Can anyone help with these abstract patterns?

TheCenturion · 28 Aug 2011 at 20:49

Hi, I've got a medical admissions test coming up in a few days

eek

, and this section is killing me.

The idea is that you have two sets, A and B. You have to determine the rules that govern whether a particular box is part of set A, set B or neither set.

Here's an example:

http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/images/Abstract_Reasoning_Subtest.jpg

Quite clearly, in that example, set A contains shapes only with curved edges, and set B contains shapes only with straight edges.

These are two that I just cannot figure out:

Here's the kicker - in the exam you have about 1 minute per 5 items, so you need to figure out the pattern and answer 5 questions in that minute.

Thanks everyone

TheCenturion · 28 Aug 2011 at 21:06

Cybermyk said:
As I see it, in your sample, the question is what does the box in the right hand answer section best fit. Your two other samples don't have the questions or the example which could be related to anything or nothing in either A or B.

I wouldn't get worked up about it.

Yeah, I haven't included the questions, but it's not necessary because in order to answer them, you have to 'solve' the sets first anyway

I've been informed that the answer to the first one is that in Set A, there must be one big shape and in set B, there must be a black triangle.

Now just need to work out the second one.

TheCenturion · 28 Aug 2011 at 21:21

Cybermyk said:
I'd say A the biggest shape is striped and B the smallest.

Thank you so much! That was really bugging me. I think that's it, because all the questions fit in with the answers

TheCenturion · 28 Aug 2011 at 22:38

tres said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one hating abstract reasoning!

Are you applying for this year? Have you taken your test yet?

TheCenturion · 28 Aug 2011 at 22:46

tres said:
Test booked for the 19th September, and applying for 11/12 also

Good luck buddy

Good luck to you too! I've considered rescheduling mine to september, it's on wednesday. But then again I might as well get it out of the way. What to do, what to do...

meghatronic said:
PS. I hope you're practicing on the 600Q book!

Of course!

But the maths is ridiculously hard in that book, and I'm really good at maths normally

Did you get a place?

TheCenturion · 28 Aug 2011 at 22:49

meghatronic said:
My personal advice is do the mock timed the morning/evening before your actual exam. It really eased me into it and I aced the QR and DA sections on my exams.

I found my VR too ambiguous (i.e., I could argue false or can't tell) and AR was ridiculous, as always.

I thought I was really good at Verbal. did a kaplan mock today and got 32/44. Not bad.

But did really badly on Decision, even though it's really really really easy

TheCenturion · 28 Aug 2011 at 22:59

meghatronic said:
Not applied yet! Took UKCAT last week. Graduate-entry medicine shindig.

The QR in the actual exam is more similar to the UKCAT practice SHORT test - so take a look at that if you have time.

Good luck!

Nice. What was your overall score?

I can get most verbal things, I also sometimes get confused between false and can't tell.

The short test qr is easy for me thank god!

I don't know if I've practised enough. I've done all the 600q questions, most of them twice now. I've done the official practice tests, the kaplan practice test as well. The only thing left is the 600q mock. Yet I don't really feel prepared :\

TheCenturion · 29 Aug 2011 at 12:17

meghatronic said:
675avg, which is a little low tbh.

Got 590(!!!!!!!!!!!) in AR which dragged me down a lot as I got 740 in DA and 760 QR and I think 610 on VR, which was my lowest VR mark across all practices.

Apart from AR, that's an amazing score! I would love to get 675 to be honest. 700 is still the dream though, but I'd be very satisfied with 675.

Arrrggghh it's in 2 days :mad:

TheCenturion · 29 Aug 2011 at 14:08

meghatronic said:
(last year) for graduate-entry London (most) and Newcastle & maybe others you need >700 tbh. And Imperial have a >650 per section (not average) requirement! ****!

There's still loads that you can apply to if that's true though, there's always a route in

For undergraduate entry though 675 would be an amazing score. I know someone who applied this year, they applied to Bart's twice - for undergraduate and graduate. They got an offer for undergrad, but not grad. Maybe consider that? Unfortunately it means a longer course though.

In other words though, I'm screwed. Just did the official practice test and got the following results:

VR 32/44
QR 23/36
AR 19/65

mad

DA 17/28

(

If the maths is easier in the real thing than the long practice test, hopefully I'm in for a good maths score. VR should hopefully be alright as well. Just the other 2 are messing me up. DA is easier in the 600q book because the answers aren't too close together and it's usually fairly obvious when something is missing. Not in these tests though

Tefal said:
without the part we're meant to put with the others though it will be hard to figure out the relevant things.

