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UMAT Preparation!!

anika99

Member
I've been working through the practice UMAT tests from ACER, and I've noticed some improvement in my performance. Roughly how many questions would you say I'd need to get correct in order to manage an overall score of 55-60 (ignoring the effects of scaling)? My strongest dimension is Understanding People and my weakest is Logical Reasoning.

I'm a rural student, so I haven't been able to attend any UMAT preparation courses...

Thanks :)
 

Sherlock

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Hi there, firstly, welcome to MSO! :)

Good that you've done some preparations with ACER practice exams, because they are the best form of preparations and the closest thing to the UMAT, although, the difficulty may vary with the actual exam. It is difficult to predict how many questions you would need to be able to get a score of 55-60, but you could get some rough idea from your practice paper results. If you wouldn't mind sharing your scores, we might be able to assist you better.

The 55-60 score you are talking about is the raw mark, however, it goes through rigorous mathematical processes (i.e. ACER might vary question points depending on difficulty of the question relative to the cohort and so on) and it is impossible for us to replicate. I would highly recommend you read this thread: [Undergrad] - UMAT Scoring FAQs. It is a comprehensive post which deals in length with regards to UMAT scoring. All the best for the UMAT exam! :)
 
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anika99

Member
Hi there, firstly, welcome to MSO! :)

Good that you've done some preparations with ACER practice exams, because they are the best form of preparations and the closest thing to the UMAT, although, the difficulty may vary with the actual exam. It is difficult to predict how many questions you would need to be able to get a score of 55-60, but you could get some rough idea from your practice paper results. If you wouldn't mind sharing your scores, we might be able to assist you better.

The 55-60 score you are talking about is the raw mark, however, it goes through rigorous mathematical processes (i.e. ACER might vary question points depending on difficulty of the question relative to the cohort and so on) and it is impossible for us to replicate. I would highly recommend you read this thread: [Undergrad] - UMAT Scoring FAQs. It is a comprehensive post which deals in length with regards to UMAT scoring. All the best for the UMAT exam! :)

Hi, so I'm getting around 100-110/134 correct.
 

Mana

there are no stupid questions, only people
Administrator
Hi, so I'm getting around 100-110/134 correct.

If you could replicate this in the actual UMAT I would say you would easily clear the 90th percentile.

However, as it stands, the ACER booklets are a far cry from the difficulty of the actual UMAT (they serve as an introduction to the format of the exam and the types of questions in it). It is difficult to say by how much, but in my opinion, its a very significant jump in difficulty.
 

anika99

Member
If you could replicate this in the actual UMAT I would say you would easily clear the 90th percentile.

However, as it stands, the ACER booklets are a far cry from the difficulty of the actual UMAT (they serve as an introduction to the format of the exam and the types of questions in it). It is difficult to say by how much, but in my opinion, its a very significant jump in difficulty.

Thank you :) However, I'm not expecting to reach the 90th percentile in the exam. Being a rural student, I'm hoping I can get away with a lower percentile score (for UQ)... Given that the real UMAT is more difficult than the practices, how many questions would you say I'd need to answer correctly to reach the 80th percentile? In previous years, the cutoff scores for rural students at UQ have been around 160, but I'm aiming for around 170.
 

nira

Regular Member
Thank you :) However, I'm not expecting to reach the 90th percentile in the exam. Being a rural student, I'm hoping I can get away with a lower percentile score (for UQ)... Given that the real UMAT is more difficult than the practices, how many questions would you say I'd need to answer correctly to reach the 80th percentile? In previous years, the cutoff scores for rural students at UQ have been around 160, but I'm aiming for around 170.
85ish questions right youd be looking at 80th percentille. 90 questions right around 90th percentile. and around 100 questions right would be close to 99th. but these are rough estimates.
 

anika99

Member
Having sat the UMAT, I'm not feeling too confident. I liked section 3, but I wasted time on section 2. I had to purely guess maybe 10 from section 1. Overall, I probably guessed 20-25, blindly, in the last 3 minutes. (I definitely wasted a lot of time second-guessing my answers.) What sort of percentile rank should I expect? I've trying to decide on my preferences for QTAC applications and I can't decide if I should place UQ as my 2nd or 3rd preference.

i.e.
1st - JCU
2nd - UQ/Griffith
3rd - UQ/Griffith

At the moment I'm expecting a relatively high OP; however, my school typically doesn't perform exceptionally in the QCS test, so I don't know how my OP will be scaled in the end...
 

Mana

there are no stupid questions, only people
Administrator
It may help you to realise that universities do not get your preference list (ie there is no advantage to putting JCU over UQ if you would prefer UQ). The only information they get is that you put their course somewhere in your preference list. Thus, if you put something dead last but you qualify to interview there you will end up with an interview offer.

In that sense there is no game of probabilities you play with the preference ranks. Just put them in the order you actually want.
 

nira

Regular Member
Overall, I probably guessed 20-25, blindly, in the last 3 minutes. (I definitely wasted a lot of time second-guessing my answers.) What sort of percentile rank should I expect?
tbh its hard to answer this question. it really depends on how many of the other questions you got correct. to put it into perspective , last year i knew someone who left 15 questions blank and still got 96th percentile.
 

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DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
tbh its hard to answer this question. it really depends on how many of the other questions you got correct. to put it into perspective , last year i knew someone who left 15 questions blank and still got 96th percentile.

And someone else who initially felt like they did okay in the aftermath but got a %ile rank well below 50. There is really zero way of knowing, tbh.
 

anika99

Member
It may help you to realise that universities do not get your preference list (ie there is no advantage to putting JCU over UQ if you would prefer UQ). The only information they get is that you put their course somewhere in your preference list. Thus, if you put something dead last but you qualify to interview there you will end up with an interview offer.

In that sense there is no game of probabilities you play with the preference ranks. Just put them in the order you actually want.

Thanks. I was only wondering because at UQ I could eligible for an academic scholarship - but only if I list them as my 1st or 2nd preference. I've heard that JCU looks at preferences, but this could just be a rumour... I personally do want to study at JCU more so than UQ. :)
 

A1

Rookie Doc
Moderator
Thanks. I was only wondering because at UQ I could eligible for an academic scholarship - but only if I list them as my 1st or 2nd preference.

Interesting there is really such a rule, can you provide a link where it says so?

I personally do want to study at JCU more so than UQ.

Then put JCU 1st, UQ 2nd.

I've heard that JCU looks at preferences, but this could just be a rumour... :)

Each TAC will only advise you of one offer per state, the highest on your pref list that you're successful for. But JCU messed with this last year by calling successful applicants a few days *before* the official offers round. Turned out some of them had UQ 1st, JCU lower, and they got UQ offers as well via QTAC a few days later.

That shows whether JCU looks at prefs it doesn't affect you. If you are successful you will get at least an offer there if not another one higher.
 

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