Post-UCAT Discussion 2020

[Badkarma]

Hey guys,

New to the MSO forum, hopefully I make some friends here

I joined mainly for interview prep and admission discussions but found that you discussed UCAT as well. I had mine today so I wanted to share my UCAT experience and give everyone some tips as well

Date completed: 2nd of July

Venue: Online IT academy, Melbourne CBD

General thoughts on your results:

VR: 810
DM: 750
QR: 870
AR: 900
SJT: 682 (Band 2? Not too sure)

Total: 3,330

Having started UCAT prep like 1 year and 9 months ago, this score was still quite a surprise to my friends and family. But I never expected anything this high.

I did achieve a similar result on the official mock once + I didn't even realise they added practice test D till my friend (who got around the same score as me, only a lil bit higher) mentioned it

Practice is definitely the key to acing any assessment. I am not naturally gifted and doing this well was quite a challenge for me!

VR: Passages were of medium length (like 2 to 3 five line paragraphs) and most of it wasn't hard to grasp as there was nothing too complicated. Just make sure you keep an eye on the timer, time passes by really quickly if you're too lost in a question. Just don't double check every single answer as that wastes a lot of time and the test is more about time management than perfection.

DM: Venn diagram questions were awfully confusing and most of the things were hard to put together. Just make sure you're on top of those and you'll ace it. The rest wasn't that difficult and some questions needed great VR skills. DM has always been my worst section so I didn't really expect a score any higher than what I got, but make sure you flag whatever you think will take longer than a minute.

As a math person, AR and QR were my "comfort zones" which is a part of the reason why I aced these sections, but I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this without completing all the official mock exams a month before and getting superrr fast.

QR: Weirdest section and somewhat difficult. Encountered some outlandish question types but won't reveal too much. The best tip would be to know your unit conversions etc. (those wasted a lot of time for me personally). Also make sure you think about each question logically than just do what the question is asking. The beginning of the premise usually has a lot of hints. Make sure most of your working out is done on paper or if the answers are far apart, it's best to approximate it.

AR: I'm certain I lost only 1 mark in the entire section. I was practicing using harder questions with 2 or 3 patterns and it was super strange coming across questions with only 1 pattern, which made me stress a lot and waste time. For AR, make sure you use your step by step method (eg. SCANS) because it really helped with some questions where my general intuition didn't work. Just take a look at the options sometimes to figure out the pattern if the sets don't work (emergency cases only).

SJT: Some questions were super vague and I really didn't know how to tackle them, but just go with your gut and do your best Treat each question like your med interview!

General comments on the exam/exam experience:

I didn't use earplugs and I defs regret it, could've focused better in VR :/
Check this to see if your test center proves earplugs, mine obvs didn't

--- https://www.ucat.edu.au/media/1368/earplugs-at-test-centres.pdf ---

Parking was not an issue either since I got dropped after a 25 min long drive.

Make sure you bring your appointment details, ID and stuff with you (make sure you use the checklist on the registration site)

They will take a photo of you so give them your best smile

+ I didn't know you weren't allowed water in the test lol

Other than that, make sure you're hydrated, you've used the toilet, and that you know the shortcuts

- Alt + N (next question)
- Alt + P (previous question)
- Alt + F (flagging a question)
- Alt + C (using a calculator)

Disclaimer: Make sure you are looking at the keyboard when using these shortcuts
If you accidentally press (Alt + E), it will end the section you are doing!

I hope you guys ace it and I hope you all get into med!

 

[hazell]

Hey guys,

New to the MSO forum, hopefully I make some friends here

I joined mainly for interview prep and admission discussions but found that you discussed UCAT as well. I had mine today so I wanted to share my UCAT experience and give everyone some tips as well

Date completed: 2nd of July

Venue: Online IT academy, Melbourne CBD

General thoughts on your results:

VR: 810
DM: 750
QR: 870
AR: 900
SJT: 682 (Band 2? Not too sure)

Total: 3,300

Having started UCAT prep like 1 year and 9 months ago, this score was still quite a surprise to my friends and family. But I never expected anything this high.

I did achieve a similar result on the official mock once + I didn't even realise they added practice test D till my friend (who got around the same score as me, only a lil bit higher) mentioned it

Practice is definitely the key to acing any assessment. I am not naturally gifted and doing this well was quite a challenge for me!

VR: Passages were of medium length (like 2 to 3 five line paragraphs) and most of it wasn't hard to grasp as there was nothing too complicated. Just make sure you keep an eye on the timer, time passes by really quickly if you're too lost in a question. Just don't double check every single answer as that wastes a lot of time and the test is more about time management than perfection.