I see what you mean, but the whole point of the test is that you should know the pattern before you answer the questions. Either way, I've realised the pattern now so all is good.

TheCenturion · 29 Aug 2011 at 15:04

meghatronic said:
Zero funding for 5yr course for graduates. I don't have that kind of money.

Fair enough. Are you going to be doing the BMAT as well?

meghatronic said:
The point of the practice tests are to let you practice and increase your exposure to question types. I wouldn't pay attention to your score too much from them..

Thanks, but having done several hundred AR questions now, I would have thought that I could get more than that. Would you say from your experience that the AR was easier than the practice tests? I'm only worried because it's 2 days till my exam :\

TheCenturion · 29 Aug 2011 at 20:29

Wow. Did the 600q mock and got an average of 570.

WTF?!

meghatronic - is it supposed to be like this?

TheCenturion · 29 Aug 2011 at 22:27

okay I'll try that. That gives me...

642.5

That looks a lot better really. Phew. Thanks mate

I think I'll be aiming for 650+ on wednesday.

TheCenturion · 30 Aug 2011 at 12:16

Right the test is tomorrow :eek:

I think I'm just gonna go do loads of AR to get the patterns into my head :\

TheCenturion · 31 Aug 2011 at 10:12

Thanks for the tips guys

The test is today. I'm going to grab that test and

TheCenturion · 31 Aug 2011 at 16:40

Boom! 730

TheCenturion · 31 Aug 2011 at 21:57

Now I'm struggling to pick which universities to apply to

TheCenturion · 31 Aug 2011 at 22:46

dowie said:
Nice of the OP to ask for help and actually make the questions slightly harder for anyone trying to help him by not actually bothering to include the full question.

Once again, I was asking for the pattern. It got figured out anyway. The whole point of the exam is to figure out the pattern, then ask the questions.

Stop bringing it up, the problem is solved :cool:

TheCenturion · 1 Sep 2011 at 00:04

Jolteh said:
Grats dude, that's a top score!

The trick is now to pick universities that use a UKCAT cut off to determine interview invites. Places like Manchester and Newcastle/Durham are examples.

Unless you've got a burning desire to go to a particular city, make sure you avoid universities that place little or no value in UKCAT, such as Liverpool.

Thanks friend. My plan is to get as many interviews as possible (at least 3) because the chance of an offer increases significantly post interview.

I'm thinking 3 UKCAT universities + Birmingham. I am having second thoughts about Birmingham, but I've still got a month and a bit to decide.

Definitely applying to King's. I'm pretty much guaranteed an interview there. I'm also thinking about applying to Barts, Nottingham, Leicester. Maybe if I struggle for a 4th choice I'll look at Brighton Sussex and East Anglia

TheCenturion · 1 Sep 2011 at 00:23

With regards to competitiveness, these days, there's not much difference, they're all approx 5-6 applicants per place

I think with King's at the moment, they balance GCSEs with UKCAT to determine who gets an interview. So I think I'm safe on that front.

The problem with Manchester/Durham is that they're too far away for my liking. I'd ideally like to be somewhere that's not much more than a couple of hours car drive away from home.

The rest of my application is solid. I just gotta perfect my personal statement now really, and then I'm good to go. God this is starting to scare the crap out of me, I have one month, and all I have is a first draft which my dad laughed at

TheCenturion · 1 Sep 2011 at 11:56

Jolteh said:
5-6 seems about right for most, KCL is 11 per place though according to last year's prospectus.

A laugh for your statement isn't necessarily a bad thing. In mine I put that I developed a passion for science from reading New Scientist on the loo!

But in my case he laughed because it was laughable

Nix said:
Congrats Anant.

Meghatronic, are you planning on entering medicine now?

Cheers bud

Doohickey said:
Do it!!

And congratulations/good luck

Actually, I say good luck, what I mean is get out while you still can. I hate my job. Ok maybe not hate, but being increasingly disillusioned and demotivated for the past 2 years hasn't helped.

I remember a thread I made 2 years ago, you told me that you were an FY1 then, what are you doing now mate?

Just about ever doctor I've spoken to has told me how crap their job is, and gone off on a rant, but when I grill them on it, they crack and admit that they love their job and wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.