*Everything HPAT and Medicine 2013*

EternalGeek

Ahh, its crazy isn't it?? I am repeating it in Pearse College and thankfully dont have the same commute as you do, you poor thing.
I do work on weekends too, doing one full shift (12 hours) in a nursing home which is total write off for that day.
Im in the same boat, it is very intimidating, especially when surrounded by people who know the material as they only learned it last year but it is so great to hear of someone else in the same boat

yoppo

EternalGeek wrote: »

Ahh, its crazy isn't it?? I am repeating it in Pearse College and thankfully dont have the same commute as you do, you poor thing.
I do work on weekends too, doing one full shift (12 hours) in a nursing home which is total write off for that day.
Im in the same boat, it is very intimidating, especially when surrounded by people who know the material as they only learned it last year but it is so great to hear of someone else in the same boat

You don't get any sort of funding do you? I'm gonna try and get BTEA even though i'm not progressing due to some health problems in college. I can only hope!

It is quite intimidating but each book has about 40 chapters, that's a bit more then a chapter a week... doable I think! Think about college and how much more detailed the stuff was and how much you probably crammed!

What subjects you taking up this year? I am doing pass english, biology, chemistry, physics (new subject), home ec, ag science (new subject) and honours maths (new subject). Not sure whether to do geography and do pass maths. My friend is a math's teacher and he said he'll guarantee me an A but he's quite unreliable! :rolleyes:
I am hopefully getting an exemption from German and Irish which would save me so much time!

EternalGeek

No, don't think I am eligible for any grants or the like but would be more than happy to be proven wrong on this!!

That is true, i think if you think of it in terms of chapter a week or whatever it seems way more achievable.

I am doing English, Irish, German, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, History and Geography and Business Studies (new subject). Have to do german in my own time as its not offered but is a requirement for my top choice (UCD). Am doing pass Irish and maths at the minute, the rest are higher level. Think I might switch to honours maths but I'm not putting too much pressure on that one for the minute.

Nwaezy

Just wondering if anyone is hoping to do med entry this yr and would like someone to go in together as a group. could u pls let me know.

little sis...

Well it's probably a bit early now I guess but oh well..:)
so I'm practicing the h-pat and I'm in 5th year, hoping to do medicine:D

but i have no motivation to do well in it.. like I try hard and all but I feel I keep getting the same result and I'm not improving .. (med entry)
for example recently I did exam 1 (without having done any drills or know anything about the h-pat) and I got around 30-ish percentile i feel like giving up whenever I do the h-pat and I feel as if I'll never improve from that? :(

any advice??

also, how much should I be practicing the h-pat?

hollingr

little sis... wrote: »

Well it's probably a bit early now I guess but oh well..:)
so I'm practicing the h-pat and I'm in 5th year, hoping to do medicine:D

but i have no motivation to do well in it.. like I try hard and all but I feel I keep getting the same result and I'm not improving .. (med entry)
for example recently I did exam 1 (without having done any drills or know anything about the h-pat) and I got around 30-ish percentile i feel like giving up whenever I do the h-pat and I feel as if I'll never improve from that? :(

any advice??

also, how much should I be practicing the h-pat?

Don't worry about scores, think more about what you learned from that test. Go through it with a fine comb! Analyse every single question you got wrong.

How was your pacing? Did you spend too long on any one question and end up short for time on others? Did you misread many questions? Could you have used a different technique to get an answer more quickly? Is there one particular type of question you are tending to get wrong? Is there one type of question you are really good at? etc etc..

mocker2012

Nwaezy wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone is hoping to do med entry this yr and would like someone to go in together as a group. could u pls let me know.

Yes!! I've sent you a PM!!:)

0mega

little sis... wrote: »

Well it's probably a bit early now I guess but oh well..:)
so I'm practicing the h-pat and I'm in 5th year, hoping to do medicine:D

but i have no motivation to do well in it.. like I try hard and all but I feel I keep getting the same result and I'm not improving .. (med entry)
for example recently I did exam 1 (without having done any drills or know anything about the h-pat) and I got around 30-ish percentile i feel like giving up whenever I do the h-pat and I feel as if I'll never improve from that? :(

any advice??

also, how much should I be practicing the h-pat?

You're in 5th year! In 2 years that 30th percentile could be 90th with practice..

I hope for your sake that the HPAT is still around in 2014 though after spending that money.

yoppo

Nwaezy wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone is hoping to do med entry this yr and would like someone to go in together as a group. could u pls let me know.

I would do it in Galway in January if you want?

little sis...

hollingr wrote: »

Don't worry about scores, think more about what you learned from that test. Go through it with a fine comb! Analyse every single question you got wrong.

