By Celine
The BMAT is less than a month away, and here are some of my tips to prepare for the test:
1. Go through the guides and tips on the official BMAT website. It helps you to have a good idea of what to expect and how to approach the questions.
2. Practice practice practice. Have a schedule and do some practice questions every day. I would recommend getting at least one third-party question bank (a book, an online question bank, etc.) and finish the questions several days before the test. This way you will have some spare time to go over the questions which you got wrong last time. You might be able to find second-hand test prep books, which are often quite a lot cheaper than the brand new ones.
3. I was trained to always look for a shortcut trick or the simplest way to solve the problem. However, for many questions in Section I, there is no shortcut even when the ‘obvious’ approach seems so complicated. The sooner you realise this, the more time you will have for working out the solution.
4. The Section II Guide really covers everything you need to know for this part, so make sure you go through every detail mentioned. Even if you are not doing one of the subjects at school, you can still ask a teacher of that subject or your friend for help. For example, I didn’t do Physics in IB, so I asked my friend, who was very good at Physics, to quiz me.
5. Don’t be intimidated by the official practice questions! I find them to be a bit harder than the actual test questions.
6. Time yourself when you practice and find a strategy that actually suits you. I was one of those people who simply couldn’t finish the Section I questions in time, so my strategy was to make sure that my solutions were absolutely correct for the questions that I did know how to approach. It worked well for me, despite always having to guess the last three questions of Section I each time I practiced.
7. Have a good rest! Applying for medical schools can be so draining, so it’s important to have good sleep habits throughout the admission cycle. Besides, try to do some exercise, or at least take a walk, every day. It really does make a difference.
Good luck!