Undergraduate Admissions Office
Notice to Applicants #6 – June 29, 2009
Pharmacy College Admission Test Data
The Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT) is comprised of several components and applicants have now received their scores. The Faculty uses these scores to assess abilities. Applicants are cautioned that individual scores are assessed within a competitive pool and the following measures for evaluating your own scores are provided as rough guidelines only. (Only scores from June 2007 to January 2009 are valid for the 2009 admission cycle.) Acceptable results on PCAT mean that an applicant remains within the eligible pool. Academic performance is then considered as a critical criterion for selection.
As you are aware there are two assessments of writing in PCAT: conventions of language (CL) and problem solving (PS). 2009 applicants must achieve minimum scores of 3 on CL and 2.5 on PS.
Another important measure is the percentile score on Chemistry. The cut score on this component is 50. The composite percentile is also set at 50. Other MCQ percentile cut scores are set at 20.
Minimum score requirements for 2009| Conventions of Language | 3 |
| Problem Solving | 2.5 |
| Composite Percentile | 50 |
| Chemistry percentile | 50 |
| Biology percentile | 20 |
| Quantitative Ability percentile | 20 |
| Reading Comprehension percentile | 20 |
| Verbal Ability percentile | 20 |
Because characteristics of applicant pools, ability levels and actual numbers of candidates change from year to year, so too may the PCAT cut scores required for subsequent years.
If you had multiple test attempts please note that your ONE best overall test score is used provided you have at least one test in which all minimums have been met. Scores from different test administrations cannot be combined. For example, if you obtained a score of 2 in Conventions of Language and a 50 Composite percentile in a first attempt, but a score of 3 on Conventions of Language and a 45 Composite percentile on your second attempt, neither of these tests meets the minimum standard. You cannot combine the 3 in Conventions of Language from test 2 with the 50 Composite percentile from test 1. It is the one best overall score, where all minimums are met, that is used for purposes of our calculations.
All applicants are provided with information related to the use of PCAT scores as above. No other information will be published or otherwise made available.