Post-UMAT 2018 Debrief Thread

[Lear]

Let's have a brief discussion of your strategy and time management: did you do sequentially or by sections, in what order, and did you finish in time or had to blind guess a number of (how many) questions at the end etc.

Section by section
2: 30 mins + Reading
1: 80 mins
3:60 mins

Worked perfectly for section two and one, however ended up having to rush some of section 3. No complete guesses but a good amount of educated guesses.
Finished with 3 mins to go

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Makes you wonder how the prep companies got away with it for so long...

Not really. Well known companies (in this sphere, if not generally) doing something explicitly mentioned as prohibitive and getting away with it “for so long” really just underlines that the company issuing the warning don’t really care and/or have bigger fish to fry.

UMAT is a ‘sure thing’ money maker for ACER. The fact that they, an education research company, don’t conduct research/publish research on their own test, really just highlights that as long as the unis are still buying into the necessity of UMAT (which they will continue to do given applicant numbers), then they’re set, and that’s the extent of it.

We don’t hear from the dead

I think I’m still alive

 

[A1]

Worked perfectly for section two and one, however ended up having to rush some of section 3. No complete guesses but a good amount of educated guesses. Finished with 3 mins to go

Provided you are not at risk of sub-50 for S3 that's the best case scenario for you. Trading a potential S3 mark for one in S1 or S2 gives you extra advantage at a few schools. Well done.

 

[toulouse]

Let's have a brief discussion of your strategy and time management: did you do sequentially or by sections, in what order, and did you finish in time or had to blind guess a number of (how many) questions at the end etc.

I did section by section from 3,2,1. Answered a few S2 questions in the ten minute reading time (thank goodness I did).
In the end had to blind guess like five S1 questions and yeah lol. Kudos to anyone who did it sequentially... my brain could never

I'm not like entirely confident with today's performance but I'm rural so no point stressing too much

 

[DrDrLMG!]

I did section by section from 3,2,1. Answered a few S2 questions in the ten minute reading time (thank goodness I did).
In the end had to blind guess like five S1 questions and yeah lol. Kudos to anyone who did it sequentially... my brain could never

Yeah, no way I could do it sequentially either!!

Nice work! Is that 5 whole S1 questions (with multiple sub-questions), or 5 total (say from one or two stems?)

 

[toulouse]

Yeah, no way I could do it sequentially either!!

Nice work! Is that 5 whole S1 questions (with multiple sub-questions), or 5 total (say from one or two stems?)

Yep 5 from just one stem! My brain cells were so over it by the end of it

 

[nts]

Was expecting the exam to be much harder from what i've heard in the past. Did it sequentially starting with S2, S1, S3 and finished on time but had to guess around 5 S1 questions (too much time to read). I was quite surprised to see a few S3 questions that I had done before during preparation, they made my life a lot easier lol.

 

[Logic]

Anyone on here who has repeated the UMAT, this year? If so, thoughts on difficulty of this year vs last year?

 

[A1]

I was quite surprised to see a few S3 questions that I had done before during preparation, they made my life a lot easier lol.

It's double bonus since not only you get a correct answer but it also frees up valuable time to use for the other questions.

 

[kei]

When answering S3 questions in the real UMAT, do people find they have to make educated guesses for a LOT of the questions? (Had to guess so much, there just wasn’t enough time for me)

 

[Donald_Trump]

When answering S3 questions in the real UMAT, do people find they have to make educated guesses for a LOT of the questions? (Had to guess so much, there just wasn’t enough time for me)

Last year I did S3 in ~30 minutes and had to guess maybe 20-30 questions, got 48. I'm pretty sure I never got a middle of the sequence question correct without guessing in any of my UMATs.

 

[toulouse]

Anyone on here who has repeated the UMAT, this year? If so, thoughts on difficulty of this year vs last year?

Yep me! Personally found S3 this year very doable (not sure if its become I had more prep or.... they were just straightforward?). I preferred S1 content of last year better than this year though. S2 was I'd say the same 'difficulty'. But the most different was Section 1. Found it easier last year. Or maybe thats just my bias shining through since I hate S1.

 

[Trinhcent]

hey first of all congrats to everyone who has made it through!!

Anyone on here who has repeated the UMAT, this year? If so, thoughts on difficulty of this year vs last year?

I would say that section 2 was fairly similar to last year with the exception of fewer cartoons, interactions and passage were both present and some were longer than usual. Section 1 had less focus on mathematical problem solving compared to last year, but still a lot of problem solving. Nicer though I found (although I didn't keep track of time and missed 7 s1 questions at the end! gah!) S3 was pretty doable this year, a lot of x-type/arms questions tho and a couple questions you couldn't map.

 

[kei]

Last year I did S3 in ~30 minutes and had to guess maybe 20-30 questions, got 48. I'm pretty sure I never got a middle of the sequence question correct without guessing in any of my UMATs.

Phew, that makes me feel a lot better. I just want to go over 40%ile each section.

 

[Crow]

Last year I did S3 in ~30 minutes and had to guess maybe 20-30 questions, got 48. I'm pretty sure I never got a middle of the sequence question correct without guessing in any of my UMATs.

This sums up today’s experience for me quite nicely

 

[kiwikillaz]

Was expecting the exam to be much harder from what i've heard in the past. Did it sequentially starting with S2, S1, S3 and finished on time but had to guess around 5 S1 questions (too much time to read). I was quite surprised to see a few S3 questions that I had done before during preparation, they made my life a lot easier lol.

what do you mean done before? like exact copies of questions? where had you seen them if you dont mind me asking ahaha

 

[Chrismm]

Let's have a brief discussion of your strategy and time management: did you do sequentially or by sections, in what order, and did you finish in time or had to blind guess a number of (how many) questions at the end etc.

Did it in sections:
S2: 60 minutes (10 minutes in reading time)
S1: 75 minutes
S3: 55 minutes

S2 went really well, there was only 1 passage that I found hard to interpret. Had to blind guess 1 or 2 whole S1 questions plus it also felt like I was making an educated guess for almost all S1 questions. S3 was not too bad, just a bit rushed towards the end because I slowed my tempo. Also blind guessed the last 3 s3 questions.

 

[nts]

what do you mean done before? like exact copies of questions? where had you seen them if you dont mind me asking ahaha

Exact same questions, not sure if I can say where they from, might be an unfair advantage to those who haven't done the test yet.

 

[kiwikillaz]

Exact same questions, not sure if I can say where they from, might be an unfair advantage to those who haven't done the test yet.

No worries, I will inbox you when all the test takers have finished!

 

[BrisbaneDream]

Am I the only person shocked by the exam...?