10 Top Tips to Ace your Exams
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1. Stay on top of your content throughout the year
DO NOT let things slide if you don't understand them. Make sure you understand them before going into new content. Do your best to understand concepts to a fundamental level and stay on top of things. You don't necessarily have to memorise everything as long as you understand it.
2. Understand what exams you will be taking at the end of the year
Knowing what exams you're doing at the start of the year sets you up and gives you a direction for the goals you want to achieve. Note down what papers you have. How long is each paper? What will each paper involve? And what will you have to know for each paper? The earlier you know what exams you will be taking, the earlier you can prepare for them.
3. Textbooks are your best friends
Before class, read the textbook until you understand the knowledge at a basic level. This is almost a new consolidation of that knowledge, even if you don't write notes after every class. You'd probably have about 6 tests a year, so you could write a nice set of condensed notes about all the content as a review. Before each test look over these notes, recognize what you've forgotten and then convert these to flashcards, and memorise the flashcards. Memorising concepts is about repetition so the more times you go over it the more neuro connections form - it's that simple really!
4. Set learning objectives
At the end of the year when you’re studying for your exams, each subject will generally have a list of learning objectives (syllabus). Make sure you go through them and check that you understand each point. Understanding each of those learning objectives is very key so that if you know all the learning objectives at least to a primal level, you should be able to answer every question in the exam to some certain point.
5. Treat the mock exams like the real thing
It's a great way to practise, go over content from the start of the year and do past papers. You can study for it as if you're at your A-level exams, and that should set you up. Although you will be learning new content at this stage and might not have a lot of free time, you can take it as seriously as you can. Definitely DON’T do every past paper for the mock exams at once because that means you won't have any left for the end-of-year exams. When you receive your checked exam papers, critically analyse your mistakes and what you don’t know as this could highlight weaknesses you didn’t realize you had.
6. Do the past year's papers
The way to prepare for your exam is just to do past year papers (at least the last five years) since questions often repeat themselves. Past year papers are the best resource out there as they give you an idea of what they can assess you on and how they ask questions. Practicing these papers will make you feel more comfortable when you're doing the exams because you know what to expect.
7. Learn the mark scheme
This goes against what education is all about but in the end, you don't hate the player, you hate the game. Acknowledge what key points the examiners want, and what commonalities each of them has between years and then apply that to exams. For some subjects, similar questions will have the same number of points. If you can memorise these points, every single time you get a similar question, you'll be able to get those full marks.
8. Make a list of exam tips for each subject
For example, in Math: write answers to 3 significant figures, so instead of having a piece of paper packed with content you don't know, you could have another piece of paper with exam tips you should know. Fundamental idea is that you do past year papers, and these exam tips are derived from those past papers. It's not content-based, yet it allows you to become a better exam taker.
9. Always aim for a 100%
Make sure you know everything in the textbook, and you do as many past papers as possible, so you know what each question could be. You should always aim for 100% even if you don’t think you will get 100%. If you aim for the moon and miss, you will still land among the stars. Go for the 100%, if you don't reach as most people don't, you will hopefully at least be in the 90%
10. Take time to plan out your studies
Two months would be ideal to ensure you've gone through all the content and you've done the past papers. For each subject, make a list to go through each unit, then note how many years of past papers you want to do. You might spend a whole day planning for each subject, so you have everything you want to do, every content piece you want to do, and every past year you want to do. And then start with your exam date and work back from that date. If you plug it in backwards correctly, that will allow you to have a starting date of when you need to start. This is so you plan your study from when your exam is rather than from where it is now, and that sort of indicates to you when you should start or when you need to hurry up and get back on track. This tip will lay a clean smooth path up to the exam.
Some additional mini tips:
- What to do when you are blank in the exam: simply skip the question and do the questions that you can do. This builds confidence, so you can return to the questions you left with a stronger mindset.
- Use other online resources: For example, Chemguide is a great resource for chemistry.
- Use flashcards (Quizlet/Anki) after learning the content. Review it and convert the content you didn't know into flash cards.
- Read the books that are going to be tested in the English Lit exam.
- For C students that are wanting to become A students, split the quantity of study and effectiveness of the study. First of all, make sure you are putting in the hours to get an A. If you're studying a lot, That's fine. The next step will be more applicable for you but if you feel like you know you are studying a lot and just need a boost, add some quality study.
Similar articels
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The UCAT
The UCAT, or the University Clinical Aptitude Test is the medical school admission test required for many universities in Australia and New Zealand. The UCAT is designed to assess applicants for the aptitude, attitudes and beliefs required of a doctor. In order to defeat the UCAT - we should understand what it is. First off, it’s a two hour computer based exam. There are 5 separately timed subtests - Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning and Situational Judgement. In this blog we break down each of the sections and offer guidance on how to prepare for this important exam.
