Pre-UCAT Discussion 2020

[coolguy246]

Hey guys,
Just a quick question.
I have monash guarantee (under-represented school) and am eligible for SEAS catagory 2 (financial disadvantage, gives me 1 atar point).
Previously when the UMAT was in play, monash said that a 94+ atar and a 175 on the UMAT will yield in a GUARANTEED interview.
However, now with the UCAT, what do you guys think is the atar and ucat combo required for monash guarantee?

 

[hklion101]

Do you guys think that universities e.g. JMP and WSU, will start including the SJT as part of their selection process?

 

[coolguy246]

Do you guys think that universities e.g. JMP and WSU, will start including the SJT as part of their selection process?

im pretty sure they still do at the moment. Just that it isn't directly part of your percentile.

 

[dotwingz]

im pretty sure they still do at the moment. Just that it isn't directly part of your percentile.

Nope. JMP specifically said they will use the cognitive subsections of the UCAT (e.g. VR, DM, QR, AR) and not the SJT. I got 2840 last year (lowest UCAT score to get an interview) with a terrible SJT and still got an interview. It is unkown what the heck WSU does

 

[dotwingz]

Do you guys think that universities e.g. JMP and WSU, will start including the SJT as part of their selection process?

I find it hard to believe that they would. The SJT isnt used for a reason, it seems to me way more preparable and disadvantages those who dont have clinical experience or know the ins and outs of the health sector. The UCAT is meant to be a test of intrinsic skills and by having this section count it disadvantages young ones. How is a high school student meant to know the difference between a tutor, lecturer, lab assistant, course coordinator, PGY1, PGY2, Med Student, resident, etc...

 

[Retired Member]

Do you guys think that universities e.g. JMP and WSU, will start including the SJT as part of their selection process?

I believe UNSW stated that SJT will not be used in the 2019 round, but never stated that SJT will not be used in general, which does open the possibility of SJT being used in future years.

 

[DCA]

How much time/questions do you guys recommend for UCAT practice per week?

If you're sitting it this year, what are you doing? At the moment I've got a fair bit of time (with it being start of term) so I should probably be doing more than what I am right now.

 

[malice_almond]

How much time/questions do you guys recommend for UCAT practice per week?

If you're sitting it this year, what are you doing? At the moment I've got a fair bit of time (with it being start of term) so I should probably be doing more than what I am right now.

I've been doing roughly 100 questions per day for 2 weeks under timed practice (medify), but only on VR, DM and QR. I hope I can keep this up when the workload from school gets heavier

 

[DCA]

I've been doing roughly 100 questions per day for 2 weeks under timed practice (medify), but only on VR, DM and QR. I hope I can keep this up when the workload from school gets heavier

OK then looks like I really should have studied more for this haha. I've been doing like maybe 20-30mins/day for last week. What are your scores looking like so far, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm doing them untimed and I usually just get 2 or 3/4 for all sections excepts AR and SJT, which I haven't touched yet (oops).

Also, does anyone have a good strategy for the longer VR passages? eg. just skim read for 20s and then answer the questions?

 

[Emcee]

Anyone Here sitting the UCAT for the second time this year?

 

[KB8]

Anyone Here sitting the UCAT for the second time this year?

I am, gave myself like a week last time and didn’t go too well, so have already started prep now... hopefully it goes better

 

[Fili]

OK then looks like I really should have studied more for this haha. I've been doing like maybe 20-30mins/day for last week. What are your scores looking like so far, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm doing them untimed and I usually just get 2 or 3/4 for all sections excepts AR and SJT, which I haven't touched yet (oops).

Also, does anyone have a good strategy for the longer VR passages? eg. just skim read for 20s and then answer the questions?

Imo instead of setting yourself a specific set of minutes to work a day, set yourself some questions and critically analyze why you got something wrong. Defs do some prep for all sections, then some prep in timed conditions, then do one full mock to see what sections you are bad at.

Focus on the sections you do bad in afterwards.

 

[Fili]

Oh yes the best resource are still the official ones from Pearson themselves! I'd save these up maybe a month or so prior to the real deal though as they are very limited and are the closest to the actual UCAT (apart from QR as QR in the real one is a lot easier imho).

