why is ukcat so hard??

so i tried the ukcat demo founf here http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/home/preparation/practice-questions/

i usually ace iq tests average 140

but this takes the mick. :eek:

i am supposed to be smarter than the other students in college :redface:

how did u find the demo?

you reckon its cause i never did practice questions or used guide books?

Reply 1

romario

OP

also can i use paper pen and calculator in the test room? otherwise i am dead :smile:

Reply 2

ThePenguinMafia

1

Why do you think it's hard? They're trying to differentiate between various levels of excellence.

Reply 3

work_til_failure

2

romario

also can i use paper pen and calculator in the test room? otherwise i am dead :smile:

They give you a mini white-board thingy and pen to work out stuff, plus a non-scientific calculator.

Reply 4

romario

OP

thanks sohail_delboy

ThePenguinMafia

Why do you think it's hard? They're trying to differentiate between various levels of excellence.

i guess ur right. may people may be smart in some areas but couldnt do the ukcat. well i will give it a go and if i do badly then no worries

Reply 5

colin_88

you say u are suppose to be the smartest in your college?? is this based on grades?? the ukcat is about logic and how you think under stress - important skills in the field of medicine. never assume that because you are smarter than others in your college you'll be a good doctor.

intelligence is very subjective and hence difficult to measure - the ukcat is not used by med schools as a measure of intelligence or excellence, but it is more interested in the way people think hence why so many questions are obscure. It is also why it is almost impossible to revise/prepare for.

don't worry - the ukcat is so new that most medical schools are not using the marks in the application procedure, they are collecting them to look for patterns in ukcat marks and successful students. so if your applying this year then your ukcat score will not be given a great deal of weight by the tutors and selectors. hope that makes your feel a bit better.

Reply 6

Danby

In the normal run of things each year around 18,000 people apply for around 6,000 places at UK med schools.
I guess more precisely there is a place for around 40 % of applicants.
Do you suppose there were less than 18,000 people opening straight A A' level results htis week?
The exam is very hard because the organisers are determined that even within the 18,000 with the balls to apply for medicine SOME will score 300 - times 4, 1,200 -
As an indication of how well you need to do in the UKCAT it's logical that you need to get a score over 2,000 beause you have to be in the best 6,000 of applicants.
Me, personally I'm not a well person. I am getting better but I will share my scores with you.
660, 660, 540, 420. Now that tells them something else. It tells them that my peak performance is outstanding but my mental stamina isn't up to scratch. I become 'normal' after around an hour of intense intellectual effort.
It tells them quite a lot this UKCAT.
Not every doctor spends their career in casualty making life and death decisions from start to end of each shift.
However, me, I'm getting better, last year I scorred 530, 560 560, 470 trully average. Now NEXT year I may get straight 660s
As it happens my work with Sue Ryder Care has me working with a patient who has only got half a brain - a mass was removed after a stroke type incident.It is interesting how he is improving under my supervision and i would say if you have never done anything but study and your UKCAT score is not great try doing things more like the work of doctors and see what effect it has on your brain/UKCAT score.

Reply 7

romario

OP

thanks for the advice. yeah intelligence is subjective and hard to measure. some of the brightest folk wouldnt do well in school. i guess i just need to practice and try and become faster. i guess i come across smart in class but i too slow for ukcat right now.

danby how did u do these practice tests?

Reply 8

ThePenguinMafia

1

romario

i guess ur right. may people may be smart in some areas but couldnt do the ukcat. well i will give it a go and if i do badly then no worries

I don't think you understand what I'm saying here. It's not that you're not smart or that you're weak in certain areas (well, it maybe, but it doesnt have to be), but that these tests are designed to challenge even the brightest students.

I found the BMAT almost impossible, yet I still got given an interview at ucl (and then offer) on the basis of it. Don't worry about it, just do as well as you can do then hope for the best.

Reply 9

shatteredmedic

Yea the BMAT is harder.

Reply 10

sheena18

6

yeah darnby - how are you managing to practise these full length tests?

Reply 11

Miss_Scarlett

15

They give you a white board and pen to work things out and a calculator?

I didnt realise that...I am so so so glad that is the case :biggrin:

I am good at working things out as long as I can jot some things down. If I cant then I am awful.... :frown:

Reply 12

graemematt

12

To answer your original question...they make it hard (although you guys would pass out even considering the prospect of attempting the GAMSAT) because if it were easy, everyone would get the same mark.

why is ukcat so hard??

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