I've been practicing AR for about 2 weeks now and even though I did UCAT last year (received 630 in AR so trying to concentrate on it), I'm struggling with timing a lot. I can almost always get the pattern but it takes way too long and definitely not doing it under 14 seconds a question. Anyone have any tips on how to improve on the timing for AR? For those that did well last year in AR, did you skip questions/ guessed the questions that were taking too long?
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UCAT: Abstract Reasoning
- Thread starter conrs
- Start date
whys
Regular Member
Hi there, I haven't done the UCAT (I'm doing it this year) but any pattern that I can't get in under 30 seconds I'll guess and flag. It might take a while to learn how to do this, and I struggled with this a lot at the beginning because recognising when to move on can be hard. Usually, when I come back to it at the end I can find the pattern, and if not then that's okay too! It might also be useful to make a list of all the patterns you consistently get incorrect, which is what I've started doing and I've found it helps. With the 14 seconds thing, finding the pattern may take a while but then the other questions probably take a few seconds maximum since you've already found the pattern, so it's totally normal to spend the most time on the first question when trying to find the pattern. If timing is a really big issue, then maybe doing some untimed and going to the basics may help. What I did is I just consistently practised AR over and over again and found that I could find most of the patterns within the time limit due to previous exposure. There's a limit to the patterns possible and they usually revolve around the same basic principles modified slightly. Once you realise it's just a repetition of the same stuff it gets much easier to find the pattern in a few seconds because it just clicks! I hope this helps.
If I couldn't figure out a pattern in 14 seconds, I guessed an answer and flagged. No matter how weird the pattern may seem and how much you think "oh nah this can't be it", just guess. Imho to do well in AR without wasting time, you have to accept the fact that you won't get the entire rule pattern since there isn't enough time to do it. I usually only figured out 1/2 of the rule or even 1/4, but that's enough to get 4/5 questions right. This is what I did and AR was my best section last year.
Thanks for your reply! I've been making a list of the rules but it just seems to never end. There's so many rules and so many variations of the rules, I've kind of accepted that I will never get all of them and just guess some of them. I'm doing untimed practise sets on medify and the one time I did it timed, I did awful. Hopefully I will improve in the next few weeks with more practise.
Tbh I think I did better in the actual thing than in practice lol so don't get too discouraged. I reckon with AR it's all about just brute force grinding your way through and practicing speed.
Last edited:
Circles
Member
Hello
Does anybody have any tips on remembering lots of conditional patterns in AR. I always find myself figuring out conditional patterns for set A and B but then mixing them up when I start answering the questions - essentially, I have to keep going back to figure it out again and again.
Should I focus on 1 aspect of the pattern?? any suggestions would be much appreciated
Does anybody have any tips on remembering lots of conditional patterns in AR. I always find myself figuring out conditional patterns for set A and B but then mixing them up when I start answering the questions - essentially, I have to keep going back to figure it out again and again.
Should I focus on 1 aspect of the pattern?? any suggestions would be much appreciated
Hello
Does anybody have any tips on remembering lots of conditional patterns in AR. I always find myself figuring out conditional patterns for set A and B but then mixing them up when I start answering the questions - essentially, I have to keep going back to figure it out again and again.
Should I focus on 1 aspect of the pattern?? any suggestions would be much appreciated
Quickly write down what you think the rule is. Don't waste time on it though just make it like "A = CW, B=CCW" or draw arrows etc if you see that there is a clockwise or counter-clockwise pattern etc.
Don't bother trying to figure out the entire rule for any AR questions. Just focus on 1 aspect and if you think it can be a rule, it probably is part of a rule and will give you 4/5 questions right.
I did exactly that for Mock A, and got 4/5, 4/5, 3/5, 3/5, 2/5,1/5 (13 marks lost) simply because I couldn't get the secondary pattern. How do I make sure lost marks don't add up?
Keep practicing and work out why you couldn't get the specific pattern e.g. is it rotational, symmetrical etc. Then focus a few questions on it both untimed then timed til you see improvement.
Also, isn't AR like 55 questions not 30?
Yep, the rest I got 5/5. The problem is I either misinterpret the rule or have a really simple rule. Guess I will keep trying...
Bruh 42/55 is a heaps good AR score, just review the secondary/tertiary rules you didn't get and try to spot any particular ones you keep missing. Write them down and review them every so often and you'll be set!
Oh in that case 42/55 is real good. I think out of all the prep I did for AR mocks, the highest I've done is 42/55 which is around mid 700s. My average mocks wise was like mid 600s maybe? But in the real thing I got 830 I think not too sure.
