The best time to create a study plan is at the beginning of your PCAT preparation. If you don’t already use a calendar, you will want to start. You can purchase a planner from an office store, print out a free calendar from the Internet, use a built-in calendar or app on one of your smart devices, or keep track using an interactive online calendar. Pick the option that is most practical for you and that you are most likely to see and use consistently.
Once you have a calendar, write in all your professional obligations: class sessions, work shifts, meetings, etc. Then add in personal obligations: appointments, lunch dates, family time, etc. As part of your personal obligations, schedule in specific time for family and friends, working out, and other hobbies. Making an appointment in your calendar for family dinner or going to see a movie may seem strange at first, but planning social activities in advance helps your loved ones cope with your busy schedule (soon to become even busier once you start pharmacy school!) and helps you balance your personal and professional obligations. When life gets busy, social appointments are often the first to be sacrificed. However, this can lead to strained relationships and both physical and mental exhaustion. Having a happy balance allows you to be more focused and productive when it comes time to study, so stay well-rounded and don’t neglect anything important to you.
Once you have established your calendar’s framework, add in study blocks around your obligations, keeping your study schedule as consistent as possible across days and across weeks. Studying at the same time of day as your official test is ideal for promoting the best recall, but if that’s not possible, then fit in study blocks whenever you can. How to study during these blocks is discussed later in this chapter.
Next, plan in your practice tests. Take one test early in your preparation as a diagnostic, but save any remaining tests until you’ve reviewed nearly all the content and are beginning to feel confident about the PCAT. Staggering your tests in this way allows you to form a baseline for comparison and to determine which areas to focus on right away while also providing realistic feedback as to how you will perform on Test Day. For each test scheduled, set aside four hours to take the test and then another four hours the next day to thoroughly review the test (discussed later in this chapter).
When planning your calendar, aim to finish your full-length practice tests and the majority of your studying by one week before Test Day, which will allow you to spend that final week completing a final, brief review of what you already know.
To make studying as efficient as possible, block out short, frequent periods of study time throughout the week. From a learning perspective, studying one hour per day for six days per week is much more valuable than studying for six hours all at once on only one day per week. Spacing out your preparation allows your brain time to consolidate its new memories, and seeing the material repeatedly over a longer period of time makes recalling the information on Test Day easier and faster. Specifically, Kaplan recommends studying for no longer than three hours in a single sitting. In fact, three hours is an ideal length of time to study: It’s long enough to build up your stamina for the four-hour Test Day but not so long that you become overwhelmed with too much information.
Within those three-hour blocks, also plan to take 10-minute breaks every hour. Use these breaks to get up from your seat, do some quick stretches, get a snack and a drink, and clear your mind. Although 10 minutes of break for every 50 minutes of studying may sound like a lot, these breaks will allow you to deal with distractions and rest your brain so that, during the 50-minute study blocks, you can remain completely focused. Taking breaks more often than this, however, can be detrimental; research shows that becoming fully engaged in a mentally-taxing activity generally takes 10 minutes, so if you stop to check your email or social media, talk with your roommates, or grab yet another snack every ten minutes while studying, you will never be completely engaged and will not be using your time effectively.
If you would like to study for more than three hours in one day, space out your studying with a significant break in the middle. For example, you may study for three hours in the morning, take a two-hour break to have lunch with your friends, then study for another two hours in the afternoon.
If you are unable to study for a full three hours in one sitting, shorter amounts of time can work as well, but you’ll get the most benefit from your studying if you immerse yourself in the material uninterrupted for at least one hour. For brief practice when you only have a few minutes, use the Study Sheets located at the back of this book. These sheets contain the most important information to memorize before Test Day, so take them with you wherever you go or put them somewhere you’ll see them frequently. These can be a great way to fit in extra studying when you wouldn’t be doing anything productive otherwise, such as when waiting for the bus to arrive or a class or meeting to start or even while brushing your teeth (you can hang them up on your bathroom mirror!). Even five or ten minutes per day quickly adds up to hours of additional studying over the course of a few weeks.
The total amount of time you spend studying each week will depend on your schedule and your test date, but the recommendation is that you spend 200–250 hours before taking the official PCAT. One way you could break this down is to study for three hours per day, five days per week, for three months. But that's just one way. You might study six days per week (note that you should avoid studying every day!) or might study for more than three hours per day. You might study over a longer period of time if you don’t have as much time to study each week. Or you might find that you need more or fewer hours based on your personal performance and goal scores.
One way you could use this book is to complete at least one chapter per day. Note that the length of each chapter varies considerably, so only use this as a rough guideline, remembering each week to spend additional time practicing and reviewing material previously covered. Furthermore, for best studying, don’t just review all of the chapters in order; instead, start thinking about all of the sections of the test right away and reinforce long-term learning by staggering the material.
No matter what your plan is, ensure you complete enough practice to feel completely comfortable with the PCAT and its content. A good sign you’re ready for Test Day is when you begin to earn your goal score consistently in practice.
Taking time off can be just as important as studying. Just as you should take breaks during study blocks, take breaks during the week as well. Kaplan recommends taking at least one full day off per week, ideally from all of your professional obligations but at minimum from studying for the PCAT. Taking this time allows you to recharge mentally. Plus, any fun or relaxing activities you plan for those days give you something to look forward to during the rest of the week.