Pre-UMAT 2018 Discussion Thread

[DrDrLMG!]

I'm averaging roughly 70th after completing 6 Medentry exams with a score average of ~85/134. Can someone who has used Medentry themselves please give an indication of what kind percentiles they averaged in ME exams and what they actually got in the UMAT. I'm finding it quite tricky to gauge exactly where i'm at and how much more of my time I should devote towards UMAT. ME mentions that a low percentile may actually not be too bad in the real thing, however I am still doubtful.

It's much more reliable to look at your /134 score than your ME percentile, as the percentiles are severely confounded on ME to the point of being rendered largely useless. As the exams don't change all that much from year to year, you definitely have people doing them that have already done them, you can also re-set your account at any point, and all the exams become available to re-sit, and you also have people completing the exams under conditions that are not timed or by looking up answers/doing calculations etc (I know this, because I definitely googled some definitions for S2 questions - figuring learning a new word was more beneficial then simply getting a question wrong, if that makes sense).

So, if we take your 85/134 average and think about that in isolation:

85 x 2 (roughly) = 170/300. A score of 170/300 on the actual UMAT is a percentile rank of 80th (so already ~10 percentile ranks higher than the ME data set). Plus, the ME exams are a bit more difficult, so you might reasonably think you'll get an extra 5ish questions correct on the day, all other things being equal, so if we look at 180/300, you're looking closer to 90th%ile. And definitely no cause for alarm.

That said, you definitely want to be balancing your time between year 12 studies, and relaxing/exercising/sleeping/eating. A good mix of these things is probably best (with an emphasis on year 12 stuff).

And here is a wrap up of my results posted as I completed them to the Pre-UMAT Discussion Board here at MSO last year:

I did EXAM 1 but not sure what my result was.

EXAM 2: "I just did a MedEntry exam (after having not even looked at so much as a drill for over a week) and got 103/134, which is my best result ever. YAY! As far as UMAT percentiles go, it's 98th. (S1, 98th, S2, 99th, S3, 88th)."

EXAM 3: "I can't remember exactly what I got (have already blocked it from my mind!) but it was just under 90/134. Maybe 88?"

EXAM 4: "104/134 (new personal best!), 97th %ile
S1: 37/48, 81st %ile
S2: 35/44, 99th %ile
S3: 32/42, 91st %ile"

EXAM 5: "Raw score: 99/134, 92nd %ile
S1: 37/48, 90th %ile (Happy with this.)
S2: 29/44, 74th %ile (WHAT EVEN??! So bad.)
S3: 33/42, 93rd %ile (Very happy with this. I had to guess 3 that I had no idea with - I got one of the guesses correct.)"

EXAM 6: "96/134
S1 (27/48 - 35th %ile) the less said the better, tbh! No idea what happened, but didn't feel very confident with lots of responses and wasn't really sure how to do quite a few. I will review this section more thoroughly than I usually would.
S2 (34/44 - 93rd %ile) very happy, given my recent form on S2.
S3 (35/42 - 95th %ile) stoked!"

Re-do of EXAM 6 at a later date: "115/134
S1: 27 + 9 = 36/48
S2: 34+ 5 = 39/44
S3: 35+5 = 40/42"

EXAM 7: "My exam 7 result was 93/134. But S2, 40-something %ile!!"

ACER EXAM 2: "108/134
1: 40/48
2: 34/44
3: 34/42"

I must have missed EXAM 8 in my flicking through the forum pages. I know I did it though.

EXAM 9: "97/134
92nd %ile (it's haunting me, isn't it?!)
33/48 (81st %ile)
33/44 (95th %ile - freaking YAY, ISTG)
31/42 (81st %ile)"

EXAM 10: "103/134 (95th %ile)
S1: 38/48 (85th %ile)
S2: 34/44 (98th %ile)
S3: 31/42 (80th %ile)"

ACER EXAM 1: "125/134
41/48
44/44
40/42"
(and finished with 35 minutes to spare)

 

[entirety]

Thanks so much for everyone's help!! I definitely struggle with time the most and become very panicky and stressed. I'm definitely going to try doing a couple more exams under timed conditions, although doing a full 3 hours is draining. Would you reccommend just doing section by section under timed conditions?