Verbal Reasoning
Verbal Reasoning is meant to assess your ability to read something and draw appropriate conclusions. You can see why this would be important to a doctor - you’re part of a multidisciplinary team and will have to communicate effectively. In addition, doctors have to keep current with new research and draw reasonable conclusions from published findings. Decision making involves 11 text excerpts with 4 questions each, meaning this section has 44 questions in 21 minutes - that means an average of 29 seconds per question. That doesn’t even take reading the stem into account!
Decision Making
Decision Making is essentially data interpretation from graphs, tables, text and charts. You don’t need to have background knowledge on any subject, because part of what they’re testing is your ability to understand new information. Can you think of a time a doctor might have to do the same? This section has 29 questions in 31 minutes - an average of 64 seconds per question. Compare the timing of section to verbal reasoning, it’s more than double. Consider the length of time per question as an indication of how much the test writers want you to analyse.
Quantitative Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning is a straightforward mathematics section - there are nine scenarios each with four questions. You’ll have access to an on screen calculator - which is functional but pretty clunky! You’ll have to strike a balance between using mental maths to be quick, and keeping your wits about you, and staying accurate. This section has 36 questions in 24 minutes - an average of 40 seconds per question. It’s not a lot of time to question your maths abilities!
Abstract Reasoning
Abstract Reasoning is used to evaluate your ability to locate patterns and understand logic, separate from your language abilities. If you’ve seen the guides online with pictures asking you to find a pattern - that’s abstract reasoning. This section is sometimes hard for students to grasp, because it’s such a different set of skills. It’s also probably the biggest struggle with time management. This section has 55 questions in 13 minutes - that’s only 14 seconds per question. Don’t even think about going into this section unprepared!
Situational Judgement
Situational Judgement assesses your judgement and character in different situations - the situations are usually clinical or education based. Either situations you’ve likely been in, or a situation you could be involved in future. Then you’ll have to evaluate the appropriateness, importance or consequences of the situation. It’s one way for universities to evaluate the characteristics that are important for future doctors! Situational Judgement has 69 questions in 26 minutes - an average of 25 seconds per question.
With so much to do - how can I set myself up for success?
Prepare
This sounds like a no brainer, but preparation is the most important thing you can do if you want to succeed on the UCAT. Going over questions is one thing but the most effective thing you can do is to practice under exam conditions. That means doing computer based exams - so when you get to test day, you know what to expect. Luckily MedView has a bank of questions.
Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Time is a precious resource when you’re preparing for medical school admissions - you have to continue doing well in your studies, prepare yourself for an interview, and master a new exam. There’s not infinite time - so you have to learn how to study smarter, not just harder. So many students waste their time by continuing to drill skills that they’ve already mastered. It’s important to identify the weak points that need more TLC.
Learn Skills
Each type of question requires a specific psychometric approach to understand and answer so quickly. Skills and strategies to identify the problem and solve the challenging question are essential for success. MedView has a range of 1:1 tutoring, group workshops, practice exams and questions alongside our spiral learning curriculum to help students develop the skills necessary to succeed in time conditions. Our UCAT students are 5x more likely to receive an interview offer.
Sitting full-length practice exams under simulated conditions is the most effective preparation for developing UCAT skills. As this will familiarise yourself with the extreme time pressures, as well as allowing you to practise concentrating on psychometric skills for two hours. It is also important to practice using the computer-based platform that will be used when you sit UCAT as well.
Seek Help
Find friends that have taken the test before and ask for their experience. Better yet, schedule a free Academic Assessment with MedView today! When you start your journey as a MedView student, you are allocated an Education Coordinator who has experience helping hundreds of students get into med school. They’ll help you stay on track with your goals, offer you support, and help you succeed on your path to medical school.
Next Steps
The UCAT is an important exam that is key to medical school admission for undergraduates. We recommend starting your UCAT preparation early and integrating it into your study load to give yourself the best opportunity to succeed. If you’d like to learn more about the UCAT or how to get into Medical School, check out our free eBooks and blogs!
- What is the UCAT?
- How Universities use your UCAT Results
- A Quick Guide to Australia Medicine eBook
- A Quick Guide to New Zealand Medicine eBook
- How to Prepare for the UCAT
- What UCAT scores will get me into med?
MedView offers a range of UCAT preparation courses as well as personalised 1:1 tutoring with our expert team. If you would like to know more about the UCAT and how MedView can help, get in touch today.
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What can you do before the year starts?
Before the year starts, it is vital that you understand that the journey to becoming a doctor is a long and arduous process. Medicine is a life-long commitment whose pathway extends beyond the 6 years of study. It includes a progression from a house officer to a registrar, and application onto training schemes if you opt for the surgical pathway.
