Practice Makes Progress
Summer is fast approaching and for most Year 12 students this means 6 weeks of absolute guilt-free relaxation. This, however, is not completely true for aspiring medics. With August around the corner, we are coming to the time of the apprehended medical entrance exams- starting off with the UCAT.
As you may already be aware, this year you have the option of sitting the UCAT at home or in a test centre as in the past. Despite this, the content of the exam will remain the same. Therefore, having gone through the process myself, I believe my advice would prove to be quite helpful.
When it comes to the UCAT what is most crucial is: practise. It is a test sat under immense time pressure so the approach you take is key. This can only be perfected through doing questions. The more questions you do, the more familiar you will become with the timing and the different question styles. Give yourself plenty of time for this. I would recommend starting a month or two before your test date. Begin by doing an hour a day and then progressively increase this closer to the exam. A resource that I found particularly helpful is Medify.
Use your time wisely during the exam. Having so little time to answer what seems like a million questions, you have to realise you’re not necessarily going to be able to answer them all accurately so don’t miss out on easy marks. Do the questions you can do quickly first.
Flag the harder and more wordier questions and come back to them later.
Leave no questions blank. This test is multiple choice so when you start to run short of time, guess! Remember that guessing still gives you a 25% chance of getting it right.
When it comes to the different sections of the exam, I have some more specific tips for each:
Verbal Reasoning:
You will not have enough time to read the text properly. Scan the text quickly or simply read the question first and look for keywords within the text to find the answer.
Decision Making:
Pay close attention to the language that is used as often they will try to purposely trip you up! Words such as ‘most’ do not mean ‘all’ so make sure to double-check.
Don't assume anything that they haven't told you directly in the question. Just because it was stated that ‘all the kids in the playground were wearing green shirts’ this does not mean ‘all kids in the school are wearing green shirts’ or that ‘the school’s uniform is green’.
Quantitative Reasoning:
Use the keyboard to type the numbers in the calculator rather than the mouse as this saves you time
Practise your mental maths so that you don’t have to waste time on simple multiplication
Use an on-screen calculator when practising so that you can get used to it
Abstract Reasoning:
Make two list of patterns when practising- one of the patterns that come up often and one of the patterns that you struggle to see. Continue to look over these when practising until you are able to spot the different patterns
Situational Judgment:
Read the GMC guidelines. Not always what you would consider to be the most suitable response will be the same as what is expected of a doctor
To finish off, I would like to leave you with a piece of advice I wish I was told and that is don’t be disheartened if you don’t do as well as you’d have liked. You really don’t need a score of 800 to be accepted into medical school. Just make sure to do a lot of practise and try your best.
Good luck!
Natalia Dul, Medical Student and TAMS Team Member