Angela2020
Member
oh yeah lol sorry! Yeah well I mean that is expected tho cos its so hard
-
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Post-UCAT Discussion 2020
- Thread starter DrDrLMG!
- Start date
- Status
Finished! I'm so happy with my score and I have to thank the kind members of MSO for their support, it really helped.
I found QR and DM slightly easier than the mocks, I panicked a bit in AR and got less than I had previously. VR passages were a little longer on average, but comparable difficulty.
Good luck to everyone still to sit the test!
| Verbal Reasoning | 890 |
| Decision Making | 820 |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 760 |
| Abstract Reasoning | 720 |
| Total Score | 3190 |
| Situational Judgement | 630 |
I found QR and DM slightly easier than the mocks, I panicked a bit in AR and got less than I had previously. VR passages were a little longer on average, but comparable difficulty.
Good luck to everyone still to sit the test!
Goodness!! Congratulations that’s amazing!
Insane VR score! Would you mind sharing your VR strategy?
someday
Regular Member
damn that's insane! congrats mate it seems like your hard work has paid off
please don't apply for the same unis as me thanks haha
Hmmm.... let me guess, you are the 2 maths + physics + chem type of students?
(It didn't work last time I have to try with another!). Congrats on the excellent score btw.
massive congrats on completing your ucat! that AR score is amazing you should be proud of it
(might be slightly envious about it but i digress 
)
2 English + legal studies and history typa score distribution
amazing score
Post-UCAT Discussion 2020
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...
medstudentsonline.com.au
@A1’s first attempt. The OP had never done those subjects and was an RN with a Masters of OT
.Hailstriker
Lurker
how'd you get 890 for verbal. What are your secrets?
Keep practising until the patterns literally wave at you. Be an active learner too, don't just get fed up because you cannot find a pattern in practice. If you get it wrong, go back and analyse the question. Why did you miss it? Did you follow your pre-defined process (i.e SCANS)? Were you just randomly looking at the patterns as a whole, or were you identifying the simplest box and assessing its traits? I failed for a solid 2 week of VR at the start of my practice before I slapped myself and had a stern talking to my brain. Keep working away!
N
nb
Guest
Think u mixed up VR and AR there haha
Thanks for the kind words all, I really appreciate it.
I don't know if I had a strategy for VR exactly, it's the section I practiced the least. What I did was read the question, start reading the passage until I could answer the question, then look at the second question etc etc. Honestly I think reading speed is extremely important and unfortunately is hard to train. Another thing is I'm 28 years old, I have a degree, I have 10 years on most people sitting the UCAT and that makes a big difference.
THE most important thing for the whole exam is speed. You've got to read quickly, you've got to do mental arithmetic and evaluate logic statements quickly, you've also got to determine if you can answer a question quickly. I managed to answer every question, even if it was a complete guess. I flagged, moved on then came back at the end, which is where I probably picked up some marks in QR and AR.
Lastly don't stress! Being stressed never helps and if you go in calm and collected you'll do better than if you're frantically studying notes up to the last minute.
I don't know if I had a strategy for VR exactly, it's the section I practiced the least. What I did was read the question, start reading the passage until I could answer the question, then look at the second question etc etc. Honestly I think reading speed is extremely important and unfortunately is hard to train. Another thing is I'm 28 years old, I have a degree, I have 10 years on most people sitting the UCAT and that makes a big difference.
THE most important thing for the whole exam is speed. You've got to read quickly, you've got to do mental arithmetic and evaluate logic statements quickly, you've also got to determine if you can answer a question quickly. I managed to answer every question, even if it was a complete guess. I flagged, moved on then came back at the end, which is where I probably picked up some marks in QR and AR.
Lastly don't stress! Being stressed never helps and if you go in calm and collected you'll do better than if you're frantically studying notes up to the last minute.
cocodreams
Regular Member
Woah I am amazed!! This is awesome! Great work
What are your tips for DM, because I sometimes find myself conflicted with yes/no qs and probability
Doradoraaa
Member
Just out of curiosity, are we able to change the screen brightness?
Eleanor Rigby
Regular Member
A fantastic result, being calm & collective often comes with experience which you clearly have. I'm curious as to the field of study your degree is in and the reasoning behind embarking on a career change.
Hey everyone!
New member here as well; I joined mainly to see how everyone's UCAT experience went and wanted to share my own.
Date completed: 4/7/20
Venue: Sydney Pitt St
General thoughts on your results:
I personally think I did really well - here are my results:
VR: 700
DM: 680
QR: 880
AR: 830
Total: 3090
SJ: 640
General comments on the exam/exam experience:
Contrary to what I've seen up thread, I personally found the QR section the easiest - it consisted of mainly simple average/conversion calculations. The main tip is to get comfortable with your keypad to become familiar with calculator and read/interpret the question effectively and efficiently. Also don't bother with the 'memory' function on the calculator, I never figured out how it works. It is generally faster to just keep the value - or an estimated value at the back of your head, or even write it down on the whiteboard. Get familiar with 'estimating' or 'scanning' your values eg. rounding 1399 = 1400 etc. Look at your answers; if they are spread apart, you can generally estimate with more leeway. Most of the questions were fairly straightforward in my exam set.
The AR section was also one of the easier ones; once you do enough practice and get familiar with common acronyms to help you analyse the patterns such as SCANS; you should be able to answer 80%~ of the questions. Very rarely were there any sets that had 'harder patterns' such as conditional ones (If this... then that...).
