MSAP 2018

The Sniggles

Hi guys, I was looking for a thread and havnt found one for the upcoming MSAP.

As an exam there does not seem to be prep courses or material available. With english as a 2nd language Im not sure how to approach prep for this test.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

Mr.Saturn

The essays in part 1 are relatively handy. One for presenting a straight-faced, logical response to a prompt and the other for insight/philosophy. Both are just standard 5 paragraph academic essays about whatever stuff they concoct. In my time one was "X believes global warming is such and such" and the other was "is there any value in believing in life after death?" From what I recall, they're not marked for content but more your capacity to put forward a relatively coherent argument within a time limit. So, yeah, if you're worried about prep, maybe try and throw out a couple of essays in an hour.

Didn't do part 2 as I was a humanities major, but part 3 is just a load of essentially answering questions on a series of passages, pictures or puzzle they present to you. These seem trickier than they actually are as they're throwing a lot of info at you at once, but making sure you've understood the question fully and working backwards (I dunno if anyone beyond me has this problem) mitigates at least some of the panic.

It's years since I did mine, but happy to offer whatever insight I can.

Helpish

How indicative are the automated results of the online practice exam? I just did the two essays and it went fine, but I imagine the results could vary a decent amount in comparison to a grade from a real person. Still have to get to grips with the other sections. I suppose it's a much better idea to time a 2 or 3-hour practice exam than just doing one section, since in the real exam I'd be moving on into another section now instead of being finished.

Helpish

Also, is there any way to get practice tests graded?

vauraine

I'm not entirely sure on the specifics but I believe that UCD are holding an information evening about tackling the MSAP. That might be worth looking into.

GapMinder

I registered for the MSAP and had an option to buy materials for €20 per module so I have , haven't looked at it yet though!

Mark C

can anyone help with the registration, i select register but that promts me to the CAO page , where I log in and nothing happens!

plumber77

Mark C wrote: »

can anyone help with the registration, i select register but that promts me to the CAO page , where I log in and nothing happens!

You need to scroll down to the menu at the bottom of the Irish Acer website. Should be an option to book test there. You need to be redirected to the Australian site.

JimSmash

Hi all,

I took module 1 & 3 yesterday. I didn't buy the book and revised module 3 only with the few sample questions that are online, which I found fine.

However, I found the exam module 3 questions much, much tougher. I am currently doing a PLC in Science and have been busy with course work the last while and now I'm really not regretting buying the book and taking more time to prepare. Can't suggest buying the book enough!

How did others find it? There's no chance in hell that I'll be offered my course now, so all my eggs are in the PLC/QQI basket.

Best of luck to anyone taking the exams over the next while!

plumber77

JimSmash wrote: »

Hi all,

I took module 1 & 3 yesterday. I didn't buy the book and revised module 3 only with the few sample questions that are online, which I found fine.

However, I found the exam module 3 questions much, much tougher. I am currently doing a PLC in Science and have been busy with course work the last while and now I'm really not regretting buying the book and taking more time to prepare. Can't suggest buying the book enough!

How did others find it? There's no chance in hell that I'll be offered my course now, so all my eggs are in the PLC/QQI basket.

Best of luck to anyone taking the exams over the next while!

If you're talking about the sample book you can purchase on the MSAP site, you didn't miss much. Questions were similar to the free ones and a lot easier than the actual test. I found Module 3 had no comparison to the sample papers in terms of difficulty.I found the sample papers fine.

JimSmash

plumber77 wrote: »

If you're talking about the sample book you can purchase on the MSAP site, you didn't miss much. Questions were similar to the free ones and a lot easier than the actual test. I found Module 3 had no comparison to the sample papers in terms of difficulty.I found the sample papers fine.

Thanks for your reply. I feel a little better to hear that the book wouldn't have prepared me much better. Strange that there was such a jump in the standard...

Mashiara

I feel the same. I bought the booklet but it felt a LOT easier than the actual test. I found I didn't have enough time to complete module 3. The questions weren't necessarily very complicated, but it felt like I had a lot more instructions to read and not enough time. I'll be surprised to be taken in.

