Msap exam for university

Clo14

Hi all,

I am hoping to go back to college in September but for the course that I want to do I will have to apply through cao and sit the MSAP exam, this is for mature students only.

This is for the social work course in UCC, can anyone tell me what kind of questions I would be asked in this exam or is there anywhere that I can get practice ones?

Thanks a mil!!

LINE45

If you ring the Mature Student Office they will be able to help. They held a mock one last year.

Clo14

LINE45 wrote: »

If you ring the Mature Student Office they will be able to help. They held a mock one last year.

Oh cool, that's great thanks for letting me know that!

Mr.Saturn

Hey, I did it this year for enrollment last September. There's 2 essays, one argumentative and one reflective; they'd be looking for around a page/page and a half for both. I imagine you're doing paper 2 as well, and not 3, but it's basically just a long MCQ that tries to trip you up, but it's okayish enough.
I found the MSAP threads in the Mature Student forum to be quite helpful in prepping.

Hope this helps.

Clo14

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

Hey, I did it this year for enrollment last September. There's 2 essays, one argumentative and one reflective; they'd be looking for around a page/page and a half for both. I imagine you're doing paper 2 as well, and not 3, but it's basically just a long MCQ that tries to trip you up, but it's okayish enough.
I found the MSAP threads in the Mature Student forum to be quite helpful in prepping.

Hope this helps.

That's great, cheers for that! What subject were the essays on? Yeah I will have a look at those they will help!.....not really looking forward to it at all!!

Mr.Saturn

They change every year. There's a list of around 4 for each, ours was based around religion vs science for the argument, and something about the health benefits of friendship for the reflection.

[Jackass] wrote a very helpful post in the MSAP 2013 thread at the start of the year.

[Jackass] wrote: »

I did this a couple of years ago, I think if you google MSAP you can get an idea of what they are like, but personally, I just brushed up on the essay part, as I'm not sure how much you can prepare for the abstract part of the test. I actually did quite well, but hadn't much of a clue what was going on whilst doing it, so don't panic if you're not sure of most of your answers, they're designed to melt your head, so just stay calm, read over the questions, take a moment to think about it and then give your best attempt at an answer. I seem to recall it was multiple choice, but you might want to check that, I'm not 100% sure on that.

With regards to the essay, I know it sounds simple enough, but it's worth remembering before you go in - don't just run off on a tagent with whatever they ask you about - they don't really care what you have to say on the subject (As you're not being tested on your knowledge of the 3rd world or the oil industry or whatever they ask you to comment on) what they're looking for is your ability to clearly and concisely structure and present a balanced observation on whatever the topic is, so:

1/ Start with an introduction:

"In this essay I will be discussing ....."
I also often try and put in two main points I will discuss, basically each side of the argument if you can - like a positive and negative - "The use of oil is an efficient and readily available resource for fueling industry, however it will not last forever and it may be time to explore alternative sources of energy for the future" (I think my question was about oil or alternative energy or something random like that)

2/ The Body of your argument.

Start focusing on one side of your argument - think of three points to make and write three paragraphs
*oil is an efficient fuel which is ingrained in todays society
*Many industries are dependant on it and it is a large industry within its self, contributing large amounts to producing nations wealth and producing many jobs
*Some may argue that if it is not broken, why try to fix it? Oil is a perfectly acceptable form of fuel for the future.

Then switch tact, go the other way...
*However it is a depleating and non-renewable source, and sooner or later we will have to explore alternative sources of energy and others might argue that there is no time like the present
*Oil is a dirty fuel and research and mass adoptation of other fuel sources would be good for the enviornment
* Technology already exists to use alternative fuel sources and all that it will take is the common will to adapt.

3/ Then summarise and express an opinion:

"In summary, there are various sides to this argument, however I feel it would be beneficial to invest in our future...blah blah blah"

I know the above seems obvious, but it's worth keeping it in mind and practice a few. It's only a short essay - ask some family or friends to give you some questions to write a short essay on - like, I don't know, How do you feel about European Integration or whatever...

As long as you have that fresh in your head going in, as many people will get over excited and just start spilling their brain out on the page and forget to stop and think before writing and remember it's all about balance and structure.

I did really well on my essay part, so I'd say that is 90% of the reason why, because my content was complete waffle...it's not important what you say, it's how you say it. Also, write in a formal tone.

BEST OF LUCK!

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