*Everything HPAT and Medicine 2014*

sleepyheadh

yeah i know how you feel, i got a few 0-20's in my time. Heres what I would suggest. Don't pay any attention to the time. just go as quickly as you feel you can, i.e you should never be guessing in the LMS. you are not going to get the same questions in the HPAT so the whole point of the tests is exposing yourself to the ideas behind the tests, i.e common patterns in section 3, or expanding your vocabulary in section 2.

i regard to your 'low' scores in practice tests, i think this can be explained away. as you go through the LMS the number of people who complete the exams decreases. therefore, there are less people available to compare yourself against. in the first and second exams thousands of people have completed the exam, sometimes more than once. however, on 11 and 12 only a handful of the most die hard have completed it. therefore i think it was 30/44 or so that was 99th and like 27 was like 60th, or something like that.

i would go though most of the drills first and then do the exams. you will improve and remember that the LMS is not always right, sometimes they go for a complicated pattern when there is a similar one there, whereas, on the HPAt Booklet they say that the pattern is always the simplest, i.e it will go 45 degs, 45, 45, 45, 45 not 315, 315, 315, 315, 315. ( i know that this is the same thing but the point is that it is always the simplest movement and not the most complicated)

little sis...

Ok thanks sleepyheadh and best of luck in college

These next few months should be interesting :rolleyes:

JDOC1996

sleepyheadh wrote: »

ok guys, so basically I did the auld HPAT twice, the first in 2012 and the last (thank god!) in 2013.

I taught i would give you guys all the pointers I think i developed over my two attempts. these are the main points that i learned from failing the first time and succeeding the second. they are pretty simply little things but they make a big difference, well they did for me anyway.

1) i would recommended doing every course available, even if you only get a few practice tests out of it, they are precious commodities.. Mentry, the institute etc, Mentry is fair better imo.

2) Do the courses as early as possible, i think its october that is the first course. The more time you have to assimilate the information the better. you are not going to get everything right away.

3) when you get tests and material, use it! This might sound a bit obvious, but the amount of people who don't finish the LMS is crazy. i didn't the first time around, and i got 171. the second time i did ever exam, and every question the LMS. towards the i was even going over the tests i did poorly on, i.e below 15/20 or so. personally, i think this is what made the difference. even if you have to relax on the study for a bit, two months or so, thats fine. I got in on 560 points. you don't need to get 625 and realistically the Lc study comes together in the two months or so, leaving yourself three months of good study, knowing that you have given everything you had to the HPAT is a good place to be in.

4) ok the fourth one you bit laugh at, but anyway. OK so the HPAT is a very stressful exam. on my first attempt i was shaken like a leaf. The one thing i did to alleviate the nerves was this. in the days coming up to the HPAT. two days away or so, I would wake the exam centre at the time i would have to be there at on the day. i swear to god this helps. the first time you walk there (be on your own) you are just as nervous as if it was the real thing. walk right up to the door, turn around, maybe hang around for a while. make sure it is the very door you will be going in on the morning of the HPAT. the next day head back and do the same. i think you have to be there at around 9ish so its an alright time to be getting up at anyway. and this way you get to see at least where you will be and what to expect, the mind hates what it cant visualize.

ok guys they are my four tips. if anyone has any question just fire ahead and ask, don't pm me as its better if everyone sees the question and the responses. Good luck guys.

Fantastic post Sleepheadh, very reassuring.

sleepyheadh

no worries JDOC1996, since the new rules on carrying results over people need as much help and advice as possible.

Blue_Shoes

Hey all!

Is there anyone here who is only doing six honours subjects and is aiming for med? (Without HL maths?)

Contemplating whether I should drop honours maths as I'm finding it difficult. I think it might be too risky though. Do you think the extra time would be better spent on the HPAT & the other six subjects?

QueenOfLeon

Blue_Shoes wrote: »

Hey all!

Is there anyone here who is only doing six honours subjects and is aiming for med? (Without HL maths?)

Contemplating whether I should drop honours maths as I'm finding it difficult. I think it might be too risky though. Do you think the extra time would be better spent on the HPAT & the other six subjects?

I think not being able to get the bonus points would be much more of a disadvantage than only doing 6 honours. If you want to concentrate on just 6 honours subjects it would be advisable to drop anything else other than maths really. Would you be able to get grinds or any extra help in maths? If you can manage to get anything from a C1 up it gives you more points than you could get in any other subject, but at the same time if you think there's a possibility of failing it you don't want to take that risk either.

sleepyheadh

QueenOfLeon wrote: »

I think not being able to get the bonus points would be much more of a disadvantage than only doing 6 honours. If you want to concentrate on just 6 honours subjects it would be advisable to drop anything else other than maths really. Would you be able to get grinds or any extra help in maths? If you can manage to get anything from a C1 up it gives you more points than you could get in any other subject, but at the same time if you think there's a possibility of failing it you don't want to take that risk either.

completely agree with this, the bonus points are so vital, if you can do higher level maths at all - do it!

