Post-UMAT 2018 Debrief Thread

[thegreatestever]

I read a post here earlier today about people who sat the exam before and how they felt so I’ll answer

This is my third time doing the exam

First go I got 48%ile (44/41/59? Something like that) then second time I prepped for like 6 months and ended up with 72%ile. On my second attempt I felt so ready. My plan was 60 min doing s3 first then 2hrs for s1+s2 (doing sequentially). I was a gun at s3 during prac so I wanted to smash the exam in s3 and I read how the real umat is easier than ME (a bit) so when I couldn’t get the first 3 questions easily I panicked and then I began spending a lot of time on single questions because I thought i HAD to perfect s3 since I was so good at it during prac. I went overtime by like 15 mins on s3 because I took my eye off the clock. When it was s1+s2 time, I already thought it was over and I fucked up so I worked through it with no real effort. Marks ended up being 55/51/57 (something like that) and I actually did worse on my second sitting in s3 even though my first time I had no prac.

For my third sitting (yesterday) I thought to myself that the real problem for me was just my timing. This was the main problem.

My second (lesser) problem was jumping into solutions for s3 instead of giving it a good look first. A pick the middle question sometimes can’t just be mapped because sometimes a few elements are only there for 1 option and disappear for the other 4. Those elements which stay usually are in a pentagon (a pentagon has 5 sides) and mapping it just shows each side having one option (5 sides and 5 options ABCDE so mapping doesn’t help). Sometimes eyeballing s3 questions actually gets u the answer in less than 40 seconds. My method is quite weird to explain but if it did work and I got a good s3 score I guess I cna try explaining what the hell this is all about. I’m not sure if it’s a new thing but it’s somethjgn I haven’t seen. In my prep this method help a lot. It helps with those few (about 5) questions that mapping doesn’t help with.

My third problem was thinking some s1 questions are just flat out impossible. It can feel like that when you are in a time limit. I think to do well in this section you have to first break down the thought that the questions are impossible to do. I did this by sitting down with 10 s1 questions and giving myself unlimited time to solve them and I started seeing that actually these questions were solvable. I thenbegan enforcing loose time limits and moved up to being able to do them really quickly. I think it’s so important to do this because s1 doesn’t seem like a big bad boss after that. It doesn’t feel like you won’t get the answer. It just seems like you EVENTUALLY get the answer if you have enough time. It’s a matter of when not if.

For this sitting I practiced for about 1 month only (I’m saying only because all the smart cookies here prac well in advance and smash the exam so I feel like I can say ‘only’ for a month) in advance and did about 5 old exams and 1 free matrix one, 1 ME new one off my friends account and Acer exam 4. I also had old papers and did just the s3 part and practiced getting used to a variety of questions. I looked through s3 solutions and saw where I was wrong.

So basically I did 2 things in a month:
- get rid of the idea that s1 is impossible
- see a big variety of s3 questions and not try and jump to solving and mapping immediately without giving the question a good look

Also an extra thing:
I think ME now tries to put a lot of questions that they think will show up in the umat in their course and that really does narrow the range of questions you get. This is so damaging when it comes to s3. Without ME I felt like I was MUCH more open minded. ESPEICALLLLLLY FOR MATRIX QUESTIONS IN S3. ME IS THE SAME ~5 THINGS ALMOST ALL THE TIME. Last year when I did ME I smashed the ME stuff but in the exam I kept trying to map everything the conventional way and that hurt my entire exam as I explained earlier.

How I felt after the exams:
1st sitting I didn’t know wtf I just did and my marks accurately reflected that BUT I got a nice s3 score of 59

2nd sitting I had to guess 15-20 at the end and I was kind of happy (not THAT confident) with my s1 answers but s2 and s3 I didn’t feel so good. My marks reflected that

3rd time (yesterday) I walked out like I smashed it and I rememebr texting my family that I feel like this is the last one I’m going to do because I really ripped the umat a new one (if you know what I mean). I felt like s3 I only guessed 1 or 2 blindly and educated guessed like 4. And the rest I feel like I got. S1 I feel like I could have even got like a 40/48 (or more!)I feel so good for this section. S2 I feel like I did pretty good but I can never gauge my performance in this section. After reading discussion on this forum I think I did pretty good.

