How to Pass a Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT)

The Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) is a challenging, postgraduate examination utilized to review candidates for admission to pharmacy programs at accredited schools. The PCAT exam is administered three times per year at many locations throughout the US. As with many similar admission tests there are steps that a prospective candidate can take to enhance their chances of success.

Instructions

1. Choose your date and location. Before preparing for the exam a good place to begin is to choose the date and location of the PCAT exam that best fits your situation. The exam is administered three times per year. To get a current list of dates and locations, visit the official website of the PCAT's publisher, Harcourt Assessments, at www.pcatweb.info.

2. Get plenty of rest. The PCAT is a 4-hour, 280-question examination with a 30-minute break; so you will want to make sure you get plenty of rest the night before the PCAT exam.

3. Make a practice run. To help you prepare to pass the PCAT exam, Harcourt Assessments, the exam's publisher, offers a practice test that contains sample questions from the five subject areas covered by the PCAT: verbal ability, biology, chemistry, reading comprehension and quantitative ability. You can test yourself and then look up the correct answers. To access the practice test, go to www.pcatweb.info.

4. Get some outside assistance. If you are more comfortable with a structured, classroom approach, or online courses, in devising a plan to successfully pass the PCAT exam, there are several such services available such as Kaplan or Peterson's which provide detailed online courses.

Resources

• Official website of Harcourt Assessments, the publisher of the PCAT.
• PCAT Sample Exam Site
• Kaplan Test Preparation
• PCAT Exam Prep Site