Preparing for the UMAT

[nacho]

Hi AN,
Well, I purchased the medentry package, and have been through around 8-10 drills (the majority of which are in section 1)
I've noticed that  I don't find Section 2 so difficult, and am usually able to finish within the timeframe and score 12-13/15, i've only done 3 drills though.

Section 3, I did my first drill a few days back, went approximately 25 minutes overboard and got 11/15, 10/15 so not as good as section 2 - I'm not too worried about section 3 as i've been told this is the section people improve most on.

Section 1 is the tricky one.
I've done 6/7 drills, with practically all of them 40 minutes overboard (i try to do them VERY carefully, but often make sloppy mistakes) and yet at beast i score 13/20, averaging 10/20.
I'm really worried about section 1 - but so far, i've picked up on some tips to improve on such as drawing out rows and collumns and having a check-box for the type of questions which ask "If the accountant knows the doctor..what is Jame's occupation"

Could anyone offer further advice for section 1? I've been told to increase my reading speed - but a part from that nothing much can improve, should I then just focus on section 2 and 3?


Thanks (I hope to get into med)

[happyhappyland]

Read the questions carefully, extract important information and write them all out. Umm, I didnt do well in the UMAT so I dont want to give any more of my advice LOL

[D27RII]

Getting overtime in section one is not at all uncommon.

If this helps i got 68 for my score for section 1, and i used to take 40 minutes to do those 20 minute drills

Section 2 in Medentry can be quite different to section 2 in the real UMAT - just beware

Section three - 10/15 is a good score, that should be 95 percentile in the real UMAT as section 3 in medentry is generally harder.

[aznboy50]

Getting overtime in section one is not at all uncommon.

If this helps i got 68 for my score for section 1, and i used to take 40 minutes to do those 20 minute drills

Section 2 in Medentry can be quite different to section 2 in the real UMAT - just beware

Section three - 10/15 is a good score, that should be 95 percentile in the real UMAT as section 3 in medentry is generally harder.

Don't mean to blow my own trumpet but medentry is piss easy for section 3? I've lost one mark out of like 30 questions so far...

Does this mean I theoretically should do well on UMAT section 3?

[aznboy50]

By the way, as someone who has actually done UMAT, would you say that there is a large degree of luck as to who attains the high scores?

[vexx]

By the way, as someone who has actually done UMAT, would you say that there is a large degree of luck as to who attains the high scores?

definitely, it's mostly luck.

[aznboy50]

By the way, as someone who has actually done UMAT, would you say that there is a large degree of luck as to who attains the high scores?

definitely, it's mostly luck.

I hear that often.

However, from my friend's school, 5-6 guys I know took the test. The one who I thought was the smartest smashed the other ones...

However, in general, I think with this kind of test there is going to be a large degree of luck involved, I personally would think that 5 days throughout the year of UMAT testing whereby your average is forwarded to the University would be a much fairer system as it eradicates chance. Whether such a system is monetarily possible or not though....

[vexx]

By the way, as someone who has actually done UMAT, would you say that there is a large degree of luck as to who attains the high scores?

definitely, it's mostly luck.

I hear that often.

However, from my friend's school, 5-6 guys I know took the test. The one who I thought was the smartest smashed the other ones...

However, in general, I think with this kind of test there is going to be a large degree of luck involved, I personally would think that 5 days throughout the year of UMAT testing whereby your average is forwarded to the University would be a much fairer system as it eradicates chance. Whether such a system is monetarily possible or not though....

yeah ive heard that idea before, its definitely fairer since atm there is a huge 'on the day' factor involved. i know of quite a few high 99s scorers who didnt do that well in the UMAT, despite doing well in some practice ones.

[D27RII]

I find this disturbing to see how many people who believe that 'luck' is a leading factor in determining the future doctors. this is most certainly not true!

The reason that people get the impression that luck plays a role in the UMAT is that not all "smart" kids or 'nerds" may necessarily kill the UMAT. the UMAT is a different, logical, visual mathematical and emtional IQ test. In no way will luck help you in the UMAT.

