Extreme Disappointment..

This is what I'm talking about. Guess what, I will have to wait another year to enter medical school. Why? Because all other medical schools were closed already! I've only submitted by application on 1 school, and that is PLM (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila). Recently, I only have 3 choices to enter medical school since my NMAT isn't that high. First is PLM. Unfortunately, I don't stand a chance to be accepted there, since my co-examinees are from some of the biggest universities in the country like UP, UST, etc. and I know that they are more competent and more qualified than me. Second is FEU, then third is DLSHSI. Let's discuss the 3 schools one by one.

PLM is one of the best medical school as shown by there consistent 90%++ passing rate in the Physician Licensure Examination, and they even produced famous doctors both local and international. For example, Dr. Senen Reyes, is the first and only Filipino Cosmonaut Doctor. Another is Dr. Bu Castro, former president of the Philippine Medical Association. One more thing in PLM, it has the cheapest tuition fee in medical school within Manila. If you are born in Manila, and currently residing there, your tuition fee can be as low as 10k Php! Yes!! 10k Php! Amazing isn't it? There tuition fee is really cheap, yet the quality of education is incomparable.

Now let's talk about FEU. I knew little about FEU since I only get information on pinoy.md. But I've also monitored their board rating since this is one of my choices. Despite having 100+ board takers, they are consistent in having a convincing board rating. Our school physician in my undergraduate school is from FEU and I may say that he is a very competent doctor and he told me lots of good things about FEU. For me, there are 2 disadvantages in this university. One is the tuition fee, since this is a private institution, their tuition fee is about 100k PhP. Second is the location. FEU-NRMF is located in Fairview, Quezon City. From its name, it's FARview. I've never been there but I think that it would take 2 hours of commuting   time if you are coming from Cavite.

Finally, it's about the De La Salle Health Sciences Institute (DLSHSI). This is one of the most prominent univeristy in the country. And in fact, they've just celebrated their 100th year anniversary. When I hear the word "La Salle", the term "Wow big time!" comes to my mind since I am familiar with their tuition fee. This is a private institution and of course you will expect an expensive one. This is my first school of choice to enter nursing school but unfortunately, as I came there to submit my requirements, I forgot my ID! I wasn't able to enter the university, and since that is my first time to travel in Dasmarinas, Cavite, I got lazy to go back because it's too far for me. DLSHSI have this above average board rating when it comes to Physician Licensure Exam. Recently, the university constructed a new building for their College of Medicine. They are very eager in improving their medical school to be the number one in the country. I have a friend and he told me that the facilities in DLSHSI are incomparable to other medical schools.

Well, becoming a successful and skillful doctor is in the hands of the medical student itself. It ain't true that your Alma Mater will dictate your performance when it comes to practice. My pre-med school is not that famous and yet, some of my batchmates were already in Makati Med, Asian Hospital, St. Lukes, PGH, etc.

I am now working as a review assistant in MERGE nursing review. I will enter medical school next year and there's nothing that will intercept my desire. Medical school will be always there and I know that God has a better plan for me that is why He made me not to enter medical school for this school year. I am planning to re-take the NMAT hoping that I will obtain a higher rank in order to have an additional school of choice as I enter medical school next year.

Taking the NMAT..

All right, so this is one of the tests that many doctors and medical students have already taken. As you can see in the picture, NMAT stands for National Medical Admission Test. It will screen qualified candidates pursuing a medical degree. So if you are an aspiring BS graduate aiming to have a medical degree, you will need to surpass this test before entering medical school. You can take this test as many times as you want (UNLITXT20). If I'm not mistaken, you are allowed to take the exam when you are already in 3rd year in your college level. Just visit http://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/ for more details.

The NMAT is a 2 part test. First part is the mental ability which will test your IQ. Second part is the special subjects concerning Biology, Physics, Sociology, and oh my, Chemistry. You will be taking the first part in the morning with subtests of Verbal, Inductive Reasoning, Quantitative, and Perceptual Acuity.

