UMAT Advice:

[lazaward]

Hi guys,

I was wondering how people’s practice exam scores compared to their actual UMAT scores?

Also, in terms of starting preparation would it be a good idea to do a full Acer practice exam (timed) to see where I’m at first and then work on my weaknesses from there?

And is medentry a reliable resource? It’s the only one I’m constantly hearing of.

[cookiedream]

Hi guys,

I was wondering how people’s practice exam scores compared to their actual UMAT scores?

Also, in terms of starting preparation would it be a good idea to do a full Acer practice exam (timed) to see where I’m at first and then work on my weaknesses from there?

And is medentry a reliable resource? It’s the only one I’m constantly hearing of.

Hello!

As you might be aware, and as others have said already, Medentry exams are generally quite hard. You really can't predict your actual performance from how you go in these preparation courses. Medentry can be helpful for many, but for others it doesn't make a difference. There are a lot of other preparation courses out there, including AN's Section Zero, where people did well ultimately with their services. I think the main thing is to look at how confident you feel about the exam. Do you think you have the skills for each section? Do you think you can develop them through watching Youtube videos and a few practice questions alone (many have done this and got in the high 90s)? Medentry is really expensive as well, so there's that to consider.

I'll give you three examples of people who did Medentry and who did the UMAT this year.

One person I know has done all the Medentry exams, the five extra practice exams and the ACER package. They did consistently well in Medentry and worked really hard, leading people to assume that they'll get 100th percentile in the real thing. After the exam, they felt that it was alright, although they had a few doubts about a couple of questions. In the end, they did decently (88th percentile) but they were quite disappointed, considering the incredible amounts of time and effort they put into their preparation.

Another person I know has done 8 Medentry exams and some of the ACER stuff. They're really intelligent and, despite not doing as much work as the first person, they did as much as they felt like they needed to. I think in one or two of the practice exams, they got a percentile in the 90s. Similarly, everyone expected this person to do well. In the aftermath of the exam, they also felt like they did alright overall. In the end, they got 98th percentile.

The last person is someone who did 4 Medentry practice exams, all of the ACER stuff (including preparation videos), watched Youtube videos and did practice questions from a package bought from a friend. They did consistently badly in the Medentry exams (highest percentile was in the 60s.) On the trial exam for the two-day workshop, Medentry predicted their percentile in the real exam to be in the 40s, which really bummed them out. Consistently they did horrible in section 1 and decently in section 3. After the exam, this person felt like they did horribly and had no more hope for their UMAT result. In the end, they got 88th percentile, which exceeded their expectation and they were quite happy about (but still a little miffed that they didn't reach the 90s).

The first two people are two of my friends, and the last person is me.

The ACER practice exams are a little easier than the real exam, but they're the most similar in terms of style due to being written by the exact same people who write the real exam. Although, what you've suggested is a good starting point!

Best of luck for the UMAT!!

- cookiedream

[LifeisaConstantStruggle]

I don't know if you've heard of this package (online+face to face) but you can definitely try iCanMed which provides UMAT and MMI courses for people like you if you want to try something other than MedEntry. They explicitly categorise their questions and provide video solutions online so that's a solid benefit for their customers I guess. 

[Quantum44]

Hi guys,

I was wondering how people’s practice exam scores compared to their actual UMAT scores?

Also, in terms of starting preparation would it be a good idea to do a full Acer practice exam (timed) to see where I’m at first and then work on my weaknesses from there?

And is medentry a reliable resource? It’s the only one I’m constantly hearing of.

I’m not exactly sure how practice exam scores translate to the real thing as I feel that section 2 can have a lot of variability. I did a few medentry exams before the UMAT and was getting around 60-70th percentile when compared to other medentry students but got 89th percentile in the real thing, although I felt like I really overperformed on section 2 due to having a good mindset. Then again, it’s probably a fair translation as medentry students should technically be substantially better than the general cohort (unless UMAT prep doesn’t really help and it’s just an IQ test). It’s very debatable whether preparation is worthwhile, but since the UMAT is usually weighted equally to ATAR in med school admissions you should definitely try to prepare if you are serious about undergrad med.

It’s probably a good idea to get a feel for your strengths with a full practice exam. I think with section 3, you can definitely improve quite a bit although I made the mistake of trying to do lots of practice questions instead of learning the techniques, which cost me a lot in the real thing.

I did medentry and while it’s expensive, I think they do give you good resources and the practice questions did feel pretty accurate. Can’t really recommend the lecture, which adds another few hundred dollars to the price. They went through quite a bit, but it felt like a waste of time and that I could have learned just as much through dedicated study of the online resources. Although in the end I didn’t really treat the UMAT like a subject and focused a lot more on my VCE subjects so I think I got pretty lucky with my score.