UMAT 2018 – What you MUST know

We suddenly again find ourselves at the start of a new year, and whilst most people are enjoying their summer holidays abroad, you’re obviously here reading this blog and working out how you are going to absolutely smash the UCAT this year and get into medicine next year. So to save you time scrolling through the Internet for hours on end, everything you MUST know about the UMAT is right here.

 

The Must KNOW details

So these are the dates that you are going to save in your calendar and the details about the exam itself that you are going to think about before you register and sit the UMAT. The UMAT 2018 is being held on the 25th July. Registrations opened early December 2017 and close on the 1st June 2018. So when you think about it, with registrations opening in just over a month, now is the most important time to start getting yourself together!

 

The UMAT is an aptitude test used to assess your ability to use logic and reasoning to react to different scenarios and settings. What that means for YOU is that it is testing your non-academic skills. So when you put this together with your ATAR and interview, you can see what the medical schools are getting at. They want to see that you are the full package.

1. They want to know you’ve got the academic skills and drive to do well (ATAR)

2. But they also want to see that you can use logic and reasonable, rational thought to work through tough scenarios (UMAT)

3. And finally, they want to know that you’re a good person (Interview)

All of these tests and roadblocks are used to make sure that you have the skills that they see desirable in a doctor.

 

So on the 25th of July 2018, what you will be expecting to sit is a 3-hour exam with 134 questions from 3 sections.

Section 1: Reasoning in Humanities & Social Sciences - You are given a text or piece of information and asked to interpret it

Section 2: Understanding People – Questions based on dialogue, human interaction and emotional scenarios where you will are expected to identify and understand emotions and behavior represented in different scenarios

Section 3: Non-verbal Reasoning – Picture questions based on patterns and puzzles used to assess your ability to think abstractly.

 

You can read a more in-depth article that I wrote about the different sections here.

 

The Must DO details

 

1. Start Preparing Now
   It's all too cliché, I know, but the only reason EVERYONE is saying it is because it's true. Start as early as you can. With summer holidays coming up, I couldn’t think of a better time to get the ball rolling. Consider getting involved in a UMAT preparation course, and form a good study group. Not only will your study group make for effective study but also they know what you’re going through. Sometimes it's hard to explain to people why you’re working so hard, so it's good when you’ve got a good group of people who you can relate to and you know you're not struggling alone. You can read about how one of our GAMSAT Tutors prepared for the UMAT here.

 

2. Organize your study and time management early and stick to it
   Create a study plan by at least late January. As soon as school starts up again (If that counts for you), you’ll find it hard to get motivated as soon as work starts piling up. If you have already planned out your time, you can just fit everything else around your schedule. This will also make sure you don’t get to one month out and realize you haven’t the slightest idea of what the UMAT even is.

 

3. Practice each section
   We're all guilty of practicing the things that were good at a lot more than the things that we aren’t good at. Because if you’re good at it, it's fun! But in the UMAT, this can be the difference between a score that can make you eligible for applications, or not. Generally speaking at most universities, they require that you have scored at least 50 in each section, meaning that even if you’re in the 99th percentile, with a score of 49 in any section, you are immediately ineligible for the application. So it's just not worth it. Whilst there are plenty of preparation courses available and you should consider enrolling in one for the upcoming UMAT, the study doesn’t have to be a chore. Here are a few study techniques that if you practice often enough will get you on the right track to success:

Section	How to prepare
S1 – Logical reasoning	Start reading papers and analyzing graphs and tables in the business section. Practice doing sums with big numbers in your head rather than using a calculator
S2 – Understanding people	Make a vocabulary list of emotive words and their synonyms (i.e. to be happy is to be jovial, jocular, cheerful etc.) Analyze people's emotions in movies, everyday life, and particularly books Practice speed-reading! (Lots of reading with little time can make for a very big headache if you’re not prepared)
S3 – Non-verbal reasoning	PRACTICE with similar questions

 

 

4. Sit a practice UMAT before the actual UMAT
   With 134 questions and 180 minutes, you’ve got about 1.3 minutes per question. Further, most of us have not had to sit a full 3-hour exam with no break at this point. Make sure you take the time to utilize this practicing experience – whether you get your study group together and get your mum to time you do a full paper or you book in to sit a coordinated practice paper as part of a course, it's up to you. But it's been shown to help, so just do it!

 

Hopefully, you can get something out of this that will help you on your UMAT journey. Although this is a lot and it might sound a bit overwhelming, it is important that you know your limits. There is a stress curve that I am a big believer in, and it’s easy when you’re in the middle of your HSC/VCE and you are trying to study for UMAT that you can drift into ‘the red zone’ – past the area where stress is used as a motivator, to the area where stress controls your life. This is a journey; so make sure that you have people supporting you throughout it.  Make sure you keep up all the things you love and don’t stop them because you ‘don’t have enough time’. In order to stay sane, you have to make time for YOU.  Perhaps set aside a weekend day each week leading up to the UMAT and ONLY focus on the UMAT on that day, then for 6 days a week you can completely focus on your HSC/VCE/ATAR and outside life.