What you should be doing on the day before the UMAT

You may have heard this tip floating around, or you may not have, but often people recommend that the day before the UCAT Exam, you should absolutely nothing. Well, not exactly nothing, but nothing related to the UMAT® Exam itself. Is this really the best way to prepare for the UMAT® Exam? One of the main determinants of your medical entry success? For the test that you’ve spent $250 on the entry fee alone, countless hours over the past year preparing and even more money on prep courses? In this article, I’m going to convince you that YES, most people will find that spending the last day relaxing and not cramming in last minute UMAT® Exam study will be the most beneficial way to spend your time. The reasons will be outlined below:

1.There is nothing you can do last minute, on the last day before the UMAT® Exam that you couldn’t have done earlier. 

Things such as handling your transport to the venue, packing your gear such as pencils, erasers, water, etc. could have and should have been handled well before the night before the UMAT® Exam. Why should they be handled earlier? Any number of things can go wrong and get in the way of your planned mode of transport. Were you perhaps going to be driven to the venue? What if the car gets a flat tire? Or if your driver become unavailable for whatever reason? Having settled this earlier give you time to react, and this prevents you from stressing out just before the UMAT® Exam. You’ll have ample time to find some alternative, like public transport. 
 

2.The UMAT® Exam is not an exam you can cram for. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you can’t study for the UMAT® Exam, because that would be completely false. The UMAT® Exam is not a test of knowledge. It’s a test of the way you handle and interpret information. When you’re studying for the UMAT® Exam, in a way, you’re improving your ability to quickly interpret information and find the best available solution. This is somewhat similar in nature to preparing for a race, in the way that further training the day before is going to be of limited help. You may also know of some people who go into the UMAT® Exam and obtain good results without having actually studied for it at all. Why? It’s not that they’re more knowledgeable, and it’s also because of the same reason why cramming is ineffective: the UMAT® Exam is not a test of knowledge. Some people have more exposure to the sort of information processing problems that the UMAT® Exam tests for, and they are more practiced with handling these problems, and therefore they perform better. 
 

3. Being less anxious about an exam will improve performance.

This in fact is scientifically backed! If anyone has any complaints over you taking the day to just relax and destress, you can refer them to studies such as this. Anxiety appears to interfere with performance during the exam itself, or possibly also in the preparation stage. It’s difficult to avoid being anxious about such an important test, but you can help yourself by starting your preparation early. While not all the stressors in your life can be controlled, you’ll find that many can be if you are proactive.

In summary: you should prepare for the UMAT® Exam well in advance of the actual test day, and cramming will do you no good. The sooner you prepare, the more confident you will be and the less anxious you will be during the exam. How can you prepare? Find out as much as you can about the UMAT® Exam so you know what you’ll be tackling. How is the UMAT® Exam structured? How long is the test? The more you know, the more relaxed you will find yourself before you start the test. Familiarise yourself with the content, but most importantly the testing style ahead of time, not the night before!Online UMAT® Exam preparation courses are one of the best and most convenient ways to achieve this.