MedEntry Blog

This impending Saturday is without a doubt one of the most terrifying – yet unusual days of the year. Throughout the past years, I have uttered the phrase “The HPAT is a game” innumerous times, and now, on the brink of becoming an actual doctor (finally!) and exiting the world of HPAT, I thought I’d pass on my suggestions for this game. Suggestion 1: Your mood is your top priority. The HPAT is designed in such a way that your mood greatly impacts your performance. Why? Because it’s an exam of emotions, of empathy and of understanding. Feeling stressed/anxious/overwhelmed will...

Your venue for the HPAT can become a very scary place very quickly. While being academically prepared is extremely important for HPAT, it is also useful to know what to expect when you get to the venue. Firstly, you’ll see a range of different students at the HPAT venue – while some are great to have a conversation with before the exam commences; others, not so much: 1. The Downplayer – This is a student who will consistently talk about how they have not done any practice for the HPAT, keep reinforcing that they’re going to fail and claim to...

Life isn’t the only thing full of surprises. The upcoming HPAT exam could hold a range of new, never-before-seen questions and it is important to know how to deal with these in an exam situation.  The first step is to identify these types of questions in reading time. When looking through your HPAT exam booklet, mentally note these questions and have them simmering away in the back of your mind. By doing so, you’ll be better prepared for these “surprises” and less likely to panic when you go on to attempt these questions. When writing time begins, start doing the...

Many students who have scored 100th percentile in the HPAT have said that preparing for HPAT is like preparing for a marathon. There are many similarities: they both require significant motivation, consistent practice over a period of time and a clear head under pressure. Not to mention that for many people both a marathon and the HPAT are the hardest challenges they have faced so far in their lifetime. So what can we learn from marathon runners that will help us prepare for the HPAT? Step 1: Develop muscle In the HPAT you will have a limited amount of time...

For some people sitting HPAT, those nerves may not hit until the day of or the night before HPAT. We get butterflies in the stomach and perhaps even the need to vomit. These feelings are natural and can even help us to do better. But, for those of us who have difficulty handling the nerves, there are a few simple things to do to minimise them. Make sure you have everything that you need in advance A few days before the HPAT, read through the admission ticket and instructions and make sure that you have everything you need. Print out...

From the moment you first hear stories of the HPAT and how difficult it can be until the first step you take to enter that exam centre, only you can decide the mind set and approach that will embody your HPAT experience. There are two ways to view this exam; either as a roadblock that is there to hinder you on the path to success or simply a stepping stone towards getting you into your dream career. In the end, which viewpoint you adopt is up to you.   A distinct point that is often conveyed when describing the HPAT...

Preparing for the HPAT is similar to preparing for a marathon: it requires training, preparation and strategies to optimise your performance on the test day. Just as an athlete prepares for a major sporting event, so you must prepare yourself to sit HPAT, which is one of the most important exams that you will face in your career. We can learn much from athletes about optimising performance in HPAT, as outlined in this TED talk by Martin Hagger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG7v4y_xwzQ This talk discusses how highly successful athletes prepare themselves before a competition. The main points are summarised below, with an emphasis...

In last year's HPAT, there were some changes to non-verbal reasoning questions in the HPAT. Although the structure, number of questions and broad types of questions were the same (pick the middle, missing segment, next in the sequence etc) there were three main differences: A few completely new question types that had not previously appeared in the HPAT A different approach to pick the middle questions required compared to previous years’ HPAT A shift towards more positional type questions In this blog, we will briefly go through these changes and explain how MedEntry is updating our materials to ensure our students are well prepared for...

ONLY 3 WEEKS TO HPAT - WHAT SHOULD I DO?   There are three weeks left until HPAT! Are you completely freaking out? Feeling utterly under-prepared? Never fear! These 4 simple steps are sure to make you ready for any HPAT question thrown at you.   1.     Practice ACER exams and read their worked solutions. ACER offers 3 full-length practice exams; these are a must-do before the exam! They ’ re a little bit easier than your average MedEntry exam, so they ’ re great for that last minute confidence boost. ACER also gives you worked solutions to every...

As you complete more and more practice HPAT exams you may start to notice the following HPAT trend: Easy HPAT questions have obvious and popular answers, whilst hard HPAT questions have unexpected and unpopular answers. It helps to think of HPAT questions as popularity contests. The answer to an easy question is the most popular choice. The answer to a difficult question is the least popular choice. In other words, popular HPAT answer choices on difficult questions are traps. If you think about the HPAT for a moment, you’ll realise that questions have to be designed this way. Since a...

You have rehearsed for this day for the past few months, so here are a few final tips that you have no doubt heard before. Here at MedEntry, we want to make sure that you have as smooth a HPAT experience as possible.  Please share this article with your friends or family if you think they need some final tips as well.  1. Read and Think carefully.  Consider all the choices in each question on the HPAT. Don't lose points on easy HPAT questions through careless mistakes. 2. Use your HPAT test booklet.  Your HPAT answer sheet must be kept...

Top tips for multiple choice in the HPAT The HPAT consists of only multiple choice questions. While multiple choice means they give you the correct answer as one of the options, choosing it is not as easy as it seems. Here are some useful tips for answering multiple choice questions for the HPAT   ·           Answer all questions.  For Logical reasoning, problem solving and understanding people questions in the HPAT you have a 1 in 4 chance of getting the right answer. In Non-Verbal Reasoning questions, a 1 in 5 chance, so why not go for it, even if...

The passages that you are required to read and understand in the HPAT can be long and dense. Absorbing enough information from the passages to answer the questions can be difficult and your brain will not be able to recall all the information that you read from a passage. However, passages can be broken down into simpler forms to help you better process and recall the passages when it comes to answering the questions. Passages may be simplified using paraphrasing. This helps transform the big, complex paragraphs and passages into small bite-sized pieces of information. Good readers paraphrase as they...

Everyone has their own concept of the world, of how they interpret and predict stimuli. This “concept” is underpinned by their philosophical approach to life. Whilst philosophy may seem to be a branch of knowledge best left for academics, the truth is we all utilize some form of it. It surprises some people when they are told they use philosophy in just about everything they do – even science. The way we gain knowledge and enquire about it is greatly impacted by how we view the world.  In the HPAT, you will encounter questions that require you to evaluate a...

So you have bought a package and started your practise. Well done! You are on your way to improving your HPAT score already. Now it is time to develop effective revisions skills that prepares you mentally and physically. Practise is no good if your nerves let you down. Even elite athletes at the Olympics who practise for years crumple due to nerves. Don’t let that be you! Don’t save your exams!  The most important thing to remember when doing HPAT practise is – DON’T “save” your practise exams until the last month. Doing that basically leaves you with one month...

The final year of school can be a tough year. If you want to do well and obtain entry into your chosen course, you have to put in the effort and work. On top of assessments and exams, there is also HPAT preparation. How do you fit it all in? We have tips for you below on how to optimise your time.  HPAT preparation is a subject A lot of students find it a difficult task to manage all their subjects and do HPAT preparation as well. But the process can be made easier starting with a simple mindset change....

Here are some useful tips MedEntry has for you the morning of the HPAT:  When you wake up on the day of the HPAT, consider taking a shower or doing some brief exercise to get the blood flowing.  If your parent, guardian, friend or relative is taking you to the HPAT, make sure they are up too.  Eat a normal breakfast on the morning of the HPAT, by that we mean eat whatever you eat normally for breakfast. You don't want to eat too much, or something that you don't normally eat as it may upset your stomach or cause...