DM: Venn diagram questions were awfully confusing and most of the things were hard to put together. Just make sure you're on top of those and you'll ace it. The rest wasn't that difficult and some questions needed great VR skills. DM has always been my worst section so I didn't really expect a score any higher than what I got, but make sure you flag whatever you think will take longer than a minute.

As a math person, AR and QR were my "comfort zones" which is a part of the reason why I aced these sections, but I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this without completing all the official mock exams a month before and getting superrr fast.

QR: Weirdest section and somewhat difficult. Encountered some outlandish question types but won't reveal too much. The best tip would be to know your unit conversions etc. (those wasted a lot of time for me personally). Also make sure you think about each question logically than just do what the question is asking. The beginning of the premise usually has a lot of hints. Make sure most of your working out is done on paper or if the answers are far apart, it's best to approximate it.

AR: I'm certain I lost only 1 mark in the entire section. I was practicing using harder questions with 2 or 3 patterns and it was super strange coming across questions with only 1 pattern, which made me stress a lot and waste time. For AR, make sure you use your step by step method (eg. SCANS) because it really helped with some questions where my general intuition didn't work. Just take a look at the options sometimes to figure out the pattern if the sets don't work (emergency cases only).

SJT: Some questions were super vague and I really didn't know how to tackle them, but just go with your gut and do your best Treat each question like your med interview!

General comments on the exam/exam experience:

I didn't use earplugs and I defs regret it, could've focused better in VR :/
Check this to see if your test center proves earplugs, mine obvs didn't

--- https://www.ucat.edu.au/media/1368/earplugs-at-test-centres.pdf ---

Parking was not an issue either since I got dropped after a 25 min long drive.

Make sure you bring your appointment details, ID and stuff with you (make sure you use the checklist on the registration site)

They will take a photo of you so give them your best smile

+ I didn't know you weren't allowed water in the test lol

Other than that, make sure you're hydrated, you've used the toilet, and that you know the shortcuts

- Alt + N (next question)
- Alt + P (previous question)
- Alt + F (flagging a question)
- Alt + C (using a calculator)

Disclaimer: Make sure you are looking at the keyboard when using these shortcuts
If you accidentally press (Alt + E), it will end the section you are doing!

I hope you guys ace it and I hope you all get into med!

congratulations for an amazing score and thank you for the tips!! Greatly appreciated

 

[ratedsuperstar]

Thank you everyone. I was an anonymous observer last year, but it's nice to be part of your community. The support is awesome.

Thanks for the heads up regarding bombardment : )

I only used the official UCAT resources on their website and app.

Oh, and I am hoping to apply to UQ for dentistry

How similar were the questions to the official ones on the website?

 

[ummshakib]

How similar were the questions to the official ones on the website?

I found the QR a bit more difficult and the AR more difficult. VR would be similar and DM similar to easier.

oh damn, also, does anyone know if you have to scroll a lot? like in general cos its so annoying

There were a few questions where I had to scroll before moving along.

 

[Angela2020]

Hey guys,

New to the MSO forum, hopefully I make some friends here

I joined mainly for interview prep and admission discussions but found that you discussed UCAT as well. I had mine today so I wanted to share my UCAT experience and give everyone some tips as well

Date completed: 2nd of July

Venue: Online IT academy, Melbourne CBD

General thoughts on your results:

VR: 810
DM: 750
QR: 870
AR: 900
SJT: 682 (Band 2? Not too sure)

Total: 3,300

Having started UCAT prep like 1 year and 9 months ago, this score was still quite a surprise to my friends and family. But I never expected anything this high.

I did achieve a similar result on the official mock once + I didn't even realise they added practice test D till my friend (who got around the same score as me, only a lil bit higher) mentioned it

Practice is definitely the key to acing any assessment. I am not naturally gifted and doing this well was quite a challenge for me!

VR: Passages were of medium length (like 2 to 3 five line paragraphs) and most of it wasn't hard to grasp as there was nothing too complicated. Just make sure you keep an eye on the timer, time passes by really quickly if you're too lost in a question. Just don't double check every single answer as that wastes a lot of time and the test is more about time management than perfection.

DM: Venn diagram questions were awfully confusing and most of the things were hard to put together. Just make sure you're on top of those and you'll ace it. The rest wasn't that difficult and some questions needed great VR skills. DM has always been my worst section so I didn't really expect a score any higher than what I got, but make sure you flag whatever you think will take longer than a minute.

As a math person, AR and QR were my "comfort zones" which is a part of the reason why I aced these sections, but I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this without completing all the official mock exams a month before and getting superrr fast.

