Pre-UMAT 2018 Discussion Thread

[sopnh]

Where is the Qld UMAT venue usually?

(edited into an appropriate question by LMG)

 

[Yamster]

Where is the Qld UMAT venue usually?

(edited into an appropriate question by LMG)

Hey Sopnh,

It's been at UQ for the past few years so it's probably going to be at UQ again this year.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

For anyone on the fence, you can still sign up to sit the 2018 UMAT. Late registrations (that incur an extra fee *cough* Yamster *cough*) close at 5pm today.

 

[Yamster]

For anyone on the fence, you can still sign up to sit the 2018 UMAT. Late registrations (that incur an extra fee *cough* Yamster *cough*) close at 5pm today.

I signed up last year at 5:10 and I couldn't get a refund so get on it guys! Lol.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

I signed up last year at 5:10 and I couldn't get a refund so get on it guys! Lol.

Just to clarify, signing up today at 5.10 will be worse than incurring the late fee Yamster knows so well, that much is already a given. Today it will mean doing UMAT in 2019. But heed @yamster’s advice that even 10 minutes late is too late, regardless. Don’t dilly dally!

ETA: “dilly dally” because that is not used often enough these days, and I wanted to jump on the oppprtunity.

 

[Stuart]

Hi everyone,

How is the preparation going? The test is fast approaching and (for some of you) the holidays are just around the corner, so use your time wisely between now and then.

I hope nobody missed the deadline this year, unlike so-and-so from last year.

 

[Kat92]

Hope everyone is going well! I will be in your position next year once I finish my current degrees- so my thoughts are with you all.

Good Luck!

 

[Trinhcent]

Hey MSO!

Prep is going well for me, polishing up the extra 5 exams available on MedEntry and then the ACER exams too. Quite happy where I am at at the moment
Goodluck to everyone else who's sitting it this year, how is prep going for you guys?
I've asked this before, but has anyone given the new ACER exam a shot yet and is able to rank it in comparison to the others based on difficulty?

Cheers

 

[Chrismm]

Hey MSO!

Prep is going well for me, polishing up the extra 5 exams available on MedEntry and then the ACER exams too. Quite happy where I am at at the moment
Goodluck to everyone else who's sitting it this year, how is prep going for you guys?
I've asked this before, but has anyone given the new ACER exam a shot yet and is able to rank it in comparison to the others based on difficulty?

Cheers

I’ve been way too slack. I’ve only done 2 ACER exams so I’ve still got a lot of work to do, considering the exam is in 4 weeks. I’m gonna try sweat it all out in the next 4 weeks.

 

[Ruffle]

I’ve been way too slack. I’ve only done 2 ACER exams so I’ve still got a lot of work to do, considering the exam is in 4 weeks. I’m gonna try sweat it all out in the next 4 weeks.

Just make sure not to burn yourself out- take it easy! You reach a certain point where prepping will no longer significantly improve your score (the hrs spent prepping:UMAT score relationship isn't linear).

 

[Trinhcent]

Hey everybody,
not sure if this is the right place to post but if it isn't then my apologies to the mods hahah. I've collated a list of some of the free UMAT resources available online and thought this would be helpful for everybody sitting the UMAT this year

https://www.medstart.com.au/MedStart-UMAT-Sample-and-Practice-Questions.pdf

Genie Tests - UMAT

UMAT Sample Questions - Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving - UMAT.net.au

UMAT Sample Questions - Understanding People - UMAT.net.au

UMAT Sample Questions - Non Verbal Reasoning - UMAT.net.au

Take the Test

https://www.medentry.edu.au/resources/umat-sample-questions

https://www.medentry.edu.au/resources/umat-sample-questions#construct-2-understanding-people

https://www.medentry.edu.au/resources/umat-sample-questions#construct-3-non-verbal-reasoning

https://www.nie.edu.au/free-umat-practice-questions-construct-1

https://www.nie.edu.au/free-umat-practice-questions-construct-2

https://www.nie.edu.au/free-umat-practice-questions-construct-3

https://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/110660-UMAT-Full-Length-Test-Paper

2 more full papers can be found at MATRIX's website and MedView also offers a full paper with solutions.

Hope this is useful!

