When to take the PCAT? Is it time?

[XxAlbertoxX]

I'm ALREADY A JUINIOR (I took a lot of electives prior to pre-pharm pre-reqs, was chemistry major...)

...I have finished EVERY pre-pharm class EXCEPT for Human Anatomy/Physiology I & II, Immunology, Biochemistry, which I should finish this spring 2011 after this fall 2010 semester is over... then I will be done....

I HAVE A 3.5 GPA.

I KNOW I'm almost done, and it might be time to study hardcore for the PCAT. I was never in a rush to get into pharm. school though, and have focused on getting straight A's in all the pharmacy classes at my pace, which was more important to me. (the only B's I have are from some electives I took early in my college career when I was not that motivated and not pharmacy orientated)

Where can I find methods on how to study for the PCAT? Is it time? Can someone shoot a reference over? Is a "How to study for the PCAT for dummies book" a good idea or is there some better alternative?

Please let me know... I have been volunteering AND doing research projects related to chemistry at my school and just won 2 separate research projects, one for 500$ which was a loan for research materials and the other was a 1500$ stipend for research.

I also work as a Pharmacy technician and am going to be doing more undergrad research with the synthetic organic chemist at my school who does alot of work in medicinal chemistry and is closely affiliated with nearby pharmacy programs in Indiana/chicago.

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[R2pharmD2]

I'm ALREADY A JUINIOR (I took a lot of electives prior to pre-pharm pre-reqs, was chemistry major...)

...I have finished EVERY pre-pharm class EXCEPT for Human Anatomy/Physiology I & II, Immunology, Biochemistry, which I should finish this spring 2011 after this fall 2010 semester is over... then I will be done....

I HAVE A 3.5 GPA.

I KNOW I'm almost done, and it might be time to study hardcore for the PCAT. I was never in a rush to get into pharm. school though, and have focused on getting straight A's in all the pharmacy classes at my pace, which was more important to me. (the only B's I have are from some electives I took early in my college career when I was not that motivated and not pharmacy orientated)

Where can I find methods on how to study for the PCAT? Is it time? Can someone shoot a reference over? Is a "How to study for the PCAT for dummies book" a good idea or is there some better alternative?

Please let me know... I have been volunteering AND doing research projects related to chemistry at my school and just won 2 separate research projects, one for 500$ which was a loan for research materials and the other was a 1500$ stipend for research.

I also work as a Pharmacy technician and am going to be doing more undergrad research with the synthetic organic chemist at my school who does alot of work in medicinal chemistry and is closely affiliated with nearby pharmacy programs in Indiana/chicago.

The only thing you have left to take that is likely to be helpful is A&P, and you could probably still manage a decent score without it. If I were you, I'd take the exam now so you'll have plenty of time to retake if necessary.

Others may be able to recommend a good PCAT study book, but I found that the most helpful thing for me was just doing practice tests. If you've retained the material well, then timing yourself doing each section (particularly math, in my experience) is more helpful than anything. Working at a good pace and making sure you don't get bogged down is important. Also, if you haven't retained as much as you think you should have, then doing practice tests should help to reveal gaps in your knowledge as well.

 

[owlegrad]

Moving to PCAT forum.

 

[XxAlbertoxX]

Thanks alot for your response and for moving the post to the correct area. I do apologize for that in advance.

Yes, I was worried about the fact that I have NOT taking A&P yet (my schedule plan got lop-sided and I ended up getting wayyy ahead with chemistry but not equally as far with biology).....so I def. don't want to score low or mediocre, especially since I'm such a perfectionist with grades and I understand how important the PCAT is.

I don't just want to get into "any school", I really, really want to get into a GREAT/ivy/private/elite school this time around. Really bad. Been busting my ass getting straight A';s in everything from Econ to Organic II, on top of volunteering, working as a pharm. tech, and doing leadership work, and winning alot of $$$ in research grants.

Anyway, if someone could please recommend a book, I guess I will look on amazon for the highest rated books, but I assumed someone, SOMEONE on here might see this post who has scored highly on the PCAT AND offer advice to someone very hungry and willing to learn on here...... thanks.....

 

[susu2731]

I think you can definitely score good on the PCAT w/o taking A&P as long as you have good study material to learn from. The bio section in the Kaplan Pcat book was VERY helpful for me. For chemistry, I bought the cliff notes AP chemistry and also did chem questions from orgoman. I found Orgoman to be way too specific in organic questions so I just used my notes from school and reviewed the most common reactions as well as other topics.
I also bought Dr. collins study guide, but it did not help me at all because there was no written explanations for the correct answers, so I abandoned it after going through the first test. The verbal section in dr. collins was the only thing that truly helped me.
Also, you should look into the pearson practice exams. Many of the questions were very similiar to the actual PCAT.

BTW with all your research, EC, work experience, and good academic standing, I have no doubt you will get into a top notch school.

 

[owlegrad]

Thanks alot for your response and for moving the post to the correct area. I do apologize for that in advance.

Yes, I was worried about the fact that I have NOT taking A&P yet (my schedule plan got lop-sided and I ended up getting wayyy ahead with chemistry but not equally as far with biology).....so I def. don't want to score low or mediocre, especially since I'm such a perfectionist with grades and I understand how important the PCAT is.

I don't just want to get into "any school", I really, really want to get into a GREAT/ivy/private/elite school this time around. Really bad. Been busting my ass getting straight A';s in everything from Econ to Organic II, on top of volunteering, working as a pharm. tech, and doing leadership work, and winning alot of $$$ in research grants.

Anyway, if someone could please recommend a book, I guess I will look on amazon for the highest rated books, but I assumed someone, SOMEONE on here might see this post who has scored highly on the PCAT AND offer advice to someone very hungry and willing to learn on here...... thanks.....

No problem.

Most people on here swear by Dr. Collins, but if you have been getting A's and retained even the tiniest bit from your classes you should be fine, IMO. People on here don't give themselves enough credit. Take an official practice test and see how you do. For me it was highly predictive. Not having A&P should not hinder you so much really.

There is no such thing as a GREAT ivy/elite COP. Most of the highest ranked colleges of pharmacy are state schools. But you should want a great education, so I understand your desire. It's just that pharmacy doesn't have a strong hierarchy of schools like certain other fields.

Good Luck.



And it pains me to be so picky, but alot is two words. And it would only be in advance if it was before the fact, your apology (which is really not necessary at all my friend) is after the fact so "in advance" is not correct.

 

[harmonidrum]

You need Dr Collins if you want high 90s IMO, but relying on Collins solely without retaining information from prereqs will not get you very far.

 

[sde780]

And it pains me to be so picky, but alot is two words. And it would only be in advance if it was before the fact, your apoligy (which is really not necessary at all my friend) is after the fact so "in advance" is not correct.

And it pains me to be so picky, but apoligy is spelled apology. just poking fun

 

[owlegrad]

And it pains me to be so picky, but apoligy is spelled apology. just poking fun

How could spell check fail me so!

 

[xtsukiyox]

And it pains me to be so picky, but alot is two words.

You, sir, have just won the internete.

Thanks be to alot! All hail alot!