Post UCAT Discussion Thread 2021

[SmoothCriminal]

Have you received the rescheduling email yet? I'm still waiting on mine - don't know what test day I should be studying for!

Oh ive already done the ucat. I was just curious as to what the last date of the testimg cycle is.

 

[ucatboy]

Would it be possible if we don't see a change in the 90th percentile but a 3010 goes from a 92 to a 93 (for reference, currently, 3010 is the last score for 92 percentile, 3020 is 93rd percentile)?

It's possible yeah but it doesn't really matter, unis don't look at your percentile but actual score.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

It's possible yeah but it doesn't really matter, unis don't look at your percentile but actual score.

Yeah, reiterating this.

We sort of inflate the importance of percentile rank here because it’s the most straightforward measurement we have of comparing year to year and providing advice, but the universities DON’T use percentile rank, they use raw score.

 

[ucat3300+]

Yeah, reiterating this.

We sort of inflate the importance of percentile rank here because it’s the most straightforward measurement we have of comparing year to year and providing advice, but the universities DON’T use percentile rank, they use raw score.

Doesn't JMP have a 'cutoff' UCAT of 93rd percentile? I think that's why people are wondering if their 92 will go up to 93 if they are borderline between the two.

 

[yoloucatswag]

Don't JMP have a 'cutoff' UCAT of 93rd percentile? I think that's why people are wondering if their 92 will go up to 93 if they are borderline between the two.

yep exactly that's why I was asking. But I think JMP just goes down the list of UCAT scores so they would just be looking at the raw score as ucatboy and lmg said. I heard that they are cutting the number of interview spots? so guessing this could mean a possible increase in the cut-off.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Doesn't JMP have a 'cutoff' UCAT of 93rd percentile? I think that's why people are wondering if their 92 will go up to 93 if they are borderline between the two.

I don’t think so. We decided last year that the cut off so happened to be at the 93rd %ile, but correspondence from JMP was a raw number amount. I can’t remember both figures, but for rural it was 2450, I believe. If someone has seen otherwise, definitely happy for them to share.

 

[ucat3300+]

I don’t think so. We decided last year that the cut off so happened to be at the 93rd %ile, but correspondence from JMP was a raw number amount. I can’t remember both figures, but for rural it was 2450, I believe. If someone has seen otherwise, definitely happy for them to share.

Ahh, yes, you are right. General entry: 2980/93rd%ile - confirmed by JMP 2021 Entry Interview Invite DATA COLLECTION

However, 2980 was the lowest score for 93rd percentile last year if I remember correctly. I know for sure that 2970 was a 92 last year. So maybe, JMP does indeed go for a percentile approach? (Top 7% gets in interview invite, etc.) Or it might be a coincidence; they arbitrarily chose 2980 which also happened to be the lowest score for a 93rd percentile, but I doubt this. If JMP does use a percentile approach, then I think getting boosted from 92 to 93 in the final stats is a good thing. But I may be wrong, and also, percentile cutoffs might change this year..

 

[ucatboy]

I think unis are more than happy to stop at a score that's mid-way through a percentile "bracket", they just need to make sure all interview places are filled.

Say 3020, 3030 and 3040 are all considered 93%ile. If JMP needs to fill 800 spots and inviting all 3040+ gives them 780 candidates, 3030+ gives them 810 candidates and 3020+ 830 candidates, they'd probably stop at 3030. Unis do allow a bit of leeway for interview numbers but they won't go overboard because that means more time and money.

 

[ucatboy]

Ahh, yes, you are right. General entry: 2980/93rd%ile - confirmed by JMP 2021 Entry Interview Invite DATA COLLECTION

However, 2980 was the lowest score for 93rd percentile last year if I remember correctly. I know for sure that 2970 was a 92 last year. So maybe, JMP does indeed go for a percentile approach? (Top 7% gets in interview invite, etc.) Or it might be a coincidence; they arbitrarily chose 2980 which also happened to be the lowest score for a 93rd percentile, but I doubt this. If JMP does use a percentile approach, then I think getting boosted from 92 to 93 in the final stats is a good thing. But I may be wrong, and also, percentile cutoffs might change this year..

