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[Undergrad] UMAT Scoring FAQs

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
The below information has been put together from a number of sources, including official ACER information (bell curves and statements of results), and data collated over a number of years here at MSO. While it does not purport to be the Exact Explanation of how UMAT scoring works, it is the best extrapolation of this information that we can realistically come up with, and actually paints a pretty accurate picture, particularly given ACER's repeated reports that their scoring is impossible to recreate. We believe them, and the below information is a close approximation only.
Frequently Asked Questions About UMAT Scoring

What is the total possible score for UMAT?
300

Is it possible to get a 'perfect score' of 300/300?
Theoretically, yes. Has anyone actually done this? Not that we are aware of. The highest score reported here to MSO is ~260, and this was some years ago. The highest score reported to MSO in 2016 was ~229. The highest score we are aware of from any source is 285/300, again this was several years ago.

What is the total possible score for each UMAT section?
100

Is it possible to get a 'perfect score' of 100/100?
Yes. And we have had several MSO members report that they have achieved this in a single section. An example would be 100/60/65.

Are all UMAT questions worth the same amount of 'points'?
No, it is understood that all questions are scaled after the exam has been sat for the year. Questions that more people answer correctly end up being worth slightly less than questions that more people answer incorrectly. There is NO WAY of knowing which questions will be worth more or less when you are sitting the exam, so approach each question without consideration of this fact.

How do percentile ranks work?
A percentile rank is a number that tells you where you sit compared to everyone else. A percentile rank of 90 means your score is above 90% of other exam takers, and below 10%. This score will appear on your statement of results.

What are raw scores?
Your raw score is the score you achieve out of 300.

How is my raw score calculated?
This is the total of all the points you achieved for each section. This score will appear on your statement of results. Given there are 134 questions and the exam is out of 300, it can be assumed that each question is, on average, worth just over 2.0 points (approximately).

Can I predict a UMAT score from a practice exam?
Yes, very roughly. Most practice exams will give you an end score out of 134 (or you can hand-calculate this yourself). Your UMAT statement of results will give you a score out of 300.

Given we know each UMAT question is worth just over 2.0 points, and that we are (by virtue of the scaling process) more likely to get the questions that are worth more incorrect, and because it simplifies things nicely, we can fairly reliably use a score of 2.0 to represent each question. If you do a practice exam and get 88/134, you can reasonably translate this to a score of 176/300. If you get 122/134, then you can probably reasonably assume that you've gotten a lot of the scaled up questions correct, so you can be a little more generous when doing the conversion, maybe 250/300 would be a decent rough guide. Though, to be honest, if you're getting scores like this, don't worry about doing conversions, just know that you're killing it :D

What is the 50/50/50 rule?
Some Universities advertise that they require students meet a 50/50/50 threshold for UMAT before their applications can progress. This means that a raw score of 50 for each section is required (which, using our 2.0 method from above, equates to approximately 25 questions answered correctly).

JMP, UTAS, and Curtin quite explicitly require this. However, it's important to note that reaching the 50/50/50 threshold just means your application can progress, not that it will progress. It does not mean that your score is guaranteed to get you a place, or even an interview. In reality, many students will score well above 50 in each section. If you're a non-rural student applying to JMP, for example, you will more than likely need scores above 60/50/50 for your application to be competitive, for UTAS, it's more like 50/60/50.

Other Universities may state you need to get a score over 150/300 for your application to progress, and if you have a score in the 40s for one section, it won't matter, as long as your total is over 150. That said, again, non-rural, non-indigenous applications, while 150 may be an advertised figure, successful applicants will typically have scores higher than this.

What score should I aim for?
This is a deceptively simple question to answer. The score you should aim for is the highest score you can achieve. Nothing more or less than that.

Do not get caught up in cut-offs and thresholds, they are useful post-UMAT, but not particularly pre (except in cases where it can be useful to know some Universities preference a particular section). Understand them, even discuss them if you like, but do not focus on them unnecessarily. Just aim to do your best.

My question about UMAT scoring wasn't answered above, where can I ask it?
This is not a complete list of possible scoring questions, and is definitely a work in progress. If your question doesn't appear above, please feel free to reply to this thread. Your question will be added to this post, and an answer provided where possible.

Where can I get more information?
[Undergrad] - UMAT 2017 Discussion Thread <-- This is also where all the cool kids hang out! Please come join us!
 
