*Everything HPAT and Medicine 2012*

SpirantSpem

fleeflyfloflum wrote: »

Hey,

Just wondering is there a prize/bursary etc. for getting the top score or anything?

Some of the prep courses have prizes for their top scoring students. They also invite the top performers back to work for them, or so I've heard!

spurious

SpirantSpem wrote: »

Some of the prep courses have prizes for their top scoring students. They also invite the top performers back to work for them, or so I've heard!

I wonder what they do with the people whose scores were lower after their 'prep' courses.

Oops, not such good advertising there, eh?

RADON99

Guys, for all of you who are disappointed and still in school my best advice is to just work as hard as you can to do well in your leaving cause it'll stand to you. I got 156 and 40 th percentile last year but got 545 in my leaving cert and did honours maths so now on 570. I went into physiotherapy in UCD and had a great year and repeated the hpat. This time round i got 215 and 99th percentile so I managed to jump 59 percentile ranks and 59 points overall so it is possible. So keep the chin up and work hard, you'l get there someday if it's what you really want

stranger101

AnnoyedStudent wrote: »

It does matter though when she takes away from my score and others' scores. It's totally disgusting. I despise liars

I really don't see why you are so worked up about this. You should concentrate on your own achievement if you did well, another girl doing better than you shouldnt really matter. Also I'm not a fan of the hpat
but the one thing it does is give the opportunity to people who may not be quite as good in school to get into medicine, so maybe she may not be "bright" in her school tests but has just excelled in the hpat. it just sounds like you're jealous.

QueenOfLeon

Glitt_123 wrote: »

guys seriously before looking at ure posts no one mentioned abt this medicine points rise. chillax, i doubt that the lowest is going to be 747 or whatever. dont be worried esp. those of u who have got ureselves a score in the 740's or even 730's. last yr 725 got in!!
and btw im seeing some great results here, this yr was my first yr doing the hpat n ill b sitting my lc for the 1st time dis yr and tbh i did study a lot for this but i didnt do good, i plan to repeat the hpat net yr so any advice and tips would be much appreciated

tahina wrote: »

Omg da amount of sad faces in skool afta da results wer unbelievable it was like sum1 died

Just a quick reminder that there is a No Text Speak policy on boards.

Also, 728 was the lowest that got in last year, not 725 (by normal undergraduate entry, not counting HEAR scores).

hollingr

eia340600 wrote: »

I can't see the points skyrocketing at all this year. I'd say a 4 or 5 point rise is likely but past that there's no justification. Applications are down and hpat scores are the same or down. The only thing raising scores is higher Maths and that will only bring points up by about 5 because the vast majority getting med are scoring over 550 anyway.

- applications aren't down according to CAO statistics, see my post a few pages back.

- i think you are right about 'most' being over 550 anyways, but there may be a sizeable increase in the nr of people getting over 550 due to the extra points for honours maths.. this is adding to the competition and may drive up points significantly.. time will tell!


p.s no text speak. winning!

kayleigh01

QueenOfLeon wrote: »

Also, 728 was the lowest that got in last year, not 725 (by normal undergraduate entry, not counting HEAR scores).

Where can this information be found?

And does anyone know what the lowest to get in with a HEAR score was? (I know that's a touchy subject but I'm just wondering if I've got any chance of getting in now.)

Helloxoxo

tweetybird4848 wrote: »

Hi I didnt get med last year and it was a huge knock! I then went into science and repeated the hpat! i put a huge amount of work in and managed to increase my hpat percentile from 40 to 95! I am now on 748 points but am now beginning to worry that points will skyrocket and i still wont get in anywhere! Does anyone have any insight into or thoughts on how much the points will increase! thanks !

I think that most people will need 550 to get into med with a good hpat, so bonus maybe points will be the equivalent of only 5 points for a lot of people! So I can only see a max of 10points rise, so if you have all meds down id say Galway at 738 would be the highest possible? Its more likely that courses wont go up as much, hopefully not 10 points!

hollingr

spurious wrote: »

I wonder what they do with the people whose scores were lower after their 'prep' courses.

Oops, not such good advertising there, eh?

it is down to the day in fairness... you could be getting top marks in all their practise tests and then tank on the day because you didn't get enough sleep or messed up timing on section 1 etc etc... you have a much better chance of improving your score by doing prep than not, and the more prep you do the better the chance you have at improving.