They didn't arbitrarily choose 2980, they chose 2980 because inviting everyone at or above that score satisfied their interview numbers.

This is why unis don't care about percentiles - they go down the list until they've got enough people and leave it at that. The cutoff score comes first and the percentile later, not the other way round.

 

[ucat3300+]

Yep, that makes a lot of sense. So definitely a coincidence that 2980 was lowest score for 93rd percentile! Thank you for your reply

 

[yoloucatswag]

They didn't arbitrarily choose 2980, they chose 2980 because inviting everyone at or above that score satisfied their interview numbers.

This is why unis don't care about percentiles - they go down the list until they've got enough people and leave it at that. The cutoff score comes first and the percentile later, not the other way round.

Do we know if JMP is decreasing their number of interview spots this year? And if they are.. this would definitely mean an increase in the cut-off score right?

 

[A1]

It's possible yeah but it doesn't really matter, unis don't look at your percentile but actual score.

Oh you guys are so amateurish
JMP looks at actual score, your score remains the same, but if your percentile goes up it means there are fewer candidates with higher scores than yours thus does increase your chance making the cutoff. Right?

Do we know if JMP is decreasing their number of interview spots this year?

Someone posted a JMP faq a few days ago, they plan to interview 750-800 this year. This is actually higher than the previous usual number 700-750.

 

[ucatboy]

Oh you guys are so amateurish
JMP looks at actual score, your score remains the same, but if your percentile goes up it means there are fewer candidates with higher scores than yours thus does increase your chance making the cutoff. Right?

Except that at 12,700 test sitters, the number of people who scored above yoloucatswag will only go up when the remaining 1300 do their test

The absolute number of candidates with higher scores than you never decreases as more people sit the test, even if your percentile goes up.

 

[A1]

Except that at 12,700 test sitters, the number of people who scored above @yoloucatswag will only go up when the remaining 1300 do their test
The absolute number of candidates with higher scores than you never decreases as more people sit the test, even if your percentile goes up.

Arrgh... where's your maths prowess today
The percentiles last year were based off ~14,000. Now "the absolute number of candidates with higher scores than you never decreases as more people sit the test" I agree, but that as a percentage out of the current 12,700. They (the higher scores) are fewer compared to last year, thus the increase in %ile when brought up to 14,000.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

While I can see what everyone’s saying, the point I was trying to emphasise is not to get too hung up on percentiles as they’re not the exact deciding factor. You can have two people with the same percentile, and only one gets an invite because invites are sent on the basis of raw score and slots available and the candidates have slightly different raw scores. We saw this happen multiple times with UAdel in the past with UMAT (I haven’t looked close enough to see if it’s also happened with UCAT).

 

[assdfghjkl]

Have you received the rescheduling email yet? I'm still waiting on mine - don't know what test day I should be studying for!

heyy did you receive anything yet?
When I called pearson they said to email them instead. That was last wednesday, on 29th september, no reply yet.

 

[User267548]

heyy did you receive anything yet?
When I called pearson they said to email them instead. That was last wednesday, on 29th september, no reply yet.

I have gotten the rescheduling email on Saturday been calling ever since. The cannot book a new exam due to an error on their system, and the final testing day is tomorrow (5th of October), and cannot reach them now as the offices are on weekend break.

Not sure if I am taking the exam or not anymore?!

 

[maybeobsessed]

I have gotten the rescheduling email on Saturday been calling ever since. The cannot book a new exam due to an error on their system, and the final testing day is tomorrow (5th of October), and cannot reach them now as the offices are on weekend break.

Not sure if I am taking the exam or not anymore?!

Oh that’s tough. I expect they will arrange another date for you as the delay is due to their error.

 

[SmoothCriminal]

Hi guys, the final UCAT statistics are out and nothing has changed.
Seems like they've made an error with the dates, "The following table shows final statistics for UCAT ANZ 2021, as at October 22, 2021."

 

[DriftingDogs]

Anyone have any idea why Pearson has gradually limited the amount of information available to candidates since the 2019 summary test statistics? The 2021 summary doesn't even disclose the number of candidates who sat the test this year.