 

[Austin]

Good luck to all! I am new here! Anyone doing theirs at UQ in the afternoon session? First time sitting the UMAT and honestly nervous as hell, I feel way out of my depth against some of the practice scores I have seen on this thread, like cmon 120+/134??? thats insane. I did what I thought was pretty good in my practice (94/134). Hoping to get an Interview at CSU, New England or WSU. I would love to purse rural healthcare as I have had first hand clinical experience rurally too and absolutely loved it

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Thanks so much for everyone's help!! I definitely struggle with time the most and become very panicky and stressed. I'm definitely going to try doing a couple more exams under timed conditions, although doing a full 3 hours is draining. Would you reccommend just doing section by section under timed conditions?

No, I definitely recommend doing whole exams under timed conditions if timing is your issue. This was my biggest issue, by far, and the only way I could combat it was to do full exams (I did ~1 per week in the 10 weeks leading up to the exam) to build stamina and consistency. I set myself section time limits and stuck to them, also, if that makes sense.

S1: 90
S2: 30
S3: 60
Whole exam: 180

I was very strict on myself with this more than any other prep I did, and it definitely paid off, imo.

Good luck to all! I am new here! Anyone doing theirs at UQ in the afternoon session? First time sitting the UMAT and honestly nervous as hell, I feel way out of my depth against some of the practice scores I have seen on this thread, like cmon 120+/134??? thats insane. I did what I thought was pretty good in my practice (94/134). Hoping to get an Interview at CSU, New England or WSU. I would love to purse rural healthcare as I have had first hand clinical experience rurally too and absolutely loved it

Welcome to the fun! I’m MSO’s self appointed UMATambassador, here to calm nerves and provide some words of wisdom! Best of luck with your UMAT experience, it is a wild ride! We will have post exam debriefs and post results celebrations/commiserations as the year progresses also, so strap in!!

 

[entirety]

To that guy above ^ same. I got 97/134 on one of my first practice exams before I really started doing any real prep, to see where I was at, and I was like oh that's not too bad (was lowkey pleased with myself). Then I come on here and see people's practice scores and I'm already searching GAMSAT forums.

But nah I guess everyone going in there has some sort of chance at doing well so we'll just try!

 

[Perplex]

To that guy above ^ same. I got 97/134 on one of my first practice exams before I really started doing any real prep, to see where I was at, and I was like oh that's not too bad (was lowkey pleased with myself). Then I come on here and see people's practice scores and I'm already searching GAMSAT forums.

But nah I guess everyone going in there has some sort of chance at doing well so we'll just try!

I wouldn't stress too much yet, I don't really think the practice exams were the best indicator - not because of the content, but the conditions in which you do the actual exam. On the day the actual moment and adrenaline make it feel real, unlike what practice exams feel like. I'm not too familiar with the UMAT scoring, but I'd say if you're doing well in the practice exams there is no reason why you can't do well in the real thing if you just maintain your calm.

 

[entirety]

I wouldn't stress too much yet, I don't really think the practice exams were the best indicator - not because of the content, but the conditions in which you do the actual exam. On the day the actual moment and adrenaline make it feel real, unlike what practice exams feel like. I'm not too familiar with the UMAT scoring, but I'd say if you're doing well in the practice exams there is no reason why you can't do well in the real thing if you just maintain your calm.

I guess that makes sense. Hopefully the adrenaline isn't counterproductive and actually serves useful by making me answer faster! Like honestly, yesterday I was so nervous just thinking about arriving at the examination centre. There's gonna be so much people. I can't imagine sitting down waiting for reading time without getting anxious! But thousands of people have done it before and thousands will do it in the future so yeah, just hope for the best.

 

[Lear]

So, if we take your 85/134 average and think about that in isolation:

85 x 2 (roughly) = 170/300. A score of 170/300 on the actual UMAT is a percentile rank of 80th (so already ~10 percentile ranks higher than the ME data set). Plus, the ME exams are a bit more difficult, so you might reasonably think you'll get an extra 5ish questions correct on the day, all other things being equal, so if we look at 180/300, you're looking closer to 90th%ile. And definitely no cause for alarm.

Hey LMG, I really appreciate your response. How reliable is the 1 marking counting for ~2 in the total score estimate?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hey LMG, I really appreciate your response. How reliable is the 1 marking counting for ~2 in the total score estimate?

Go to the MSO UMAT table of contents, then UMAT scoring. The first article has a pretty comprehensive explanation of our understanding of UMAT scoring.

 

[tm2001]

Hey I've been consistently getting between 85-95/134 on the 10 Medentry exams and this mock exam program at this tuition place in sydney called Ace. I havent done the ACER paper's yet but my medentry percentiles have been crazy low and was wondering where I'm sitting at for the actual test coming up. I find the medentry S1 much easier compared to other sections with my scores looking something like 34/27/27. From what medentry percentiles tell me, Im not doing so well !