Also, just because your parents fork out dough for a course doesn't mean you are going to use it effectively..

seriouslysweet

I wouldn't worry about what others got. I've told nobody only my parents what I got and I'm very happy. Best of luck to everyone. On an aside, the top results I've heard of did NO prep course.

Helloxoxo

seriouslysweet wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about what others got. I've told nobody only my parents what I got and I'm very happy. Best of luck to everyone. On an aside, the top results I've heard of did NO prep course.

I know a lot of people going for med and we all did a prep course together, while a few weren't too happy, we had a 100th, two 99ths, a 98th, a 97th, a 95th, a 94th, two 93rds and 2 91s and in the mock hpat we were given expected results and only 1 got lower and 3 of us got in our expected range so you can definitely improve! If you put time in!

hollingr

If you did a survey of everyone who gets into medicine this year, I would bet my bottom dollar that the majority did do some kind of prep course other than the official booklets.

Some people have been inadvertently "preparing" for the hpat their whole lives, are very intelligent, and will excel and get 100th percentile without prep... these people are the minority though, and I wouldn't use them as reason not to do prep because they are very exceptional.

fleeflyfloflum

Helloxoxo wrote: »

I know a lot of people going for med and we all did a prep course together, while a few weren't too happy, we had a 100th, two 99ths, a 98th, a 97th, a 95th, a 94th, two 93rds and 2 91s and in the mock hpat we were given expected results and only 1 got lower and 3 of us got in our expected range so you can definitely improve! If you put time in!

I would have to echo that. I received (as it would appear through the graph) the highest result this year, and I did the (in)famous prep course. I think that the practice material certainly did help, it stands to reason you would be more confident going in having done questions and full practice tests. Repeats appear to preform better, I would imagine a great deal of this is due to the fact they have experienced the questions already, and the best way to simulate that is by doing a prep course.

Also, do remember it isn't always parents that pay our the money, mine didn't, and I know of others who earned it themselves too!

SpirantSpem

hollingr wrote: »

- applications aren't down according to CAO statistics, see my post a few pages back.

- i think you are right about 'most' being over 550 anyways, but there may be a sizeable increase in the nr of people getting over 550 due to the extra points for honours maths.. this is adding to the competition and may drive up points significantly.. time will tell!

While I don't see the points been driven up significantly this year due to the leveling off of HPAT scores, I do see random selection being the norm for all colleges as more people will have over 550 with the honours maths points. Random selection is the most unfair way to lose out on a place in Medicine, and will hopefully lead to an urgent reform of entry to this course!

QueenOfLeon

hollingr wrote: »

If you did a survey of everyone who gets into medicine this year, I would bet my bottom dollar that the majority did do some kind of prep course other than the official booklets.

Some people have been inadvertently "preparing" for the hpat their whole lives, are very intelligent, and will excel and get 100th percentile without prep... these people are the minority though, and I wouldn't use them as reason not to do prep because they are very exceptional.

But how can you ever prove that these people wouldn't have done just as well had they not done the prep courses? As far as I'm aware, no statistics have ever been released showing HPAT scores vs prep courses. You'll always hear of the people who did well after doing the prep courses, but there are plenty who won't have done as well - there have to be ~1500 people (at least, can't remember the number who sat it this year) under the 50th percentile, the same amount of these could have done prep courses as those that did better.

hollingr

QueenOfLeon wrote: »

But how can you ever prove that these people wouldn't have done just as well had they not done the prep courses? As far as I'm aware, no statistics have ever been released showing HPAT scores vs prep courses. You'll always hear of the people who did well after doing the prep courses, but there are plenty who won't have done as well - there have to be ~1500 people (at least, can't remember the number who sat it this year) under the 50th percentile, the same amount of these could have done prep courses as those that did better.

Well, I can't hand you a piece of paper with a graph to prove what I'm saying, I have no schrodingers cats to test both hypotheses simultaneously! I can argue my case using logic though.

Remember I am merely giving my opinion, take it or leave it. Personally, I think ACER are telling a barefaced lie when they say preparation doesn't work.


1. There is a finite amount of question types which they use for s1 and s3. By exposure to the different types, you do improve and can spot your weaknesses and avoid wasting time on questions you know you are not good at.

Example 1: true/false logic style questions, I was terrible at them but after extensive prep they became my best questions in section 1.

