So who is waiting to see their score to decide if taking Oct. PCAT?

[Bully Worm]

Would it be wise to just go ahead and sign up for the October now without worrying about it filling up or should I wait until August scores come into to see if I'll sign up for Oct?

I'm not sure how I did but I thought it wasn't that bad.

Thoughts?

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[mug3n]

Depending on which area you live in and how packed those test centers are and such... those October spots could fill up fast. And plus there is also a late fee on top of the $125 if you decide to sign up for the October test later.

If you are worried, I would just sign up for the October one now, and then if the results from your August one was better than you expected, just cancel the October one.

 

[Transformer]

The way I see it is: If you put yourself in a situation where you studied 2 to 3 months ahead of time; you studied at least an average of 3 to 4 hours daily and practiced full length PCAT practice exams from Pearson, Kaplan, Barrons, and Cliff; then I would consider that having done your best.

Having said that, if you still performed poorly on some sections of the test then I would recommend retaking college level classes on the sections you scored poorly in.

There is no point rushing to take the exam 3 months later only to see marginal gain in percentile. Worse yet, you might see a decrease in some sections. You might loose confidence

All in all, you want to put yourself in a position where you can do your best. So give yourself a chance to do that and set up a realistic schedule where it will work for you.

In my opinion, one should consider setting aside at least 6 months of preparation for the PCAT; 3 months to get mentally ready by taking a few college level classes (biology, chemistry, organic chemistry I, Calculus I) and another 3 months to do practice exams.

 

[YiYaoYue]

Here are your two options if you wish to also take October PCAT:

1.) Pray every day and stress over the test location not filling up or having to go to a test location further away. Paying late fee. (This will end up costing you 49 dollars for late fee + extra cost of gasoline if you end up having to go to a distant testing location).

If you test location fills your out of luck and the cost of reapplying? well that depends, but it will definitely cost over 100 easily.

2.) Sign up now and have ease of mind. If you decide to cancel, the cancellation gives you back half so ends up costing you 62.50 dollars.

If you don't get your scores back in time you may lose all of your fees.

The way I see it is: If you put yourself in a situation where you studied 2 to 3 months ahead of time; you studied at least an average of 3 to 4 hours daily and practiced full length PCAT practice exams from Pearson, Kaplan, Barrons, and Cliff; then I would consider that having done your best.

Having said that, if you still performed poorly on some sections of the test then I would recommend retaking college level classes on the sections you scored weak in.

There is no point rushing to take the exam 3 months later only to see marginal gain in percentile. Worse yet, you might see a decrease in some sections. You might loose confidence

All in all, you want to put yourself in a position where you can do your best. So give yourself a chance to do that and set up a realistic schedule where it will work for you.

In my opinion, one should consider setting aside at least 6 months of preparation for the PCAT; 3 months to get mentally ready by taking a few college level classes (biology, chemistry, organic chemistry I, Calculus I) and another 3 months to do practice exams.

well for me the August PCAT was about a month of studying, but by October it will be about 3 months of studying and I know by then I've tried my best. Only concern is that I'm busy doing supplementals and other application stuff and that is taking up all my time which I may end up not getting the studying needed for October PCAT and just have to hope I get a good score on the August so I don't have to take it again.

 

[Transformer]

You can do all the supplemental applications you want but if your August scores are not good enough then all that time spent on supplemental was wasted. I say this because admissions committee will not even look at your application if your PCAT is not competitive. I kid you not.

So if you have a low GPA, then your priority should be as follows:

Earn a decent PCAT percentile (above 75)
then, consider applying and filling out supplemental applications.

No point in giving money away to PharmCAS when schools will just reject you anyways. (heed my advice and apply when you know you have a competitive PCAT score and a real chance at an interview)

 

[YiYaoYue]

You can do all the supplemental applications you want but if your August scores are not good enough then all that time spent on supplemental was wasted. I say this because admissions committee will not even look at your application if your PCAT is not competitive. I kid you not.

So if you have a low GPA, then your priority should be as follows:

Earn a decent PCAT percentile (above 75)
then, consider applying and filling out supplemental applications.

No point in giving money away to PharmCAS when schools will just reject you anyways. (heed my advice and apply when you know you have a competitive PCAT score and a real chance at an interview)

i'm also applying to schools that don't take the PCAT, but thanks for your advice.

I just hope my score is somewhere in the range of the Harcourt Practice PCAT score which I took timed. I got 78-98 range (really why do they have such a large range? am i supposed to assume I got 88 on the practice PCAT itself?) on the practice PCAT, but I was more nervous on the real test and also filling in circles slowed me down a lot more compared to just clicking on buttons. I still want to have them all prepared, so when August scores come in I can get all my applications mailed before PharmCAS sends them to schools if my PCAT score is competitive. But I am delaying majority of the PCAT required school's supplemental applications after the non PCAT school applications are all done.

 

[inquirer89]

Do people take the January PCAT for the same admissions cycle (example: January '09 PCAT for Fall 2009)? I was thinking of doing just that, because I'm taking Organic and Calculus now and I'll be finished by January, and I'll also have time to take winter break to study.

 

[mug3n]

I don't see why not. I doubt too many schools won't accept your PCAT, especially if you've taken it the same year that you're applying. Often PCAT results are valid to most institutions for about 2 years.

 

[extremebio]

I think most schools deadlines are Jan of the year before you are going to school. In other words, the cutoff for Fall of '09 is ~Jan of '09... the problem is the time it takes to get your PCAT scores after you take it. Taking the test in January will not give you enough time to get scores to your schools for Fall of '09, it would have to be fall of '10.

At least that's the way I understand it... I could be wrong.