Taking the PCAT twice

[laura_mideon]

I know there's a bit of a problem on this forum with PCAT questions (being asked over and over again), but I searched PCAT and went through the first 4 pages without finding an answer before asking this question, so hopefully I'm not re-asking anything someone already did.

So anyways...people keep telling me to leave time to take the PCAT twice. I'm fairly confident that the first time I take it I will probably bomb the chem section but do well on everything else (except I'm kinda iffy on the vocab). The second time I take it I will probably do better on the Chem section cause I will be in Chem II.

My question is, while I know that the adcom only considers your most recent PCAT score, do they even see the older score? I just don't want them to think I'm not good at Chemistry and the 2nd time may have been a fluke or something.

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[kwakster928]

I know there's a bit of a problem on this forum with PCAT questions (being asked over and over again), but I searched PCAT and went through the first 4 pages without finding an answer before asking this question, so hopefully I'm not re-asking anything someone already did.

So anyways...people keep telling me to leave time to take the PCAT twice. I'm fairly confident that the first time I take it I will probably bomb the chem section but do well on everything else (except I'm kinda iffy on the vocab). The second time I take it I will probably do better on the Chem section cause I will be in Chem II.

My question is, while I know that the adcom only considers your most recent PCAT score, do they even see the older score? I just don't want them to think I'm not good at Chemistry and the 2nd time may have been a fluke or something.

i think in general they will look higher of two composite scores, and look at the scores in each subject. yes they will also see the old scores and you are require to report them (i think?). you will be surprise how well you do in the subject you feel you have weakness on. just take the test and see how well you do. good luck

 

[Glycerin]

you are require to report them

This is true.

 

[laura_mideon]

you will be surprise how well you do in the subject you feel you have weakness on. just take the test and see how well you do. good luck

I hope you're right! And thanks for your advice, I just applied online for the November 20th test so now it's a done deal.

 

[laura_mideon]

Wow, I was just looking at the time limits for the test. Looks pretty difficult. Which section(s) did you guys find the most difficult timewise??

 

[Glycerin]

Wow, I was just looking at the time limits for the test. Looks pretty difficult. Which section(s) did you guys find the most difficult timewise??

Chemistry and math, due to the number of questions compared to the time limit for each section.

 

[laura_mideon]

Is the reading/verbal section difficult to get through in time?

 

[Glycerin]

Is the reading/verbal section difficult to get through in time?

For me, not at all. I finished both of those sections plus the biology section with time to spare.

 

[laura_mideon]

Wow, too bad you can't carry the time over to the other sections!

 

[sweetcalie08]

I know some schools only consider your most recent attempt...whether higher or lower. I think most schools accept the higher composite score, but one of the schools I checked into only considered the most recent. Good luck!

 

[laura_mideon]

I know some schools only consider your most recent attempt...whether higher or lower.

Yeah, I just found out that my top choice school does it that way as well. Cool, thanks!

 

[Mags]

Chemistry and math, due to the number of questions compared to the time limit for each section.

ditto.. chem i flew through but i admit i'm good at chem

as for math.. jeebus..it was wayyyy too many problems for the time allotted.. i dont know anyone who finished the math section.. so be prepared for that.. dont frett... just do the best you can on that section by realizing you will NOT be able to finish the whole thing, so do quality work on the ones you can answer

 

[ForgetMeNot]

ditto.. chem i flew through but i admit i'm good at chem

as for math.. jeebus..it was wayyyy too many problems for the time allotted.. i dont know anyone who finished the math section.. so be prepared for that.. dont frett... just do the best you can on that section by realizing you will NOT be able to finish the whole thing, so do quality work on the ones you can answer

I finished the math section with no problem, but I remember hearing a lot of people say they didn't have enough time to finish. And, I don't know how much the timing has changed for the sections in the past couple of years.

 

[laura_mideon]

For those of you who found chem/math the toughest timewise.....are you normally strong in the subjects?

So...do you think that's an advantage or a disadvantage for someone weak in the subject? I kind of think of it as an advantage because if you're scored comparitively as well, and even the good chemistry students are stuck guessing, then the weak student won't get totally blown out of the water.

 

[dgroulx]

For those of you who found chem/math the toughest timewise.....are you normally strong in the subjects?

I ran out of time on both chemistry and math. I'm strong in both chemistry and math, but I have to take my time otherwise I tend to transpose numbers. With chemistry, I answered all the conceptual questions first then went back through and solved the problems that required calculations. I received my lowest scores on these sections - 90 for chem and 84 for math.

 

[Trancelucent1]

I definately didn't have enough time for math or chemistry. The time allotted for Chemistry wasn't nearly as bad as the math though. I'm pretty decent at chemistry (when I took the test I hadn't had Chem. in 2 1/2 years), but math was definately my weak point. I've always been lacking in the math department. I've had some bad teachers early on that really screwed me up in math. That was my lowest scoring section though and the time allotted really sucks!