The Big UKCAT 2009 Discussion Thread - PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING
Discussion about medicine applications and medicine.
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Re: quantitative reasoning in '600 UKCAT question' bookWell there are several things to bear in mind:
1 - At the UKCAT you will not have time to finish every section. It is better to do 80% of it well than rush and get it all wriong.
2 - Judging by post on this forum and others, it is possible to get a good score by completing only half of the quantitative section. The UKCAT is marked in a mysterious way.
3 - If you look at the practice questions on the UKCAT website and if you have taken it before, you will see that some questions are difficult, not so much because the exercises are hard to answer but because there is a lot to take in before you even get to the questions. So the trick is not to spend too much time reading everything but to get an idea of the type of info made available to you and then to go straight to the questions. Otherwise you will spend your time reading the text and not answering any questions.
I have the 600 practice questions book myself and having scored highly at the UKCAT last year (780) but unfortunately failed at the interview stage, i can say honestly that it probably the book on the market that comes closest to the real thing. And in any case, it is best to prepare with challenging questions rather than easy one which create a sense of false confidence. -
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Re: quantitative reasoning in '600 UKCAT question' bookI've ordered this book too.
One question i have is how long do you think you need for preparation before you sit the exam. I was thinking of sitting it late August, so would this be a reasonable amount of time to practice questions in a few books, and use the mock test on the site? I gather you can't do much 'revision' just practice, so what are your opinions? -
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Re: quantitative reasoning in '600 UKCAT question' book2 weeks should be enough to get the hang of it. After that it will do your head in. Best thing to do is to practise first without worrying about the time to make sure you are thinking in the right way and then to practise in real time when you feel more comfortable.
On the daym, the adrenaline will keep you going.Doing it real time in your kitchen is always going to be harder than at the exam, me thinks. -
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Re: quantitative reasoning in '600 UKCAT question' bookI am thinking about getting this book now, last year I used the "Pasing the UKCAT and BMAT 2008 edition" it was **** in all fairness, i thought the test was going to be so much easier than what it was because I had heard the website practice questions were harder than the actual test I just assumed the standard would be what this book entailed.
How wrong was I though, as I managed to get a score of 600
. This time I would be delighted to get 650 and above and I would like to know how good the "600 questions" book is relative to the real thing for people who have done both obviously.
Thanks
Last edited by speedystef; 02-07-2009 at 19:09. -
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Re: quantitative reasoning in '600 UKCAT question' bookThe Marking of the UKCAT is revealed in that book, and its generally hard in the real thing too.
As an example i completed 22/40 of the questions last year (and i did not answer the rest of the questions in time) and scored 520 in that section.
Which according to the book equates to 100% in the questions i answered, if i had guessed the remaining answers my score would have been substantially higher. -
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Re: quantitative reasoning in '600 UKCAT question' bookWell there are two sections in the book:(Original post by speedystef)
I would like to know how good the "600 questions" book is relative to the real thing for people who have done both obviously.
Thanks
1 - The practice questions, where the questions tend to be slightly harder than the exam on average because it is for practice purposes so there is more emphasis on the challenging questions (there is no need practising at length the really easy stuff)
2 - the mock exam, which is realistic so you can test your progress.
Overall it is a bloody good book. Certainly the most comprehensive on the market. -
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Re: Am i wasting my time applying?Deff Apply!
UCL if your considering London they are the only reasonable one (if you get 5,5,9 in BMAT) and Barts if you get 640+ in the UKCAT.
P.S if you need any help from choosing unis to PS, UKCAT/BMAT advice, no **** i pretty much know everything -
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Re: Am i wasting my time applying?When i see people like OP, it really makes me worry. I have much Lower gcse's, but i feel optimistic to go for med if i do well in UKcats and i'm predicted AAA. No doubt i feel i could still get 3 rejections (yeh 3 because i'm only applying to 3 med schools) and end up with Biomedical science at Qm or somethng.
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Re: The Big UKCAT 2009 Discussion Thread - PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTINGI didn't sit the UKCAT as I applied to medical school before it was introduced.(Original post by partysunil)
what did u get?
what were the questions people can remember after this years testing
Applicants aren't meant to discuss the questions that come up - some kind of confidentiality agreement as I understand it.
I imagine there will be a large bank of questions for each section with random ones chosen for each applicant so everyone will have a slightly different selection of questions - I could be completely wrong on that but it's how the driving theory tests work which are carried out at the same centres. I doubt very much that they would change the difficulty of the questions as they are trying to use the test to discriminate between applicants and having some sitting an easier version would make this a lot more difficult.(Original post by Reicey_x)
So, does the test change for every single date? Do they ever make it harder if they find that candidates are getting high scores?
. This time I would be delighted to get 650 and above and I would like to know how good the "600 questions" book is relative to the real thing for people who have done both obviously. 
, this year.