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Mana

there are no stupid questions, only people
Administrator
The highest score I know of was 285 raw back in 2006 - as told to me by the Admissions Officer of the then new UWS School of Medicine - as being the highest score in Australia at the time.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
The highest score I know of was 285 raw back in 2006 - as told to me by the Admissions Officer of the then new UWS School of Medicine - as being the highest score in Australia at the time.

Wow! Probably still is the highest score. That's seriously impressive.
 

Mana

there are no stupid questions, only people
Administrator
WTF, was that person born with an innate ability to umat.

I don't think anyone is born with an innate ability to UMAT, however, I do think that quite a lot of well performing UMATters are people who learned the requisite skills very early on in life - well before high school.
 

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A1

Rookie Doc
Moderator
Maybe worth mentioning the high scores 260-280s were several years ago when section scores could go up to 110, due the year-on-year scaling required then. With section scores capped to 100 since 2014 highest scores were ~240 for both 2014/15 and apparently even less in 2016.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Maybe worth mentioning the high scores 260-280s were several years ago when section scores could go up to 110, due the year-on-year scaling required then. With section scores capped to 100 since 2014 highest scores were ~240 for both 2014/15 and apparently even less in 2016.

Mana said it was 2006 for the 285. Did scaling occur that far back or only during the period where the exam moved from two to one year expiry date?

ETA: I also think I'd rather just remove the highest score examples than get into unnecessary explanations of historical scoring anomalies if it was such a big deal.
 
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biom

Regular Member
Supreme Overlord of the Chatbox
@LMG firstly congratulations on the hard work above to answer many questions for many people (plus lets you say see [Undergrad] - UMAT Scoring FAQs)

We guess that there is some sort of mathematical transformation of scores as ACER says that the section scores are calculated to a number of decimal places. My guess (and it is absolutely a guess) is that scores are fitted to a logistic function or a statistical distribution with the result that the first n correct answers aren't worth that much and that subsequent correct answers are worth significantly more. If you get to the plateau at the top of the curve those correct answers aren't worth that much either.

Is there any information to support the statement that questions are worth about 2 marks each?

Is it better just to stick with "We don't know" and your very sensible remark..... just do the best you can?
 

biom

Regular Member
Supreme Overlord of the Chatbox
Possibly one more....

I have read that 20,000 people sit UMAT. There seem to be around 1200 UG med places in Australia (including Bond).

Based on this data around 94% of those that sit the UMAT will not be successful in gaining an offer to a med school. Those sitting UMAT typically have extremely good ATAR scores. The competition is not like it is at most schools.

Sombre but real.

##updated based on Mana's info below.

@LMG happy for you to delete these posts after you consider them.
 
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Mana

there are no stupid questions, only people
Administrator
Possibly one more....

I have heard that 20,000 people sit UMAT (needs to be confirmed). How many undergrad med places are the in Australia? 1000? 1500?

If the data above is correctish then 90-95% of those who sit UMAT will not be successful in gaining an offer to a med school. Those sitting UMAT typically have extremely good ATAR scores. so teh competition is not like it is at most schools. Sombre but real.

@LMG happy for you to delete these posts after you consider them.

You can find the numbers on the Australian and New Zealand Medical Deans website - all the data is there to many years back.

This is how I came by the 95%ile estimate to be competitive as well.
 

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biom

Regular Member
Supreme Overlord of the Chatbox
You can find the numbers on the Australian and New Zealand Medical Deans website - all the data is there to many years back.

This is how I came by the 95%ile estimate to be competitive as well.
Thanks Mana. Corrected above.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Possibly one more....

I have read that 20,000 people sit UMAT. There seem to be around 1200 UG med places in Australia (including Bond).

Based on this data around 94% of those that sit the UMAT will not be successful in gaining an offer to a med school. Those sitting UMAT typically have extremely good ATAR scores. The competition is not like it is at most schools.

Sombre but real.

##updated based on Mana's info below.

@LMG happy for you to delete these posts after you consider them.

The intention for this thread was to address UMAT scoring specifically. I feel like it'll start to lose its usefulness if I stray beyond that and get into predicting success rates etc. I wanted something succinct to be used largely as the copy paste link you referred to above :)
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Is it better just to stick with "We don't know" and your very sensible remark..... just do the best you can?

No! Haha. I know from personal experience that it won't (and doesn't need to) be enough to say we don't know. Particularly given the 2.0 theory has been discussed at length in various other parts of this forum. And used by many members. It's not an exact science, but it's useful, imo. I certainly use it, anyway. Regularly.
 

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