QR: Weirdest section and somewhat difficult. Encountered some outlandish question types but won't reveal too much. The best tip would be to know your unit conversions etc. (those wasted a lot of time for me personally). Also make sure you think about each question logically than just do what the question is asking. The beginning of the premise usually has a lot of hints. Make sure most of your working out is done on paper or if the answers are far apart, it's best to approximate it.

AR: I'm certain I lost only 1 mark in the entire section. I was practicing using harder questions with 2 or 3 patterns and it was super strange coming across questions with only 1 pattern, which made me stress a lot and waste time. For AR, make sure you use your step by step method (eg. SCANS) because it really helped with some questions where my general intuition didn't work. Just take a look at the options sometimes to figure out the pattern if the sets don't work (emergency cases only).

SJT: Some questions were super vague and I really didn't know how to tackle them, but just go with your gut and do your best Treat each question like your med interview!

General comments on the exam/exam experience:

I didn't use earplugs and I defs regret it, could've focused better in VR :/
Check this to see if your test center proves earplugs, mine obvs didn't

--- https://www.ucat.edu.au/media/1368/earplugs-at-test-centres.pdf ---

Parking was not an issue either since I got dropped after a 25 min long drive.

Make sure you bring your appointment details, ID and stuff with you (make sure you use the checklist on the registration site)

They will take a photo of you so give them your best smile

+ I didn't know you weren't allowed water in the test lol

Other than that, make sure you're hydrated, you've used the toilet, and that you know the shortcuts

- Alt + N (next question)
- Alt + P (previous question)
- Alt + F (flagging a question)
- Alt + C (using a calculator)

Disclaimer: Make sure you are looking at the keyboard when using these shortcuts
If you accidentally press (Alt + E), it will end the section you are doing!

I hope you guys ace it and I hope you all get into med!

Good job! That's like an amazing score tbh!!!
I was just wondering, for QR - were the questions like pretty convoluted and thus time constraining??? Ofc this differs for everyone but just wondering?

And damn good job for AR! That's so crazy! You deserve a really good break today hahah!

 

[ummshakib]

can you zoom in and out in the actual exam?

Not sure - I didn't attempt to.

 

[Angela2020]

Not sure - I didn't attempt to.

yeah apparently you can't

 

[kcx]

Thought so - just like last year. I assume that backspace will also work to clear the calculator (despite not doing so on the official resources).

Does pressing the back space delete the entire question you've enter in, just like clicking the on/c button?
e.g 57+67+87 and then you press backspace on the keyboard, clearing all the no. you've entered in

 

[adamsapple]

QR: The best tip would be to know your unit conversions etc. (those wasted a lot of time for me personally).

That's a crazy result mate, you should be really proud of yourself!!

By making sure to "know your unit conversions", do you mean they don't provide them in the premise? As in miles/km, volume/litre, currency and what not?

Cheers.

 

[N182]

Hey guys,

New to the MSO forum, hopefully I make some friends here

I joined mainly for interview prep and admission discussions but found that you discussed UCAT as well. I had mine today so I wanted to share my UCAT experience and give everyone some tips as well

Date completed: 2nd of July

Venue: Online IT academy, Melbourne CBD

General thoughts on your results:

VR: 810
DM: 750
QR: 870
AR: 900
SJT: 682 (Band 2? Not too sure)

Total: 3,330

Having started UCAT prep like 1 year and 9 months ago, this score was still quite a surprise to my friends and family. But I never expected anything this high.

I did achieve a similar result on the official mock once + I didn't even realise they added practice test D till my friend (who got around the same score as me, only a lil bit higher) mentioned it

Practice is definitely the key to acing any assessment. I am not naturally gifted and doing this well was quite a challenge for me!

VR: Passages were of medium length (like 2 to 3 five line paragraphs) and most of it wasn't hard to grasp as there was nothing too complicated. Just make sure you keep an eye on the timer, time passes by really quickly if you're too lost in a question. Just don't double check every single answer as that wastes a lot of time and the test is more about time management than perfection.

DM: Venn diagram questions were awfully confusing and most of the things were hard to put together. Just make sure you're on top of those and you'll ace it. The rest wasn't that difficult and some questions needed great VR skills. DM has always been my worst section so I didn't really expect a score any higher than what I got, but make sure you flag whatever you think will take longer than a minute.

As a math person, AR and QR were my "comfort zones" which is a part of the reason why I aced these sections, but I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this without completing all the official mock exams a month before and getting superrr fast.