How was your pacing? Did you spend too long on any one question and end up short for time on others? Did you misread many questions? Could you have used a different technique to get an answer more quickly? Is there one particular type of question you are tending to get wrong? Is there one type of question you are really good at? etc etc..

Thanks, but I tend to get so lazy when it comes to going through your answers in the end.... I do it i just find a lot of them confusing and end up saying 'how was I supposed to know that?'
I guess practice makes perfect then ..

little sis...

0mega wrote: »

You're in 5th year! In 2 years that 30th percentile could be 90th with practice..

I hope for your sake that the HPAT is still around in 2014 though after spending that money.

HOPEFULLY:D

nope I'd prefer if they removed the h-pat altogether by 2014 even if i've practiced and spent the money... its just such an awful exam!!!

hollingr

little sis... wrote: »

Thanks, but I tend to get so lazy when it comes to going through your answers in the end.... I do it i just find a lot of them confusing and end up saying 'how was I supposed to know that?'
I guess practice makes perfect then ..

The questions have an explanation though, and you can come back to the solutions at any time, so put in the effort and figure it out.. If you just keep doing tests without actually learning from your mistakes you aren't going to improve much!

alan56

Hey can someone give me a list of feelings that may be asked in the Hpat so i can look over ones i'm not aware of or get more accurate definitions of them??
e.g Frank, Apprehensive, upset, delighted etc etc...

Thanks a million!!

spurious

Please be aware random first time posters here looking for people to join them in discount schemes are not always legitimate.

Come on folks, as potential doctors...use the old noggin now and then.

0mega

Been focusing more on the UKCAT lately than the HPAT, hopefully I can carry some of the skills over

Anyone else sitting it on the 5th of October? Not long to go now at all really..

TehFionnster

Hi guys. Basically, i'm looking to do Medicine this year, I really have no clue how to study for the HPAT. I got practice paper 1 & 2 from a friend who used them, but they have the answers(correct&incorrect) marked all over, which is kinda throwing me off a little. But anyway, how does one "study" for the HPAT?
(I should really post here more often :pac: )

Slow Show

Right lads, need some advice. Sitting the UKCAT before the deadline having done no preparation yet? Is this madness? Is it doable? Am I destined to fail miserably?

0mega

Slow Show wrote: »

Right lads, need some advice. Sitting the UKCAT before the deadline having done no preparation yet? Is this madness? Is it doable? Am I destined to fail miserably?

I'm doing it too and I've bought a book and I'm working through that, an hour a night.

I would definitely not go into the exam not even being aware of the type of questions, as you'll be at an immediate disadvantage due to the strict timing constraints in the exam. You can sit two practice exams on the website, timed/untimed. Maybe this weekend have a go at doing one.

What universities are you applying to for med? I don't think an excellent UKCAT score is vital for some, it's not weighed as highly as the HPAT is in the republic in Queens, Belfast - for example.

0mega

TehFionnster wrote: »

Hi guys. Basically, i'm looking to do Medicine this year, I really have no clue how to study for the HPAT. I got practice paper 1 & 2 from a friend who used them, but they have the answers(correct&incorrect) marked all over, which is kinda throwing me off a little. But anyway, how does one "study" for the HPAT?
(I should really post here more often :pac: )

By doing practice questions and getting familiar with the format of the exam. I suppose speed reading, critical thinking, etc. can be of some benefit, but I would definitely get stuck into practice exams and start building up your own way of tackling the exam that works for you.

standup

0mega wrote: »

I'm doing it too and I've bought a book and I'm working through that, an hour a night.

I would definitely not go into the exam not even being aware of the type of questions, as you'll be at an immediate disadvantage due to the strict timing constraints in the exam. You can sit two practice exams on the website, timed/untimed. Maybe this weekend have a go at doing one.

What universities are you applying to for med? I don't think an excellent UKCAT score is vital for some, it's not weighed as highly as the HPAT is in the republic in Queens, Belfast - for example.

I'm doing it on the 3rd and i'm actually so scared for it! do you have any tips on how to maximize timing? i have the book 600 UKCAT questions and it's really good. i've tried doing the questions in the advised time and it's just not working for me! should i first, kind of, get familiar with the type of questions first and then do the whole timing thing? or should keep the strict timing all the time?

0mega

standup wrote: »

I'm doing it on the 3rd and i'm actually so scared for it! do you have any tips on how to maximize timing? i have the book 600 UKCAT questions and it's really good. i've tried doing the questions in the advised time and it's just not working for me! should i first, kind of, get familiar with the type of questions first and then do the whole timing thing? or should keep the strict timing all the time?

