Pre-UMAT 2018 Discussion Thread

[Austin]

I did it section by section and got
S2:66/S3:59/S1:58 92nd %ile in 2016
S2:73/S1:61/S3:64 98th %ile in 2017

In 2016 I was definitely rushed on my last section (S1) because I didn’t fully appreciate the time pressure and didn’t stick to time limits for S2 and S3. I had to blind guess a few questions at the end.

In 2017, with a clearer understanding of the timing required, I set myself limits, stuck to them, finished my final section (S3 this time) on time, and wasn’t rushed at all.

The key to not being rushed isn’t doing it 1-134 or section by section, it’s having a clear timing plan regardless and sticking to it. But also being realistic that ~most people don’t finish the whole exam and have to guess some at the end and factoring that into your plan.

Imo!



I definitely ‘did’ S2 questions in reading time, yep! Glad my suggestion is paying off for you, it seriously worked perfectly for me.

Apologies for the stupid question, but is the test structured like S1, S2 then S3. Or is it all in random order like the practice tests.

 

[Lear]

Apologies for the stupid question, but is the test structured like S1, S2 then S3. Or is it all in random order like the practice tests.

It used to be but now they have scrambled it.

 

[Austin]

It used to be but now they have scrambled it.

Cheers mate

 

[jiaxing]

Am I the only one that feels the Medentry exams got easier and easier? I honestly can't tell if im improving or it's just easier exams towards the end. I went from getting 70s and 80s for the first few exams to consistently getting 90+ in the later ones. Anyone else's thoughts would be appreciated.

Hey Lear,
I'm finding that too.
Can somebody shed some light on this, please?
(Also, even though my marks are increasing, percentiles are increasingly very minimally).

 

[entirety]

There were quite a few of those last year (a lot of graphs etc.)
These questions test your ability to analyse reports- I'd go through some scientific reports and just try to understand the graphs and diagrams and what they're trying to represent.

Do you know what type of question/s where the most common in S1?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hey Lear,
I'm finding that too.
Can somebody shed some light on this, please?
(Also, even though my marks are increasing, percentiles are increasingly very minimally).

ME percentiles are meaningless, ignore them. Your own previous raw scores are the most useful data to compare your next performance to.

 

[Ruffle]

Do you know what type of question/s where the most common in S1?

Can't remember sorry, but it changes from year to year.

 

[RandoSuddo]

I have been finding the medentry emotive game app to be very useful. I also believe it is free. If any of you don't know about it make sure to check it out. It's great to do while on public transport or something.
God I probably sound like I was paid by Medentry. I just genuinely find it very useful.

Hmm, I couldn't find it?

 

[jiaxing]

Hmm, I couldn't find it?

Download the ME app —> Extras —> Emotive Game

 

[RandoSuddo]

Download the ME app —> Extras —> Emotive Game

Ah, I don't have a MedEntry account so it's blocked for me. Thanks anyways!

 

[Lear]

Ah, I don't have a MedEntry account so it's blocked for me. Thanks anyways!

I’m so sorry. The app is indeed free on the Apple AppStore but it turns out you have to login to use the emotive game -.-. I honestly did not know that, thought it was free for all like the app.

 

[RandoSuddo]

I’m so sorry. The app is indeed free on the Apple AppStore but it turns out you have to login to use the emotive game -.-. I honestly did not know that, thought it was free for all like the app.

Not a problem! I'm keeping myself busy doing a bunch of other things anyways Good luck for Wed!

 

[H_______]

hi guys, just finished acer test 4 and noticed a pretty significant just in difficulty for the section 3 problems, and with no worked answers I can't see any patterns at all in some of them. wondering if any of you guys could help me out...

UMAT

(sorry if against rules, delete if so)

 

[Chrismm]

hi guys, just finished acer test 4 and noticed a pretty significant just in difficulty for the section 3 problems, and with no worked answers I can't see any patterns at all in some of them. wondering if any of you guys could help me out...

UMAT

(sorry if against rules, delete if so)

In the 2nd question, it looks like the arrow (focusing on black side) has rotated 45, 90, 180 and 360 degrees. So it is doubling each time. Rule out option D and E. The white dot appears to be moving 1 step towards black arrow, then stopping and moving another 1 step then stopping. That rules out option A and C leaving B as the answer.

 

[toulouse]

Just wondering is there anyone who's planning on doing the test chronologically/ or has done it chronologically before? How did it work out if so? Personally I'm just gonna stick to my section by section... time is so precious

 

[Chrismm]

Just wondering is there anyone who's planning on doing the test chronologically/ or has done it chronologically before? How did it work out if so? Personally I'm just gonna stick to my section by section... time is so precious

I'm planning to do it chronologically so I don't bomb out on 1 section plus I'm also less likely to shade the wrong bubble.

 

[RandoSuddo]

I'm planning to do it chronologically so I don't bomb out on 1 section plus I'm also less likely to shade the wrong bubble.

It's a personal preference, but if you allocate time for each section, you're less likely to bomb one whole section.

 

[entirety]

Idk chronologically just seems scary to me... like with section by section at least when I get a section done I'll feel a bit motivated whereas if I'm like in the middle and times running out I'll just panic and bomb out in like all 3 lol

 

[H_______]

In the 2nd question, it looks like the arrow (focusing on black side) has rotated 45, 90, 180 and 360 degrees. So it is doubling each time. Rule out option D and E. The white dot appears to be moving 1 step towards black arrow, then stopping and moving another 1 step then stopping. That rules out option A and C leaving B as the answer.

Cheers mate, worked out all of them now except the heart one, zero clue

 

[Lear]

I’ve never agreed with the argument that doing it sectionally is important as you need to be in the ‘correct mindset’ for each section and that doing them in order can screw you up. I think the greatest time for sectionally is that you can quite easily break down your timing. For most people section 1 definitely takes a significantly longer all together compared to something such as section 2. Instead of doing it in order and saying to your self ‘2 mins for each section 1 question, 1:30 for Section 3 and 1:30 for section 2’, you can simply allocate, say, 80 minutes to JUST do section 1 questions.

This means you may need to only check your watch every few minutes compared to almost every question. It also means that when you realise you are going over time, you can decide to ‘quick guess’ the rest of the questions for that specific section and be sure that you will still have adequate time for other sections.

Ultimately, in my opinion, there is no clear disadvantage in doing the UMAT in order provided that you have a solid strategy in mind to manage your time. It is mentioned constantly that time management is one of the most important skills for the UMAT. I simply believe that sectionally just makes it easier to manage time in comparison to in order. But if you are certain you can manage your time go for it!