:) UMAT ~~ I'd like some knowledge! :) All past UMATTERS welcome! :) (2 Viewers)

[xxJTxx]

Hi. I need some help with UMAT stuff...I need to get this whole prep course or tutoring service made certain for me before it is too late. SO PLEASE, IF YOU KNOW ANYTHNG ABOUT UMAT READ ON! Thanks!!!!!

What is Medentry course? I have seen that it is "good" and the "one to do" just by reading other threads. Please advise?
I want to do the Medentry online thing as well..someone was talking about that - practicing q's online.

Anyone can advise me on who / where to contact someone about these?

Any other experiences, breif summaries of what I need to know are welcome. Or redirections to useful boards. YES I have looked around, I'm not posting this because I am lazy, just seeing if I can attract some more recent Umatters

Please no annoying, negative comments. I'm in Year 12, I know I need UMAT for med, my school doesn't care (althought I should ask the careers adviser if he has any suggestions bout UMAT stuff), but I don't know about courses etc. Learning from other's experience is my goal here, so yeah...

THANKS!

 

[simbim21]

hey,

I did MedEntry last year for preparation for the UMAT and it was a success! It's pretty good and definitely recommended.

Go to its site: www.medentry.com.au and look around there. You can choose which package you want and you can sign up with 2 or more other friends for a discount. It comes with 10 online full length practice exams, which is extremelly useful, as well as tips for each section.

I thinks that's all for now. MedEntry really does equip you quite well and gives you all the tips you need (especially at the 2day workshop). The 10 practice exams will keep you busy, so do them consistently (not all a few weeks before).

If you get an interview offer I guess we could help you then, but just focus on this hurdle for now! Good luck

 

[aussiechica7]

yeah basically there are three sections, logical reasoning, empathy skills, and non-verbal reasoning right? well medentry will teach you about each of those sections- y they exist and what skills they're looking for (answering section I is TOTALLY different to answering section II for example)... then they give u 5-10 drills which are practice questions u can use as many times as u want for each question. when u r done, u'll c which u got right AND u'll see written explanations as 2 which r right and why.
then there's the best thing ever- 10 full length practice exams. many r past umat questions- in fact, i even saw a few of them on my umat last yr (acer sometimes repeats questions). u time urself and once ur done, u can check your answers, and again, why the correct answers were correct and the others incorrect. there's also something special for section III, "eureka"... by the time u've spent a few hours on that u will pwn section III. also, there's a "percentile" thingy which will tell you how well you scored compared 2 everyone else on medentry who has taken that section. that's REALLY helpful. i thought i was ok section III but was getting 30-something percentiles . so i worked hard on eureka and on the drills, and the practice exams, and then on the actual exam i got 99th percentile for sec III. yay

their support is really good- expect email responses to queries within 1-2 days, and if u call them and ask 4 help they will oblige. they have special discounts if ur on a health care card/nominated by teacher for a discount, as well.

o and they have a discussion board which is really good.

so ya totally recommend medentry

 

[Me-Shell]

Hi!

I'm a UMAT sitter of 2006 and a successful one! I endorse Med Entry. I don't un-endorse any of the other prep courses, I just haven't done them. Only done MedEntry.


I recommend that you sign up for MedEntry and read through all their stuff - that will give you a great background on the UMAT. Then do the course, of course!

Oh and make sure you read all the info about UMAT on the acer website. there are a few sample questions on the acer website.

Oh and another point - I don't necessarily agree that the questions that come on the official acer practise booklets are the easiest UMAT questions. I think it's just that coz you're doing them at home and not under pressure and can go back over them a million times it makes them seem easier. I think they are a pretty good mix of hard and easier.

Definitely order the practise questions when you register to sit the UMAT. doing those will give you an idea of where your strengths and weaknesses are and help you learn what you need to focus on, and therefore, what you are looking for in a prep course.

For me - I did good in the UMAT. Not outstandingly, but good enough for interviews at all the unis I applied. Doing the prac books made me realise sect 3 was a real weakness, so I focused on that a lot. And it ended up that sect 1 was my weakest section on the real UMAT.

 

[Me-Shell]

yeah 100th percentile on section one and three is fantastic. I think section two is a lot more difficult to study for generally. But sect one and two I think can be greatly improved by good prep. However - everybody - please don't think I'm saying Med entry is better than other prep courses - it just so happens that I've only done MedE, I haven;t done any other courses so cannot comment about their validity.

 

[xxJTxx]

Okies. Thanks for the posts guys!



So, I have browsed the MedEntry site (weirdly enough..I had searched for UMAT prep courses in google and thought all of them were shams lol) but this one seems pretty amazing. I am hoping that somehow I can:
1) get two other people who are interested to get the discount
2) see if my careers advisers knows ANYTHING about the whole discount thing with the code given to the school
3) health care card? what discount? I didnt see anything bout that on the webbie???? that could be very interesting.

