UMAT Section I – A test of Time-Management

UMAT Section I deal with logical reasoning and problem solving skills of a UMAT aspirant. ACER has designed this section particularly to analyze the aptitude ability of a candidate. Since UMAT is a medical entrance test, therefore, the qualified individuals should possess all the necessary qualities of would be medical practitioner. In Medical professions, data interpretation and logical reasoning are the most important criteria to success. Keeping this in mind, ACER has also included another extra parameter for section I to make the selection process, a degree stricter. That efficient yet decisive extra parameter is – Time management. In the next paragraphs we will try to understand the reason behind including this parameter and its emphasis on the Section I of UMAT.

UMAT Section I contains 44 questions with multiple choice alternatives. The time allotted for completing the whole section is 65 minutes only. This means, you have to answer a single question in less than 2 minutes. Now, the background passages supporting the questions are often containing some graphs, tables or flowcharts. A candidate has to spend some considerable amount of time understanding the passage and then have to collate the multiple parameters discussed in it. It requires serious amount of concentration to find the hidden clues or hints and then relating them with each other to get to the correct answer. So, from a UMAT candidate’s point of view, this is quite difficult to achieve in less than 2 minutes. But, since ACER has designed the UMAT test like this, so there is no other way except completing as many questions as one can in the allotted time. To maximise that count of correct answering, we need to focus on the “time management” factor. The first and foremost step to efficiently reduce the time-spent on answering a question is by speed-reading. Speed-reading enables a candidate to understand the main theme or major statements of the concerned passage, in a much shorter time than normal reading. This way, we save a considerable portion of time in reading and understanding the passage. Second step involves finding the correct alternative among the multiple choice questions (MCQs), in minimum amount of time. For that, we must concentrate on the main words in the question and then collate it directly with the portion of the background passage related to those words. Going through the passage all way down consumes greater amount of time which we can’t afford to lose at all.

There are many other ways of time-management, which varies for different types of tests and one has to find the appropriate for their specific need. But, each and every method needs serious dedication and continuous practice to master the skill of “time management”. “Management” is a word which develops with experience. Hence, better start gaining that precious experience with continuous practice for the final day of UMAT.