Study Methods.....when do i do the practice tests?

[nsu757]

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Okay so as some of you may know; I didnt do too hot on my last 2 PCATS (49,58)
I am getting alot of great tips from everyone on what I should do to increase my scores.
The problem I am having, and th same problem I had the last 2 times I studied is this :
When do I take the practice tests I have???? Do I review all the concepts and THEN take the tests? Sometimes when I was reviewing I would take a practice test and realize I forgot to review a topic.
I dont know if what I am saying makes since in words ugh!
Let me see if I can put this better:
DO I review every single topic and then take the tests? Well if I do that and I get to a question I don't know then what do I do? ...... I guess sometimes I just dont know WHAT to study.....sorry if i make no since but im sure at least 1 person can see what im 'trying to say' 😳

I have Barrons, Cliffs 5 test book, and the Kaplan Book...

 

[diastole]

I reviewed, took the first Pearson practice test about a month before the test, said, "OMG, I wasn't expecting to see that math on the exam", reviewed my weak points, and then took the second exam a few days before the test.

Use the test to direct your studies. Oh, and I'm talking about the Pearson's practice exams. Is that what you are talking about too? If not, I would spend the money and purchase them.

Have you considered Dr. Collins? I have heard good things about the program and this is your third time. Some people have had some pretty nice gains with the program so if you are serious, it might be worth the $300 investment.

 

[nsu757]

I reviewed, took the first Pearson practice test about a month before the test, said, "OMG, I wasn't expecting to see that math on the exam", reviewed my weak points, and then took the second exam a few days before the test.

Use the test to direct your studies. Oh, and I'm talking about the Pearson's practice exams. Is that what you are talking about too? If not, I would spend the money and purchase them.

Have you considered Dr. Collins? I have heard good things about the program and this is your third time. Some people have had some pretty nice gains with the program so if you are serious, it might be worth the $300 investment.

thanks that sounds like a plan.
yea i have lots of practice tests.. i have the 2 pearson tests ( i actually bought them b/c i saw u raving about them months ago) , i have barrons tests,kaplan, and cliffs test... even though i had these resources i didnt use them like i should have...barrons helped me boost my bio section from a 36 to a 76 though so ill finish up that book 4 bio ..and i only had 3 weeks to study b/c i didnt think id do that bad after the august test
.i don like cliffs that much..seems pretty old with weird questions that were not familiar on the actual PCAT
i cant really find anything that resembles the PCAT for math and this past exam i made sure to remember stuff from each section to help me study for january...
i am gona make a decision this week on whether or not i shud get collins b/c i read alot of mixed reviews but money is nothing right now wen u have a freakin 58 and deadlines are here

 

[diastole]

Yeah, I've never seen a good review book for math. I sense a business opportunity for someone out there if they can do a good job on it.

 

[MrMeowphers]

I haven't seen an intro-biology, intro-chem, organic chem, calculus, etc... problem in over six years.

Here was my timeline:
1.) Signed up for OCT 17TH PCAT on September 20th.
2.) I read the Kaplan PCAT 2010 book from cover to cover once (took five days)
3.) I took the practice exam in the back of the book,
4.) I took 1 of the Pearson practice exams
5.) Then I reviewed what I was lacking
6.) Lastely took the 2nd Pearson practice exam 2 days before the actual October exam.

The material in the Kaplan book should cover you well for the Biology section. Memorize it to heart.

Verbal and RC is depending on how well you've developed the techniques over your course of life (RC was easy for me b/c I had to critically read primary scientific articles for the past 6 years). It just takes practice to develop.

Math is decent except for calculus and imaginary numbers (in algebra), both which are severely lacking.

Chemistry is adequate in the Kaplan book except for the organic section.

E.g. the Kaplan book doesn't cover SN1/SN2 reactions like it should. So I picked up my friends MCAT organic chem review book and reviewed it for a few hours. Then used the wonderful websites online to review Derivatives/Integrals/Imaginary Numbers/etc. for a day.

All in all, if you devote 4-8 hours a day (giving yourself every Friday off, and Sunday Night Football off) for three weeks, then you should be ready.

Good luck!

 

[phathead]

I didn't take either of the Pearson exams until the week before the test.

As for math, I know you didn't like it, but I just picked up a couple of cliff notes books in various subjects and relearned methods.

 

[busyizzy]

I didn't take either of the Pearson exams until the week before the test.

As for math, I know you didn't like it, but I just picked up a couple of cliff notes books in various subjects and relearned methods.

Despite what people have said, I don't think the Pearson exams are all that accurate. I found the Pearson exams to be misleadingly easy so when it came time to take the PCAT, I was unprepared the first time I took it.

 

[nsu757]

I haven't seen an intro-biology, intro-chem, organic chem, calculus, etc... problem in over six years.

Here was my timeline:
1.) Signed up for OCT 17TH PCAT on September 20th.
2.) I read the Kaplan PCAT 2010 book from cover to cover once (took five days)
3.) I took the practice exam in the back of the book,
4.) I took 1 of the Pearson practice exams
5.) Then I reviewed what I was lacking
6.) Lastely took the 2nd Pearson practice exam 2 days before the actual October exam.