The vast majority of people who apply for medicine, do not have a clear picture of what they want to do in the future. This uncertainty is not something to worry about now – you have plenty of time to figure out exactly what you want to do. There is something in medicine for everyone. If you are still uncertain about the medical pathway beyond the 6 years of study, I would recommend doing further research.
Another thing you can do over the summer break is to identify your motivation to become a doctor. If it’s for the money, you may not be in the correct profession - it will be at least 10-12 years until you start earning the big bucks that all doctors are known for! If you have an inherent nature to help people and seek to make our society healthier, then you are on the right track.
Once your head is in the right place, enjoy your summer! The year will belong, and you will have to make social sacrifices to make your studies a priority. Make the most of the time you have by seeing friends and family, as you will inevitably see less of them throughout the year. You are likely to experience burnout sometime during the year, so optimising your rest now is important.
The single most effective way to distance yourself from your competitors is to start early and hard. After you have rested throughout December and into the new year, it is time to get started and get ahead. The Flying Start Course offered by MedView was my ticket to success. It is a highly intensive programme starting in late January that covers the first 6 weeks of content for the three core papers in the first semester. The advantages of this course are numerous:
- The most valuable aspect of Flying Start is the content covered. As the first semester contains 3 out of the 4 core papers, it is so important to get a good start. An early lapse within the first few weeks can completely derail your entire year. Being exposed to similar content ahead of time builds your confidence and gives you the opportunity to begin learning before others.
- There is a radically different teaching style from high school to university. Flying Start emulates the style you are accustomed to, while simultaneously teaching university material. This eases your transition and places students into a more comfortable and familiar environment.
- You can meet other motivated people. You may have heard the horror stories of people sabotaging each other, taking their notes and hiding their bags. While these are mostly exaggerated, there will still be those who resort to other measures to gain an advantage. The people doing Flying Start will be motivated just like you, and eager to get ahead. Working together and building these strong relationships before the year starts means that you have a better support group in place. I have met several bright individuals who were passionate and together, we were able to navigate the difficult year and succeed as a group!
MedView believes in a holistic approach to medical school admissions, meaning we surround the student with a team of experts to help develop their candidacy and skills in all three major pillars in their journey to medical school, and now it’s even more accessible with the MedView Hub App!
Over the last decade there’s been a mass adoption of smartphones and a shift in the way people behave online and communicate. Australians are spending more time online, often using multiple screens, and consuming vast amounts of content each day. And it’s only going up!
Recent figures show that almost eight out of ten Australians use social media, and 87% of them use their mobile phones to access it. Fifty-nine percent of Australians access social media everyday or most days, and over a third of people check social media more than five times per day.
We often go online to chat with friends and family, share photos, or be entertained by cat videos. But the very same platforms we use to socialise can also be used to gather knowledge that we can apply in our offline lives. One of the areas where users can reap the benefits is online communities. MedView prides themselves on finding the best tutor, strategist or consultant for each student whether they be in Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom and having an online community platform allows even more core benefits for our students in a shorter amount of time. Now students can access over 320 tutors, strategists and consultants and get answers to their Synapse questions, interact in exclusive workshops, and most importantly make friends. The meaningful relationships with other members of the community increases knowledge and collective wisdom.
The MedView Hub App is our own online community platform for students, parents, tutors, and alumni to create a network of opportunities to participate in smart, focused conversation on specific medical school admissions topics (unlike the Instagram and Facebook chatter).
Over the last decade there’s been a mass adoption of smartphones and a shift in the way people behave online and communicate. Australians are spending more time online, often using multiple screens, and consuming vast amounts of content each day. And it’s only going up!
Recent figures show that almost eight out of ten Australians use social media, and 87% of them use their mobile phones to access it. Fifty-nine percent of Australians access social media everyday or most days, and over a third of people check social media more than five times per day.
We often go online to chat with friends and family, share photos, or be entertained by cat videos. But the very same platforms we use to socialise can also be used to gather knowledge that we can apply in our offline lives. One of the areas where users can reap the benefits is online communities. MedView prides themselves on finding the best tutor, strategist or consultant for each student whether they be in Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom and having an online community platform allows even more core benefits for our students in a shorter amount of time. Now students can access over 320 tutors, strategists and consultants and get answers to their Synapse questions, interact in exclusive workshops, and most importantly make friends. The meaningful relationships with other members of the community increases knowledge and collective wisdom.
The MedView Hub App is our own online community platform for students, parents, tutors, and alumni to create a network of opportunities to participate in smart, focused conversation on specific medical school admissions topics (unlike the Instagram and Facebook chatter).
Find out more and begin your journey to medical school by speaking with a MedView Academic Advisor for free today!
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