How to prepare for the PCAT

With around 270 to 280 multiple choice questions and about four and a half hours time to solve the questions, PCAT is a test specially designed for the purpose of choosing eligible students into the premier American pharmacy colleges. Hence preparing for this test needs time and patience. ‘How to prepare for the PCAT’ is a question commonly striking most test takers at the initial phase. But there is nothing to worry. Start with improving language skills as these are tested in every competitive exam including PCAT. the candidate can also prepare for PCAT by referring books like the Kaplan and the barons which are published exclusively for such exams.

The Kaplan book is considered to be the best option. Moreover the PCAT association themselves offer courses that cost like 700$ to 900$ to help the test taker get some practice, but the popular opinion is that following these books are the same as attending their courses. Kick start your preparation at least at least 6 months before the actual test date and maintain a study plan, so that you will have enough time to make yourself familiar with the syllabus, the test questions, and the structure of the exam. You would also need to develop your own strategy to crack the exam.

Practice pcat online

With the help of the internet you can get valuable training all by yourself as pcat online practice papers are available on many websites. online practice PCAT papers need to be solved and they are vital because this year onwards, the test is going to be computer based (CBT). Hence the test taker will be more efficient in using the system at the actual time of taking the test. Studies have shown that people who have attempted practice papers online before the actual PCAT have scored considerably higher than those who did not take up any practice test prior to the exam.

The student can do the entire pcat practice online. The PCAT official website http://tpc-etesting.com/pcatopt/ provides sample papers in each of the five divisions namely, biology, chemistry, verbal ability, quantitative ability and reading comprehension. The cost will be around 40 to 80$ each. Also, a separate diagnostic report for each of these tests will be provided, which will help you to evaluate your position in connection with the test. These reports are also printable, in case the student needs them for future reference or review of performance, he/she could always store a print out. These sample tests are timed. The timers help you to take up the test in a way which would help you accustom yourself to the actual test. Online pcat practice is very essential if the candidate is expecting to score well in the test. Also, these tools provide you with pre-written essays and practice topics for the writing part of the exam. Two writing topics will be given to the test taker during the actual PCAT. So it is essential that the candidate is efficient in it.