I'm not doing them in the timing, the UKCAT is almost impossible to finish with that timing, its ridiculously challenging. My approach is going to be try and answer 80% of the questions correctly and then guess the final 20% rather than rushing through the entire paper and maybe only getting 40-50% of the questions right.

Sligo1

Hey,

Is anyone interested in doing the MEDEN**Y HPAT prep course? Am looking for someone who wants to join as part of a group in Dublin. Apparently if 2 or more apply for the course together you pay 385 Euro instead of 625 Euro. PM me if you're interested. For me, 625 Euro seems a lot of money to pay when you can get it for 385!

Thanks

UnholyGregor

hey sligo id definately be up for the group entry to the ******** course. pm me!!

0mega

Does anyone know what type of score you'll need to be getting in the UKCAT to be called for an interview in Queens?

UnholyGregor

anybody interested in signing up for the meden**y prep course pm me, looking for the 50% group discount atm, you just need another person's name and phone number, and they put your one down, thats it and poof! 300 euro off

little sis...

Really feel like giving up on my life long dream of doing medicine.... all because of this h-pat
People say you get better with practice, I've proved them all wrong because I've gotten worse :mad:
What really bothers me is that if doctors were told they must sit the h-pat now, I guarantee that more than half would not do great.
I wish I was sitting the leaving cert a few years ago where you only needed a good LC to get medicine, now theres people getting less than 500 in their LC yet are doing medicine:eek:

So long medicine, so long dreams

QueenOfLeon

little sis... wrote: »

now theres people getting less than 500 in their LC yet are doing medicine:eek:

There aren't really, 500 + an exceptional HPAT of 230 wouldn't have gotten in this year. Won't go into the same argument again that people with LC's in the low 500's can still be well capable of studying medicine, just pointing it out that getting 600 doesn't necessarily make you any better.

Keep practicing the HPAT questions, and be aware that sample questions and tests aren't always realistic. I have no personal experience of any sample questions other than the official HPAT booklet (which is the closest you will get to proper questions) but results given to you by any other agency can't be all that reliable as the marking scheme of the HPAT has never been released.

little sis...

QueenOfLeon wrote: »

There aren't really, 500 + an exceptional HPAT of 230 wouldn't have gotten in this year. Won't go into the same argument again that people with LC's in the low 500's can still be well capable of studying medicine, just pointing it out that getting 600 doesn't necessarily make you any better.

Keep practicing the HPAT questions, and be aware that sample questions and tests aren't always realistic. I have no personal experience of any sample questions other than the official HPAT booklet (which is the closest you will get to proper questions) but results given to you by any other agency can't be all that reliable as the marking scheme of the HPAT has never been released.

Yes you're right but some people are just naturally good at the h-pat sort of questions, which is a disadvantage for the rest of us who are not as good, but you can't really be naturally good at business (for example) and know definitions off by heart already without having to study them.

My point is there are some people who worked SO hard to get a good LC AND a good h-pat and some people just happened to do great in the h-pat (without necessarily having worked hard for it) and getting mid 500's in the LC.....
Life's not fair:(

0mega

I did a prep exam yesterday and I was thoroughly disappointed with my results..

25/48 = Section 1
38/44 = Section 2
20/42 = Section 3

I'm so much better at Section 2 than the others, Section 3 in particular I find my mind just blanks when I'm looking at all these shapes and patterns. I wouldn't have a hope of getting into medicine with these kinda of scores, right?

QueenOfLeon

0mega wrote: »

I did a prep exam yesterday and I was thoroughly disappointed with my results..

25/48 = Section 1
38/44 = Section 2
20/42 = Section 3

I'm so much better at Section 2 than the others, Section 3 in particular I find my mind just blanks when I'm looking at all these shapes and patterns. I wouldn't have a hope of getting into medicine with these kinda of scores, right?

Just so you're aware, the HPAT is not a combination of your percentages for each section (for example, for this test you wouldn't be getting 52+86+48=186 out of 300). The marking scheme has never been released but the assumption is that questions are weighted separately depending on how many answered that question correctly. For example, if you answered a question correct that a huge percentage also answered correctly, this would be worth very little. However, if you were one of only a few who answered a question correct this might be worth a lot more.

So for those reasons its impossible to say if those scores would be enough. For all we know, they could be worth 100 or 200. Look back at the ones you got wrong and see exactly what you did wrong. Look up any words you didn't understand. One of the most important things is to get yourself used to proper timing - try to do every test in exam conditions, with the proper timing, and be aware of the exact rules regarding timing etc.