UMAT

[Collin Li]

I don't really understand the point of the UMAT. Seems like a weird selection criteria to have. Oh well, if it's the university's decision to select based on it, they have the right to.

I get the point of it: to select people who aren't just smart, but also have the traits a doctor is supposed to have, e.g. empathy, problem solving etc.

I just don't get how the UMAT is an indicator of being a "good doctor" later on. I know a couple of people who would be wonderful doctors, far more passionate about it than I am, and would probably make better doctors than me, who didn't do as well on the UMAT. Seems to me the UMAT is almost cutting out as many potential doctors as it is selecting.

/rant

sorry, I just really don't like the idea of the UMAT

But do they actually think that they are inherent traits that cannot be taught to some degree?

[ninwa]

That's what I think too. Passion for the career can't be taught; empathy and problem solving can.

UMAT must die

[Collin Li]

Yeah, well: if universities think that's how they'll get their best applicants, that's what they should do. However, if universities believe there is untapped potential in people who did not do well in the UMAT, but have shown great VCE discipline, then it is also in their best interests to make sure these people are offered a spot too. It's all about allocation of resources, the university definitely wants to give their places to the smartest students, and if someone really believes there is great potential in these people who have not passed the UMAT, they could open a medical school that enrols these people (or invest in a university to open spots for them, and reap the rewards).

[kido_1]

I personally dislike the fact that nearly all medical schools require a good UMAT score. Then there are all these Prep Courses that say they can help you achieve a better Umat score.

[ninwa]

Yeah, well: if universities think that's how they'll get their best applicants, that's what they should do. However, if universities believe there is untapped potential in people who did not do well in the UMAT, but have shown great VCE discipline, then it is also in their best interests to make sure these people are offered a spot too. It's all about allocation of resources, the university definitely wants to give their places to the smartest students, and if someone really believes there is great potential in these people who have not passed the UMAT, they could open a medical school that enrols these people (or invest in a university to open spots for them, and reap the rewards).

I like that idea!

Melbourne does something like that ... entry to medicine has 3 streams apparently ... a UMAT stream, an ENTER stream and a combined stream. So you can do really well on UMAT and get an ok ENTER and get in, or get an awesome ENTER and average UMAT, or do quite well on both.

It's weird ... I've heard of people getting 96 and getting into medicine and people who got 99 didn't ...

[BA22]

hey guys, i sat the umat this year too, and it can suck, definetly

But aspiring for medicine is a path that ebbs and flows with dissapointment, elation and motivation. I did terribly on the UMAT, 161 (210%) with an overall score of 54, and i thought i was gone, and my year (i re-entered year 12 specifically for med) was wasted

I'm a rural student, so i'm lucky, which we all need sometimes  .to be lucky that is. I've got interstate interviews in jan at the moment (UNCLE & UNSW), so it's a good reminder that victoria is a difficult state to get into medicine. It will be much harder next year due to melbourne cutting undergrad med to become more internationally appealing .  .but that's another topic of discussion all together.

Just remember to exhaust all options with applications, i know it's very limited and exceptionally competitive as an undergrad, but any advantage you can find will help. Just because you bombed out on the umat, does not mean yo can't be a doctor a surgeon, it means you have to wait. And wait you should, nobody can tell you can't be, and certianly not ACER and their stupid fuckin test.

And it is stupid, the ranking may well be relative, but as some prospective med students will tell you, some of their friends did very well. Some of these freinds happen to be complete morons. Personally i completed an IQ test two months before the UMAT, very similar questions, and got 165. On another one recently, 138. It's all relative to the questions, and the cohort though . .


But all of that fades away when you get an interview offer, regardless of how shithouse your umat is, you're still in the game, and that's all you need to be.

Adelaide re-invites some previously rejected applicants who got over 99.00 for interview

Melbourne weights section one of the umat

A QLD uni, not sure which, reckons the umat is a croc of shit and don't use it

Monash weights the umat less than interview

Newcastle is almost 100% interview for admission, the umat can be a subranking, and the ENTER is a cut off of 93.8

UNSW has probably the lowest umat cutoffs of any uni, if you predict a high score for yourself, which you should!! the UAI predictor can get you an interview with a umat score like me in general applicant schemes

Rural kids should laugh at the umat, seriously, i totally ballsed up the umat and UNCLE and UNSW patted me on the back and said "there, there simpleton" come anyway. Being rural is awesome. I hear from monash this week whether or not they're gonna pat me on the back and join my umat pity train


So don't worry, it can work out for you if you search every nook and cranny for some conceivable advantage. Be prepared to ring the faculty, and move interstate, it could pay off.

