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so who's re-sitting the UMAT next year???

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Veon

Regular Member
Originally posted by ciaran@Sep 22 2007, 02:16 AM
Seems like people are offended by my apparent disrespect for dentistry, which was probably born out of ignorance. Regardless, I think people are taking my careless comments far too seriously.
...how?

I don't see why wanting to know whether my course would get me into dent/any related health/sci course is a problem. Maybe its because of the flippant way I referred to it, in which case do you now want me to refer to dent. as "The most esteemed and glorious profession"?
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I think with something like Dent/Med where the competition is so tight and people want to feel they have a good chance of getting what they want, it's naturally going to bring about a bit of cattiness and will lower the threshold for what we perceive to be foolish, as it indirectly takes a stab at the chances of prospective applicants; we stress all year about it and if we aren't going to get a spot in the course want right now, at least it'll have gone to somebody that didn't have the 'damn i didn't get med, hope i can at least get dent' attitude.

Further proof that the entire VCE/HSC system is all about pitting kids against eachother, bringing about anger and crushed hopes.
How many people took the UMAT this year?
How many got good scores?
How many are crushed?
The same will happen with the ENTER.
Nobody gives a ****, we get nonsense like 'oh it's all about you' and 'you can do what you want, you just have to work hard!' or 'don't worry try again next year' or 'well that's what happens when you have a limited number of spots, it's not our fault' or 'there's nothing you can do about it' as if that, or telling me to lighten up, will actually result in the alleviation of this worry.

All well and good when you're on the other side of year 12 and you've got what you want, but to current year 12s with exams looming and the potential deflation ahead, the whole thing becomes rather infuriating.

There are only a certain amount of spots, and that means to get yourself a spot you have to crush the dreams of hundreds also applying for that spot.

You need to crush thousands in the UMAT.
You need to crush a couple of hundred in the interviews, and you need to crush tens of thousands with the ENTER.
And so nobody looks past school as being anything more than a ticket to a spot in a course.
The victim here, of course, is as ever, the bright-eyed hopeful, who one day will become painfully aware that the mantra of 'follow your dreams' and 'you can do it if you want to' really means:
'slash and burn as you go, play the game and claw your way to what you want'.

It doesn't matter how smart or abled the cohort of year 12s is, perfectly capable students will miss out and their names will be put back into the barrel for a redraw next year, meaning there is more competition for the same number of spots (less, in fact) and so we perpetuate the cycle.

Get 100% on some tests and you are rewarded with a career.
Lovely world we live in.
 

AussieChica

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Get 100% on some tests and you are rewarded with a career.
Lovely world we live in.

i don't see a problem with that, only with the direct opposite (otherwise capable ppl who don't happen 2 do well in tests situations being denied a career)

guys don't forget there r other avenues to med/dent other than yr 12.
 
B

Bacilli

Guest
It's extremely competitive medicine and this sort of takes the shine off the entire career for me. Chances are I'll probably be one of the 10's of thousands illuminated due to poor UMAT results. :( I seriously hope not!

I have been thinking long and hard about career options and one other career that appeals to me is an engineer who designs motorcycles! Man, I’d love to be financially stable enough to to design and manufacture my own brand of high-quality sports motorbikes – not the Jap crap we’re seeing manufactured these days either; I’ll ensure quality and performance is kept paramount!

- Bacilli -
The world’s finest sports motorcycles
 

sue

Member
um..jus wondering wat are the chances of improving yr UMAT score in the second attempt??

as many people say that UMAT's based on"your intellectual ability" and everything..
is it actually possible to get a big jump for sec1 and sec2 ??(i realize that sec 3 can be improved by practice)

should i spend another year in a hope of improving my first attempt umat score from 147 to like high 180's ?? has anione hugely improved their scores in their second attempts??

all the senior members and those who are experienced, i would like to know if it is wise to redo umat agn (while enrolling in a science degree) and expect such a big jump? or should i settle for something that requires a lower umat score and then apply for medicine as a graduate??

i can't make up my mind. any advice will be much appreciated!!!
 

AussieChica

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Almost everybody does better on second time than first BOCTAE (but of course there are exceptions).

I got 169 first time and 204 second time (but there were other factors involved that I can't really go into on MSO... one of them included a gap year filled with non-academic stuff).

