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[Undergrad] Pre-UMAT 2017 Discussion Thread

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nira

Regular Member
I made a silly suggestion a while ago that every student who got a Med place pays a $2000 goodwill fee to ACER to refund/help ease the pain of those >50%ile but didn't get in. I guess it was too silly to be supported haha.
I would totally support it. Haha
 

biom

Regular Member
Supreme Overlord of the Chatbox
If it feels like you haven't got a clue after 2 minutes it's far more beneficial to give up make a best guess (or skip/leave it to the end) and spend the time on other questions.
I think this is actually the practical conclusion re the discussion on whether trial questions have an unfair impact...
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
I think this is actually the practical conclusion re the discussion on whether trial questions have an unfair impact...

I definitely think it's the practical solution to questions you're finding confusing or taking too much time to figure out. However, I don't think it's the solution to any possible unfairness inherent in the test, because surely that's on ACER to address systematically, not individual test takers who are operating without all the information.
 

esh

Member
I've been neglecting Umat lately to focus on Exams for next week, though I checked with UQ, the cutoff for Dentistry UMAT was 176 Last year, and using 51 for S1 as a qualifier if required . Is that around 90% Percentile?

Comparing my scores being slightly lower than @LMG I think it's pretty achievable. My mindset and work ethic is there and my marks aren't terrible

I keep thinking of the case where people who studied a lot and got high marks for practice tests, tank on the actual. Could it purely have been nerves or people who were pretending/over confident about their process?

Hmm that's interesting, the previous year the S1 qualifier for UQ Dent was 65 I believe. Seems like quite a big drop for 1 year. UQ Dentistry is also my preferred course, and my gpa is only 6.5 which is not sufficient for Griffith anymore. Hopefully the cutoffs this year don't jump up again haha
 

A1

Rookie Doc
Moderator
Hmm that's interesting, the previous year the S1 qualifier for UQ Dent was 65 I believe. Seems like quite a big drop for 1 year.

UQ website shows cutoff for Dent previous year was 173:65, this year 176:55. The first number (Overall score) is the more significant cutoff, the second number S1 is only the tie-breaker for maybe a dozen applicants on 176 vying for the last few places. So it wasn't a drop but a considerable rise from 173 to 176.

(In case it's not clear the tie-breaker didn't apply to those with >176, they got in regardless of their S1 score).
 

umatman

Lurker
Hi everyone,

I've just been trawling through google and found this: umatic.com.au - looks like a new UMAT prep website (I checked and saw the site was only registered in the last few months). They have 30 questions for free which is pretty helpful and seem waay cheaper than things like MedEntry (600+ questions for $60 at the moment).

Has anyone bought MedEntry this year? Is it worthwhile or now too late?
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hi everyone,

I've just been trawling through google and found this: umatic.com.au - looks like a new UMAT prep website (I checked and saw the site was only registered in the last few months). They have 30 questions for free which is pretty helpful and seem waay cheaper than things like MedEntry (600+ questions for $60 at the moment).

Has anyone bought MedEntry this year? Is it worthwhile or now too late?

Quite a few of us in this thread have been fortunate enough to have the financial resources available that mean we have purchased access to MedEntry. I just have the distance package, and have used about half the drills and exams so far. I will definitely do all the practice exams, and hope to get close to all the drills, but I haven't used the other features, like Eureka. If you were starting now, it'd probably depend on what your other commitments are (Uni, school exams etc) as to whether it would be worthwhile.

ETA: w/r/t ME, if you just access the 10 practice exams and all drills, that's approximately 4000 questions. Maybe that's overkill, but each to their own for sure!
 
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DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
When sitting UMAT last year, while I went in with a predetermined order, and stuck to that, I didn't think about giving myself time limits for each section. I'm thinking about doing that this year and am keen to know if this is what anyone else has done/is planning to do.

I'm thinking
S2: 30 minutes + reading time
S1: 80-85 minutes
S3: 60 minutes
Spare: 5-10 minutes to use for whatever I need it for.

Does that seem a) sensible and b) reasonable (split-wise)?
 

Yamster

Dental Moderator
Emeritus Staff
When sitting UMAT last year, while I went in with a predetermined order, and stuck to that, I didn't think about giving myself time limits for each section. I'm thinking about doing that this year and am keen to know if this is what anyone else has done/is planning to do.

I'm thinking
S2: 30 minutes + reading time
S1: 80-85 minutes
S3: 60 minutes
Spare: 5-10 minutes to use for whatever I need it for.

Does that seem a) sensible and b) reasonable (split-wise)?

Hey LMG, if I recall correctly, wasn't S2 the lengthy section last year?

Is there a section which is more difficult each year? Last year it seemed to be S2, the year before that it seemed to be S3. Maybe this year they'll change some things around in S1? o_O
 

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nira

Regular Member
Hey LMG, if I recall correctly, wasn't S2 the lengthy section last year?

Is there a section which is more difficult each year? Last year it seemed to be S2, the year before that it seemed to be S3. Maybe this year they'll change some things around in S1? o_O
please god dont let it be section 1 that they make more difficult. im already dying with s1 in ME
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hey LMG, if I recall correctly, wasn't S2 the lengthy section last year?

Is there a section which is more difficult each year? Last year it seemed to be S2, the year before that it seemed to be S3. Maybe this year they'll change some things around in S1? o_O

S2 took me just over half an hour last year, and I know I fiddle-farted about a bit, and could have done it faster, so if it was the lengthy section (I don't actually know, I didn't count the questions) then that probably augers well for me wanting to get it done in 30 minutes (+ reading time).