I might end up getting a shit score or a score not as good as I think I have but this will be useful for people next year if they think they smashed it but in actual fact they didn’t. Hope y’all appreciate these honest thoughts and not see it as like getting ahead of myself or bragging or anything because I know that I would love to read somethign like this before my umat, especially knowing how someone would feel post-exam.

Hopefully I get an amazing s1 and s3 score and a decent s2 score. Also hope that if I do well then I can give hope to people who got not so good scores on their first tries.

Anyone else who did the umat before wanna share their thoughts or anyone who did it for the first time wanna share? Having your thoughts after the exam is so interesting for people looking to sit the umat the next year to read. Cheers for reading folks.

Last year when doing the umat I came out thinking S3 was so easy and that I was definitely getting a raw score of like 75 (ended up with 62) or more. I did that section first last year and finished it in 60 instead of the 50 I had planned as I hadn't done any timed exams last year. The rest of that exam was done in order and I spent so much unnecessary time on some s1 questions and ended up guessing 20-30 odd questions. I knew that I had screwed up and was expecting the result I got which was 48%ile.

This year I did a few medentry exams under timed conditions which I finished on time and got decent results. However, I think that one reason I was finished on time was that I had a stopwatch running and knew when I had to pick up the pace a bit. In the umat this year, I didn't have a watch or anything to keep track of time so I finished with 5 blind guesses and 5 educated guesses but completed the rest. Also, did the exam in order this year and reckon my S2 was much better than last year as many here some to have had the same thinking as I did (hoping you guys are right as well).

All in all, can't really conclude much until I get my result but I'm hoping this year's was much better as I feel more confident with all three sections instead of just one.

 

[Smelly Boy]

Did you end up forgiving yourself and what did you have to tell yourself to get over that?

Also, do you sometimes have the thought of like damn i’m going to have to spend 7 years (+ more money) in uni to get my degree now when my mates are getting their degree in 4 and some med students are gettng theirs in 5? That’s pretty much the lingering thought that dishesartens me because I think about it delaying moving out, getting married etc.

Forgiving myself and having the thought of spending more years are linked for me. I thought to myself like you’re going to work for 40 years or something so what’s the difference if I spend an extra yesr getting in? Or an extra 3 or 4 years? It’s not really much in comparison to the years I’m going to spend working and studyingin medince. When I thought of it like this, forgiving myself was easy. I just picked myself up and just got ready for the next one (mentally, obviously I didn’t prep till very late because I knew exactly what I wanted to do). If you kick yourself for it you aren’t doing yourself any good (and I know you’re aware of that).

You know your weak points and where you went wrong so try your best to fix those up.

I’m talking as if I’ve already got a sick mark but I didn’t so just keep that in mind haha

 

[GooDLaD]

Hey guys,

(My first post here, been around for a while but never needed to say anything.)

So after coming out of the UMAT, I quickly figured that not everyone gets the same questions. I saw the same thing here as well, so following are the questions I remember (mainly for section 1, BTW, these were not in cynological order);


For section 1

- Snow question.

- A trial question (about placebo and something like the blind placebo... run or train or something).

- Liquid question (different densities and p-values).

- Circut (X, Y, Z lights with three regulators to 'turn around').

- Quadtrees (a quadrant with black and white shapes and a tree that can be made to summarise it) <--- I found this to be the easiest question.
- Plot/Houses/10 Floors (a map which gave a plot in black and roads around it).

- Children Sleep Issue (a study which recorded the number of children who has sleep issue; there way two types of sleep issue and two records, one by the child and the other by the parent). <--- I found this to be the hardest question; there must be a way to figure it out, in hindsight, maybe using simultaneous equations. Also, this might be a trial question, only like 3 people (out of like 25 I asked) I have asked had this.