 

[Trinhcent]

Hey I've been consistently getting between 85-95/134 on the 10 Medentry exams and this mock exam program at this tuition place in sydney called Ace. I havent done the ACER paper's yet but my medentry percentiles have been crazy low and was wondering where I'm sitting at for the actual test coming up. I find the medentry S1 much easier compared to other sections with my scores looking something like 34/27/27. From what medentry percentiles tell me, Im not doing so well !

I wouldn't stress given that the Medentry percentiles have no quality control (time, people redoing from last year, reset exams etc). So if you're on the higher end of the percentiles whilst still in time then I'd be assured that you were but if you were on the lower end, thats not to worry either. 85-95/134 we can estimate to be about 170-190 in terms of raw score, which is 80%ile - 95%ile. Factor in the fact that the MedEntry exams are generally more difficult, I'd say you're in a good position and that it's not much to worry about. If anything, you could spend time looking at s3 techniques and boosting that section before the actual exam (its the easiest to learn).

 

[Smelly Boy]

How’s it going fellas

I been doing some 2008 medentry papers that I got off a friend and I don’t really FEEL (keyword) much of a difference in terms of difficulty when compared to the medentry course I bought last year (and sometimes see some of the questions I remember from medentry course I bought last year)

I’m averaging around 75% for these papers and my scores usually look something like this:
S1: 32/44
S2: 26/36
S3: 26/30
(84ish/110)

How are these scores looking? It’s hard to get a comparison since these papers are so old and probably no one is doing them haha

 

[A1]

I’m averaging around 75% for these papers ...

I can't comment on the relevance of older prac papers, but if you score 75% of the real test questions you are on track for 98-99%ile. Congrats.

The trap to be wary of is 75% for these prac papers may be thanks to you having done these questions before, whereas ACER will be throwing brand new questions at you. You need to be able to adapt on the day to the new questions.

 

[jiaxing]

Just a question that came to me while in the shower:
How many people use MedEntry and how does this compare to the number of people who sit the UMAT each year?

 

[Mana]

Just a question that came to me while in the shower:
How many people use MedEntry and how does this compare to the number of people who sit the UMAT each year?

You might do better to ask MedEntry this. Certainly it seems like quite a popular choice in terms of prep courses, but there isn't any (non-anecdotal) evidence to suggest that they result in improved scores.

A little under 20000 people (give or take) take the UMAT each year.

 

[Perplex]

Just a question that came to me while in the shower:
How many people use MedEntry and how does this compare to the number of people who sit the UMAT each year?

From my understanding the UMAT market is dominated by MedEntry, so I'd wager the majority who chose to go with prep would go down the MedEntry pathway. Whether prep is useful is an entirely different debate though....

 

[DrDrLMG!]

From my understanding the UMAT market is dominated by MedEntry, so I'd wager the majority who chose to go with prep would go down the MedEntry pathway. Whether prep is useful is an entirely different debate though....

I needed full length exams to use to improve my speed/timing. I also was fortunate to have the funds available, and too lazy to bother attempting to ‘source’ full length exams by other means, which made ME the easy option for me.

 

[Lear]

I needed full length exams to use to improve my speed/timing. I also was fortunate to have the funds available, and too lazy to bother attempting to ‘source’ full length exams by other means, which made ME the easy option for me.

I just wish there was a way for us to have those 10 exams as PDFs so we could actually practice on paper under as close to exam conditions as possible.
Completely understandable from Medentry’s POV though. As soon as PDFs are uploaded they would spread like wildfire and ME would likely miss out on tons of sweet sweet money.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

I just wish there was a way for us to have those 10 exams as PDFs so we could actually practice on paper under as close to exam conditions as possible.
Completely understandable from Medentry’s POV though. As soon as PDFs are uploaded they would spread like wildfire and ME would likely miss out on tons of sweet sweet money.

Yeah, no “likely” about it, that would be a terrible business model

 

[jiaxing]

I needed full length exams to use to improve my speed/timing. I also was fortunate to have the funds available, and too lazy to bother attempting to ‘source’ full length exams by other means, which made ME the easy option for me.

I'm experiencing the same problem right now - time management.
Any tips on improving speed/timing?
I'm getting marks in the 80-90/134 range, so I would really love some advice on improving my speed/timing to improve these marks