GET HIGH NMAT SCORES Friday, September 12, 2014 Stef dela Cruz 146 Comments
The National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) is a series of exams you need to take to get into medical school. Are you about to take the NMAT? If you are, here are a few tips on how you can ace it.
Heads up, future doctors! Updates available! Good news! I updated this post with reasons you’re NOT getting high NMAT scores, just in case you’ve already taken the NMAT before. More updates and other NMAT articles when you scroll down. Remember, different universities offering medicine as a course will have different takes on whatNMAT score is considered the “passing” rate. Some universities, for instance, will consider an NMAT percentile score of 65 as adequate. Others will consider
applicants with a lower score of 50. In other words, if you want to get accepted into medical school, find out what the “passing” NMAT score is for every university you are eyeing. Now, here’s what you’ve been itching to read: five tips on getting high NMAT scores! You’ve been very patient. You deserve to know.
Tips on Getting High NMAT Scores You can take NMAT as many times as you want. Just remember that the scores of all exam takers are summarized in a booklet and sent to universities. Getting a high score doesn’t mean you’ll succeed in medicine, but it sure does get one foot in the door! Even if you get an NMAT percentile score that meets a medical school’s requirements, other applicants might have scored higher. That can hurt your chances of getting accepted! I say, aim to get a high NMAT score from the get-go.
NMAT tip #1: Study physics. Caveat: No, physics doesn’t get a higher significance in the exam. There are eight subtests in the NMAT: verbal, inductive reasoning, quantitative, perceptual acuity, biology, physics, social science, and chemistry - and all of them have equal footing. The reason I recommend this tip on getting a high NMAT score is this: not too many people are very fond of physics and are probably going to score low in this test. Since NMAT gives out scores based on percentile, it is best to get really high scores on exams where majority of exam takers are bound to have really low scores! You can take extra credits in physics if you wish; it's an extra two months of studying. But if you want a good chance of getting into a good medical school, it's worth it. I remember memorizing all the formulas related to Physics, tacking them to my wall so that I see them everyday. Nerdy, I know, but hey, it worked!
Since NMAT gives out scores based on percentile, it is best to get really high scores on exams where majority of examinees are bound to have really low scores.
NMAT tip #2: Take an NMAT refresher course.
I did this before I took the NMAT, but I didn’t go back after the first day of lessons – I know, I’m not a very patient student! But I still recommend this because most NMAT review centers offer a trial NMAT exam right before they start with the lessons. Those trial tests apply the same statistics and demographics as the actual NMAT exam, so you get a glimpse of how you'll fare in the actual exams. (In the trial test, I scored 98, which isn’t too far from my actual score.) Three down, two more tips on how to get high NMAT scores to go. Ready?
NMAT tip #3: Pay attention to calculus, trigonometry, and other areas of math which you are totally unfamiliar with. You probably hate math. Many do, so I don’t blame you! But you better learn how to love this tricky subject if you’re aiming for a high NMAT score. Most colleges do not teach calculus and trigonometry to their students, which means that acing these will give you an edge.
NMAT tip #4: Take a lot of practice tests on inductive reasoning. This part of the test may rely on your testmanship. Although your performance on the entire NMAT can reflect your testmanship skills, it is with inductive reasoning trial tests and reviewers that you learn about patterns you never even knew existed! Before today, you might never have heard that there are predictable number patterns or that there are different shapes and patterns which are supposed to appear in series. You will learn many techniques that you otherwise would never have figured out without the help of reviewers that teach patterns in particular. Of course, to ace the NMAT, you are going to have to do great on all subtests. But with the above tips on how to pass NMAT, you are on your way there. Before I forget, here’s one more tip on how to pass the NMAT: Be a good student!
Unfortunately, this suggestion might be too late. If you study hard from grade school up to college, you learn the ropes. You get a good background on grammar, math, basic physics, and basic chemistry in your elementary and high school years while you continue soaking up biology and social science during pre-med school. After all, NMAT is an IQ test and an achievement test rolled into one.
Heads up! There are important updates! NMAT update #1: If you’ve already taken the NMAT and you’re not too happy with the results, you might also want to find out why you’re not getting high NMAT scores. It’s time to lay the cards on the table. Be warned: The truth might be hard to swallow. NMAT update #2: If you’ve never taken the NMAT before, here’s a nice list of NMAT tips for first-time takers! Don’t take the NMAT when you’re not prepared. Read and be inthe-know. NMAT update #3: If you suck at tests, it’s time you learned about testmanship skills. Be test-smart, starting today!
NMAT Scores: What They Mean Subtract your score from 100 - that should indicate your ranking. For instance, if you get a percentile score of 75, subtract 75 from 100 and you get 25. You then belong to the top 25 percent of all NMAT examinees.
Here's another way of looking at it: An NMAT percentile score of 70 means that you scored higher than 70 percent of all NMAT exam takers. If you get an NMAT score of, say, 99+, what does that mean? That is actually the highest possible score you can ever get in NMAT. Put simply, an NMAT percentile score of 99+ means you are among the top ten of 1000 examinees. If about five thousand people took the test, then you scored higher than the top 50! I hope these tips on how to get a high NMAT score have helped you! If you get into the medical school of your dreams, then study like there’s no tomorrow! If you really want to become a doctor, give the NMAT your best. Let me know if you have any more practical tips; contact me!
You are probably asking why I am doling out tips on passing the NMAT. To answer your question, I got a percentile score of 99+ on the NMAT, something I am very grateful for. I hope that based on the fortunate results of my NMAT experience, you get a better shot at getting high NMAT scores. But please take these humble tips with a grain of salt; these tips might have helped me, but they may not work for you given your circumstances. I hope my experience will translate to useful tips for all aspiring doctors out there who want to get high NMAT scores! You can also read my more recent article on five NMAT review tips, in case you need more. If you want to check your NMAT score online, you can check right here on my website! Just get your NMAT application form and take note of your application number.
Check the NMAT Results from December 2010 to April 2014 here. IF SOMEONE WILL BENEFIT, SHARE IT!
About the blogger Stef dela Cruz is a doctor and writer. She received the 2013 Award for Health Media from the Department of Health. She maintains a health column in Health.Care Magazine and contributes to The Manila Bulletin. Add her Google profile to your circles.
http://www.stefdelacruz.com/2012/04/what-nmat-scores-mean.html