My parents seem to be fine with the cost..my sister went to a chemistry edassit intensive course last year for 500 bucks or so, so they say its ok for me to go to this if i need too.

I have a feeling I need a lot of practice, but i think i can do it. is it just me, or are some naturally better than others for this exam? im a study like an animal to go well person..and that works for me..i think familiarising myself with the exam style will definitely help and medentry seems to be the way to go to achieve that.

"On that note of recommending Medentry, I think just stealing some of the questions off your friends is a more economical idea. If you have friends willing to let you leech, of course." ---> i wish i knew someone who could let me leech!!!

umm, yeah..i think thats all my responses to everyone's posts thus far. oh and yes, my idea is to take everything ONE STEP at a time. focused on uai all year of course, but umat exam first, then interviews are when? after uais?

Also...it seems to me like most uni's still haven't updated their webbies for relavent graduating in 2007 dates...so yeah that is annoying.

Erm, I have a pretty general question...if I was never really good at Maths competitions or English competitions (you know the Westpac run ones and the English ones...dunno who runs those, but surely you all know what I am talking about) that doesn't set me up to be a total failure at UMAT? Not that I ever tried at any of those competitions, cause i always knew they didn't mean all that much ???

 

[simbim21]

um, no, I don't think those competitions are similar to the umat...it's on a league of its own! If you're doing medentry (excellent!), then practice at each section will definitely improve your skills. And yes, I'd say that some people have a natural talent for certain sections, but medentry allows you to recognise your weaknesses and gives you the opportunity to improve. So don't feel bad when you like fail the first practice, there's plenty of room for improvement!

The sections go like this:
Section one- They give you a chunk of information (factual, graphs etc) and you have to draw conclusions from it.

Section two- tests your empathy. Mainly doctor-patient scenarios and appropraite doctor responses. Some of them have extracts from an ill person's diary and you are asked to recognise their emotion...i hated this section because to me it's truly subjective.

Section three- shapes and patterns. All that mechanical reasoning stuff.

Well good luck with it all! The UMAT is a great challenge, so just hang in there and do your best!

 

[Me-Shell]

Yeah simbim. I agree with Aussie - although I usually agree with her on most things, so that's nothing staggering lol.

But seriously - don't panic. I found the UMAT stuff hard when i first started. It is supposed to be hard. Few people find the practise stuff a piece of piss. I ended up doing ok. The prep allowed me to figure out what I was good at and what I wasn't and helped to build my skills and do it in the time limit. Time limit VERY important.

I was never a brain at school and I never won those school competitions. So don't worry - just do some prep and give it your best shot. IF you can afford it, take more than one prep course. PErsonally, I only took one, but I would have taken two if I could have afforded it. One option, is to just do the distance med entry which is about 300, and take another course as well. If you can learn well out of books/off websites then i think you could just about skip the two day thingy and just do the online med e stuff. As most of what they 'say' is on the website.

If you do decide to go to the 2 day thing, i recommend you choose one fairly close to the UMAT date, and do it after you have completed most of the online practise papers. Then, when you do the full length practise test, you're getting a better indicator of how you're going than if you sit it first, and then do the prep. That's only my opinon, it depends on you and your personality. I think I would have freaked if i'd done a full length UMAT first in test conditions at the two day thing before i did the practise stuff online, because I don't hink I'd have done very well on the test, and therefore shattered my confidence.

I concentrated on accuracy and building confidence for the first half of the online stuff, and on time and accuracy in the second half.

 

[xxJTxx]

K good about the competitions having any kind of correlation. Thanks for the advice.

I will not freak out after the practice...afterall, im paying for the course to learn, not to freak out and end up not learning anything. And I don't plan on freaking out at all, I have LOADS of time to practice, and I am pretending I do "One Unit UMAT" and i'm slotting in fake "assessment due dates" and stuff to force me to practice and meet goals

Thankyou for the info on the sections I don't think I will do more than one course (I don't want to spend that much money... esp. if I don't go well...my parents will be like wtf john what were u thinking?) so I think one course just to be safe lol. but if I was to do another course besides medentry, what is your suggestion? you only did the one..so you probably don't know first hand about others? maybe you've heard from other people ?

Just a question about medentry... the whole drills for section one, two and three thing available in the "Platinum" package, they are what I will be fully utilising practicing countless times online? as well as the 10 full practice papers, correct? It says in the FAQ's:

------------------

Will I be able to print the materials and practice exams?

No, you will not be able to print the materials and practice exams on the LMS for copyright reasons. MedEntry has been the victim of a substantial copyright breach (see item under News), and hence we have been compelled to make our materials unprintable.

If you attend the workshop, you will be provided with some printed materials and will be able to sit a practice exam in printed form that simulates UMAT test conditions.

