warning to all those thinking of taking BMAT

**alicia123** · 07-06-2005, 12:06 PM

ok this may sound a bit cynical but I just want to let you know..because my school failed to tell me (cos they are crap at university advice etc..).

i applied to cambridge, and hence had to take the bmat. my a-levels are biology, chemistry, maths and music. you would think I would be fine, seeing as the BMAT website says you only need "double science GCSE and maths GCSE" to be able to do the paper. however, i would seriously disagree with this statement, having done double science and maths GCSE (and got A*s).

i do chemistry, biology and maths A-level so those sides were covered, but the physics was completely impossible! there is no way that you would be able to complete the paper without at least AS knowledge of bio/chem/maths/physics. so i strongly reccommend that if you are looking to apply somewhere where the BMAT is required, make sure you are taking these subjects to AS level, or get some extra help from a teacher or something.

i know it sounds extremely negative but I was rejected by cambridge. my rejection letter was lovely and saying how well i did in interview etc. but they could not accept me as they were only accepting people who had scored in the top quartile of the BMAT scores.

this may not be the case for all universities/colleges that use the BMAT, but i would definitely think about getting some extra help!

ooh and another thing...the BMAT is way harder than the specimen one on the website!

wow that was negative..anyway good luck!
if you want to ask any more questions, just pm me!

xxx

**matbence** · 07-06-2005, 10:49 PM

im doing chemistry physics biology maths and further maths at AS currently, what stuff may i find helpful to get a good result?

**chiggy** · 08-06-2005, 01:03 AM

I would look at the practice paper on the BMAT website, the exam we did seemed a lot harder but it gives you a good idea. A lot of the questions are just about thinking logically but the science questions were tricky but you shoudl be alright doing them at AS. I thought by far the main difficulty was the time and also each question is only worth one mark but were of difffernet difficulty so try not to waste to much time on really diffilcut questions. Look at the BMAT website as that has more advice but they do say you should not really need to revise for the exam. Also look at how the unis use the BMAT for selction like Oxford this year were much more selectful than Cambridge for interviews. Good luck anyway for November.

**matbence** · 08-06-2005, 03:29 PM

ye thanx, what preparation can i do for the essay? Or are you jus supposed to use general knowledge of current affairs?

**Huw Davies** · 08-06-2005, 04:06 PM

I think it helps to know about specifically scientific topics: go for a readable popular science author such as Stephen Jay Gould, Steven Pinker or Richard Dawkins.
If you didn't do triple science, make sure you've filled in the blanks between the double curriculum and the triple, which is used for the BMAT. Most especially for any science you aren't do, but even for those you are there may be the occasional thing that's left out or is now over-explained.
Get practised at doing things fast - mental maths in particular. Also at estimating plausible answers and eliminating possible ones. In the science paper in particular you will be very pushed for time.
Be familiar with which units are equivalent - this is often easier than remembering formulas, and they sometimes ask questions specifically on units.

**matbence** · 08-06-2005, 04:51 PM

ill hav to get a bit of light reading in. Ive dun GCSE triple science, maths (and astronomy :-s) and an OU course in genetics, but is it all science and maths based? Cant they just look at your results for maths and science?

**Huw Davies** · 08-06-2005, 04:57 PM

Well, since they're trying to avoid the effects of intensive coaching and make it more equitable for people at schools which do not get such good exam results, I'd say no...

**Jiny** · 08-06-2005, 05:11 PM

I don't think that BMAT requires very advanced science knowledge - much less so that GAMSAT which is A-level. My impression was that it was based on about GCSE-level work but that the questions are about using the information in unusual ways. Although I didn't find it much fun to do, I did think that it was a very clever paper in that it really did look for scientific aptitude (ie ability to manipulate knowledge in new ways) rather than reams of knowledge. There is also a lot of time pressure which demands that you can use the information quickly too. It's certainly no walk-in-the-park.

**e_sin_ohm** · 08-06-2005, 06:44 PM

Oh, make sure you learn your KS3 science stuff. I was caught out doing the specimen when I couldn't remember where fertilisation occurs. Apparently, although that wasn't in the GCSE stuff, it was in the KS3 wayyyy back....

**Ching** · 10-06-2005, 09:05 AM

I remember someone saying something about that- it could even have been "Buzfvar"

;

There did seem to be a lot of stuff there that I don't know if I could have done if I'd dropped Maths, Chem or Physics. I wasn't too bothered by the Bio stuff though; and it did certainly seem to be within the IGCSE syllabus (note that I do say IGCSE; and I did the three sciences separately and not as a double Sciene award- so it could be different). Certainly, having continued on with Maths, Chem and Physics helps with the confidence if anything; and having the extra knowledge does help the time pressure a little bit. Although I don't think you'd find a single person who didn't find the Science paper just a wee bit... hurried

.

Don't forget about the writing section either- I know that it doesn't figure prominently in the selection process, but the questions (for me at least) do take some getting used to. That external site they use for practice- the one where they explain the answer is also good as well.