study tips?????

[stl83]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I've been out of school now for a couple years. Its been a while since i've taken a chemistry course so I remember pretty much nothing. I was wondering if the chemistry sections of kaplan pcat study book is enough to enable me to score well on chemistry sections on the pcat???

 

[Ethyl Methyl]

The general chem section is a little overdone in my opinion. You won't see the type of questions they ask at the end of each chapter in the pcat. It's usually easier with very simple calculations. But, if you don't remember anything, I would use the kaplan book just the same. It's better to be over prepared than under prepared.

The organic chem review is a joke. You're better off digging for your old notes or buying an organic chem review book (maybe organic chem for dummies, if there is such a book). I would recommend Schaum's outline of General, Organic and Biochem. However, the book may be an overkill. I just happen to like overkill when preparing for a big test that could change my life.

 

[parabolic]

If it's been awhile, the Kaplan book probably isn't enough. Don't get me wrong, it's a great starting point, but there's more o-chem on the PCAT than it will lead you to believe. You'll want to find an organic review book or use your old notes for that, like Ethyl Methyl suggested.

Keep in mind that for the most part, the chem section is more concept than calculation, so get the basics down before you worry about memorizing details. Good luck!

 

[azPharmD2B]

I agree with parabolic about the concepts being key. Reread the summaries at the end of each chapter in your gen chem book and make sure you reallly understand how/why things work and relationships between things. None of the problems are terribly complicated, but if you don't understand the concepts you're going to spend too much time rereading the question or trying to brute force the problem. Neither of which is a good idea given the time crunch on this portion.

 

[gapharmhopeful]

I had been out of school for over 2 years when I took the PCAT. I took the kaplan online course. It really helped me. I was working full time and it was helpful able to study at my own pace. The Kaplan review is very comprehensive. I had taken the PCAT my sophmore year of college and I was able to improve my score from a 65 to an 86. I know some people say it isn't worth the money but for me it was since it had been so long since I had taken most of the courses that were on the test. There is no way I could have gone back and looked through my old book or notes. Hope this helps! 🙂

 

[PharmDHustle]

Hello, new to this thread. I do know that helping to tutor students does give you an advantage in retaining the material overall. My friend who has been a chem tutor for about two years now took the pcat, aced it with a 99 comp. She said tutoring was the factor that helped when taking the test. Just some food for thought.😀

 

[PharmApp2008]

I took general chem in 2002 and when I took a practice test for the PCATs in November I missed like 95% of the questions. I studied the Kaplan book (the big one with all the review material) and in January I was in the 82nd % in chemistry on the PCAT. I would say I probably missed more organic questions than anything because I didn't have time to review it and Kaplan didn't really review much organic. I did use my general chemistry book to do a thorough review of the very beginning (1rst 3 chapters or something like that).

 

[InternDoc]

I took general chem in 2002 and when I took a practice test for the PCATs in November I missed like 95% of the questions. I studied the Kaplan book (the big one with all the review material) and in January I was in the 82nd % in chemistry on the PCAT. I would say I probably missed more organic questions than anything because I didn't have time to review it and Kaplan didn't really review much organic. I did use my general chemistry book to do a thorough review of the very beginning (1rst 3 chapters or something like that).

Wow !!!!!!!!!!
so are you saying that after studying Kaplan, your grade for chem went from 5% correct (95% missed) to 82% percentile ? And you would have done better if kaplan have more organic on it ?