UMAT (1 Viewer)

[Cleverusername5321]

I sat the UMAT last year and my results were shockingly bad. They were so bad that I didn't even apply to medicine via UAC back in September.

I'm thinking of doing it again this year. But the practice questions are literally making me want to drive a bus off a cliff. I'm getting scores in the range of 40 percent, and I just straight out guess the 'middle of the sequence' questions as I seemingly have no hope of doing them.

Do you think my results would improve if I kept practicing? If so, what should I even do for practice? I don't really feel like shelling out $400 for a course though.

Or is it more of an intellect thing?

 

[turntaker]

Its a bit of both. You need practice and common sense /intelligence.
I have heard that gamsat is way harder than umat so I suggest trying to ace umat now.

Keep practicing

 

[Ello1234]

I find the technique used in these videos for 'pick the middle' questions useful
they might help you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4XhoteuU2M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmuuFqJYnQo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImYUSffFKBs

And some study tips in general for the UMAT:
http://www.medstudentsonline.com.au/f48/umat-study-tips-11187/

 

[enoilgam]

Do you think my results would improve if I kept practicing? If so, what should I even do for practice? I don't really feel like shelling out $400 for a course though.

Or is it more of an intellect thing?

I think you can definitely improve on Section III. I was having the same problem with that part and I pretty much just did a tonne of practice (I was able to almost quadruple my marks in this section). After a while, you get used to it and you can better identify the patterns, because they are kind of similar. If you are really struggling, you should start out with questions from actual ACER practice tests and avoid doing the Medentry ones for now. The Medentry ones are ridiculously hard, so you're better off mastering the easier ones first before progressing to them (besides, the Medentry ones are nowhere near as difficult as the actual UMAT, you might only find one or two Medentry type questions on the UMAT).

Section I can also be improved through practice, although not to the same extent in my view. Section II is a different beast - that was my best section but I found practice to be more harmful than anything else. If anything, it makes you over-think things - I cant tell you how many times Ive got a question wrong, tried to understand the logic and then apply it to another question only to have that answer be wrong. It's more instinct with this section I think.

 

[iStudent]

Try and take your time when doing the questions. While time management is important, it's kind of pointless if you're just guessing every question in rushing through the paper. You can work on time management later, but get the foundations solid first. I think though, you need some external help. The techniques used in S3 can be taught and mastered (for the easier questions, at least). Perhaps get a tutor just to go through a few pick the middle questions so you can sort of see the line of thought used in doing those questions. After you understand it, pick the middles becomes the easiest (except for those insanely hard ones haha).

I must admit though, it takes quite a bit of time (a few months for me) for it to "click".

 

[redjnr]

Agree with everything enoilgam wrote.

About tutoring - I don't think it's necessary (I did go and it wasn't that helpful), but it certainly can't do harm. Having a lesson plan and someone thoroughly go through examples is far more efficient. But as I said, you should definitely be able to achieve without tutoring (PRACTICE IS A GOOD IDEA THOUGH).

On pick the middle - I skipped any that I saw and came back to them at the end, making sure I had adequate time left. This meant I didn't stress over or waste time on a particularly hard one + doing them all together sort of puts your brain in the right gear.

 

[Ello1234]

Do heaps of practice, but also smart practice! When you get an answer wrong, make sure you know how to approach it after going through the solutions.

Section 1 is very skill-based but you can definitely improve your speed and strategies. Know what to look out for - definitive words, graphing traps, and use the process of elimination.

For section 2, try to build on your vocab and reading skills. You really need to learn how to put yourself in someone's shoes and think from the narrator/doctor/patient/subject's perspective. Reading facial expressions is also important now that they incorporate cartoons into it!

Section 3 is definitely improvable. You'll need to practice and become familiar with the techniques. Ello1234's first video shows the mapping technique on a simple question, however it can also turn difficult pick-the-middle questions into quick and easy marks!

Wait, what cartoons?
Did they just start putting it in last year?

 

[iStudent]

Wait, what cartoons?
Did they just start putting it in last year?

They had it before that. I wouldn't worry about it too much though. Last year, there was only 2 cartoon questions and they weren't that hard

 

[Ello1234]

They had it before that. I wouldn't worry about it too much though. Last year, there was only 2 cartoon questions and they weren't that hard

Okay thank you