QR: Weirdest section and somewhat difficult. Encountered some outlandish question types but won't reveal too much. The best tip would be to know your unit conversions etc. (those wasted a lot of time for me personally). Also make sure you think about each question logically than just do what the question is asking. The beginning of the premise usually has a lot of hints. Make sure most of your working out is done on paper or if the answers are far apart, it's best to approximate it.

AR: I'm certain I lost only 1 mark in the entire section. I was practicing using harder questions with 2 or 3 patterns and it was super strange coming across questions with only 1 pattern, which made me stress a lot and waste time. For AR, make sure you use your step by step method (eg. SCANS) because it really helped with some questions where my general intuition didn't work. Just take a look at the options sometimes to figure out the pattern if the sets don't work (emergency cases only).

SJT: Some questions were super vague and I really didn't know how to tackle them, but just go with your gut and do your best Treat each question like your med interview!

General comments on the exam/exam experience:

I didn't use earplugs and I defs regret it, could've focused better in VR :/
Check this to see if your test center proves earplugs, mine obvs didn't

--- https://www.ucat.edu.au/media/1368/earplugs-at-test-centres.pdf ---

Parking was not an issue either since I got dropped after a 25 min long drive.

Make sure you bring your appointment details, ID and stuff with you (make sure you use the checklist on the registration site)

They will take a photo of you so give them your best smile

+ I didn't know you weren't allowed water in the test lol

Other than that, make sure you're hydrated, you've used the toilet, and that you know the shortcuts

- Alt + N (next question)
- Alt + P (previous question)
- Alt + F (flagging a question)
- Alt + C (using a calculator)

Disclaimer: Make sure you are looking at the keyboard when using these shortcuts
If you accidentally press (Alt + E), it will end the section you are doing!

I hope you guys ace it and I hope you all get into med!

Would you mind sharing your strategy for VR?

 

[Badkarma]

Hey guys, I don't want to flood this section with UCAT tips. Please PM me if you have any specific questions about the UCAT or just advice/mocks/prep in general and I'll write like a 1000 word essay to help you out ahahaha

 

[Stormwarden]

Hey guys,

New to the MSO forum, hopefully I make some friends here

I joined mainly for interview prep and admission discussions but found that you discussed UCAT as well. I had mine today so I wanted to share my UCAT experience and give everyone some tips as well

Date completed: 2nd of July

Venue: Online IT academy, Melbourne CBD

General thoughts on your results:

VR: 810
DM: 750
QR: 870
AR: 900
SJT: 682 (Band 2? Not too sure)

Total: 3,330

Having started UCAT prep like 1 year and 9 months ago, this score was still quite a surprise to my friends and family. But I never expected anything this high.

I did achieve a similar result on the official mock once + I didn't even realise they added practice test D till my friend (who got around the same score as me, only a lil bit higher) mentioned it

Practice is definitely the key to acing any assessment. I am not naturally gifted and doing this well was quite a challenge for me!

VR: Passages were of medium length (like 2 to 3 five line paragraphs) and most of it wasn't hard to grasp as there was nothing too complicated. Just make sure you keep an eye on the timer, time passes by really quickly if you're too lost in a question. Just don't double check every single answer as that wastes a lot of time and the test is more about time management than perfection.

DM: Venn diagram questions were awfully confusing and most of the things were hard to put together. Just make sure you're on top of those and you'll ace it. The rest wasn't that difficult and some questions needed great VR skills. DM has always been my worst section so I didn't really expect a score any higher than what I got, but make sure you flag whatever you think will take longer than a minute.

As a math person, AR and QR were my "comfort zones" which is a part of the reason why I aced these sections, but I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this without completing all the official mock exams a month before and getting superrr fast.

QR: Weirdest section and somewhat difficult. Encountered some outlandish question types but won't reveal too much. The best tip would be to know your unit conversions etc. (those wasted a lot of time for me personally). Also make sure you think about each question logically than just do what the question is asking. The beginning of the premise usually has a lot of hints. Make sure most of your working out is done on paper or if the answers are far apart, it's best to approximate it.

AR: I'm certain I lost only 1 mark in the entire section. I was practicing using harder questions with 2 or 3 patterns and it was super strange coming across questions with only 1 pattern, which made me stress a lot and waste time. For AR, make sure you use your step by step method (eg. SCANS) because it really helped with some questions where my general intuition didn't work. Just take a look at the options sometimes to figure out the pattern if the sets don't work (emergency cases only).

SJT: Some questions were super vague and I really didn't know how to tackle them, but just go with your gut and do your best Treat each question like your med interview!