Let us first discuss the first part. You will be having 3 hours to answer 160 items. 3 hours seems a bit too long but remember, this is a mental test and you really need to invest more time in each question. Verbal part consists of 2 sub-parts, first is the verbal analogy wherein you will find the appropriate word that matches the given word. Next is reading comprehension, this is really a pain in the ass since you need to read a selection consisting of 4-5 paragraphs then answer several multiple choice question regarding the topic. Here is a link where you can practice your reading comprehension, http://www.majortests.com/sat/reading-comprehension.php . The second subtest for part 1 is the inductive reasoning. Here, you will see sets of figures wherein you need to determine the next figure according to the given series. I had fun answering and practicing for this part. I might say that you won't be having any trouble in this part if you will keep on practicing. There are several websites where you can practice inductive reasoning. And here it is:

1. http://www.assessmentday.co.uk/inductive_reasoning.htm

2. http://www.fibonicci.com/abstract-reasoning/test/

3. http://www.shldirect.com/inductive_reasoning.html

I bet that you will enjoy answering those practice tests. There is also a figure grouping in the inductive reasoning part. You just need to determine the outcast of the given set of figures. There's also number and letter series in the last part of IR instead of figures. Here are some links for you to practice. (You will need an adobe flash reader to view some of these links)

1 .http://www.psychometric-success.com/practice-papers/Psychometric%20Success%20Numerical%20Ability%20-%20Reasoning%20Practice%20Test%201.pdf

2. http://www.psychometric-success.com/faq/faq-numerical-reasoning-tests.htm

3. http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tests/mathstest2.htm

4. http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tests/sequences.htm

5. http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tests/mathstest.htm

Next is the all time favorite, the quantitative part. The first subpart is basic mathematical operation and problems with algebraic expressions. If you are doing good on your math subject during high school, I'm sure that this will be a piece of cake for you. But for those who ain't, you need to have a brush up and I'm pretty sure that you will enjoy reviewing with this website (http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/col_algebra/index.htm). It's a really good online tutorial. Each step is discussed and examples were given. You just need to review Lessons 1 to 24. There are also some problem solving questions involving mathematics in the quantitative part. You can find some practice questions for mathematical problem solving questions on the given link above.

Last part is the Perceptual Acuity. This is the part where I got my neck pain. Because you will need to focus and keep a close look in this part. First subpart is the hidden figure. You need to find the given figure on the given choices. Next is the mirror image. As the name implies, you need to search for the mirror image of the given figure. And last but not the least, the Identical Information. There are given sentences and then on the choices, you need to identify its identical sentence. Take note on the s's, periods, commas, apostrophes, and numbers. That is one of my favorite part!

We go now to the 2nd part which consists of Biology, Physics, Sociology, and Chemistry. For biology, it may cover ecology, cells, genetics, basic anatomy, physiology, etc. In physics, it may include heat, motion, electromagnetism, etc. For sociology, here is a website for you to review, http://www.sparknotes.com/sociology/ . You can also find some topics for biology and chemistry on the link. Sociology part also includes some psychology questions, most common is the defense mechanism. This is the easiest part for me since I have a background in the field of psychology because I am a nursing graduate. Last but not the least, is the Chemistry. For me, this is the most difficult subject in the 2nd part. You may find topics like cis/trans configuration. What the hell do a nursing graduate know about that?! Physics and chemistry will always have a computation so you better get yourself familiar on basic formulas.

Now let's go to the grading system. In fact, it's not a grading system, it's a ranking system. It is called percentile ranking to be specific. Your ranking would be from 1 - 99 if I'm not mistaken. Let me give you a simple explanation on how it's done. For example, you have a percentile rank of 82nd. It means that you performed best among 82% of the group. Of course you are not the only one to get the 82nd rank. If you get 99th percentile, then you performed best among 99% of the group. The higher the ranking, the better. This is the ranking that medical schools are requiring as part of the admission process. Here are some list of schools with their corresponding NMAT requirement:

1. UP - 90 and above.
2. UST - 80 and above.
3. PLM - 45 and above.
4. SLCM - 90 and above.
5. UERMMMC - 70 and above.
6. DLSHSI - 60 and above.
7. FEU - 40 and above.
8. ASMPH - 80 and above.
9. OLFU - ---
10. Our Lady of Perpetual Help University - --

You can download my compiled rationale for NMAT reviewer with MCAT. Copy this link and paste this on your browser.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8ttA5GnvnRaTXFZTnFCS1hKVW8&usp=sharing

Or you can use this tinyurl:

https://tinyurl.com/ydbzvmks

Disclaimer: I don't work under CEM. All of the information written above are based on my own experience and from what I've read on different websites especially www.cem-nmat.com


"Your imagination can be a reality through Education."