HPAT Exam Tips 2024
Aoife took the Ace the HPAT Course in 2024. She scored in the 95th percentile and was offered a place in Medicine in UCD. Here are some tips from her experience studying for the exam.
I mostly treated the HPAT as an extra subject that I was taking, but one that needed more time spent on it. The best advice I could give would be to start in September and tip away at it. Attend the classes and pay attention. I would always attend classes on Tuesdays, and try to get all my homework done before. That wasn’t always possible, especially leading up to the mocks, but it did help.
I would complete the mock exams set for us every Saturday afternoon, and did them timed from the beginning. When I got stuck on a question and was running over time, I would take an educated guess and move on.
On Sunday mornings I would look at my results and check the solutions for every question. I would explain my reasoning for my answers on the questions and see if my reasoning matched up with the solution.
In January , I completed all the video lessons on the website, in sessions of an hour or two at a time. I would attempt the questions first before looking at the explanations. This made sure I knew my strategies for dealing with all different types of questions and helped settle my nerves for the exam.
From the start of the New Year to the exam, the HPAT became my priority. I didn’t spend hours and hours on HPAT work everyday – I would ensure I wasn’t tired or worn out when doing HPAT practice.
Figure out where you will sit the exam and do all your mock exams from there. I sat at my desk for the mock exams and the HPAT exam and it helped me concentrate and get in the zone. I would recommend tuning into the classes from that place as well.
My final piece of advice don’t panic. Even if you think your HPAT is going terribly, try to put it aside and finish the exam. Most people will feel like that after their HPAT, even those who get the top percentiles.
Finally, good luck!