I struggled in the DM section especially with 'order' type questions (like arranging people in a line with set of conditions etc.). In my opinion, those questions required the most thinking in the DM section. The syllogisms (yes/no types) were straightforward, generally did not have a huge list of conditions - but it has always been my worst type of question in the entire UCAT.
In terms of VR - the passages were around the same difficulty as the practice exams I would say; most passages were around 250-350 words in length. I thought I bombed it; but surprisingly I did okay. The main tip is to manage your time; and 'triage' your set of passages. If the passage seems too long, or you just can't understand it and spend already 40~ seconds on a question - you should guess and come back later. Try to make 'educated' guesses where possible as every answer you rule out would increase your chances of getting the correct answer.
Again, this was just my experience of the exam - there are 3 sets in total that UCAT rotates between candidates, so you may not necessarily get the same questions. For example, from what I could tell from my friend, his VR section was harder, as it consisted of longer passages, but DM was easier.
In terms of the venue, the venue at Sydney Pitt st was very clean and comfortable. When you arrive, they would make you fill out a form and check your ID; but generally it was a very smooth experience. Try to arrive earlier and sign in - I arrived 45 minutes early and didn't regret since I could sign in very quickly and then go back outside to walk around. When I returned, there was around 15~ candidates lining up trying to sign in. Also make sure you leave early, as you never know with transport - my train was cancelled and I had to take a bus replacement which added 30~ minutes to my total journey time.
You had ample space when working at the table with the computer. Do keep in mind that the exam room is recorded in video/audio; as the start menu had you agreeing to their terms and conditions - so don't forget to leave any forbidden items in your pockets! You will be provided a locker to put all your belongings in. I doubt that you will need to zoom in on the screen, as the text has been optimised to be as big as possible WITHOUT the need to scroll. I also found the staff very friendly and chill - sometimes a bit too chill as they sort of just 'threw us' into the exam room with little instructions; as most of it was on screen. But they did try to accomodate as much of your needs as possible eg. tissues, extra whiteboards etc.
Either way; good luck to everyone doing their exams! Don't stress out, and the night before, try to chill out and relax. I found that helped calm alot of my nerves the next morning.
New member here as well; I joined mainly to see how everyone's UCAT experience went and wanted to share my own.
Date completed: 4/7/20
Venue: Sydney Pitt St
General thoughts on your results:
I personally think I did really well - here are my results:
VR: 700
DM: 680
QR: 880
AR: 830
Total: 3090
SJ: 640
General comments on the exam/exam experience:
Contrary to what I've seen up thread, I personally found the QR section the easiest - it consisted of mainly simple average/conversion calculations. The main tip is to get comfortable with your keypad to become familiar with calculator and read/interpret the question effectively and efficiently. Also don't bother with the 'memory' function on the calculator, I never figured out how it works. It is generally faster to just keep the value - or an estimated value at the back of your head, or even write it down on the whiteboard. Get familiar with 'estimating' or 'scanning' your values eg. rounding 1399 = 1400 etc. Look at your answers; if they are spread apart, you can generally estimate with more leeway. Most of the questions were fairly straightforward in my exam set.
The AR section was also one of the easier ones; once you do enough practice and get familiar with common acronyms to help you analyse the patterns such as SCANS; you should be able to answer 80%~ of the questions. Very rarely were there any sets that had 'harder patterns' such as conditional ones (If this... then that...).
I struggled in the DM section especially with 'order' type questions (like arranging people in a line with set of conditions etc.). In my opinion, those questions required the most thinking in the DM section. The syllogisms (yes/no types) were straightforward, generally did not have a huge list of conditions - but it has always been my worst type of question in the entire UCAT.
In terms of VR - the passages were around the same difficulty as the practice exams I would say; most passages were around 250-350 words in length. I thought I bombed it; but surprisingly I did okay. The main tip is to manage your time; and 'triage' your set of passages. If the passage seems too long, or you just can't understand it and spend already 40~ seconds on a question - you should guess and come back later. Try to make 'educated' guesses where possible as every answer you rule out would increase your chances of getting the correct answer.
Again, this was just my experience of the exam - there are 3 sets in total that UCAT rotates between candidates, so you may not necessarily get the same questions. For example, from what I could tell from my friend, his VR section was harder, as it consisted of longer passages, but DM was easier.
In terms of the venue, the venue at Sydney Pitt st was very clean and comfortable. When you arrive, they would make you fill out a form and check your ID; but generally it was a very smooth experience. Try to arrive earlier and sign in - I arrived 45 minutes early and didn't regret since I could sign in very quickly and then go back outside to walk around. When I returned, there was around 15~ candidates lining up trying to sign in. Also make sure you leave early, as you never know with transport - my train was cancelled and I had to take a bus replacement which added 30~ minutes to my total journey time.
You had ample space when working at the table with the computer. Do keep in mind that the exam room is recorded in video/audio; as the start menu had you agreeing to their terms and conditions - so don't forget to leave any forbidden items in your pockets! You will be provided a locker to put all your belongings in. I doubt that you will need to zoom in on the screen, as the text has been optimised to be as big as possible WITHOUT the need to scroll. I also found the staff very friendly and chill - sometimes a bit too chill as they sort of just 'threw us' into the exam room with little instructions; as most of it was on screen. But they did try to accomodate as much of your needs as possible eg. tissues, extra whiteboards etc.
Either way; good luck to everyone doing their exams! Don't stress out, and the night before, try to chill out and relax. I found that helped calm alot of my nerves the next morning.
Congratulations on your amazing score!!!
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