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Pre-UCAT Discussion 2020

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Mods introduced a rule saying that were not allowed to talk about prep companies. The template format for replying in that thread had a question about how much prep we did. So just about every post on that thread had some reference to a prep company

This, yep. Though, to clarify, mods didn’t introduce the rule, the site administrator did. We are just enforcing it. The site administrator also requested the closure of that thread.
 

hazell

Regular Member
Valued Member
This, yep. Though, to clarify, mods didn’t introduce the rule, the site administrator did. We are just enforcing it. The site administrator also requested the closure of that thread.
Will there be a post-ucat thread this year? Tomorrow onwards? It'll be quite beneficial if everyone abides by the rules and doesn't mention prep companies.
 

dotwingz

Google Enthusiast
Moderator
Will there be a post-ucat thread this year? Tomorrow onwards? It'll be quite beneficial if everyone abides by the rules and doesn't mention prep companies.

Its just been opened as of ~5 minutes ago

 

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N182

Regular Member
Hey guys, been lurking on MSO for the last year and a half but now it's finally come to me to post, having sat the UCAT a year ago with disappointing results, I hope to bounce back this year!

Good luck to everyone sitting UCAT 2020!
May I ask what you are doing differently this year? Because i'm in a similar position to you.
 

IQ ™

Member
May I ask what you are doing differently this year? Because i'm in a similar position to you.
Well, I had access to a bunch of textbooks (from the UK) that were filled with thousands of UCAT practice questions. Last year, my plan was to exhaust these books (content removed - it’s not about not mentioning the name, which I have made very clear!! It is no prep company discussion AT ALL!! LMG!). I found myself really not benefiting much from those textbooks to be honest, especially since the textbooks did not reflect exam conditions at all, but what I did get out of them was the general feel of the questions and what they may or may not ask you (style of questions in the UCAT). But that's not enough for you to do well in this exam, and I realised this after thorough reflection for months after receiving the dreadful score I got last year (2480). (Content removed). Regardless of me starting my 'study' months prior, I realised afterwards that I was not nearly as consistent and focused as I should've been in terms of preparation for this exam.

In general though, the main two things I've changed up this year were:

1. Consistency (timing and amount of questions)
2. Constant reflection and evaluation of questions (involves prioritising weak sections without losing sharpness in your strong sections)
 
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sevun

Member
Good luck everyone! :D You've worked hard and your efforts will pay off! I hope everyone gets the scores they want!


On another note, some questions about the use of the whiteboard:
1. Is anyone else finding it hard to write down numbers/tables/diagrams on their piece of paper (representing the whiteboard) during practice in a neat way? I always find myself in a rush and writing down stuff in whichever corner of the page is blank, it's quite messy. Do people get neater with time?
2. What's your whiteboard setup? hehe. I'm right-handed I have the keyboard on the left, mouse in the middle, and pad on the right.
3. How do you check if your marker has enough ink before the exam without it being interpreted as cheating?
 
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whys

Regular Member
On another note, some questions about the use of the whiteboard:
Is anyone else finding it hard to write down numbers/tables/diagrams on their piece of paper (representing the whiteboard) during practice in a neat way? I always find myself in a rush and writing down stuff in whichever corner of the page is blank, it's quite messy. Do people get neater with time?
What's your whiteboard setup? hehe. I'm right-handed I have the keyboard on the left, mouse in the middle, and pad on the right.
I doubt it's worth your time to make sure it's neat in the first place - the only person looking at your working out is you, so as long as the stuff you write makes sense to you then you'll be right. Honestly, if I look at the stuff I write in a few weeks time, I don't think I'd be able to recognise what I was actually working out or doing, it all just makes sense in the moment. If you are concerned about space, then next time you practise, I guess you could try to consciously write smaller or in designated areas. With practice, it'll soon become a habit. My notebook is in front of my keyboard, keyboard in the middle in front of the computer and mouse on the right.
 

sophkat

Member
Does anyone know how percentages in sections amount to raw scores? The practise tests I'm using don't give me the /900 result but I'd like to know around where I'm currently sitting.
 

whys

Regular Member
Does anyone know how percentages in sections amount to raw scores? The practise tests I'm using don't give me the /900 result but I'd like to know around where I'm currently sitting.
You can search up a conversion table for raw to scaled, there are plenty. They aren't going to be 100% accurate though, since in the real test each question is worth a decided number of points that we are not aware of.
 

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ucatboy

final year eek
Valued Member
purplepenguin10 I know your post got deleted (we're not allowed to talk about specific prep companies, forum rules sorry 🙁) but check this success story here, it may be of some assistance:


This person also received percentiles averaging ~50-60, but pulled through with a 2800 (close to 90th percentile) in the real thing. Don't give up hope!
 

Angela2020

Member
Hey guys, so I was reading this blog that said that whilst all questions are worth equal marks, like there is scaling involved? As in if you answered like most of the "easy" questions right but not much of the "hard" questions, you'd get like a lower score? Gosh wish I didn't read that blog cos now I am freaking out but I just wanted to confirm if this is true.

Also my AR performance is like dropping for some reason - I'm not getting a lot of questions right now and its scaring me cos my UCAT is on the 24th! Does anyone know how to like I guess not freak out and improve from this. Like whenever I do a practice exam, my head gets all cloudy in AR for some reason and I am just always flagging and can't even answer any questions right 😟😞
 

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