What do you mean by "more difficult"? Surely that's entirely subjective? Or do you mean based on the bell curves?
 

Ri97

serial tea drinker
When sitting UMAT last year, while I went in with a predetermined order, and stuck to that, I didn't think about giving myself time limits for each section. I'm thinking about doing that this year and am keen to know if this is what anyone else has done/is planning to do.

I'm thinking
S2: 30 minutes + reading time
S1: 80-85 minutes
S3: 60 minutes
Spare: 5-10 minutes to use for whatever I need it for.

Does that seem a) sensible and b) reasonable (split-wise)?

Your time split seems very reasonable and sensible. I've sat the UMAT twice and did it both 1-134 but I now find section by section works better time-wise and is more efficient.

That spare time will probably be flicking through and back in the exam booklet. Not to mention that filling bubbles and doing the exam on paper might take longer than clicking buttons online, although I find I'm more comfortable with a physical exam time-wise (everyone's different).
 

nira

Regular Member
Your time split seems very reasonable and sensible. I've sat the UMAT twice and did it both 1-134 but I now find section by section works better time-wise and is more efficient.

That spare time will probably be flicking through and back in the exam booklet. Not to mention that filling bubbles and doing the exam on paper might take longer than clicking buttons online, although I find I'm more comfortable with a physical exam time-wise (everyone's different).
Are you planning on resitting Umat again? Cause I recall seeing you in the offer forum, didnt you get an offer to study medicine at jmp.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Your time split seems very reasonable and sensible. I've sat the UMAT twice and did it both 1-134 but I now find section by section works better time-wise and is more efficient.

That spare time will probably be flicking through and back in the exam booklet. Not to mention that filling bubbles and doing the exam on paper might take longer than clicking buttons online, although I find I'm more comfortable with a physical exam time-wise (everyone's different).

Yeah, I'm definitely doing it section by section. And you're right that there will be some inevitable time difference between a paper booklet and answer sheet compared to on-screen, though, like you, I don't find the on-screen administration particularly efficient. My screen is quite small so lengthy questions don't appear on the screen at the same time as the answer options so I do a lot of scrolling up and down, plus some S3 items from ME don't load properly at all (ie. images are obscured by text boxes because they're too wide), which obviously complicates matters.

Are you having a third go at UMAT, or are you a Med Student already? ETA: just saw that you're gap-yearing and still chasing the dream. If med is the dream (and it may not be!), then I'm guessing you're gearing up for another crack at UMAT.
 
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Yamster

Dental Moderator
Emeritus Staff
@LMG, I just based the difficulty of past sentiments on this forum and boardofstudies. I hope S1 doesn't get more difficult as well @nire !!!​
 

Ri97

serial tea drinker
Are you planning on resitting Umat again? Cause I recall seeing you in the offer forum, didnt you get an offer to study medicine at jmp.
Yeah, I'm definitely doing it section by section. And you're right that there will be some inevitable time difference between a paper booklet and answer sheet compared to on-screen, though, like you, I don't find the on-screen administration particularly efficient. My screen is quite small so lengthy questions don't appear on the screen at the same time as the answer options so I do a lot of scrolling up and down, plus some S3 items from ME don't load properly at all (ie. images are obscured by text boxes because they're too wide), which obviously complicates matters.

Are you having a third go at UMAT, or are you a Med Student already?

I did get an offer, but I am sitting the UMAT again since I did defer.

LMG, I just find reading on screen to be so tedious and I can fly through section 3 questions when they're on paper. Mapping them is easier and I'm less likely to make a mistake. But section 1/2 online are just so far from the truth, I hate not being able to underline key things and make notes in the margins as I read. I almost can't believe the discrepancies I get from physical examinations with ACE Tuition as opposed to my marks/percentiles with ME (atleast in the exams, drills have been pretty good and consistent). I think monitors give me anxiety aha!
 

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DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
I did get an offer, but I am sitting the UMAT again since I did defer.

LMG, I just find reading on screen to be so tedious and I can fly through section 3 questions when they're on paper. Mapping them is easier and I'm less likely to make a mistake. But section 1/2 online are just so far from the truth, I hate not being able to underline key things and make notes in the margins as I read. I almost can't believe the discrepancies I get from physical examinations with ACE Tuition as opposed to my marks/percentiles with ME (atleast in the exams, drills have been pretty good and consistent). I think monitors give me anxiety aha!

Did you defer because you have preferred University? I definitely have a preferred Uni so I'd understand if that's the case.

Good luck this year!!
 

nira

Regular Member
I did get an offer, but I am sitting the UMAT again since I did defer.

LMG, I just find reading on screen to be so tedious and I can fly through section 3 questions when they're on paper. Mapping them is easier and I'm less likely to make a mistake. But section 1/2 online are just so far from the truth, I hate not being able to underline key things and make notes in the margins as I read. I almost can't believe the discrepancies I get from physical examinations with ACE Tuition as opposed to my marks/percentiles with ME (atleast in the exams, drills have been pretty good and consistent). I think monitors give me anxiety aha!
Yeah won't lie doing it on paper would definitely be way more beneficial. I only practice on Me but I've done so.e practice exams on paper and it's much easier I suppose..out of curiosity what kind of scores are you getting on ME, raw score wise? It's cool if you don't want to tell me, totally understand
 
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