Kaplan PCAT 2008-2009: Pharmacy College Admission Test (Kaplan Pcat)

This book is awesome! It sums up every subject so well and the tests in it are very very useful! Compared to the real test it was very accurate on what was going to show up. I'm going to keep this around because it is just full of information even if it isn't need for the PCAT.

The biology review is missing a lot of important basic information and the calculus review doesn't cover what was on the real PCAT test.

My recommendation is to take the practice pcat test from the pearson website. It was very similar to the real test. Then after that, you'll know what you need to review.

This Kaplan test was helpful, but the material wasn't quite the same as what pcat tested on. My weak spots were chemistry and calculus and I don't feel the Kaplan review improved either for me. Vocab review was ok, and essay section didn't give any practice subjects, only tips on how to write an essay. That info could be found online for free...

Overall, I think this review may have been helpful if you are taking a test from 4 years ago, but things have changed. The review is no longer current.

This book needs more information on the "tough stuff". There's not nearly enough review on calculus or advanced chemistry. The english review sections (reading comp and verbal) were pretty decent. I absolutely hated the practice tests in this book for several reasons. First, they were full of errors; I answered questions correctly in the final practice test and the answer key had the incorrect answer letter (correct answer was B and key said it was C, but had the correct information with it). Second, the practice tests had five answer choices, whereas the actual PCAT only had four. Third, the answer sheet for the test had four bubbles (A through D) and five answer choices (A through E). I got a much better test review by paying for a practice test from the company that writes the PCAT. I would not buy this book again.

Over the summer of 2008 I prepared for the PCAT mainly with the Kaplan 2008-2009 PCAT test prep book. The chapters of the Kaplan book covering the verbal, reading, writing and biology sections are all great review with lots of good information and great tips for performing well on those sections. The two practice tests at the end were also fairly helpful overall for extra review and getting acclimated to the actual length of the PCAT.

That being said I felt that the Kaplan book did a somewhat poor job with the math and chemistry review. The organic chemistry chapter in the Kaplan book is a joke and does not go into enough detail. It merely covered basic functional group identification, simple IUPAC naming, and basic molecular orbital theory (sigma/pi bonds, bond order). The actual PCAT asked a good number questions pertaining to aromaticity and predicting products of basic organic transformations like SN1 reactions, hydride reductions, oxidations, and addition-eliminations. However, the Kaplan book did NOT even mention ANY actual organic reactions. And although the general chemistry review is good preparation, the math chapters fail to cover a small portion of calculus and trigonometry. Kaplan's review of calculus like basic derivatives, integrals, and limits is helpful but it did not address implicit derivatives and integrations by parts--both of which were on the actual PCAT. Although, there were only two or three trig questions on the actual PCAT, I feel that a small trig review would have been useful. Despite those faults, the Kaplan book does a great job reviewing statistics, algebra, and pre-calculus. The majority of PCAT math questions tested knowledge of the latter math topics, which Kaplan reviewed very well.

Overall I would recommend purchasing this book for PCAT preparation--especially if you're in need of a great biology review. However, I would take the official PCAT practice tests to prepare for the math and chemistry sections and treat the Kaplan review of these topics as more of a supplement to your main studies.

Cons:
1- There are many errors in this book. The most glaring of all is an advice box that directs you to online calculus review. However, the website doesn't exist. According to Kaplan's Academic Services it's a printing error. There are also answer key errors in the chapter reviews and the practice tests.
2- Math, Essay, and Organic chapters aren't thorough enough for the test
3- The book's tests cover less organic chemistry than the actual PCAT

Pros:
1-Best study guide I own (I have 4 books)
2-Gen. Chemistry and Biology sections are thorough
3-Very accurate reading comprehension practice

Despite lacking in the Math, Essay, and to a lesser extent the Organic Chemistry chapters, it is the best and most comprehensive book I have used (reason for the 4 star rating). It has 1 pre test, 1 practice final test, as well as chapters on verbal, reading comprehension, math, bio, chem, the essay, general test taking tips, and changes in the new pcat. Finally, each test prep chapter has review questions at the end. There are roughly 35 content review chapters.