MedEntry Blog

Pressure, pressure: coping with nerves and stress on the actual HPAT test day. Having done HPAT practice exam, after practice exam, after practice exam, most HPAT candidates will be raring to go come July 31st. Whilst HPAT preparation is key to your HPAT success, it is not the only factor that will affect your HPAT performance on the actual HPAT test day. Being able to cope with the nerves and anxiety that inevitably appear on the day of the HPAT exam will be the key strength that will help you out-perform your fellow HPAT candidates. Perhaps the only thing separating two equally intelligent...

HPAT test tactics and preparation:   HPAT test tactics and preparation part 1: Avoiding multiple confusions in the multiple choice section of HPAT HPAT test tactics and preparation part 2: Process of Elimination in HPAT multichoice HPAT test tactics and preparation part 3: HPAT questions involving percentages HPAT test tactics and preparation part 4: HPAT probability questions HPAT test tactics and preparation part 5: Counting Problems in HPAT HPAT test tactics and preparation part 6: statistics problems on the HPAT exam HPAT test tactics and preparation part 7: worded mathematical problems HPAT test tactics and preparation part 8: staying cool...

Isn't the HPAT an aptitude test, so what's the point in preparing? The HPAT  may be an 'aptitude' test, but there can be no doubt that having seen HPAT style questions before, and understanding how to answer them, will increase your chances of succeeding in the HPAT. While practice may not always make perfect, practice does increase your ability to perform in the HPAT exam because you can hone those  thinking skills required to answer HPAT questions.  Further, there is some evidence to suggest that in non-verbal reasoning section of the HPAT, repetition and practice can increase this HPAT section...

The HPAT-Ireland (Health Professions Admission Test-Ireland) is an admissions test used by Irish Medical Schools for undergraduate entry into medicine. The HPAT-Ireland test measures a candidate’s logical reasoning and problem solving skills as well as non-verbal reasoning and the ability to understand the thoughts, behaviour and/or the intentions of people. HPAT test results are combined with the Leaving Certificate Examination assessment for selecting applicants for admission to an undergraduate Medical School programme.

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...

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 neat and free of...

Below are a few useful tips as to how to stay in control during the HPAT.  Distractions: One of the things you'll probably have to deal with during the HPAT is distractions. This may be someone sniffling, or coughing, or tapping a pencil. In fact there have even been stories of distractions ranging from pile drivers at a nearby construction site to the school's symphonic band practicing outside!  The most important thing is to not let these distractions get to you, use them as a reminder to get back to the HPAT in front of you.  Keep moving while the clock is...

Your HPAT scores depend on how much you know, but they also depend on  how well you can apply what you know.  If you are nervous, distracted, or in a bad mood during the HPAT, you may have a hard time concentrating and harnessing your knowledge. Here are some basic tips to help you control your nerves on the day of the HPAT.  Think Positively.  This tip cannot be emphasized enough. Getting down on yourself during the test does more than make you feel bad during the HPAT! In fact, it is taking away your body's support system. If you are...

-            For the few weeks before the test, if not longer, you've been preoccupied with the HPAT. Maybe you've let a few things slide: homework, co-curricular activities, your friends, fun. Now it's time to catch up on anything that's fallen behind and to return to your normal routine after the HPAT.    We know you may be feeling a little anti-climactic after getting all geared up for the HPAT that's now over, but don't forget other tests that may be looming on the horizon. You've worked hard preparing for the HPAT and it's natural to want to relax a bit. But please, please don't blow off your Year 12 exams; they are just...

Learning is not just about sitting in front of a text book and hoping the content will diffuse into your mind through osmosis. In order to learn effectively, you must learn actively, not passively. Active learning will allow you to engage with what you are learning and absorb it faster. New study strategies will also be introduced in this article so you can in-corporate them into your HPAT study. This will give your HPAT study sessions a direction and allow you to set goals.  What is active learning? Active learning is all about engaging with what you are learning and how you...

Are you having a hard time motivating yourself to study for the HPAT? The tools we often reach for when we need to get ourselves moving are carrots (rewarding ourselves once a tough job is done) or sticks (depriving ourselves of something we want if we fail to do it). These are "extrinsic rewards". But such  extrinsic  rewards and punishments are not as effective as  intrinsic  ones. Intrinsic rewards come from your own person - you believe that if you do a certain thing, it will make you a better, more knowledgable person.  Here, six ways to find the intrinsic...

Stereotype threat can affect the way students perform in the HPAT.  Some students are vulnerable to “stereotype threat.” This is being aware the group they belong to is often stereotyped as intellectually inferior. The fear of confirming the stereotype by doing poorly on a test actually creates an anxiety. It is this anxiety that poorly affects their performance on a test, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Consider this study conducted at Stanford:  A group of undergraduates — some athletes and some not — was given a test made up of questions from the Graduate Record Examination (G.R.E.), the admissions test for...

To be mentally tough is to resist the urge to give up in the face of failure, to maintain focus and determination in pursuit of your HPAT goals, and to emerge from adversity even stronger than before. Everyone can benefit from strengthening their resilience skills.  Mental toughness comes from thinking like an optimist. People who don’t give up have a habit of interpreting setbacks as temporary, local and changeable. When in the face of adversity, try to say to yourself, “It’s going away quickly; it’s just this one situation, and I can do something about it.” Analyze your beliefs and emotions...