Hi, all! I wanted to post my (bad!) scores...for some dumb reason...
VR: 560 (lol)
DM: 750
QR: 810
AR: 800
Total: 2920
SJT: 592
Notes: I didn't prepare nearly as much as anyone here, and so I'm not disappointed at all. (I only seriously prepped like >2 weeks before the exam
).
Some context:
Like many desperate to get into med, I thought I would be sweating hard to try get a better UCAT score since the beginning of the year. But I've also been enjoying my CompSci course (and uni life in general) so much that over the course of the year, I've had a lot of second thoughts about med. Seeing my best friend in med and how much work he has to do, the lengths he endures, I truly started to reconsider if it was my calling. The small bits of UCAT practice were just more annoying if anything.
In fact, I had so much fun in my course and uni life that I forgot about the UCAT until it came up suddenly and I only prepared seriously for a week because I didn't want to waste the $305 I paid for it. I said to myself I only would apply if I got a good enough score, but I would be happy regardless because I already have wonderful things in my life that medicine can't replace.
Thoughts on exam:
The exam is actually very similar to the official mocks. There's a reason they updated the mocks to include more stuff, and why they're still updating it. I think Pearson really wants you to use these. (content removed)
I tanked VR because I abandoned my strategy midway that was actually working heaps to get me through the questions. This was because I just panicked all of a sudden.
For QR, I think the questions in the actual UCAT are designed to take a few more steps to work out than other prep companies, so many students walk into the exam assuming you can do everything mentally, when it can be quite difficult. The questions are definitely similar to the official mocks. Don't be afraid to write things down, since they will help you to process what you have to type out.
Overall, I didn't find the exam all that difficult, and QR and AR were a breeze. There were a couple of questions I did get hung up on, so maybe that's what gatekept me from 900. I thought DM would be 800+, since I didn't find it hard. Guess not
.
Tips for students:
STOP. PANICKING. Seriously, I think that was what cost me my VR score, and easily I would've gotten 3000+ if I didn't freak out mid way during VR and started losing my reasoning skills. But this advice extends to the whole exam, too. I actually felt very calm/confident approaching DM, QR and AR, and approached it with "yeah, I can figure this out, sure." I do empathise with others however, since this exam can seemingly be a make/break for one's whole future (which wasn't the case for me). I honestly think having a good back-up plan that you genuinely enjoy can help you do better because you don't really lose out either way, so you can walk in with confidence!
All in all, I didn't prepare much, and so I'm not upset at all, and I think I deserve my score, and others deserve theirs because of the work they put in. But I'm happy where I am, and maybe I'll do the UCAT next year - who knows, just depends on how I feel, ig. Good luck to all the potential med students out there, I'm rooting for you!
What do you guys think?
