The Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT)

About Pharmacy

Pharmacy or Pharmacology is one of the oldest and most essential professions of the world. It dates as far back as the Indus Valley Civilization period. Pharmacy is a branch of Science. It comprises of the study, the manufacture, the preparation, the research, and the development of various medicines and drugs. It is a profession that works in parallel with the medical profession and the former also assists the latter in several ways and forms the base of the Pharmaceutical Industry.

About Pharmacy/ Pharmacology in the United States of America (USA)

Pharmacy has always been a popular profession in the United States of America (US of A). It is considered to be an extremely important and respectable occupation and many students aspire to become Pharmacists or Druggist as the profession is more commonly known. The Pharmaceutical Industry is quite a prominent industry of the US.

The Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT)

To select students eligible enough to pursue a course in Pharmacy/ Pharmacology in the United States of America, a test referred to as the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) is conducted across all the important cities of the US as well as many other countries.

It tests the test- takers’ knowledge of various fields ranging from Science subjects like Biology and Chemistry to general subjects like Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Conventions of Language, Composite and Problem Solving.

It is a filter through which those who aspire to study Pharmacy or Pharmacology are passed to assess their eligibility and aptitude for the same. The duration of the PCAT is four and a half hours which is divided suitably among all the sections. It comprises of two essay- type Writing topics and 240 multiple- choice questions. There is no negative- marking for questions that are answered wrong.

The various Pharmacy Colleges across the USA admit students on the basis of the scores acquired by the latter in the Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT). Each college specifies a certain cut- off that the applicant to that college must attain. Those who are successful in doing the same are called for further testing procedures like interviews, etc. by the colleges.

Conducting the PCAT

Psych Corp (PC), which is a subsidiary of the Pearson Group (PG), first developed the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) and it is now conducted by the Harcourt Assessment, Inc. (HAI). It is endorsed by the American Association of the Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP).

The Different Sections of the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT)

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Quantitative Ability
• Verbal Ability
• Reading Comprehension
• Writing Session- I
• Writing Session- II

Eligibility

Anyone who has taken up Science with Physics, Chemistry and Biology at the class 12 levels is eligible to sit for the PCAT.

Institutes One Can Apply to Through It

• Auburn University, Auburn
• Samford University, Birmingham
• Midwestern University, Glendale
• The University of Arizona, Tucson
• University of AR for Medical Sciences, Little Rock
• Harding University, Searcy
• University of California, San Diego La Jolla
• Loma Linda University, Loma Linda
• University of Southern California, Los Angeles
• Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona
• California North state College of Pharmacy, Rancho Cordova
• University of California, San Francisco
• University of the Pacific, Stockton
• Touro University, Vallejo, Colorado
• University of CO, Denver School of Pharmacy, Aurora
• Regis University, Denver, Connecticut
• University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, Storrs
• Saint Joseph College School of Pharmacy, West Hartford, District of Columbia
• Howard University School of Pharmacy, Washington, Florida
• And various other State - run Universities and Colleges