Studying for PCAT

[PCAT_gal]

How is everyone doing on the Kaplan practice exams in the 2006 book? Seems pretty difficult to me.

Any suggestions on how to prepare for the essay topics?

10 days to the exam!!!!!

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[collinisem]

How is everyone doing on the Kaplan practice exams in the 2006 book? Seems pretty difficult to me.

Any suggestions on how to prepare for the essay topics?

10 days to the exam!!!!!

So glad you posted because I was wondering the same thing. I have been working in the kaplan book since the beginning of May and some of the problems in there are STILL really hard for me(espeically the chemistry section). Any one that has already taken the PCAT and used Kaplan, how does the book measure up to the test? Also, has anyone taken the practice PCAT that was offered and was it worth it? I'm considering doing that just to see what I am getting into.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

 

[PCAT_gal]

Yeah I was wondering about the practice PCAT offered by Harcourt too. Anyone know if it is a good idea to try it?


Ditto the question about how Kaplan measures up to the actual PCAT....any info from PCAT pros?

<---- what I need!

 

[MK185]

I think kaplan chem section is hard too.
My first time taking pcat..dunno wat's the effective way to study.
Any1 taken the practice test on hartcourt yet? Did u find it hard? I thought it was. For those who've taken pcat already...how are those questions compared to the actual pcat?
Good luck to us all

 

[PCAT_gal]

Am probably going to take the Harcourt practice test in one or two days time. Will let you know how it went. I am not at all confident in Math and Chem right now!

 

[taloddar2002]

I just took the practice test from harcourt and i thought the math was insanely hard. I could have solved 90% of the math problems if i had more time, but solving all of them in 23 minutes? Give me a break.

If the real Pcat has math problems that involved then i'm definitely going to run out of time

 

[KKLPharmD]

I think the Harcourt practice tests are the best way to guage your preparation. I used the Kaplan book to review and those practice tests and problems are far more difficult than most anything you will encounter on the actual PCAT. My advice is pay the cash for the Harcourt tests. I believe there are two available, take one to see where you might need some last minute study. Then take the second one as your studying finale a couple of days before the exam. If you've been doing okay on the Kaplan stuff, the Harcourt tests will be a breeze...and give you some extra confidence going in. As for essay prep, definitely use a practice prompt from either the Hartcourt CIB or the Kaplan book and write a 30 min. essay. Being prepared for how fast that 30min goes by is definitely essential. Time is also probably the biggest factor for the quant. section as well. Skip anything that is calculation intensive or that you aren't sure about. You can always come back to it!

guys. Don't stress, it really isn't bad. It's the 5 weeks of waiting to get your score that is the painful part.

 

[collinisem]

KKL, Thanks for the reply it was very helpful and encouraging. Looks like I probably need to take a look at the practice test on the Harcourt site...Best wishes to everyone taking the test next weekend. I hope we all do well.

 

[PCAT_gal]

I just tried the final math section in kaplan and it was so difficult!! OMG! I finished like only 40 problems out of 58 in the alloted time! Anyone else facing this?

By the way, how does the practice test on Harcourt work? Can we take it more than once? And is there more than one practice test available?? I din't know that!

Well good luck everyone!

 

[xTonEx]

Also, can you print a hard copy of the Harcourt Practice Exams? The questions and answers?

 

[KKLPharmD]

The Harcourt tests cost $40 (at least last year when I used them) each time you take them. Which is definitely a racket, but what can you do. I am not sure about the printing, you might be able to do it page by page. You'd have one question per page and one answer per page. There is no way to print out the entire exam and key in one click, this is most likely due to copyright issues. IMO, it is worth the money to take each test only once. If you take them under the timed conditions they are very helpful in giving you an idea of what sections you will need to be time conscious in addition to giving you a general idea of your overall preparedness. I found that time was only an issue on the quantitative part, but that depends on where your strengths lie. As for how your scores on the practice test stack up to your actual PCAT score, that is probably highly variable. But my personal experience was that my Harcourt practice scores were better than my Kaplan and my actual PCAT was better than my Harcourt practice. Let me know if you guys have additional questions. I'm happy to help in anyway I can.

 

[PCAT_gal]

Thank you for such a detailed reply KKL! Sure helps to know that Kaplan is not the standard of the test! It is way too tough to finish in the alloted time.

But $40??? OMG!

 

[PCAT_gal]

Have any previous test takers faced math and chem sections one after the other??! I sure hope I have a verbal or reading or even bio in between those 2 sections or I will have to scream!

 

[drugdoc]

The order of mine last January was comprehension, verbal, biology, quantitative, chem!

 

[PCAT_gal]

thats terrible- getting math and chem when you are sooo tired!

I hope I get them both in the beginning.

 

[drugdoc]

I actually didn't mind it too much, as I have an easy time with comprehension and verbal, so I was on a high at that point. Math is really easy for me too, so that broke up my hard subjects!

 

[PCAT_gal]

Do they provide any scratch paper for the PCAT or are we supposed to work out problems on the question booklet in the teensy margins?

 

[kynsik]

Do they provide any scratch paper for the PCAT or are we supposed to work out problems on the question booklet in the teensy margins?

You get scratch paper. I didn't finish all the problems but still received a 96 on quantitative. The chemistry part was hard for me as well. I can't think of any particular problems except in the math they had vector questions. I used a barrons book to look at the nigth before and still received an 86 which wasn't too bad considering I was accepted to pharmacy school.

 

[rxlynn]

I just tried the final math section in kaplan and it was so difficult!! OMG! I finished like only 40 problems out of 58 in the alloted time! Anyone else facing this?

By the way, how does the practice test on Harcourt work? Can we take it more than once? And is there more than one practice test available?? I din't know that!

Well good luck everyone!

Yes - I took it last October and I felt like the math was by far the hardest section. However, I still did ok (72) in the end. Be sure that you have a strategy devised for how you will handle it when you start running out of time. Be absolutely sure that you leave yourself enough time to fill in an answer for every question even if you don't get to it at all.

 

[PCAT_gal]

Thank you for your feedback, kynsik and rxlynn.

Vectors?! Does the new Barron's discuss vectors? I haven't done this at all.