UMAT isn't based on your intellectual ability though certainly that can help. Section 2, especially, is not based on anything important whatsoever in my slightly cynical opinion but it can be improved on substantitally (it was my worst section 1st time but it did improve dramatically the second time round).
 

Veon

Regular Member
I'd say you're virtually guaranteed a better result on your second attempt.
Whether that better result will eventuate in the course of your choice, however, is another matter.

I got smoked in section 3 and I did okay in the others, and had it been even a little better i'd be looking at a fairly nice score.

For those of us who get scores that aren't too flashy, I guess the only thing in our paths is time.
But we are strangers to having to wait; year 12 is about running out of time, not having a year of it in your way.

If i don't get it (my course) I will most certainly retake the UMAT and i'll be damned if i don't do better than this year.
I'll take a whole bottle of Vitamin C if i have to, and stay out of human contact for two weeks before the test, to stave away the flu.

Of course there are multiple avenues to Med/Dent but as a Year 12 students with hopes/aspirations and dare i say it; dreams, it really, really, does suck.
All the more, because with med/dent it isn't about being good, it isn't about being sufficient or above average, it's about having blindingly flashy scores with the proviso that these scores are enough to trump that of others.
I'll stick to it, and i hope that this scholarship thing i'm applying for will work out and that the financial boost will help somewhat in alleviating the spiral of cry-yourself-to-sleep depression that may come about as a result of the deflation one could potentially experience.

I like choc-mint ice cream.
 

~shinigami~

。◕‿◕。
Emeritus Staff
Originally posted by AussieChica@Sep 22 2007, 07:23 PM
Almost everybody does better on second time than first BOCTAE (but of course there are exceptions).

I got 169 first time and 204 second time (but there were other factors involved that I can't really go into on MSO... one of them included a gap year filled with non-academic stuff).

UMAT isn't based on your intellectual ability though certainly that can help. Section 2, especially, is not based on anything important whatsoever in my slightly cynical opinion  but it can be improved on substantitally (it was my worst section 1st time but it did improve dramatically the second time round).
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I'm afraid to try the UMAT again though because I scored better than I thought I would in Sections II and III so I'm not too confident that I can replicate the scores I got the second time around cause I think I fluked them.
 

Wiki

Member
A 1 in 5 guess is a 1 in 5 guess, no matter which year you do it in : )

Serisouly, to me the umat is more about understanding and reasoning than knowledge, which is something you can't be taught or study for, it's what you learn through experience (mostly).

You'll learn more from that intervening year of uni, or working in the 'real world', or that gap year than you ever will in any "Special Study" before the next umat. That and just knowing what's going to happen when you walk in that hall and being familiar with feel of the exam will make the whole thing easier.

Afterall, it's a pretty sizable proportion of med students who have had a couple of goes (or more) at the umat. You're going to be stuck here for 5, 6 maybe 7 yrs, and that's just the undergrad part of it all, so 1 year isn't as devastating as it probly feels right now. May as well make the most of it.
 

LB27587

Regular Member
i did 2 yrs of another degree before med i will be finished when i'm 24...in my opinion that is not that old and those 2yrs of other stuff made me better suited towards med and helped me heaps in my interview. so go and do something you like, try UMAT again and as Wiki said you may as well make the most of it before you enter the intense pressure filled try not to catch your tutor's attention world of med
 

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AussieChica

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Lol for my interview almost every question was answered with something I did on my gap year.

I'm sure I've written a thread about in on MSO before but I can't find it. When I can be bothered :)P) I'll write something up.
 

postman

Member
um..jus wondering wat are the chances of improving yr UMAT score in the second attempt??

as many people say that UMAT's based on"your intellectual ability" and everything..
is it actually possible to get a big jump for sec1 and sec2 ??(i realize that sec 3 can be improved by practice)

should i spend another year in a hope of improving my first attempt umat score from 147 to like high 180's ?? has anione hugely improved their scores in their second attempts??

all the senior members and those who are experienced, i would like to know if it is wise to redo umat agn (while enrolling in a science degree) and expect such a big jump? or should i settle for something that requires a lower umat score and then apply for medicine as a graduate??

i can't make up my mind. any advice will be much appreciated!!!