- Juggling of with Beats (had a diagram and talked about juggling with beats; for example, 5 beats meant after a ball it is thrown, after 4 touches of other balls the same ball is caught. Sounds confusing, but its hard to explain (i didn't even understand it properly), it's like a 5 beat represents
touching a ball ever 5 touches.

And tones of data interpretation question...
Immunisation.
IQ tests of kids with no/one/two or more siblings.
Obesity.
And many more which are not coming to me right now.


For section 2

Mom visits his professor son.

Man saves a guy from drowning.

Man finds out his wife won a lottery.

Two different men with different experience of work after becoming a dad.

Mom gets mad at her daughter for paying someone to humiliate someone in front of everyone.

A kid who wanted apple juice. "Bulldust".


For section 3

Raven's progressive matrices where repeated his eliminated.

Thick X, Thing black X and background image.

Hats

Beachball. <-- my easiest question, it will 1,1,1,1 and 1,2,3,4.

and many more which I completely messed up on. (where I made educated guesses).

Anyways, that all the question I remember.

Comming out I felt similar to what people have reported here. I know I am not allowed to mention prep companies but the one I was with didn't help at all.

I was alright with Section 1 and 3 and hoped to read fast with section 2 and not double guess myself; however, I completely panicked with section 1 and 3 whenever something didn't make sense and started making educated guesses. Section 2, which I feared the most, felt really easy; I only erased my answer to change it like twice.

In hindsight, I don't think section 1 was hard (although I did mess it up pretty badly). It was definitely 'do-able', but it required you not to panic and have time. And for section 3, everyone said it was different to prep company, so I don't know about that.

 

[Smelly Boy]

That’s some really good advice man, thank you.

I genuinely hope you smashed it and end up studying med next year, seems like you really deserve it.

And all this struggle and stress and worry is just gonna make that day we graduate all that more satisfying and proud. I didn’t cry at high school graduation but I feel like med graduation i’m gonna end up letting it all out hahahaha

We will be the greateful Med graduates unlike these GENIUSES who get it on their first go (just kidding plz don’t crucify me)

 

[noteven]

Yesterday was my 3rd time sitting the UMAT. The first time I did the exam, I had an argument with a family member the night before which really affected my mood even though we resolved everything right before the exam. Ended up with 56th percentile, and was devastated to say the least. I was in year 12 back then so I thought of myself as a complete failure, especially because I had spent thousands of $ on prep companies.

The second time I sat the exam, I was in first year uni and I wasn't as stressed because I knew I also had the GAMSAT as an option. I just studied using a few materials and ended up with 79 percentile. I was happy but it was obviously not enough, so I shifted my efforts to studying for the GAMSAT.

Now I'm in my last year of uni. I gave the GAMSAT a go this year and thought I should give the UMAT another go as well. I studied only a little bit, and I guess I was pretty relaxed yesterday - refreshed, clear-minded, and ready to give it my best. Of course I have no idea how I went, but as of now I can say that I found the exam to be surprisingly OK and much better than previous attempts, with the exception of a few questions. Going in with that clear mind actually helped me to understand questions quicker and read faster too.

What i guess I'm trying to say is that your mindset on the day really helps. To be able to keep your cool, not let external issues affect you, and to maintain your composure is crucial! And this is kinda what the UMAT is testing - a critical skill required for the medical profession. Yeah, people find the actual exam harder than the prac exams, but a lot of it's got to do with the stress and tension you've placed on yourself. It's completely ok to do the UMAT again, spend more time, or do postgrad med. As long as it's your goal, you'll get there. Just make sure that you remain calm and collected, and you'll achieve that med dream

 

[Smelly Boy]

Going in with that clear mind actually helped me to understand questions quicker and read faster too.