Example 2: spotting patterns in section 3, such as an object moving clockwise 45°, then anti-clockwise 90, then clockwise 180, then anticlockwise 270.. very hard to spot patterns like this without having seen them before


2. Practising timing: section 1 and 3 is all about pacing, if you aren't naturally good at it, prep will help you to learn the ability to just "move on" when you get stuck on a question, and know which ones to skip immediately and come back to if you have time.

3. Questions actually came up in the exam this year that I had seen before. There was a question on heart rates and link to smoking/cholesterol and I was able to do this question in a few seconds thanks to prep. Another question came up about shuffling cards. I knew exactly how to answer it, took 30 seconds.. without prep it would have taken me 5 minutes to figure it out. These small victories give you an edge over people of the same level of intelligence as yourself, who haven't done prep.

This also backs up my point that there is only a finite amount of question types!

I also think there is a direct link between how fast your brain can process information and how well you can score in this test. It is one of the main skills the hpat tests in section 1 and 3. With practise, you can hone this skill.. Build ability and concentration levels. I think some can sharpen more than others and I think this applies especially to mature students who are a long time out of education and maybe a bit rusty with cobwebs in the brain!

FaoiSin

I just can't see the relevancy of this exam. Surely interviews would make more sense.

tomm881

Is there any chance of getting into Nuig with a leaving cert of 600 (including 25 for the maths) and with a hpat of 167?

skinny malinky

I got 193, 93rd percentile and I didn't do any prep course. I started my own prep 5 days before the exam and all it consisted of was doing the two practice booklets they supply you with. I think what really worked for me was remaining calm. If I didn't know a question I told myself "everyone else is probably stuck on it too." The h-pat is designed to trick you, the real test is how you respond to that.

Ally7

I did a prep course and did terribly, 156. I literally can't understand how I bombed it so badly, I did plenty of prep and my scores were improving! I'm just not sure what to do now.

kayleigh01

tomm881 wrote: »

Is there any chance of getting into Nuig with a leaving cert of 600 (including 25 for the maths) and with a hpat of 167?

There's a chance, but if the points go up you might miss out. I'd keep it in your CAO, just in case, but make sure you have solid back up plans if things don't work out.

butterfli

Which is better for medicine, Trinity or UCD?

kayleigh01

butterfli wrote: »

Which is better for medicine, Trinity or UCD?

That's all a matter of opinion. Neither one would be better or worse, but it depends on your personal preference. Take a look at the Trinity & UCD Medicine threads on here and see if you can get a feel for what they're like.

finality

butterfli wrote: »

Which is better for medicine, Trinity or UCD?

Trinity's course is a year shorter as far as I know, for that reason it would be my first choice.

kitty9

finality wrote: »

Trinity's course is a year shorter as far as I know, for that reason it would be my first choice.

and its the BEST uni in ireland. :pac::pac::pac:

skinny malinky

butterfli wrote: »

Which is better for medicine, Trinity or UCD?

Use the search engine in the top right hand corner to find info on medicine in Trinity or UCD. If you're from Dublin, keep in mind whichever is closer to you, as they are (apparently) on a level par in terms of reputation. Oh and don't forget RCSI is in Dublin too.

butterfli

Thanks for the answers

Is it a bad idea to include all 5 medicine courses on my cao?

Helloxoxo

butterfli wrote: »

Thanks for the answers

Is it a bad idea to include all 5 medicine courses on my cao?

I'm including all 5 as I live in Dublin so naturally will put the 3 Dublin colleges down. Then Galway is usually the lowest and I would be kicking myself if I could have gotten in to med but taken Galway off the list so that's down! I'm not sure about leaving cork on.. Because I'd prefer Galway to Cork so if Galway was out ahead of
Cork it would be essentially wasting space? But right now I have all 5 down

skinny malinky

butterfli wrote: »

Thanks for the answers

Is it a bad idea to include all 5 medicine courses on my cao?

I am when I do it next year!

I have a question in relation to that... does anyone know if there's a limit on the number of courses you can put on your CAO?

kayleigh01

skinny malinky wrote: »

I am when I do it next year!

I have a question in relation to that... does anyone know if there's a limit on the number of courses you can put on your CAO?

10 level 8's and 10 level 7/6's.

I have all of the Med courses down. 3 Dublin and then Cork and Galway. I don't think there's any harm in putting them all down!