 

[frootloop]

I'll throw in my customary warning that the evidence doesn't support UMAT 'prep'. If anything, the evidence suggests that 'prep' can slightly harm performance in sections which many seem to struggle with (read: section 2). But, as with the last 8 years, most of you will ignore me.

Don't waste money and/or time you don't have on expensive prep courses which don't work. Familiarize yourself with the UMAT question format, how the exam works etc, but leave it at that.

Inb4 the regression towards the mean brigade come in with 'well I did better second time round with expensive prep!'. Or the confirmation bias bros with 'I spent hundreds on UMAT prep so that must be why I did well'.

But you're all like me, and you all want to feel like you've got some control over important things. So 'prep is a waste of time' sounds like advice to be negligent. So you'll do it anyway.

Just don't waste time and/or money you don't have. Don't credit/blame your relative amount of 'prep' for your result.

And good luck!

 

[Kat92]

Hey everybody,
not sure if this is the right place to post but if it isn't then my apologies to the mods hahah. I've collated a list of some of the free UMAT resources available online and thought this would be helpful for everybody sitting the UMAT this year

https://www.medstart.com.au/MedStart-UMAT-Sample-and-Practice-Questions.pdf

Genie Tests - UMAT

UMAT Sample Questions - Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving - UMAT.net.au

UMAT Sample Questions - Understanding People - UMAT.net.au

UMAT Sample Questions - Non Verbal Reasoning - UMAT.net.au

Take the Test

UMAT Sample Questions - MedEntry UMAT Preparation

UMAT Sample Questions - MedEntry UMAT Preparation

UMAT Sample Questions - MedEntry UMAT Preparation

https://www.nie.edu.au/free-umat-practice-questions-construct-1

https://www.nie.edu.au/free-umat-practice-questions-construct-2

https://www.nie.edu.au/free-umat-practice-questions-construct-3

https://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/110660-UMAT-Full-Length-Test-Paper

2 more full papers can be found at MATRIX's website and MedView also offers a full paper with solutions.

Hope this is useful!

Thanks, I might have a look at some of these before sitting the exam next year!

 

[Ruffle]

I'll throw in my customary warning that the evidence doesn't support UMAT 'prep'. If anything, the evidence suggests that 'prep' can slightly harm performance in sections which many seem to struggle with (read: section 2). But, as with the last 8 years, most of you will ignore me.

Don't waste money and/or time you don't have on expensive prep courses which don't work. Familiarize yourself with the UMAT question format, how the exam works etc, but leave it at that.

Inb4 the regression towards the mean brigade come in with 'well I did better second time round with expensive prep!'. Or the confirmation bias bros with 'I spent hundreds on UMAT prep so that must be why I did well'.

But you're all like me, and you all want to feel like you've got some control over important things. So 'prep is a waste of time' sounds like advice to be negligent. So you'll do it anyway.

Just don't waste time and/or money you don't have. Don't credit/blame your relative amount of 'prep' for your result.

And good luck!

Have anecdotal evidence to support this.
Friend with no prep: 99th percentile
Friend who prepped extensively: 67th percentile

Of course, some people with no prep did badly as well, and some people who prepped a lot did well. But through general observation, past the "doing some ACER papers and knowing what to expect/doing the occasional question" stage of prep, studying for UMAT didn't influence your results at all.

The UMAT changes every year, and just getting familiar with the general style of UMAT questions is going to help you a lot more than stressing about it 24/7. If you're intrinsically terrible at it, prep isn't going to make your score good enough to stand a chance in med/dent. Also, your UMAT score is highly influenced by circumstances outside your control (the questions in the test that day, how well you slept, how alert you are during the test etc.).

The only thing I found prep to really help me with was stress. I felt a lot calmer going into the UMAT because I studied for it- but then again, studying lots and putting emphasis on a test stresses some people out more.

 

[entirety]

Hello, so I have a question. I was lurking the forum and came across posts that mentioned the fact that questions are not all worth the same on the UMAT, as in they're not equal in 'points'. However, on the ACER website it says "All questions have the same value, therefore by attempting as many questions as possible you stand the best chance of maximising your score. No marks are deducted for a wrong answer."

