Ucat prep
Hey gang,
So my exam is sept 26th, I have roughly 12 weeks. I started my prep yesterday (I have a massive book full of 100s of practice questions for each section + mock papers). I have done an hour every morning so far and I plan to keep this going, but im worried maybe an hour a day isn't enough this early on? Or i should just increase it as i go?
Im planning on covering all sections and doing practice questions w/o fast pace and then practicing the fast pace once I feel more prepared on each section.
So my exam is sept 26th, I have roughly 12 weeks. I started my prep yesterday (I have a massive book full of 100s of practice questions for each section + mock papers). I have done an hour every morning so far and I plan to keep this going, but im worried maybe an hour a day isn't enough this early on? Or i should just increase it as i go?
Im planning on covering all sections and doing practice questions w/o fast pace and then practicing the fast pace once I feel more prepared on each section.
Reply 1
12
Hey! I watched my cousin take the ucat last year and looking at the questions, I freaked outt. I’m in the same place as you and her now.
I would say that 12 weeks is too early, especially with the UCAT having less content. Obviously that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t revise hard enough- it’s still a really difficult exam. It’s recommended to only revise 6-8 weeks and roughly 60-80 hours MAX. I don’t want you to risk burning out. Focus on school for the next few weeks until summer holidays, have a little break and then ease into revising consistently.
Also another thing- the exam is on a computer. The book may be helpful with having more questions and I think it actually explains them pretty well (if you have the ucat 1250/1300 book) but I realllyy recommend practicing online on a computer to know what it’ll be like for the real thing (you can check the official ucat website for this). Maybe look into purchasing a subscription for the one of the popular question bank websites?
I would recommend making a timetable so like the first two weeks you understand each section and do untimed questions to grasp what it’s like, in week 3-4 increase the frequency of qs so you’re doing 100-200 a day and then 5+ continue with questions but time them and be strict! In the last week before your exam, do some of the mocks- there’s some on the offices website too.
Good luck, I hope you get a really good score and get into whatever course and uni you’re thinking of applying to! (Pray for me too pls lol)
-Nem x
I would say that 12 weeks is too early, especially with the UCAT having less content. Obviously that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t revise hard enough- it’s still a really difficult exam. It’s recommended to only revise 6-8 weeks and roughly 60-80 hours MAX. I don’t want you to risk burning out. Focus on school for the next few weeks until summer holidays, have a little break and then ease into revising consistently.
Also another thing- the exam is on a computer. The book may be helpful with having more questions and I think it actually explains them pretty well (if you have the ucat 1250/1300 book) but I realllyy recommend practicing online on a computer to know what it’ll be like for the real thing (you can check the official ucat website for this). Maybe look into purchasing a subscription for the one of the popular question bank websites?
I would recommend making a timetable so like the first two weeks you understand each section and do untimed questions to grasp what it’s like, in week 3-4 increase the frequency of qs so you’re doing 100-200 a day and then 5+ continue with questions but time them and be strict! In the last week before your exam, do some of the mocks- there’s some on the offices website too.
Good luck, I hope you get a really good score and get into whatever course and uni you’re thinking of applying to! (Pray for me too pls lol)
-Nem x
Reply 2
Original post
by VacationbiblesklHey gang,
So my exam is sept 26th, I have roughly 12 weeks. I started my prep yesterday (I have a massive book full of 100s of practice questions for each section + mock papers). I have done an hour every morning so far and I plan to keep this going, but im worried maybe an hour a day isn't enough this early on? Or i should just increase it as i go?
Im planning on covering all sections and doing practice questions w/o fast pace and then practicing the fast pace once I feel more prepared on each section.
So my exam is sept 26th, I have roughly 12 weeks. I started my prep yesterday (I have a massive book full of 100s of practice questions for each section + mock papers). I have done an hour every morning so far and I plan to keep this going, but im worried maybe an hour a day isn't enough this early on? Or i should just increase it as i go?
Im planning on covering all sections and doing practice questions w/o fast pace and then practicing the fast pace once I feel more prepared on each section.
12 weeks is a loooong time! You are really at risk of burn out. I took the UCAT last year and made the mistake of burning myself out (I only did 8 weeks), so my scores decreased a lot in the real thing
Reply 3
14
Original post
by Justheartoread12 weeks is a loooong time! You are really at risk of burn out. I took the UCAT last year and made the mistake of burning myself out (I only did 8 weeks), so my scores decreased a lot in the real thing
Hey what was your gcse and a level grades overall ? What was your ucat score ?
Reply 4
Original post
by Justheartoread12 weeks is a loooong time! You are really at risk of burn out. I took the UCAT last year and made the mistake of burning myself out (I only did 8 weeks), so my scores decreased a lot in the real thing
Im doing an hour every morning, it mostly consists of reading how to do the questions. I don't manage to answer a load and Im not going ham with the revision, its just starting practice. I want to start earlier lightly so I can go more intense later and not be stressed. 8 weeks feels too short for me and it stresses me out
Reply 5
Original post
by ArialeHey what was your gcse and a level grades overall ? What was your ucat score ?
I’m actually a grad students who’s trying to get into grad entry dentistry! I got mostly 6s in my GCSEs (I didn’t get to do them bc of covid), 3 Bs in A level and I’m abt to graduate from biomed! I got 2430 b2 last year
Reply 6
Original post
by VacationbiblesklIm doing an hour every morning, it mostly consists of reading how to do the questions. I don't manage to answer a load and Im not going ham with the revision, its just starting practice. I want to start earlier lightly so I can go more intense later and not be stressed. 8 weeks feels too short for me and it stresses me out
If you decide to go straight into more intense revision and see your mock scores going down, do not do anymore mocks. Focus on doing untimed questions on your weak areas. DO NOT TOUCH THE MOCKS. It makes it even worse.
UCAT revision isn’t linear at all. It’s very much a bell shaped curve. Your scores will gradually go up until you hit your peak. Ofc you ideally want that peak to be on your real test. But once you hit that peak, it’s only down from there, hence why I don’t recommend starting very early.
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