Welcome to Medical Entrance via UMAT

Q: What does Section I of the UMAT assess?
A: Section I of the UMAT assesses the UMAT candidate’s logical reasoning and problem solving abilities.

Q: How are the questions structured in Section I of the UMAT?
A: All questions from Section I of the UMAT are presented in a multiple-choice format.

Q: How should I approach questions from Section I of the UMAT?
A: The UMAT candidate will be asked to understand the stimulus, draw logical conclusions, assess information and create logical assumptions.

Q: How many questions are there in Section I of the UMAT?
A: There are 44 questions in Section I of the UMAT.

Q: How long will I be given to complete Section I of the UMAT?
A: UMAT candidates will be given 65 minutes to complete Section I of the UMAT.

Q: Are all of the questions in UMAT Section I of equal value?
A: Yes. All the questions in the UMAT are of equal value.

Q: How will the stimuli in Section I of the UMAT be presented?
A: The stimulus in Section I of the UMAT will be presented as graphical data or as a short text.

Q: Will I be able to begin answering questions from Section II of the UMAT immediately when I have completed Section I?
A: No. You must spend the allocated time for Section I of the UMAT by completing the questions from this section alone.

Q: When will I be permitted to proceed to Section II of the UMAT?
A: You will not be permitted to proceed to Section II of the UMAT until the supervisors give you permission to do so.

Q: If I have not completed all the questions from Section I of the UMAT, will I be able to return to this section after I have completed the others?
A: No. You will be allocated time for each of the three sections to complete them. If you complete a section before the time is up, you may review some of your answer choices for this section alone.

Q: I have studied science subjects in high school. Will this help me to answer questions from Section I of the UMAT?
A: The stimuli in Section I of the UMAT will not be curriculum-based. However some of the stimuli may be based on general science, hence some knowledge in this field may be useful for familiarity with the stimuli information.

Q: What are the stimuli from Section I of the UMAT likely to be about?
A: The stimuli for Section I of the UMAT will be collected from a variety of sources such as newspaper articles, books and websites.

Q: Will the stimuli passages require a lot of reading time?
A: The stimuli passages may be quite long and it is important for the UMAT candidate to read quickly and efficiently.

Q: Will the stimuli passages contain technical language?
A: The stimuli passages will contain a limited number of technical words, however you will not need to know the meaning of these words in order to successfully answer the questions.

Q: Will the stimuli passages be about medical-related topics?
A: Some of the stimuli passages may be health-related, however the UMAT candidate will not need to be familiar with the concepts in the stimuli to successfully answer the questions.

Q: Are the questions in Section I of the UMAT similar to IQ-type questions?
A: Questions in Section I of the UMAT will require the use of your logical reasoning and deduction, which is similar to many IQ-type questions.

Q: Will practicing IQ-type questions be beneficial for Section I of the UMAT?
A: Questions in Section I of the UMAT may have longer stimuli passages than typical IQ-type questions, but they may be of benefit in training your critical thinking.

Q: How much time should I devote per question?
A: As there are 44 questions in Section I of the UMAT and there is 65 minutes in which to complete them, the UMAT candidate should allow a little over a minute per question.

Q: If I do not understand a stimulus passage from Section I of the UMAT, is it possible to ask the supervisors to explain it to me?
A: The supervisor will not be able to explain the question stimulus to you or to give you any additional information regarding the stimulus.

Q: If I am running short of time, what is the best strategy that I should employ to ensure that I complete Section I of the UMAT?
A: If you are running short of time with more than a couple questions to complete, it is advised that you guess the remaining questions rather than leaving them unanswered.

Q: Will extensive reading prior to the UMAT be useful for Section I of the UMAT?
A: Extensive reading will be beneficial for Section I of the UMAT, particularly if you employ speed-reading techniques.

Q: Why is it important to actively read stimuli in Section I of the UMAT?
A: When reading a passage, it is important to question the author’s conclusions and ideas. Form your own opinions of his ideas and question whether the supportive evidence in fact does lead to the conclusion. It is particularly important to critically read the stimulus where many of the questions ask you to find faults in the arguments.

Q: Should I read for speed or for understanding?
A: Ideally, you should read for both speed and understanding. Do not read a passage simply to get through it. This will waste a lot of time as you will need to read the passage more than once to answer the questions.