Hey Sue,

Last year I was in almost exactly the same position as you, ie really disappointed with my umat in year 13.

This year I'm doing HSFY at otago and my umat improved dramatically. I think it is because the course is a lot of work compared to NCEA and thus improves your concentration. Also, while you're down here you'll probably have more access to resources to help you with umat.
 

sue

Member
hey postman,

thanks for the reassurance. hopefully it will work out for me as well. if u don't mind me asking, wat was yr umat score in the second attempt? also, considering the exhausting competition in HSFY to get good grades in uni papers, do u get enough tym to prepare for UMAT?
 

kareem

Regular Member
My overall score was 53.. overall percentile 68%... that's not good hey? Has anyone heard of people getting into UTAS with similar results?

S1: 54 - 73%
S2: 52 - 67%
S3: 52 - 57%

I'm a Tas School Leaver btw
hey
ur results r pretty good for a tassie school leaver
you should ring up and speak to the dean of medicine
but to my knoweldege
u need at least 50 in each section (u did this), and they like reserve spots for you
so u r cruising reasonably well.
I really want to go to UTAS if i dont get in anywhere else in NSW. (i dont like many other states!), and i spoke to dean of medicine and he told me i had a good chance, but talking to others it usually is 200 for interstaters!!!!!
 

eric341

Member
hey postman,

thanks for the reassurance. hopefully it will work out for me as well. if u don't mind me asking, wat was yr umat score in the second attempt? also, considering the exhausting competition in HSFY to get good grades in uni papers, do u get enough tym to prepare for UMAT?


You are pretty much preparing for the UMAT by being studious and reading a lot of texts. I don't think there's any other way to prepare, other than going on a UMAT course which isn't all that time consuming anyway.

I don't see HSFY being very time consuming either to be honest, especially if you're a good time manager and did well at school.
 

Matt

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Yep, I think that's right Kareem. Still, you can always do a year of tertiary study and then apply to UTAS. I would've really liked to have gone to UTAS, myself, but they still had physics as a requirement when I was applying.
 

kareem

Regular Member
OUCH!
just spoke to guy from UTAS
10 places for interstateschool leavers
i can guarantee they would go to (including being accepted by)
10 interview chokers!!!!! despite them possesing awesome umats and awesome uai's
no wonders they say you need 200+
i only got 194, but like predicted uai sux (92ish)
 
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Veon

Regular Member
My mother was against putting UTAS down because "that's where all the criminals were".

Mum, almost all of Australia is where the criminals were.

"Yes, but there are more there"


Last edited by kareem : Today at 03:30 PM. Reason: spelt uai wrong


lol.
 

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Hayden

Getting busier
Emeritus Staff
OUCH!
just spoke to guy from UTAS
10 places for interstateschool leavers
i can guarantee they would go to (including being accepted by)
10 interview chokers!!!!! despite them possesing awesome umats and awesome uai's
no wonders they say you need 200+
i only got 194, but like predicted uai sux (92ish)

Bit of an ignorant attitude. You'd be surprised at how many of the interstate school leavers in my class at UTAS had offers elsewhere, meaning they had to have done pretty darn well in the interview.

I can also vouch sincerely for their skills in communication and their emotional intelligence.

Sorry to wax poetic, I just find this sort of attitude very narrow-minded.
 

Hayden

Getting busier
Emeritus Staff
My mother was against putting UTAS down because "that's where all the criminals were".

Mum, almost all of Australia is where the criminals were.

"Yes, but there are more there"




lol.

Haha.

Yeah, thank goodness UTAS doesn't look at your criminal record before they admit you. Otherwise they would have discovered my dark, dark past...
 

kareem

Regular Member
wat the?
im not ifnotnt
if u read my previous post
I want to go to Tasmania
i said if i move interstate
i reckon i would go to utas
ahead of unimelb, monash and adelaide
i said i reckon that they would be interview chokers
i have not met one person that i know who is applying for UTAS that doesnt have it as their last preference (for some reason people reckon tassie is a hole. I dont think it is!)
well obviously they have emotional intelligence (at least 50 in umat for S2 is required)
and flunking your interview isnt bad communciation skills
my problem will be nerves
so essentially i would like an apology for that rant you had at me
(sorry to every1 else for my rant just now, I just dont like people having a go at me!!!)
 
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