[Back to Top]

Can I do the practice exams more than once?

No, you can only attempt each practice exam once, to prevent unauthorised use of materials. However, you can review all questions, answers and worked solutions as many times as you wish in your feedback.

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So what exactly will I be able to do online?

Thanks again everyone who is posting and those coming back to answer my questions you've all be so much help! i really really do appreciate it

 

[xxJTxx]

There are definitely ways to avoid this.

There are drills which you can do over and over again though.

Definitely ways to avoid what? Please elaborate

And w00t! I went to my Careers Adviser today and got him to email medentry to get a teacher nominated discount code thing 25% off the platinum package for ME

 

[aussiechica7]

yay!

illegal ways 2 avoid not printing it lol

there r drills as well as practice papers and the drills u can do over and over again. u just can't legally do the practice papers more than once.

i've heard amepp is good- new course started up in sydney by unsw med students i think? (or am i thinking of something else lol)

hey so what med schools r u applying for? what r ur preferences?

 

[Hemiazygos]

I come across this particular UMAT question, and I can't seem to understand why the answer is what it is, here is the question:

Consider the following approach for revealing a diagnosis:

Dr: So, to get to the point, the test results show that you have cancer.

Patient: What? Oh God, oh no, please, God no!

Dr: But don't worry, we have some extremely effective chemotherapy for your cancer.

Patient: Oh no, this can't be happening. Oh God, please no!
In his method of approach, the doctor has:

A) saved time on the consultation.

B) been honest with the patient regarding the diagnosis.

C) reassured the patient that he will receive the best possible care for his
illness.

D) ineffectively conveyed the patient's diagnosis and has failed to respond to his emotions.

 

[aussiechica7]

D

what did you put and why?

 

[Hemiazygos]

It's (D), but I thought (C)...

Here's why the answer is (D):

The correct answer is (D) . The reassurance the doctor provided shows that he has ignored the patient's shock and fear. He has not taken time in giving the bad news and has not elicited the patient's deepest sense of loss and grief.

I figured that the doctor did not at all ignore the patients shock and fear... the doctor stated within (D) "But don't worry, we have..." he did indeed recognise the patients emotional state and attempted to assure the patient there's treatment that has a possibilty of him/her recovering. But, I'm a little stupid therefore I missed something.

 

[aussiechica7]

The good thing is you're thinking EXCELLENTLY for section 1.... but this is section 2. Here its not about WHAT is said but HOW its said. Think of the tone of the piece.

The patient is freaked out, but right from the start we can see the doctor being emotionally detached. "So to get to the point..." Who on earth tells someone they have cancer like that! Imagine if it was you or a family member, and someone said to you something like "so, yeah to get on with it..."

The patient says "What? Oh God, oh no, please, God no!"... repetition of exclamatory remarks- the patient is FREAKED OUT. He hasn't even asked about treatment yet, he's still processing the fact that he has CANCER. "But don't worry..." just sounds so flippant, and he's not responding to the emotion the patient is conveying. Perhaps later, when the patient has had time to process what's going on and wants to ask some questions, the doctor could talk about treatment options, but right now the dr's not taking the time to respond to the EMOTION of what the patient is saying.

Just curious, what's your UMAT prep course?

BTW, don't lose heart... you're preparing this early in the year compared to about 12, 000 people who mostly are not. keep at it and you'll own this thing by july

 

[xxJTxx]

Wow That was a nice question, and I get the explaination given.

Um, no idea on preferences so far...I know nothing about medical schools, i just want to get into med first year and avoid GAMSAT. in all honesty, i'd love to get into the usyd medical program and bypass umat and gamsat all together, but i dont want to put all my energy into that, they don't even consider you without a 99.95+ UAI, hence, my doing of UMAT

 

[S1M0]

That question was heaps easy. Its just common sense.

Now i'm thinking of going into medicene. What UAI do i need again to have some chance of making it?

 

[SquidY06]

uws min 92
unsw min 95

but generally UAI's >99 with decent UMAT and interview scores will get you a place

thing is about that question..is that C says reassures... but the patient has not made any indication about treatment or care yet..the patient is still frantic about his emotion and still dealing with finding out.. the doctor has jumped ahead too quickly. therefore C is not it... yupyupS

 

[S1M0]

uws min 92
unsw min 95

but generally UAI's >99 with decent UMAT and interview scores will get you a place

thing is about that question..is that C says reassures... but the patient has not made any indication about treatment or care yet..the patient is still frantic about his emotion and still dealing with finding out.. the doctor has jumped ahead too quickly. therefore C is not it... yupyupS

I'm out.

 

[xxJTxx]

i definitely think that a 99 UAI is not impossible. maybe a 98 is more feasible, but whats to say you can't push that up into 99?
i hope i get 99...im just so tired already, and i have the rest of the year (or nearly the rest) of this routine of all out work all the friggen time.