JimSmash

Mashiara wrote: »

I feel the same. I bought the booklet but it felt a LOT easier than the actual test. I found I didn't have enough time to complete module 3. The questions weren't necessarily very complicated, but it felt like I had a lot more instructions to read and not enough time. I'll be surprised to be taken in.

I couldn't believe the one question, which had an A4 of text to get through. I ran out of time too...

confused1988

When are the results for this test? Im guessing they are delayed because of the test being delayed but I've heard UCC usually carry interviews out mid april which means itll be before the results of the MSAP.... i thought being offered an interview was based on these results?

JimSmash

confused1988 wrote: »

When are the results for this test? Im guessing they are delayed because of the test being delayed but I've heard UCC usually carry interviews out mid april which means itll be before the results of the MSAP.... i thought being offered an interview was based on these results?

Still havn't heard anything myself. Maynooth got back to me today and I have an interview next week. The test was only on 31st March so fairly quick turnaround.

JimSmash

I spoke to the person who deals with UCD mature applicant queries and they explained that Acer correct the results themselves. The results are due mid-April according to the Acer website.

Mashiara

Holy smokes. I actually did better than I thought!
Module one: 90%
Module two: 79%
Module three: 93%
I guess I have a chance at being accepted, but does anyone know from previous years any people who got into their programmes and their %?

confused1988

Do you know which side of the scores are relevant... is it the percentile or the score itself?

Well done btw ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜

plumber77

confused1988 wrote: »

Do you know which side of the scores are relevant... is it the percentile or the score itself?

Well done btw ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜

It's your overall percentile rank that counts. The higher that is the better your chances. Unfortunately mine wasn't great

confused1988

Mine wasnt either.... i just rang ucc and they said it actually doesnt go like that... its on the results yes but they take the application letter more seriously than the results of this test so heres hoping 👌

Mashiara

Is there any way of knowing how many spots are allotted to mature students for certain programmes? Do I need to email the universities to find out?

Ldawg12

Mashiara wrote: »

Holy smokes. I actually did better than I thought!
Module one: 90%
Module two: 79%
Module three: 93%
I guess I have a chance at being accepted, but does anyone know from previous years any people who got into their programmes and their %?

Well done. Great results. Are they the scale numbers or the percentile rate?

confused1988

You need to ask the university themselves. The course im looking to do is just for mature students so there are roughly 30 places... some courses only allocate 2 or 3 to mature students and others could be 10. All different. I just got an email from the cao now and they updated my application. They arent using the percentile they are using the scores....

Mashiara

Ldawg12 wrote: »

Mashiara wrote: »

Holy smokes. I actually did better than I thought!
Module one: 90%
Module two: 79%
Module three: 93%
I guess I have a chance at being accepted, but does anyone know from previous years any people who got into their programmes and their %?

Well done. Great results. Are they the scale numbers or the percentile rate?

They are percentiles. I honestly did not think I would get more than 75% in Modules 2&3, I found them to be a bit overloaded with info!! It might have to do with the fact that English is not my first language. Now I need to email universities to try to find out how many spots for mature students they have in the courses I applied for...

Mashiara

confused1988 wrote: »

You need to ask the university themselves. The course im looking to do is just for mature students so there are roughly 30 places... some courses only allocate 2 or 3 to mature students and others could be 10. All different. I just got an email from the cao now and they updated my application. They arent using the percentile they are using the scores....

Thanks, I'll try doing that. I think the percentiles might be so you sort of know where you stand

Moobear82

Does anyone know when offers for interviews will start

Moobear82

Does anyone know when offers for interviews will start

JackTaylorFan

Just got my results - absolutely stunned I did so well. Never even as much as looked at a test paper before sitting it.

Overall: 92%

Moobear82

JackTaylorFan wrote: »

Just got my results - absolutely stunned I did so well. Never even as much as looked at a test paper before sitting it.

Overall: 92%

That’s a super result well done

JimSmash

Overall 90%. Nothing short of shocked. Does anyone know how long before we find out if we're called for interview or not?

JackTaylorFan

JimSmash wrote: »

Overall 90%. Nothing short of shocked. Does anyone know how long before we find out if we're called for interview or not?

I believe it's late May - but I'm only guessing based on what sparse info I could find on CAO

I imagine each college has their own dates for these things.