Medical schools love to attract TWO groups of students: they pull out the red carpet for (a) Rural students and (b) Very high ATAR students. Why? The real reason (not the one stated on their websites) is that the universities benefit directly and indirectly. If they recruit rural students, universities get significantly more funding from the government than they would if they recruit city students. If they recruit very high ATAR students, they benefit in many ways. First, their university ranking will go up: and universities will do anything to improve their ranking. There is tremendous competition between universities to attract...

So you’ve completed a practice exam and have no idea how to interpret the wealth of information and statistics you’ve been presented with. This blog has some tips to help you gain a better grasp of your UMAT preparation progress.   1. Look at percentile not percentage . The UMAT is a test designed to compare students against each other, thereby giving the universities a clearer indication of the stronger candidates. This is much like the ATAR. As such, they do not care about what score you received, but rather, where you were ranked. The UMAT is hard – so do...

With the UMAT around the corner, as well as school assignments and exams, it can be quite a stressful time for students. Many students will spend the majority of the day practising UMAT- style questions and completing practise exams, as well as devoting a large amount of time to UMAT preparation. However, this does not mean your hobbies and interests should be forgotten about. After a long day of lessons, it can be quite daunting to sit at a desk and prepare for the night. Sometimes, motivation to ascertain a place in university to study Medicine can flicker as the late...

HOW ARE UMAT RESULTS CALCULATED? Unfortunately ACER does not release the marking scheme that is used determine UMAT scores. There is some speculation as to the following: answering a question correctly that is not answered correctly by the majority of UMAT candidates will be weighted more heavily. And conversely, answering a question incorrectly that most UMAT candidates do answer correctly, will be weighted more heavily against a candidate’s UMAT score. However, because ACER does not release the marking scheme or question weightings for the UMAT it is impossible to be absolutely certain of this. What is certain though, is the more...

We have recently made some changes to the highlighter feature in our drills and exams, to make it slightly more useful! Firstly, you will now need to click on the highlighter to be able to highlight text:  Afterwards, you will then notice the new highlighter cursor appears, meaning you are in “highlighting mode”: Now, simply click on the question and drag your mouse, release the mouse, and the text will be highlighted! You can exit the highlighter by pressing the escape key, or by re-clicking the highlighter icon. The eraser can be used in the same way – simply click on...

This post is to let you know that 2018 UMAT registrations are now open. If you haven't already done so, you can register for the UMAT   online at ACER’s website:  https://umat.acer.edu.au/ The registration fee is $260, or if you are eligible for concession rates $160. Remember that enrolment with MedEntry  does not  constitute registration for the UMAT itself. It's one thing you can tick off your list and then you won't have to worry about it again. For More information on registration read the information on: ACER's website ( https://umat.acer.edu.au/register ) ACER's UMAT 2018 Information book ( https://umat.acer.edu.au/files/UMAT_info_book_18.pdf ) MedEntry's UMAT FAQs (...

Year 12 is a busy year – we all know that. However, it can get a whole lot busier if you’re studying for the UMAT as well. It can be like taking an extra subject – one that has no teacher, and there are no deadlines (aside from the exam). In addition, it is an exam for which you cannot cram (sorry to burst your bubble). So how do you manage the meticulous balancing act between not letting your school grades drop, whilst also keeping yourselves in good stead for the UMAT? Planning. Yes, you’ve probably heard it all before, but...

By finding this blog post, you have already realised that, despite what many people tell you, studying for the UMAT is possible. I was also sceptical prior to using MedEntry’s UMAT tuition course. However, my final score in the 100th percentile, more than 30 percentiles higher than my first trial paper, would not have been possible without it. The MedEntry resources will give you everything you need to succeed for the UMAT, and I will explain how to use them to your advantage. In terms of the online LMS, I started by reading the guides, and doing related drills intermittently; this...

The UMAT is so commonly viewed as a test of intelligence and aptitude, that we forget how crucial it is to improve our mental endurance for this exam. In fact, the endurance required for the UMAT is much greater than that required for any end of year school exam. Not only is the UMAT as long as or longer than any school exam (3 hours), but the nature of each individual question requires much greater focus. This need for enhanced application to each question is due to our inability to draw upon a year’s worth of content and knowledge, as is...