What i guess I'm trying to say is that your mindset on the day really helps. To be able to keep your cool, not let external issues affect you, and to maintain your composure is crucial! And this is kinda what the UMAT is testing - a critical skill required for the medical profession. Yeah, people find the actual exam harder than the prac exams, but a lot of it's got to do with the stress and tension you've placed on yourself. It's completely ok to do the UMAT again, spend more time, or do postgrad med. As long as it's your goal, you'll get there. Just make sure that you remain calm and collected, and you'll achieve that med dream

This is so true and I forgot to include this in my post earlier. This year I took it MUCH more easy than the year before. Compared to last year where I did like 60% of ME drillsand all the exams and shit I did really little this time around. My mum actually advised me to do this. She said that if you put so much importance into the exam already since it’s for Med entry and then on top of that you study for it for like 6 months, you’re going to make this exam soooooooo important to yourself in your mind that you feel like you MUST ace it, 90% of questions correct (obviously no one does this). Then on the exam you’re jittery and stressed and tensed. How will you cope if you see a new style question? How will you cope if you can’t crack a seemingly easy question? She said just relax this time around and work a bit on your weaknesses and give it your best go on the day and hope for the best. Don’t make umat what you eat breathe and sleep.

Best advice. Listen to your mum (if you’re fortunate enough to still have her around) folks.

 

[GooDLaD]

Home and away was confusing as it wasn’t clear whether a team who was playing away could still have 2A Under it or if it was only 2A if it was a home game

So my reasoning was, if it said 2A, there must be 1A as well. You can play your second away if u haven't played your first away right? Correct me if I am wrong because this didn't make that much sense.

Also for the liquid questions did you guys say it will merge with the 3rd layer from the top. I though that but not sure if I ended up a selection that option or not; I might have done the option which said forms a fifth layer which I knew was wrong. Anyways...

 

[Smelly Boy]

Also for the liquid questions did you guys say it will merge with the 3rd layer from the top. I though that but not sure if I ended up a selection that option or not; I might have done the option which said forms a fifth layer which I knew was wrong. Anyways...

I did third from the top because the third layer (there were only 3 layers) was most dense and so it fell the bottom. The next liquid that was added had a p value within 2 of the third layer so it would mix with this one

 

[tleb]

I did third from the top because the third layer (there were only 3 layers) was most dense and so it fell the bottom.

Can confirm this is right from my knowledge

 

[tleb]

What did you guys get for the second part of that stem, which had I and II; I put just I (educational guess)

 

[Smelly Boy]

What did you guys get for the second part of that stem, which had I and II; I put just I (educational guess)

I think i put neither and was pretty sure of it

Or that may be for another question that also involved giving two options demoted by I and II loll

 

[PimpOfRivia]

I think i put neither and was pretty sure of it

Or that may be for another question that also involved giving two options demoted by I and II loll

What was the question for the third one? Yeah for the first one I got 9, the second neither I and II (pretty sure as well - proved it with trial and error haha) but the third question I was unsure and just did an educated guess, because I knew I would spend too much time on it : P

 

[Smelly Boy]

What was the question for the third one? Yeah for the first one I got 9, the second neither I and II (pretty sure as well - proved it with trial and error haha) but the third question I was unsure and just did an educated guess, because I knew I would spend too much time on it : P

Tbh don’t really remmeber

I remember for one of them I first put 9 and then I re did it and then changed it to 10 BUT when ichanged it I had a feeling I miscounted but I moved on anyway because I thought it was pretty unlikely for me to miscount. Not too sure for that one tbh

Third question idk what it was maybe if u can remind me then I can help but I don’t think anyone remmeebr there exact question ahha

 

[lillysayse]

I'm wondering if I missed something in that obesity question. anyone remember? I think study II seemed to suggest being overweight wasn't an increased risk?

 

[PimpOfRivia]

I'm wondering if I missed something in that obesity question. anyone remember? I think study II seemed to suggest being overweight wasn't an increased risk?

