Verbal Reasoning strategy

**Maria87** · 06-05-2012, 04:46 PM

This is my weakest section. I'd appreciate if those with high VR score can share how they go about answering the questions considering the time constraint.

Do you read the passage quickly and then answer the questions? or do you look for key elements in the quesion and find the corresponding line in the passage and then answer the question?

The last tme I sat the UKCAT (2007) I got 560 in VR!

Thanks in advance!

**new2newmedia** · 07-05-2012, 02:14 AM

My VR score wasn't brilliant but I think it has to be the second option - read the question, find the key words (place names etc are a God send if they come up) then just double check that nothing contradicts it later in the text.

It might seem obvious with VR but if you're not sure, make sure you eliminate any options you know it can't be so that you're left with a 1/2 chance rather than a 1/3.

You have plenty of time to practise and get better.

Good luck.

**MattKneale** · 09-05-2012, 05:48 PM

VR is probably my best section from what I remember from my pre-Uni days. Some people may contradict what I suggest or actively discourage it, but I think it depends what kind of reader you are. I'm pretty quick at reading, so I read the question first and then skim read the passage and look for key words from the question. This works in a lot of cases, and you can very easily pick out True or False statements this way.

Where you have to be careful is where the passage is cryptic and not very explicit i.e. not giving the same words as in the question. In this case I'd again advise to read the question and skim the text, but if you find nothing try to identify the most relevant section of the text and read it more thoroughly.

This method only works if you're a quick reader; if you're slow then it will waste your time and I'd advise another method!

Hope this helps,

Matt

**richadam** · 09-05-2012, 11:59 PM

Matt Kneale, can I ask what your academic background is?

I too have the same plan as you. Take UKCAT, if I don't think my score will be competitive enough, then I'll go ahead and cram for GAMSAT. However, with no science since GCSE, that'd leave me what? less than 3 months. Do you think that will be enough for you?

**MattKneale** · 10-05-2012, 02:22 AM

Hi Richadam, glad I'm not alone! My background is science so I'm not in the same position as you -- I did my A levels in biology, chemistry, physics but not well enough to do medicine. I'm studying biomedical science at the University of Salford and hoping to go on from there. Not ideal but it's do-able!

If you have no A-level Science background I thoroughly recommend revising earlier than UKCAT time (i.e. now!). Even after doing A-levels and a degree a lot of the content is new to me and I'm really gonna have to work for it (I've started already just in case I do have to sit the GAMSAT). I'd start now if I were you, even just as a contingency. Even if you do well in the UKCAT and don't do it, you've saved yourself a bit of effort at medical school

**richadam** · 10-05-2012, 03:57 AM

I just did a mock UKCAT. Granted, I was distracted by a variety of things, but I still did pretty terrible.

Verbal and Abstract reasoning I 'ok' in (although with a bit of prep I think I will do very well in the exam).

QV - Not so good. I can do the maths, it just tends to take me ages. I need to work on that.

Didn't bother with the last section as I knew I'd done badly in the QV and so was annoyed.

I've ordered the 600 UKCAT book, so will work through that daily I think. The beauty with these sorts of tests is that with some frequent practice, you can improve greatly.

I understand your point about GAMSAT and it does make sense; but I don't think I can allocate any more time to it. I have my heart set on Warwick you see, so I'd rather go all out and nail the UKCAT and try and get in there. I have however covered all the Biology, and may cover my Bio notes once a week to keep it fresh, leaving me with my Organic Chem for dummies book to work through post UKCAT should I not get a good enough score... At the end of the day though, I'm only going for 2013 on a spare of the moment decision really, so it's not the end of the world should I not make it. I'd originally anticipated going for 2014, but thought I may as well have a crack at an application to see how it goes.

Just out of interest though, does any one know how much emphasis is put on previous science by Warwick? I know of 2 people who got in last years intake who had BioChem degrees, but very very little experience (one had done a month with St John's). Whereas I will have a good amount of experience, and lots to talk about, but no science background beyond GCSE. Thoughts?

**MattKneale** · 10-05-2012, 05:32 PM

Don't be too disheartened, QR I think the most challenging part of the process for those of us without a strong maths background. Whilst I did physics, I still find doing maths quickly a difficult thing to do. It does come with practice, I recommend doing GCSE maths papers as they're about the same standard. The 600Q book is, according to most, much harder than the actual test when it comes to QR so don't be too put off by it, just try your best and take in their advice at the start of the chapter.

I really can't stress enough how much of a beast the GAMSAT is for someone with a science background, let alone someone who hasn't done it since GCSE. Whilst I commend you for learning a lot of the biology content, Chemistry is just as big a part of the test and it's not just organic. It's also quite advanced with non-organic chemistry, and then there's the physics A2 content!

Even if your heart is set on Warwick, if you have any possibility of applying for a GAMSAT uni then do the work now because I doubt three months will be enough to learn all the chemistry and physics -- they're harder to learn than biology from a non-science background point of view because they are more abstract and mathematical, rather than just wrote-learning like biology. If you don't do as well as planned on the UKCAT you may waste £195 on the GAMSAT if you don't put the work in, and then have to do it all again the following year. I know it's a pain to learn all the content when there's no guarantee you need to but I'm in the same boat, as well as many others!

Finally, about Warwick, they didn't take people from your kind of background until this coming application year, so it's unchartered territory. If you have the degree to 2:1 standard and you pass the UKCAT to a high enough standard (likely to be around 700 this year with the increased applications), then you won't be quizzed further on your science ability. HOWEVER, it will be your responsbility to learn it in med school so the more you do now, the less you'll have to do then!

**richadam** · 10-05-2012, 05:49 PM

Hmmm, I do see your point, but, I just simply don't have time at the moment.

I've read lots of people on here from non-science backgrounds studying for GAMSAT in sub 5 months.. If I have the Biology covered, then you never know, I may do enough in them 2 months to pass. After all, it's a multiple choice exam.

I have worked through some GAMSAT papers, and have averaged roughly 45% with just my Biology knowledge in the science sections. Granted, I really enjoy Physics, and so I do ok in that section too. So I need to add 5-10% to that.. 2 months is surely enough time to do that? In fact, if I don't pass UKCAT, I will most certainly ask for reduced hours at work and try and commit 4 days a week to studying.

At the moment, however, I'd rather focus my little spare time on UKCAT. IF I was to get offered a place, then of course I'd do my best to learn as much as possible between the time of the offer and starting med school by working through A level text books and the like.

**richadam** · 10-05-2012, 05:51 PM

In fact, the likelihood is, if I managed to get 45% with just my knowledge in them two sections, and if I just picked 'B' on every other question, I'd get 55%....

**MattKneale** · 10-05-2012, 06:19 PM

Statistics say you'd get the extra 10% just by guessing, but in real life things don't always go that way as the chance is also there that every time you guess B it's wrong, or it's less common to be B than it is C and so on. How do you choose which letter? Which one gives you the best chance of maximising your score? The truth is there is no best letter because it depends on the individual question makers!

When I said you'd need more than 3 months I was indeed assuming this would be a few hours a night, perhaps, rather than taking days off work and doing revision to a work day schedule i.e. 8 hours a day! If you do that, I'm sure you could cover it in less time.