Some people are generally better than others in the UMAT, some are naturally talented at it, people with 99.95 before have struggled with the UMAT. That does not mean that 'luck' will help you.

Hard work sometimes will not see an improvement - unlike with normal studies, u can put in tonnes of effort and not see an ounce of improvement, or you can do 4 Sections 3 drills and see a MASSIVE improvement. The UMAT is not predictable - but the people who do well in the UMAT are without a doubt fairly clever in their own respects. It may not mean that he/she will get an epic ATAR, but people who do well in the UMAT are credible.

Practice papers are not always reflective of the UMAT's true nature and hence people who do well in practice papers will not necessarily get a score indicative of performances in medentry exams or ACER practice papers

[Russ]

I think luck is definitely a factor but it's not a huge one. It's probably a few percentile points either way - a "lucky" student won't get 99 just because they were lucky, they'd have to have had a "base" level that was still quite high.

[aznboy50]

I find this disturbing to see how many people who believe that 'luck' is a leading factor in determining the future doctors. this is most certainly not true!

The reason that people get the impression that luck plays a role in the UMAT is that not all "smart" kids or 'nerds" may necessarily kill the UMAT. the UMAT is a different, logical, visual mathematical and emtional IQ test. In no way will luck help you in the UMAT.

Some people are generally better than others in the UMAT, some are naturally talented at it, people with 99.95 before have struggled with the UMAT. That does not mean that 'luck' will help you.

Hard work sometimes will not see an improvement - unlike with normal studies, u can put in tonnes of effort and not see an ounce of improvement, or you can do 4 Sections 3 drills and see a MASSIVE improvement. The UMAT is not predictable - but the people who do well in the UMAT are without a doubt fairly clever in their own respects. It may not mean that he/she will get an epic ATAR, but people who do well in the UMAT are credible.

Practice papers are not always reflective of the UMAT's true nature and hence people who do well in practice papers will not necessarily get a score indicative of performances in medentry exams or ACER practice papers

Out of curiosity what is your ~IQ?

[pi]

By the way, as someone who has actually done UMAT, would you say that there is a large degree of luck as to who attains the high scores?

definitely, it's mostly luck.

I hear that often.

+1. Its funny that most of the senior surgeons/health professionals (in the area for 20+ years) can't do very well in the UMAT yet are highly successful and respected.

Its really not a good test, a bit like the GAT in a way.

[Russ]

Its funny that most of the senior surgeons/health professionals (in the area for 20+ years) can't do very well in the UMAT yet are highly successful and respected.

Just wondering if there's actually any evidence for this other than anecdotal. The discussion on whether the UMAT is a suitable entry exam has been had multiple times and the consensus is generally that it's got flaws but they're not particularly significant when you consider the strengths.

[aznboy50]

By the way, as someone who has actually done UMAT, would you say that there is a large degree of luck as to who attains the high scores?

definitely, it's mostly luck.

I hear that often.

+1. Its funny that most of the senior surgeons/health professionals (in the area for 20+ years) can't do very well in the UMAT yet are highly successful and respected.

Its really not a good test, a bit like the GAT in a way.

But who is to say that these surgeons are the best that Victoria has to offer? Perhaps, has the UMAT been implemented ~20 years ago, we would have even better surgeons today. Rendering the UMAT effective and a necessary part of our health professionals workforce.

Moderator action: removed real name, sorry for the inconvenience

[pi]

^Fair point, but when will a surgeon need to match shapes in a pattern? I agree with the emotive parts of the test (can see the practical applications), but knowledge of huge vocabs and expert pattern recognising doesn't really match any of the occupations. Plus, if luck plays a huge role, do we want surgeons who got there through pure merit, or through a fair bit of luck? Wouldn't that make the system a bit worse, if luck plays such a huge role (it already plays role in VCE subjects like english, etc.)?