The material in the Kaplan book should cover you well for the Biology section. Memorize it to heart.

Verbal and RC is depending on how well you've developed the techniques over your course of life (RC was easy for me b/c I had to critically read primary scientific articles for the past 6 years). It just takes practice to develop.

Math is decent except for calculus and imaginary numbers (in algebra), both which are severely lacking.

Chemistry is adequate in the Kaplan book except for the organic section.

E.g. the Kaplan book doesn't cover SN1/SN2 reactions like it should. So I picked up my friends MCAT organic chem review book and reviewed it for a few hours. Then used the wonderful websites online to review Derivatives/Integrals/Imaginary Numbers/etc. for a day.

All in all, if you devote 4-8 hours a day (giving yourself every Friday off, and Sunday Night Football off) for three weeks, then you should be ready.

Good luck!

this is some awesome advice! i am gonna print this out
i hav kaplan so i will re-read it
i am gonna do same thing with barrons b/c i think it is really good..i saw a FEW questions on the actual october PCAT from Barrons esp from the biology section..each time i saw a familiar question i had a big smile on my face lol..thats prob how i went from a 34 to a 76 in 2 wks
anywho
thans for this advice..your right about kaplan math..i was so mad when i took pearson math tests and didnt see any of that stuff up there
at the sunday night football

 

[MrMeowphers]

I forgot to add monday night football off too 😀

 

[phathead]

Despite what people have said, I don't think the Pearson exams are all that accurate. I found the Pearson exams to be misleadingly easy so when it came time to take the PCAT, I was unprepared the first time I took it.

I thought the Pearson examples mirrored the actual test more closely than anything else lol

 

[nsu757]

I thought the Pearson examples mirrored the actual test more closely than anything else lol

i have both of the PCAT pearson tests
and I do not think they are mirror images of the test at all
and i also dont think that they were easier
the math and RC sections were pretty accurate..i saw some of the same type of questions in these sections..i dont like that the pearson tests only let u do one question at a time.its hard to mimick taking the actual exam

 

[busyizzy]

I thought the Pearson examples mirrored the actual test more closely than anything else lol

I'm just saying, I took the practice exams under test conditions and I scored 80-90 percentiles everytime for all the sections except verbal. I took the actual test and got a 60-something.

It's a good introductory feel to the exam, but I don't feel it deserves to be preached as the best thing ever as some people do on the boards.

 

[Monsterdaddy]

I think many folks have different opinions of the Pearson practice exams. Overall though, I think it is sound advice to always pay for both Pearson practice exams or even for 4 of them as in January I understand there will be 2 new ones. I think the problem is the Pearson practice exams are far better than any other practice test available.

Kaplan, McGraw and Cliff study book tests were pretty damn awful IMHO. The quality was plain appalling and riddled with errors. And they tend to test things that are not on the PCAT, i.e. molecular orbital theory.

Another very interesting aspect of the Pearson practice tests was in Chemistry where you almost never need to do any calculations to answer the questions. This was a huge surprise because the Kaplan/McGraw chem section test was immensely calc intensive (McGraw was practically impossible to do within the 30 min timeframe.)

Of course, the key is how you use the Pearson practice exam. I looked up every one of my wrong answers and used that as a guide for studying. This was especially important in the Quant section as there were tons of Calc that was not covered by ANY study book I used. These tests are a great tool if you use them right.

 

[rivulet]

I agree the molecular orbital theory in the cliff's was dumb. I tried so hard to figure that out-could not and I have not seen it on the actual PCAT. I have all the above mentioned practice tests to re-study from except for collins. I would LOVE to have them if anyone has it for cheap. I really cannot spend 300 dollars on the Collins study pack. I have spent way over max. limit already.

I am just going to take all the practice tests again and then take my friends practice tests that she has. And do them over and over again until I fall asleep. I do not have much time since I only have christmas break to do so.

I think many folks have different opinions of the Pearson practice exams. Overall though, I think it is sound advice to always pay for both Pearson practice exams or even for 4 of them as in January I understand there will be 2 new ones. I think the problem is the Pearson practice exams are far better than any other practice test available.

Kaplan, McGraw and Cliff study book tests were pretty damn awful IMHO. The quality was plain appalling and riddled with errors. And they tend to test things that are not on the PCAT, i.e. molecular orbital theory.

Another very interesting aspect of the Pearson practice tests was in Chemistry where you almost never need to do any calculations to answer the questions. This was a huge surprise because the Kaplan/McGraw chem section test was immensely calc intensive (McGraw was practically impossible to do within the 30 min timeframe.)

Of course, the key is how you use the Pearson practice exam. I looked up every one of my wrong answers and used that as a guide for studying. This was especially important in the Quant section as there were tons of Calc that was not covered by ANY study book I used. These tests are a great tool if you use them right.