As long as you do what ucatboy just said, you'll be alright. I can't stress enough the importance of reviewing your mistakes in UCAT in general.
iwannastudydent
Member
Hey you guys, would someone be able to help me out.
I have a lot of trouble when it comes to intersecting shapes and counting the number of intersections. I 1) always find it confusing to keep track 2)almost always under count/ over count.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to count in these kinds of question types?
This is kind of what I mean abstract reasoning circles intersecting - Google Search
I have a lot of trouble when it comes to intersecting shapes and counting the number of intersections. I 1) always find it confusing to keep track 2)almost always under count/ over count.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to count in these kinds of question types?
This is kind of what I mean abstract reasoning circles intersecting - Google Search
I usually just start counting from the top to bottom, left to right as if you were reading a book or something. Once I'm done counting one set, I'll write how many intersections there are for it e.g. A = 15, B = 16 so I don't forget them.
Georgia12357
Member
Hi guys,
I'm feeling a bit desperate now. I've been studying for the UCAT for a couple of hours every day, most days a week, for 2 months. I've seen improvements in every section but AR. I just can't get any better than like 600 to max 670.
So starting to think I probably need to start again with my approach. I've read through this thread and will try some of the tips in here.
How did people get out of this flatline that I seem to be in? I've tried going through, flag and move on if its not initially obvious, skipping and doing all the Set A/B questions first etc.
I know I probably have to still try and find a technique for me but when you were trying to improve did you go through and go more for accuracy (like not caring if you were only gonna answer half and then keep doing that so you're quicker) or?
Sorry for the paragraph- just at my wits' end with this section
I'm feeling a bit desperate now. I've been studying for the UCAT for a couple of hours every day, most days a week, for 2 months. I've seen improvements in every section but AR. I just can't get any better than like 600 to max 670.
So starting to think I probably need to start again with my approach. I've read through this thread and will try some of the tips in here.
How did people get out of this flatline that I seem to be in? I've tried going through, flag and move on if its not initially obvious, skipping and doing all the Set A/B questions first etc.
I know I probably have to still try and find a technique for me but when you were trying to improve did you go through and go more for accuracy (like not caring if you were only gonna answer half and then keep doing that so you're quicker) or?
Sorry for the paragraph- just at my wits' end with this section
Hi guys,
I'm feeling a bit desperate now. I've been studying for the UCAT for a couple of hours every day, most days a week, for 2 months. I've seen improvements in every section but AR. I just can't get any better than like 600 to max 670.
So starting to think I probably need to start again with my approach. I've read through this thread and will try some of the tips in here.
How did people get out of this flatline that I seem to be in? I've tried going through, flag and move on if its not initially obvious, skipping and doing all the Set A/B questions first etc.
I know I probably have to still try and find a technique for me but when you were trying to improve did you go through and go more for accuracy (like not caring if you were only gonna answer half and then keep doing that so you're quicker) or?
Sorry for the paragraph- just at my wits' end with this section
Initially, I used the SPONCS technique and kept practicing through my 3 weeks of UCAT prep. Two weeks into the prep, I was used to AR enough that I could be confident in finding only a quarter of a rule and still getting the questions right. I know it's been said before but AR really is just practice.
Georgia12357
Member
What does SPONCS stand for sorry? I've only heard of SCANS
S – Shape
P – Position
O – Orientation
N – Number
C – Colour
S – Size
It's pretty much SCANS tbh.
I prefer STONKS
S - Shape
T - Tosition (maybe translation?)
O - Orientation
N - Number
K - Kolour
S - Size
ok sorry for the shitpost hahaha
How do you guys attempt the questions through flagging? Set A/ Set B/ Neither questions come first followed by Complete the Sequence/Statement and Set A/Set B. If you always get the pattern for A/B/N questions, each question arguably takes less time than the complete sequence/statement questions. However, I have noticed that A/B/N are generally harder than the two above question types - it's easy to waste too much time. The 'Complete the....' questions seem to take a bit longer but are generally easier imo (e.g. comparing the colour and movement of a square across other boxes).
When doing the actual subtest, do you go through the test once, flagging A/B/N questions that are difficult and then do them? Or do you leave the 'complete the...' questions last even if you don't seem to be able to figure out the harder A/B/N questions quickly?
When doing the actual subtest, do you go through the test once, flagging A/B/N questions that are difficult and then do them? Or do you leave the 'complete the...' questions last even if you don't seem to be able to figure out the harder A/B/N questions quickly?