How to Prepare for the PCAT: Pharmacy College Admission Test

Rating:
Summary: Good Review Book
Review: I bought this book along with others, and this seemed to be the best representation of the test. The verbal and quantative reasoning were right on, the reading was a bit easy but close, the chemistry was very hard compared to the test (the test was easy), but the biology was a poor example. There were no cell organ diagrams on the test, somthing this book stressed. Overall the best review book I found. Don't be worried about it's simplicity, the test tends to follow the trend. Do the outlines, and you should be fine.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent; the only book you need.
Review: I bought this book, along with every other PCAT book I could find. I studied and studied all of them up until test day. When I took the exam (10/99), the only book whose questions were similar to the actual test was this one. The other books are WAY too in-depth. Overkill might be a good thing on other exam preps, but here, over-studying could lead to burn-out, and failure to miss the big picture. Granted, I'm a graduate student in Pharmacology, but this book is the best prep I read. Pick up this book and the HighYield series in Biology and General Chemistry. Forget the rest.

Rating:
Summary: Got a perfect score
Review: I decided to go to pharmacy school at the last minute so I was behind in studying for the PCAT. I should say, though, that I have a B.S. in Biochemistry, so I'm not a fresh-out-of-high-school kid wanting to blame a book on my bad score and not my lack of practical scientific knowledge.
This was the only resource I used to study for the PCAT. I bought the book and then I went to the library every night for a week. I read everything in the book, then did every single practice test twice using separate paper copies. I went to the test and finished before everyone else. I am bewildered by anyone doing bad on this test and blaming this book. If you can't take responsibility for your own grade, how do you expect to take responsibility for patient care plans and treatment options?

I'm not a genius. But even I know when to blame myself for a bad grade and not a book well-designed to help me.

I got my scores back and recieved perfect scores in every area. I have recommended this book to everyone I know preparing for the test, and they liked it as well.


Rating:
Summary: Excellent Source
Review: I felt that the questions were an excellent representation of the types and wording of the questions on the PCAT. The most helpful was the outlines of each section, there were questions over every topic. The time this book gives you for each section is a little inflated over what the real time limits of the PCAT test is. Overall a great source of information.

Rating:
Summary: A great investment to make!
Review: I just took my PCAT this past weekend and I have to say that this book was really helpful and certainly prepared me for the test. The samples questions got me very acquainted with the format of the questions on the test. As I was taking the exam I feel I was just working on sample problems in the book. The outlines were definitely helpful. I suggest going over the biology and chemistry outline.

Rating:
Summary: Good Way to Review
Review: I just took the October PCAT and I this was the only outside book I bought to study with. Between all the review questions and the 2 practice tests this was an excellent way for me to review concepts I had learned a couple years ago. The questions are pretty accurate with the real test, however the Reading section on the PCAT was more difficult. I would reccommend this book as a great study companion to all you old science books.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty worthless
Review: I just took the pcat, and this book was not helpful. The biology questions didn't help at all, maybe on one or two questions. Trust me, all of the dopes saying that they got a 99 are either just lying or trying to sell books. Just read your Biology book and chemistry notes, and you will be way better off.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Decent
Review: i just took the pcats yesterday and im happy to say that this was a very good book familiarizing you with what to expect. each section of the test is thoroughly outlined with what to study. i took the outline for the chemistry and biology sections in the book and bought the cliffs notes for biology, a&p, and chemistry and matched up the outline in this book with the table of contents in the cliffs notes word for word. the two combined are a powerful tool in preparing for this test. the verbal section on the test was also spot on with the preparations in this book. also, the two practice tests are very helpful in letting you know, for the most part, how the test works and what to expect. now the cons. the quantitative section was, as said before in other reviews, over-simplified as was the reading comprehension, nowhere near as difficult on the real test. times given for each section in this book are outdated as well. i recommend also checking out the pcat tips given at www.pcat-test.com, invaluable in my opinion. all in all, if you wish to succeed on this test, this is an priceless source and combined with the other two sources will undoubtedly help you succeed in becoming part of the most overpaid profession out there. enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: I recently took the PCAT using this book as my primary source of instruction and I must say that I was very impressed. Barron's provides a comprehensive and accurate outline of study material for each of the sections on the test. The book also provides about 100 practice questions on each section, as well as a practice PCAT. While no book can completely prepare someone for every question on the PCAT, nearly all the topics that were covered on the exam were reflected on at some point in Barron's.

Rating:
Summary: from a recent PCAT test taker
Review: I studied this book backwards and forwards and found that the questions on here are way too easy. The real PCAT are much harder. Don't buy this book and expect to breeze through the PCAT because it is definitely not a good representation of the real exam.