Questions about the validity of the UMAT

I was jus wonderin why we have ta do umat. i mean its a useless test is it not? no one likes it. i hate it. u hate it. god hates it. why. whats so good bout the so called 'aptitude' test when yr 12 results can tell b/w diff peeps. bit too much i reckon. why shud ppl 'naturally' smart get a chance if they dont bother ta work hard in yr 12 and get good results eh?

im not complaining im good at that umat shenanigans and did pretty well last yr but its sO useless of me god

Because they want some other criteria to cull applicants by.

why donts they just line them up and pull them out of ze hat? thatll work well now wont it? cos isnt the umat doing da same thing nyway eh? tis draw of the hat, numbers game nothin more. maybe a method for ppl to stroke their egos too

Yep in UQ's case for instance there would be more op1 applicants than there are spots. So they need some method of choosing which op1's to select.


Edit: UMAT isnt as objective and fair as we would all like it to be but I think a lottery system would be pretty ridiculous. maybe a combination of op/atar, interview and umat is best

Originally Posted by SueYu

I was jus wonderin why we have ta do umat. i mean its a useless test is it not? no one likes it. i hate it. u hate it. god hates it. why. whats so good bout the so called 'aptitude' test when yr 12 results can tell b/w diff peeps. bit too much i reckon. why shud ppl 'naturally' smart get a chance if they dont bother ta work hard in yr 12 and get good results eh?

im not complaining im good at that umat shenanigans and did pretty well last yr but its sO useless of me god

I feel that you will regret making this post :S

As for the umat, no one is happy with or without it. Take it off and people would argue that intelligence and qualities required cannot be determined by year 12 results, put it in, and people would argue that in many ways its a useless test (i support this view). However as one professor put it: "umat is the kind of test you have when there is a committee"( i.e a committee to decide criterias for choosing med students), i.e there is no alternative that would make everyone happy. But come to think of it, without umat, cut-offs based on year 12 results alone, would have been very high.

Originally Posted by ctu_max

Yep in UQ's case for instance there would be more op1 applicants than there are spots. So they need some method of choosing which op1's to select

so we all agrees tis a useless test. why spend so much money on such usless means when we can just randomely pick em. whats the interview for?

I hate it too!

I think that a high academic mark is more often than not an indication of work ethic. Regardless of home much fluid intelligence of IQ you have at the end of the day you need to have the ability to grind it out when you have been working for hours and are sleep deprived.

And why is being booksmarts a bad thing. It probably counts for a lot I'd think?

In saying that UMAT is a crappy test most people will argue that most medical schools ATAR medians are in the 99 area. I agree, but a lot of 99+ kids are missing out because of UMAT and those with lower marks are getting in.

For example, a kid at my school got 93.7 and a UMAT score of 157 got into UWS. Where as many of my friends who got 99 missed out because of UMAT. Some had higher UMAT scores thatn 157 but were either not in the GWS are or didnt perform well enough in s1 and 2 due to the scaling.

Is there research showing that applicants with high UMAT scores are going to make better med students/doctors.

And the question I want answered is how come people improve their umat score by 30-50raw score year in year out? How is that possible given the nature of the test?

Before I go any further, can I just say that I don't support the UMAT as an entry criterium.

That said, I would hardly say it is draw-of-the hat, just wondering how informed that statement is. There are definitely wrong and right answers in that and certainly marking criteria that are consistent throughout.

Originally Posted by Dr.A

I feel that you will regret making this post :S

As for the umat, no one is happy with or without it. Take it off and people would argue that intelligence and qualities required cannot be determined by year 12 results, put it in, and people would argue that in many ways its a useless test (i support this view). However as one professor put it: "umat is the kind of test you have when there is a committee"( i.e a committee to decide criterias for choosing med students), i.e there is no alternative that would make everyone happy. But come to think of it, without umat, cut-offs based on year 12 results alone, would have been very high.

UMAT tests nothing - i vote for a lottery system

Personally I wouldn't mind the old days with 99.85 for UNSW
Make it a knowledge test, we'll see who comes out on top then muwahahah

Originally Posted by Dr.A

I feel that you will regret making this post :S

As for the umat, no one is happy with or without it. Take it off and people would argue that intelligence and qualities required cannot be determined by year 12 results, put it in, and people would argue that in many ways its a useless test (i support this view). However as one professor put it: "umat is the kind of test you have when there is a committee"( i.e a committee to decide criterias for choosing med students), i.e there is no alternative that would make everyone happy. But come to think of it, without umat, cut-offs based on year 12 results alone, would have been very high.

nah nah im not regretting nothing. its a free country is it not?

i agrees with you. there is no happy alternative but umat definately is not makin anyone happy apart form ze unis eh? cutoffs high? ok that means they select ppl who have shown da work ethic to get good marks - not really a bad thingy is it? no one is gonna die cos of docs who work hard