Blue_Shoes

QueenOfLeon wrote: »

I think not being able to get the bonus points would be much more of a disadvantage than only doing 6 honours. If you want to concentrate on just 6 honours subjects it would be advisable to drop anything else other than maths really. Would you be able to get grinds or any extra help in maths? If you can manage to get anything from a C1 up it gives you more points than you could get in any other subject, but at the same time if you think there's a possibility of failing it you don't want to take that risk either.

Thanks for the advice.
Decided to keep going with it for the next while, hopefully until the pres at least. The problem was just that the points mightn't even be of benefit to me since my result (if I don't fail!) would be somewhere between a D3 and a C3
A major drawback of having only the six would be that I would be depending on English for points and the exam is so unpredictable. If I had a bad day and the exam didnt go well at all, I would probably regret dropping down in maths (points wise).

little sis...

Blue_Shoes wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.
Decided to keep going with it for the next while, hopefully until the pres at least. The problem was just that the points mightn't even be of benefit to me since my result (if I don't fail!) would be somewhere between a D3 and a C3
A major drawback of having only the six would be that I would be depending on English for points and the exam is so unpredictable. If I had a bad day and the exam didnt go well at all, I would probably regret dropping down in maths (points wise).

Well look at it this way.
A D3 in HL maths gets you 70 points whereas a C3 in english only gets you 60. HL maths acts as a great backup in case another exam goes wrong (english, for example, like you said). It's worth keeping imo

miissjuly

I didn't even start..

Glitt_123

Can I register for med entry already?

ahmdoda

Glitt_123 wrote: »

Can I register for med entry already?

you could of registered from last april i think once the hpat is over a new registartion is open

Glitt_123

ahmdoda wrote: »

you could of registered from last april i think once the hpat is over a new registartion is open

if i register now when will it expire?

ahmdoda

Glitt_123 wrote: »

if i register now when will it expire?

after the day of the hpat 2014

miissjuly

just got the preparation materials from acer, good luck to everyone!

indecisive18

For the hpat med entry practise material, do you have to be online for it or can you download it to use without internet access? sorry if this sounds like a stupid question! I haven't registered for yet.

gabsy

nope it has to be online

indecisive18

oh okay thank you! do you know by any chance whether the course workshops book up quick? im not able to register yet because im waiting until i have someone for the group discount!

gabsy

indecisive18 wrote: »

oh okay thank you! do you know by any chance whether the course workshops book up quick? im not able to register yet because im waiting until i have someone for the group discount!

Nope I honestly couldn't tell you, I bought mine a few weeks back and the places just said filling ! Why are you waiting ? Just buy it now and create your own group so that the person can join then ?

Daniel2590

Are these what you are using for practice papers?

https://hpat-ireland-reg.acer.edu.au/index.php?cmd=toBooklets

Haven't got a clue what to get

indecisive18

gabsy wrote: »

Nope I honestly couldn't tell you, I bought mine a few weeks back and the places just said filling ! Why are you waiting ? Just buy it now and create your own group so that the person can join then ?

Are you serious? I can do that?! Agh I've wasted so much time already ! Thanks for that.

gabsy

indecisive18 wrote: »

Are you serious? I can do that?! Agh I've wasted so much time already ! Thanks for that.

Yep well that's what I did anyways and then someone joined my group ! Don't worry , nobody is doing anything yet :P

little sis...

Aghh wish this thing didn't exist :mad:

Daniel2590

Anyone?

indecisive18

Daniel2590 wrote: »

Are these what you are using for practice papers?

https://hpat-ireland-reg.acer.edu.au/index.php?cmd=toBooklets

Haven't got a clue what to get

Yep they're the official practise papers but i think you get one of them when you register to do the hpat itself so there's no need to purchase that twice!

indecisive18

gabsy wrote: »

Yep well that's what I did anyways and then someone joined my group ! Don't worry , nobody is doing anything yet :P

Ah I hope so! I don't even know where to start. Like should I incorporate the hpat into part of my study during the week or what ? This probably sounds stupid but you can't overstudy the hpat can you?

Daniel2590

So should I bother getting any of them now? Or will I just wait until November? :P

indecisive18

Daniel2590 wrote: »

So should I bother getting any of them now? Or will I just wait until November? :P

It's completely up to you. If you really wanted you could get one of the other two practises booklets while you're waiting for November to come!

Daniel2590

Ok, thanks! I'll probably get them in the next week then

gabsy

little sis... wrote: »

Aghh wish this thing didn't exist :mad:

Totally agree , I think bringing in the hpat just had a negative effect overall