[Collin Li]

Yeah, well: if universities think that's how they'll get their best applicants, that's what they should do. However, if universities believe there is untapped potential in people who did not do well in the UMAT, but have shown great VCE discipline, then it is also in their best interests to make sure these people are offered a spot too. It's all about allocation of resources, the university definitely wants to give their places to the smartest students, and if someone really believes there is great potential in these people who have not passed the UMAT, they could open a medical school that enrols these people (or invest in a university to open spots for them, and reap the rewards).

I like that idea!

Hehe, I was promoting the free-market solution, as opposed to what some people would instantly snap to: "the government should intervene and tell universities how to best select their students!"

[bonghead]

Rural kids should laugh at the umat, seriously, i totally ballsed up the umat and UNCLE and UNSW patted me on the back and said "there, there simpleton" come anyway. Being rural is awesome. I hear from monash this week whether or not they're gonna pat me on the back and join my umat pity train

.

I seriously hope your right. My only hope to get into monash is to play the pity card due to my shitty umat score. They are really going to have to believe that im some poor, blind, insulated guy who has no idea about the goings on around him haha. I feel guilty winging about my poor situation because personally i dont feel as if ive been disadvantaged at all, especially in regard to the umat. Seeing as its a supposed IQ test your performance should depend on your own intellect not your environment or schooling. Do you think monash will fall for the whole disadvantaged rural thing? They could react differently to the other uni's?

[ninwa]

Monash weights the umat less than interview

Really??? How do you know??

Then there's hope for me after all. I JUST got an interview. Literally. The cut-off was 59 raw and I got 59 raw :oops:

So if I do well on the interview it should make up for it? Yay

[BA22]

Monash weights the umat less than interview

Really??? How do you know??

Then there's hope for me after all. I JUST got an interview. Literally. The cut-off was 59 raw and I got 59 raw :oops:

So if I do well on the interview it should make up for it? Yay

Yeh monash favour a good interview and solid ENTER (med solid, so at least 98 ) over UMAT

[BA22]

I seriously hope your right. My only hope to get into monash is to play the pity card due to my shitty umat score. They are really going to have to believe that im some poor, blind, insulated guy who has no idea about the goings on around him haha. I feel guilty winging about my poor situation because personally i dont feel as if ive been disadvantaged at all, especially in regard to the umat. Seeing as its a supposed IQ test your performance should depend on your own intellect not your environment or schooling. Do you think monash will fall for the whole disadvantaged rural thing? They could react differently to the other uni's?

Monash, UNCLE and UNSW love rural kids

UNSW and UNCLE have entirely seperate schemes for them to apply

Monash have the DRL, which will invite another 60 kids for interview, they'll only like you if you say "yes, i'd really consider working in a rural area". As for that scheme, they will invite applicants with lower UMAT scores than required for the general stream. the cut-off was 59 and i got 54, so if i gt one, it would be cutting it close. The only thing is, this scheme can stil be competitve, and your ENTER would still need to be 95-98, i have heard of kids getting lower, but they had outstanding interviews


Apparently according to medentry, monash weight like:
ENTER: 40%
UMAT: 20%
INT: 40%


**Apparently

[bonghead]

I see. Do you know how much emphasis the victorian college of pharmacy (under monash) place on the umat? Would their stance be any different from mainstream monash?

[huangers]

hey everyone, yeh i did the umat, but i also went to medentry like a few other people here ahha

i found it was helpful to do it because they exposed me to the style of questions that may be asked, plus their online ranking system was against other people who i guess were also motivated to do their best for it so that was alright.

i ended up with an overall percentile of 90, the sum of the sections was 253. raw score 178

my best section was the 3rd one (98th percentile) haha the one where people dont see the point of , although my schools careers counsellor told me that dentistry places emphasis on that section so yay i guess

i doubt my enter will be anywhere near the score needed for dentistry at melb uni, so i applied to adelaide, queensland and western australia as well. but section 1 was my worst so i was knocked back by western australia for an interview haha i was outside the top 20 percent for it so yeh... i got an interview for adelaide though.

anyone else get interviews?

[munto]

the UMAT is a crock of shit to say it straight out.

it does not test for doctor abilities. my uncle is a paediatric neurologist and i gave him a practice test to and he couldn't understand section 3 and failed overall. go figure.

the whole empathy crap is a farce. if it was on empathy there would be psychoanalysis or something like that, not a multiple choice.

i'm fairly bitter about the test. i did some course before and worked my arse off and got a bad score and had been gunning for med, while a girl at school gets a 250 and has no interest whatsoever, whereas i wanted to work with the red cross in refugee camps in africa. yeah it tests for empathy, my arse.

the UMAT is more stringent than any other test and for good reason, so uni's ensure they don't have to read resumes or sit through thousands of interviews.

[Pencil]

I didn't do the umat, I don't suppose someone could post up an example of a question that tests empathy? Just curious