Same value meaning they are all equal in marks... right? Because if we were to consider questions being weighted differently with questions answered less correctly being worth more, wouldn't we have to change our strategy? Like I would answer more hard questions assuming they would be 'scaled' higher...?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hello, so I have a question. I was lurking the forum and came across posts that mentioned the fact that questions are not all worth the same on the UMAT, as in they're not equal in 'points'. However, on the ACER website it says "All questions have the same value, therefore by attempting as many questions as possible you stand the best chance of maximising your score. No marks are deducted for a wrong answer."

Same value meaning they are all equal in marks... right? Because if we were to consider questions being weighted differently with questions answered less correctly being worth more, wouldn't we have to change our strategy? Like I would answer more hard questions assuming they would be 'scaled' higher...?

It’s actually impossible for all questions to be equal in value. So while I acknowledge this is what the ACER website says, it can’t be true. For starters, each section is scored out of 100 for a total score out of 300, but there are different numbers of questions in each section, so at the very least, S1 questions (if all average to be worth the same) have to be worth less than S3 questions. And I think it’s likely more than just that occurs to the scores.

ACER kind of contradict themselves because they also go to lengths to point out that their scoring system is “complex” and can’t be “replicated”. If each question is worth the same, then that’s no complicated system that can’t be replicated. Surely.

 

[Stuart]

Hi,

With regards to the scores, if UMAT really does employ the item response theory in their marking, it may be possible to have equal values. That is, a point is awarded for each correct response, but the sum will be not the same as the final score since they will apply some 'complex' calculation and each question will be weighted differently. So, I suppose this is what they mean by a complex system which cannot be replicated (without knowing the exact mathematical/statistical procedure/parameter(s) they used). Hence, I don't see the impossibility or contradictions.

I don't know whether ACER uses the item response theory. However, it seems very likely given that it's superior to the classical methods in estimating a student's ability and many other high-stake examinations like UMAT use it.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi,

With regards to the scores, if UMAT really does employ the item response theory in their marking, it may be possible to have equal values. That is, a point is awarded for each correct response, but the sum will be not the same as the final score since they will apply some 'complex' calculation and each question will be weighted differently. So, I suppose this is what they mean by a complex system which cannot be replicated (without knowing the exact mathematical/statistical procedure/parameter(s) they used). Hence, I don't see the impossibility or contradictions.

I don't know whether ACER uses the item response theory. However, it seems very likely given that it's superior to the classical methods in estimating a student's ability and many other high-stake examinations like UMAT use it.

It’s more their terminology that all questions have “the same value”. Does this still fit with IRT?

 

[Stuart]

It’s more their terminology that all questions have “the same value”. Does this still fit with IRT?

Hi LMG!,

I, in an attempt to understand the theory and UMAT, explored a statistical package developed by a biostatistician. The package came with a sample dataset from LSAT (which seems to be one of the go-to datasets from decades ago used in teaching IRT) which I used in my exploration. In my experience, each question was a dichotomous variable giving 1-point for selecting the correct answer. In this case, I think it make sense to say that each question has equal value, especially if you are using the classical methods to analyse the results (i.e. simple summation). However, using the IRT/statistical methods, I was able to estimate different parameters such as difficulty of a question and discriminant values (how well a question can differentiate the people outside of that probability estimate). So, I was able to determine the 'difficulty' of a question based on the data (i.e. not based on the examiner) which I used to give different weights. The package can also examine other parameters such as "guessing" and patterns. Furthermore, there are all sorts of standardisations one can use in an analysis. Finally, I thought of this as "the questions were worth the same, but you get praised more if you get the harder question right" - the final scores depend on the type of models/analysis one uses, but each question is "worth" the same, x-point each. (FYI: The package can also examine other parameters such as "guessing" and patterns. Also, there are all sorts of standardisations one can use in an analysis.)

In all honesty, I don't know what they do and maybe you are totally right that they are not being clear or are deceiving for some reason. In general, I have little knowledge about testing procedures including the IRT. For all I know, I could have completely misunderstood the whole process. I actually thought you might have better understanding than myself given your expertise and background. After all, you are our one and only UMATmbassador!

I will appreciate any criticism over my thought.

 

[Grant Hughes]

Hey everyone,

Just wondering how experienced UMAT'ers found the ACER practice tests when compared to the real deal; with a particular comparison to each practice test?
Also, in your experience, what do you find is a good x/134 mark to achieve on practice tests on average to roughly predict UMAT performance.

Thanks for your input! I think I've seen these questions asked on the forum somewhere but cannot find it!