semester ends, giving me almost a full month to devote to studying for this test. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Also, I understand that when registering for the PCAT they allow you to send scores to three schools. Does anyone know what I should do if I'm not sure about what schools I plan on attending? (Should I just pick three that I might attend, or leave this blank?) Thanks.

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[b1234]

Hi everyone,

Today is the registration deadline for the June PCAT test, and I was wondering whether you guys think I should register for it despite not having done any studying for it (I bought the Kaplan prep book but have barely looked at it). I have never taken the test before. Do you guys think I should go ahead and attempt it in June? FYI I have finished O Chem I and II as well as Physiology, Calc and many bio courses. I have virtually no plans after the semester ends, giving me almost a full month to devote to studying for this test. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Also, I understand that when registering for the PCAT they allow you to send scores to three schools. Does anyone know what I should do if I'm not sure about what schools I plan on attending? (Should I just pick three that I might attend, or leave this blank?) Thanks.

There are advantages to taking it earlier but, it all depends about how ready you feel you are. With the courses you have taken - you should have covered everything on the PCAT. So, if you feel like you learned everything in those courses fairly well and have been able to retain it - then you really should do fine on the PCAT (at least quant, bio, & chem sections) with minimal studying. If you don't feel like you know your stuff well enough then it's probably better for you to wait until August. Even taking it in August you will still get your scores back early enough so that you can:
Make a decision on if you want to retake it in October
Have a better idea of how it will affect the strength of your application overall - before deadlines to apply at any schools and even early enough to know your score before applying to many schools with rolling admissions.

If you plan to apply for an early decision - which I doubt you are since you don't know where you want your scores sent yet then it's better to take the PCAT earlier.

As far as where to send your scores if you don't know where - PharmCAS and two non PharmCAS schools that you are considering applying to is probably the best choice. Exam fee includes sending your scores three places and it doesn't hurt you at all to send scores somewhere and then not apply there.

 

[373885]

Thanks for the quick and detailed response b1234, you are amazing!