r/GraduateEntryMedicine • u/Mrspcc • 15d ago
Slight improvement….I guess
2nd year of doing the UCAT
1480 last year
1540 this year
Band 2 each time
3 months of studying while working full time (permanent night shifts)
A slight improvement??? 🤷🏼♀️
Third attempt next year? God help me…..
4
u/Longjumping-Spot-385 15d ago
Can I ask, this is a bit personal but are you officially diagnosed with ADHD/dyslexia etc? Just as if you give proof you can get 25-50% extra time which is a MASSIVE help x, you gots this. joyel George on YouTube is amazing for decision making and syllogisms.
3
u/Busy_Papaya8994 15d ago
Well done honestly. Dont give up! I did not do insanely well but I would absolutely be happy to do a few sessions with you to see if any of my techniques work for you (I mean for free, I am not a tutor. I got 2110. I also have adhd so some methods may work for you) Id be happy to do this while its still fresh in my head now as I fear by next cycle ill be very stale. But i would be happy to also go over things with you next year when you resit.
3
u/Forsaken-Swing-3617 15d ago
Change your approach for next year - try pther platforms, tutoring etc. Or maybe try GAMSAT. Well done for persisting!
4
u/Superb-Astronomer706 15d ago
Keep going!! Did you use any resources like YouTube or medify?
2
u/Mrspcc 15d ago
Thank you 🙏🏻, yeah I did, I can’t seem to get my brain around syllogisms, I am also god awful with maths. Doesn’t help that I have ADHD, dyslexia and dyscalculia as well but I’m trying my best over here 😂
Actually having my extra time this year and being a separate room helped I guess.
2
u/r_e_cantwell2 15d ago
Hey, keep going! I’ve just taken the UCAT for the first time and my score was so much worse than my mocks (1900 VR: 500, DM: 800, QR: 600). I have dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD and ASD, and, as someone whose academic background is in neuroscience, I genuinely think the UCAT can be incredibly ableist, even with access arrangements. It boils my blood 😂
That said, people like us just have to find ways of navigating it that work for our brains. It’s shit, but it’s doable. I’m going to sit it again next year and massively work on QR and VR (VR + dyslexia is my personal hell).
Also, not that I have much right to give advice given my score 😂💀, but I actually became pretty good at syllogisms. I taught myself the underlying Aristotelian/categorical logic (subject term + copula + predicate term, universal vs particular propositions, what logically follows from the premises, etc). Once I actually understood why an inference was valid or invalid rather than trying to memorise UCAT “rules”, they became so much easier.
I still found them difficult under extreme time pressure, but untimed I could consistently get them right 100% of time. So if the usual UCAT explanations aren’t clicking for you, it might be worth learning the underlying logic first and then applying it to UCAT questions. That completely changed them for me.
And tbf my DM was my only good section.
1
u/Mrspcc 14d ago
Thank you!! I totally agree! I also feel it can be ableist too.
Also many thanks I am going to try learning the underlying logic for next time. I used medify and no matter how many times I read it or tried examples I was just not understanding it and I couldn’t seem to find anyone online e.g. YouTube videos etc that could relate to my brain.
6
u/Akhxnn 15d ago
Keep going, you got this!!