My memory ain't sharp now but I remember picking one where it (in summary) stated that there is no discerning risk of deviating from normal weight

 

[lillysayse]

Anyone else who did the umat before wanna share their thoughts or anyone who did it for the first time wanna share? Having your thoughts after the exam is so interesting for people looking to sit the umat the next year to read. Cheers for reading folks.

I felt like S2 was okay this year. I sat it last year and wasn't happy at all; many options seemed too similar. Seems like everyone is saying s2 was okay though, so not sure how that'll turn out.

I felt I could actually approach most of the s1 questions this year.... except that damn lock and building one. Here's hoping for some trials...I usually get overwhelmed with s1, it looks more difficult than it is.

I am not too happy with my s3 performance. I could see myself relying on the med entry stuff, and freaking out that most of it couldn't be used. I came back to s3 last. I think if I didn't hype myself up I could have gone better at it. I think those medentry exams take away your ability to look at it all open minded. I should have known better because a similar thing happened last year where I panicked. I think I ventured a little better this time though.

 

[Lili]

Yesterday was my 3rd time sitting the UMAT. The first time I did the exam, I had an argument with a family member the night before which really affected my mood even though we resolved everything right before the exam. Ended up with 56th percentile, and was devastated to say the least. I was in year 12 back then so I thought of myself as a complete failure, especially because I had spent thousands of $ on prep companies.

The second time I sat the exam, I was in first year uni and I wasn't as stressed because I knew I also had the GAMSAT as an option. I just studied using a few materials and ended up with 79 percentile. I was happy but it was obviously not enough, so I shifted my efforts to studying for the GAMSAT.

Now I'm in my last year of uni. I gave the GAMSAT a go this year and thought I should give the UMAT another go as well. I studied only a little bit, and I guess I was pretty relaxed yesterday - refreshed, clear-minded, and ready to give it my best. Of course I have no idea how I went, but as of now I can say that I found the exam to be surprisingly OK and much better than previous attempts, with the exception of a few questions. Going in with that clear mind actually helped me to understand questions quicker and read faster too.

What i guess I'm trying to say is that your mindset on the day really helps. To be able to keep your cool, not let external issues affect you, and to maintain your composure is crucial! And this is kinda what the UMAT is testing - a critical skill required for the medical profession. Yeah, people find the actual exam harder than the prac exams, but a lot of it's got to do with the stress and tension you've placed on yourself. It's completely ok to do the UMAT again, spend more time, or do postgrad med. As long as it's your goal, you'll get there. Just make sure that you remain calm and collected, and you'll achieve that med dream

Hi Noteven

What undergratudate course did you choose and which Uni? More than likely I too will have to go the post grad pathway, but I am unsure which course to do. I have considered Medical Science, Advanced Science, Psychology, Pharmacy, Radiology and even that Clinical Science degree at Macquarie.

Would love to get your advice.
Thanks
Lili

 

[noteven]

Hi Noteven

What undergratudate course did you choose and which Uni? More than likely I too will have to go the post grad pathway, but I am unsure which course to do. I have considered Medical Science, Advanced Science, Psychology, Pharmacy, Radiology and even that Clinical Science degree at Macquarie.

Would love to get your advice.
Thanks
Lili

Hi Lili, I am currently studying a Bachelor of Science. I started out with Medical Science but changed because I wanted to study a wider range of biology topics. If you're uncertain about which specific science degree to do, a regular science degree is the best option. It's the most flexible in terms of choosing which classes you want to take and because of this, you would more likely get a higher GPA too. The only downside is that it doesn't necessarily prepare you for a career, but if post-grad med/dent/optom is your goal, then a BSc is the best to get a good foundation.

It's good to have a back-up plan as of now but I hope you did well in the UMAT, you may end up surprising yourself!

 

[Smelly Boy]

What’s everyone doing now?

I have only 2 days at uni since I chose some online course. This isn’t helping with the wait for results aaaa

 

[Chrismm]

What’s everyone doing now?

I have only 2 days at uni since I chose some online course. This isn’t helping with the wait for results aaaa

Trying to get that Atar 99.95