How to Know What's Required Before Taking a PCAT

The Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT) is the primary, standardized admission testing tool used to measure aptitude for admission to university or college pharmacy education programs. Like all graduate school admission tests, the PCAT can be challenging and it is important to understand the pre-requirements of the PCAT and the components of the PCAT prior to taking the PCAT exam. Read on to find out what they are.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Get a passing grade. This may seem obvious; but it should be stated that a person applying for admission to a pharmacy college, a graduate level curriculum, is expected to have completed an undergraduate degree program at an accredited college or university. Most pharmacy colleges expect to see an undergraduate curriculum consisting of science and biology courses that were successfully completed.
2. Get specific. Most pharmaceutical programs at accredited universities and colleges require completed undergraduate coursework in general and organic chemistry with demonstrated lab time. Also coursework in general human biology, math and physics are required. Electives should consist of social or civic studies and humanities.
3. Break down the PCAT. The PCAT itself consists of 280 questions broken down into 5 topics and 1 writing category. The topics covered in the PCAT are in verbal ability, quantitative ability, biology, chemistry and reading comprehension. These questions are in multiple choice format. There is one essay writing section.
4. Get a date. The PCAT is administered three times per year in several different testing locations nationwide. PCAT testing dates occur in January, April and October of each year.