Q: After reading the stimulus and the question stem in stimuli from Section I UMAT, should I attempt to guess what the correct answer may be prior to reading the answer options?
A: After reading the question and the stimulus, try to already form an opinion of what the answer may be before you read the answer options. Though the answer options will be worded differently, the gist of your answer may be the same as one of the answer options. This might help you decide which option to choose if there are no other satisfactory ones.

Q: How should I approach assumption questions in Section I of the UMAT?
A: When answering assumption based questions it is important to look for the answer option which contains information that is required for the conclusion to remain correct. An assumption is a piece of supporting evidence without which the argument would be incorrect.

Q: How should I approach strengthen and weaken questions in Section I of the UMAT?
A: For strengthen questions, choose the answer option which will add validity to the conclusion of the argument. For weaken questions, choose the answer option that will considerably weaken the conclusion of the stimulus.

Q: How should I approach inference questions?
A: Inference questions require that you consider a statement as evidence and then develop a conclusion based on that evidence. A correct inference is one that is within the scope of the argument. A correct inference is a statement that must be true based on statements in the passage that are true.

Q: How should I approach a flaw question in Section I of the UMAT?
A: The Flaw question requires that you find a flaw in the argument stated in the stimulus. You will be required to look for the answer option that either criticises the source of the argument, rather than the argument itself, or the answer option that criticises a specific component of the argument.

Q: How should I approach a method-of-argument question in Section I of the UMAT?
A: You will need to be familiar with the structure of the argument so that you are able to explain the process that the author uses to construct his argument. However you will not be asked to find fault in the author’s reasoning. It is vital to be able to identify components of the argument, namely the conclusion and the supporting evidence.

Q: How should I approach a parallel reasoning question in Section I of the UMAT?
A: In Parallel Reasoning questions, you will be required to choose the answer option that most closely resembles the reasoning in the argument. To answer this type of question, you will need to be able to distinguish between the information in the argument and the way that the argument is structured. Hence you will be able to relate arguments with different content which have similar structures.

Q: How can I recognise a paradox question in Section I of the UMAT?
A: A paradox question usually involves an extreme contraindication of two statements. You can also recognise a paradox if your conclusion based on the opening statement is contraindicated by the closing statement.

Q: How will I be required to answer a principle question in Section I of the UMAT?
A: In Principle questions you will be given an argument and asked to identify the reason for the argument.

Q: What are the general principles for answering logic questions in Section I of the UMAT?
A: Read the question before the stimulus, to know exactly what content to focus on. Actively read the stimulus and then consider what the possible answer may be.

Q: How will I be required to answer a principle question in Section I of the UMAT?
A: In Principle questions you will be given an argument and asked to identify the reason for the argument.

Q: What are the general principles for answering logic questions in Section I of the UMAT?
A: Read the question before the stimulus, to know exactly what content to focus on. Actively read the stimulus and then consider what the possible answer may be.

Q: What are some principles for reading comprehension in Section I of the UMAT?
A: While reading, keep in mind that the first third of the passage usually presents the author’s main idea. However some passages portray the theme of the stimulus at the end of the passage. While reading, you should be aware of this possibility and read the entire passage actively, looking for words that are characteristic of a conclusion.

Q: How should I approach comprehension questions in Section I of the UMAT?
A: You should approach each question in its own right, starting afresh with a clean slate, and focusing on the introductory couple of statements to give you an idea of the theme of the stimulus. Even if the main theme is not present until the end, focusing on the stimulus throughout the question will help you remember the sequence and identify the argument.

Q: Will it be beneficial to practice interpreting graphical data prior to the UMAT?
A: Practicing to interpret graphical data prior to the UMAT will be very beneficial, particularly if you set a time limit for each graph.

Q: Is Section I of the UMAT valued more in university selection criteria than Section II and III of the UMAT?
A: Some universities place more of an emphasis on Section I of the UMAT in their selection criteria than others. However other universities may favour an overall high achievement, while others might favour success in Sections II or III of the UMAT.

Q: How will Section I of the UMAT be scaled?
A: A UMAT candidate’s score from Section I of the UMAT will be scaled according to the Section I scores of the other UMAT candidates. The percentile results show the ranking of the UMAT participants for each section.

Q: If I score higher in Section I of the UMAT than in Sections II and III, does this mean that I am left-brain dominant?
A: As Section I of the UMAT examines logical reasoning and problem solving, which are predominantly left-brain functions, a UMAT candidate who scores better in Section I might be left-brain dominant.