textbooks to hang on to

[dudecoolname]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I searched and had no luck although it seems like this has been discussed before...

Anyways, do you think its a good idea to hang on to some of your (undergrad) textbooks in order to better review for the PCAT?

Someone was telling me that reviewing their general chemistry textbook helped them better prepare (along with using Dr. Collins).

What do you guys think?

 

[MotherRussia]

i never took pcat(just preparing) but im hanging on to most of my books and i have dr Collins.I Try find pdf versions of books i have or get older editions so i can get rid of new ones that have some value.also i try to find pdf versions of high school bio

 

[rxlea]

anatomy and physiology (to have) and microbiology (for PCAT) for sure

 

[phathead]

It's really not a bad idea, providing that you can't make a killing selling them back.

I've already used my Orgo, Biochem and A&P book in pharm school for references

 

[b1234]

I'd suggest owning at least one calc, gen chem, ochem, and general biology textbook. Where I went to undergrad we had a textbook rental system on campus for most texts so I usually waited until after I took a course and then bought a (slightly) older edition of the text I used in class if I liked that text or else found a different text that I liked.

 

[dudecoolname]

^where is the cheapest place to buy? Im guessing it would be online

 

[b1234]

^where is the cheapest place to buy? Im guessing it would be online

Almost always yes. I usually use multiple search engines. If you're feeling lazy you can usually find pretty good deals through Amazon marketplace. Sometimes the most difficult part is knowing which textbooks older versions are ok for - or how old a version is still good. For example calculus textbooks haven't changed all that much for quite a while, but microbiology textbooks have changed a ton fairly recently.

 

[beeny]

I used my organic chem textbook a lot for the PCAT. Kaplan's organic is pretty insufficient.

 

[pinksparkly]

It would have been helpful to have both gen chem and organic chem books (they were long gone). I used a bio text I found at a thrift store (total score on my part) and my a & p text. I probably would have used my microbio text, but I had just finished the course and knew that book pretty well already.

 

[chemguy79]

I purchased Mathematics, Chemistry, and Biology texts at half.com. They were INCREDIBLY useful because I was able to find tons of practice problems to work on my deficiencies prior to the PCAT. I truly believe that the only reason why I was able to get at the 99th percentile on the PCAT was because I purchased Pre-Calc, Calculus, and an Algebra textbook for $10 (total) so I could get tons of practice working on logarithms, derivatives, and factoring.

 

[dudecoolname]

I purchased Mathematics, Chemistry, and Biology texts at half.com. They were INCREDIBLY useful because I was able to find tons of practice problems to work on my deficiencies prior to the PCAT. I truly believe that the only reason why I was able to get at the 99th percentile on the PCAT was because I purchased Pre-Calc, Calculus, and an Algebra textbook for $10 (total) so I could get tons of practice working on logarithms, derivatives, and factoring.

niiice

did you use Dr.Collins or anything w/ it?

 

[chemguy79]

niiice

did you use Dr.Collins or anything w/ it?

Yeah, I used Dr. Collins to supplement my studying. Basically, I used Pearsons' practice exams to get used to the test format and to see my weakest areas, Dr. Collins to get tons of practice exams, etc.

With all of that information, I found textbooks to go over concepts that I wasn't getting in Biology and purchased textbooks to have tons of math practice. It's not rocket science, really. Just know your weaknesses and solve them before you take the exam. Most people seem to waste their time focusing on only using one study guide and expecting it to be their savior.