 

[KB8]

Imo instead of setting yourself a specific set of minutes to work a day, set yourself some questions and critically analyze why you got something wrong. Defs do some prep for all sections, then some prep in timed conditions, then do one full Medify mock to see what sections you are bad at.

Focus on the sections you do bad in afterwards.

How did you go about critically analysing what you went wrong? What type of questions did you ask yourself?

 

[ucatboy]

Oh yes the best resource are still the official ones from Pearson themselves! I'd save these up maybe a month or so prior to the real deal though as they are very limited and are the closest to the actual UCAT (apart from QR as QR in the real one is a lot easier imho).

Agreed - QR on the "official" practice tests is a right pain in the ass.

If you guys are saving the mocks till the end (which you should), whatever you do, please please please don't let the QR get you down or affect your confidence right before your exam, we can assure you that the real QR is NOTHING like that.

I didn't know this last year, so when I did Practice Test A and got 20/36 in QR, I began to seriously doubt my abilities a couple days before my exam. In hindsight, I had nothing to worry about and neither do any of you guys

 

[malice_almond]

OK then looks like I really should have studied more for this haha. I've been doing like maybe 20-30mins/day for last week. What are your scores looking like so far, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm doing them untimed and I usually just get 2 or 3/4 for all sections excepts AR and SJT, which I haven't touched yet (oops).

Also, does anyone have a good strategy for the longer VR passages? eg. just skim read for 20s and then answer the questions?

My scores have been: VR 66%, DM 70%, QR 75%
But I always run out of time near the end for the longer timed QR practice trials. I think as long as you consistently practice everyday, you shouldn’t focus too much on the quantity. As others have said, reviewing your mistakes is really helpful to learn.
For VR, I typically read the question and answers first before skim reading the passage, as I find that I take way too long if I start by reading. But one of the downsides is I sometimes miss out on important info. Also looking for tips to improve in VR

 

[TMG]

My scores have been: VR 66%, DM 70%, QR 75%
But I always run out of time near the end for the longer timed QR practice trials. I think as long as you consistently practice everyday, you shouldn’t focus too much on the quantity. As others have said, reviewing your mistakes is really helpful to learn.
For VR, I typically read the question and answers first before skim reading the passage, as I find that I take way too long if I start by reading. But one of the downsides is I sometimes miss out on important info. Also looking for tips to improve in VR

Hey,
I was in a similar position a couple months ago when practicing for the UCAT (I'm taking the test this year as well), and have found that for verbal reasoning you should try doing other reading comprehension questions. They don't have to be from the UCAT; any general reading comprehension questions are exactly what you would get in the test. This will allow you to practice with more material, and hence (hopefully) improve your score.

Hey,
I was wanting to do the OFFICIAL UCAT exams from their website. However they don't provide you with answers or scores.
Does anyone know if there is an answer template or something somewhere online where I can check my answers?
Cheers
TMG

 

[Fili]

Hey,
I was wanting to do the OFFICIAL UCAT exams from their website. However they don't provide you with answers or scores.
Does anyone know if there is an answer template or something somewhere online where I can check my answers?
Cheers
TMG

You have to finish the entire test. Then you can review it afterwards and they explain which answer is correct.

 

[garmonbozia]

Hey,
I was wanting to do the OFFICIAL UCAT exams from their website. However they don't provide you with answers or scores.
Does anyone know if there is an answer template or something somewhere online where I can check my answers?
Cheers
TMG

They do provide you with answers once you have finished the exam. As for working out approximate scores out of 900, there are unofficial conversion charts online that will give you a rough idea.

 

[rainfall]

Hi,
Kind of a random question but I’ve noticed on heaps of UK sites they recommend only 4-6 weeks of UCAT prep, whereas many Australian sites recommend upwards of a year of practice. As far as I can tell the tests are identical, so does anyone know the reason for this discrepancy?

I’ve been doing UCAT practice questions fairly consistently since the start of the year to prepare for the test this year (about 1 hour every second day, generally untimed), which I know many people in Australia would consider not enough. That means I’ve been practicing for 5 or 6 weeks now, and even if I studied for several hours a day I still couldn’t see myself being ready in such a short time frame. I’ve definitely improved (especially in AR, which I was absolutely hopeless at at first, and DM, which I’ve always been alright at but I’m really getting the hang of it now). Just wondering how people could do so well after 4-6 weeks of prep.