After completing a practice exam on the MedEntry Learning Management System (LMS), you will now be able to view/print a detailed report on your exam performance in comparison to other MedEntry students. The report can be accessed by clicking the "View Report Card" link on the exam attempt solutions page, or under "View Solutions" on the exam summary page: Some of the details in this report include: Your overall exam grade and percentile ranking, in comparison to other MedEntry students Your grade and percentile ranking for each of the exam constructs (Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving, Understanding People, and Non-verbal Reasoning). Details on your...

No, in fact, it is far lower. People assume that because the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne have a certain limited number of places for their “guaranteed entry” scheme (for which the minimum ATAR required is 99.90 or 99.95) the median ATAR of medical students at such universities must be very high. This is a myth and is completely untrue. The University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne have about 300+ places each in their graduate entry programs and only about 10% of places are from the guaranteed entry stream. The rest of the places are generally...

As a customer, it is difficult to choose from various UMAT course providers, especially when outlandish claims are made through slick and deceptive marketing strategies. As in most cases,  'Word-of-mouth'  recommendation is the best. Please ask around for the impressions of students who have attended a UMAT course. Quality of products Your performance in the  UMAT  will only improve if you practice on questions which simulate the real  UMAT . Practicing on questions which are unrelated to those in the  UMAT  or questions that have a different structure to those in the  UMAT  may adversely affect your performance. It is like...

  In life, we are told that ‘practice makes perfect’. The more you practice a particular skill, whether it be playing the piano, swimming or writing essays, the better you become at it. So, in theory, it should be the same in UMAT – the more practice questions you do, the better you are at UMAT – right? Not necessarily. Just like any skill, to do well in UMAT you first need a basic understanding of what it is, what it tests and how to approach the various types of questions. Without this understanding, you may still be able to improve...

  In addition to viewing your exam results by section (Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving, Understanding People or Non-verbal Reasoning), you can now view more detailed results by specific question types. There are 2 ways to view your feedback: 1. Go to the Check Progress page to see a summary containing all of your drill/exam question attempts:   2. On each exam page, you will now see a more detailed explanation of your responses to each question type:   We have also revamped our exam page, to include: A fresh, more interactive design  Up to 4 retries of incorrectly answered exam...

Be under no illusions: the UMAT is the single hardest and most important test you will ever sit. This is a scary (and for some maybe terrifying) thought. So what can you do to make it less daunting? The answer may seem counter-intuitive: the best way to make UMAT seem do-able is to face it over, and over, and over again. How? By completing high quality, full length trial exams under timed conditions. UMAT is scary because it is so different to any other test you have done in school – it is much harder, much longer and much more time-pressured,...

Some students who are preparing for UMAT wonder if they should get a private tutor for UMAT or attend weekly UMAT classes. Often this is because that is what they are used to doing in high school. But UMAT is very different to school and therefore requires a different approach. Here we suggest a much more effective (and much cheaper) way of preparing for UMAT: group study. The benefits of group study are well known: it is more social, more enjoyable and more effective, particularly for tests such as UMAT.  Extensive pegagogical research has shown that group study is far more...

A common question that aspiring medical students ask is whether they should combine their medical degree with another degree, such as arts or music. It is important to think carefully about this. You will be spending additional 3–4 years of your life and as well as a lot of money if you pursue a double degree. Will a degree such as English, history, philosophy, music or literature actually benefit you? Some argue that these degrees are worthwhile, may point to all the things you can learn, and perhaps even point out a few successful people that achieved a lot with such...

You may have heard that stress negatively impacts on performance. You may have been told that if you are too stressed in the lead up to an important exam such as UMAT, you won’t do well. You may have been advised to look for ways to relieve your stress. While this may be true, in some cases trying to get rid of stress can actually cause you to become more stressed. A different approach, which might sound crazy at first, is to embrace your stress. The following three strategies will not only help you manage stress, but will also boost your...

At MedEntry, we are committed to continuous improvement and constantly strive to improve the services we offer our hard working students. Our Learning Management System is all about  you and this feature is another way we personalise your UMAT training.   Retry your incorrect exam questions   Once you have completed a practice exam on the LMS, you can now re-attempt any questions that you answered incorrectly!   To retry an exam:   1. Click on the Exams icon in the UMAT course (accessible by clicking the UMAT link in the menu on the top of each page):   2. When an...

We have recently added a series of new features to the LMS! Some of these are outlined below.

 

Favourite Questions/Guides

You can now bookmark any practice question on the LMS (in exams, drills or the Eureka! Question Bank) for quick access in the future!