General comments on the exam/exam experience:

I didn't use earplugs and I defs regret it, could've focused better in VR :/
Check this to see if your test center proves earplugs, mine obvs didn't

--- https://www.ucat.edu.au/media/1368/earplugs-at-test-centres.pdf ---

Parking was not an issue either since I got dropped after a 25 min long drive.

Make sure you bring your appointment details, ID and stuff with you (make sure you use the checklist on the registration site)

They will take a photo of you so give them your best smile

+ I didn't know you weren't allowed water in the test lol

Other than that, make sure you're hydrated, you've used the toilet, and that you know the shortcuts

- Alt + N (next question)
- Alt + P (previous question)
- Alt + F (flagging a question)
- Alt + C (using a calculator)

Disclaimer: Make sure you are looking at the keyboard when using these shortcuts
If you accidentally press (Alt + E), it will end the section you are doing!

I hope you guys ace it and I hope you all get into med!

Hey, I'm doing the exam in the same test center as you, so I had a few questions:
- Do the keyboards have full-sized numpads?
- Do they provide water in the centre?
- Was it quite?
- Is there anything I need to be aware of in regards to that testing center?

 

[r1ckworthy]

Hey guys, I don't want to flood this section with UCAT tips. Please PM me if you have any specific questions about the UCAT or just advice/mocks/prep in general and I'll write like a 1000 word essay to help you out ahahaha

You should consider writing an article here in MSO just like Smelly Boy's UCAT guide!!! Would be a massive help to everyone for us as well as future candidates! Only if you have the time and energy though

 

[ucatboy]

Does pressing the back space delete the entire question you've enter in, just like clicking the on/c button?
e.g 57+67+87 and then you press backspace on the keyboard, clearing all the no. you've entered in

Backspacing will clear the entire calculator's memory rather than undo the last digit you typed (like on a real calculator), but someone else can confirm that for me.

 

[hazell]

Hey guys, I don't want to flood this section with UCAT tips. Please PM me if you have any specific questions about the UCAT or just advice/mocks/prep in general and I'll write like a 1000 word essay to help you out ahahaha

Maybe start a new thread so you won’t have to answer the same question twice? Also I think it’s really helpful for us to see your answers to other people’s posts ( but up to you!

 

[Crow]

Hey guys, I don't want to flood this section with UCAT tips. Please PM me if you have any specific questions about the UCAT or just advice/mocks/prep in general and I'll write like a 1000 word essay to help you out ahahaha

That’s exactly why the forum exists! So you can publicly share your tips and benefit the masses rather than benefit a select few.

 

[Crow]

Yes, it was a mistake and has since been deleted.

 

[Crow]

For those that have completed their test and have tips to share: please do so in the thread linked below if you are willing! Thank you

Tips for UCAT Improvement

Hi all, I've noticed some advice on how to do well / hone one's skills in each subsection of the UCAT being posted in the Post-UCAT discussion thread (which is great - thank you to those that are contributing!). However, when a thread is 100+ pages long, it's very easy for good advice to be...

medstudentsonline.com.au

 

[Badkarma]

Alright, I'm gonna be writing a whole guide as well! Probably won't be as good as SB's guide, but I'll try my best to give you guys the best tips for each section and question type!!!
Give me like 2 days to type it up, I need some rest after that thing ahahaha

 

[ucatboy]

Alright, I'm gonna be writing a whole guide as well! Probably won't be as good as SB's guide, but I'll try my best to give you guys the best tips for each section and question type!!!
Give me like 2 days to type it up, I need some rest after that thing ahahaha

Congratulations on your amazing score and take as long of a rest as you need, you deserve it king

Seeing as you did UCAT prep for well over a year, almost two, I assume you will have used a lot of preparation resources, both official as well as unofficial (free and paid). MSO has a dedicated thread for students, provided they feel comfortable, to write down their mock results alongside their final UCAT score so that future test-takers can compare themselves and gauge their performance. I'm sure many students will be very interested in seeing how you performed during practice to get the amazing score that you did in the real thing! This is of course provided you feel comfortable sharing how you went during practice! I've linked it below:

Predicting UCAT Scores from Mock Exam Results

Hi all, I've noticed a lot of interest generated from users that are wondering how those who have sat the real test and posted their results fared in mock exams. I can certainly see the value in comparing these results to give users a rough idea of how their practice test results may translate...

medstudentsonline.com.au

This thread is open to everyone who's done their UCAT, and will help future UCAT test-takers for years to come

Disclaimer: please note that in accordance with current site rules, you can't reference any specific prep company by name in your post, but simply showing your mock results is fine and other people should be able to implicitly figure out which is which. LMG! has also made it clear that further discussion from someone's results is not permitted.