Section 2 in Oblique: Reading People (Part 2)

Section 2 is a difficult section for a lot of people. While some people view it merely as reading comprehension, anyone who has actually attempted the questions quickly finds out that there is a lot more to it than that. Like any other section, there is a certain amount of basic UMAT® Exam preparation that you simply have to do: by that I mean drilling yourself on practice questions or expanding your vocabulary- all these things that UMAT® Exam preparation courses will offer you. There is, however one helpful method of preparation that isn't as commonly talked about: reading people.

As you should now all be aware, section 2 of the UCAT is designed to test your Emotional Intelligence as measured by your Emotional Quotient. Essentially, it’s a complicated way of saying that this section is designed to estimate your personality and its appropriateness for medicine. Your personality is gauged by how you respond to others experiencing real life situations. The best way to practice this is simply to try and read people and put yourselves in their shoes on a day to day basis. This might seem a little vague, so how do you actually go about it?


Step 1: Be open minded

Opportunities to interact with or observe other people are everywhere, they don't necessarily have to be your friends or family. Even going to the shops, you might see a mother struggling with a difficult toddler: how do you think she feels? As an adolescent, the assumption is that you might not have first hand experience of parenting a child, so you need to be able to think outside the bounds of your own experience.


Step 2: Be specific

Going back to the example of a difficult toddler's mother, it can be easy for you to assume that she might be angry. However, in the UMAT® Exam, your options for such a scenario will likely be “frustrated”, “angry”, “disappointed”, “despondent” or “helpless”. You will need to refine your understanding of the situation and dig a little deeper than just “angry”. Of course, any one of these or all of these feelings could be a reasonable answer but you will be expected to find the MOST correct answer. In other words, what is the dominant feeling this mother is experiencing. This is when really observing people becomes really important so you can be as specific as possible with the emotions you asses.


Step 3: Ask for help

There’s no shame in admitting that you have no clue what the MOST correct answer may be. This is when you should start asking people around you who are likely to understand the situation better than you what they think. For instance, in the case of the toddler, your parents would probably be able to advise you- unless of course you were a perfect angel at all times... Of course this is just one example, but it can be extended to many different scenarios!


Step 4: Practice

Well this goes without saying, but… practice!

In the UMAT® Exam, attempting alternative preparation techniques such as reading people could most definitely give you an edge. It certainly forces you to practice that frame of mind where you are thinking of other people’s emotions rather than your own.  At the end of the day, everyone who is prepared to pay for a UMAT® Exam preparation course will have access to the practice questions but you only you can control how much exposure you have to other people! So good luck and happy studying!