Five years of sleepless nights, five years of endless studying, five years of brutal classes is leading up to my PCAT this coming Saturday. After this test, providing I do well enough, the rest of college will be smooth sailing. No more microbiologies or organic chemistries to keep me on my toes 24/7 studying.
The problem with that thought is, it's a lot of fuckin stress. I am having to go over material I haven't seen in four years in some cases. I don't really remember too much about calculus, but I have to become proficient in it in six days. I have been studying off and on all throughout break, only to discover the practice book I have been using is one of the worst. Go figure.
So for the next six days (including the start of a new semester) I shall probably be the only one engrossed in textbooks in the library. The only thing I keep telling myself is that this is the last test. Goddamn does that sound like a good thought...
7 comments:
I'm sure you will do fine. I'll be working next Saturday like I always do, so I'll be sure to transfer all my 'Mojo' over to you that morning. It isn't much, but any +luck and thoughts will relieve the stress. Have fun studying, and kill it.
Just be very solid in your algebra skills and know what things mean in calc. It couldn't hurt to be able to work through arithmetic quickly and accurately. The courses and books tend to over prepare you for the test, but man does it feel good to go in there having seen everything possible that they can throw at you.
Also a lot of people get bit in the ass by the written essays. Be able to quickly and succinctly write an essay with a clear thesis, clear points, beginning, middle, end, and all that jazz. Taking 3 to 5 minutes to do a quick and dirty outline can work wonders.
And lastly, try not to cram the night before. Just do something you enjoy and be confident that the knowledge will be there when its needed.
I actually have 2 PCAT review books to go off of along with a quick review book on pre-calc stuff. I'm a pretty good essay writer, so I'm not terribly concerned about that. I just really need to go over calc and my chem some more.
I prefer to over-prepare for something like this. Take lots of practice tests to find out which areas I'm not so proficient in. From what I've gathered I think I should be at least in the 70th percentile, but obviously I'm aiming for higher than that.
Just wanted to wish you good luck for tomorrow. You may come out of it feeling like you didn't have enough time and did horribly; well, everyone around you feels that way too. So don't stress about it, you probably did fine!
- PCAT Survivor
PS, your blog is great.
Good luck! I'm taking it too, trying to improve on my math score from October. The horrible part is that I haven't taken calc since 1999... I've been so distracted with the PCAT this week I just plain missed my first physiology lab on Tuesday. Geez.
But you're right -- it is comforting to know this should be the last time.
I'm not so concerned about the timing aspect. I've always generally been a fast test taker and am usually the first one done during regular tests. For me it's just making sure everything stays straight in my head. If I make at least the 75th percentile, I'll call that good I think.
So, how do you think you did?
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