AKU Entry Test 2018 Advice

Update 6/28/2018: Apologies for bringing this up later than I should have, but just wanted to mention that no periodic table or formula sheet will be provided in the paper, so (A Level students in particular) do memorize the first 20 elements with their atomic number etc., other important elements like silver, a general understanding of periodicity and group trends, important constants and formulas of Physics, bond energies of basic elements like Carbon and Hydrogen, etc. No calculators are allowed so all calculations will be have rather simple numericals but do require an understanding of the underlying formula that is to be employed. Furthermore, I want to re-emphasize the importance of the mathematical and science reasoning sections in the sense that they do not have negative marking, so don't treat them for granted. Do give them ample time to make as many guesses as you want as these sections are lifesavers. Best of luck!

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Update 6/21/2018: I got in touch with some of my other classmates, one of them shared this folder, which contains resources for the test: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_3ns-YNncCAS3BENmo2d2xGaDQ I urge you to jump into the "Read Me First" file and go through the minimum that is advised to cover from this folder. Also go through the "AKU ADVICE" file. (It also contains so-called past papers of AKU's test by Anees Hussain, but as mentioned in the Read Me First file, these are fake and unreliable. With that said, if you want to check them out go ahead and do so for practice's sake.)

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Salam everyone!

By the time you're reading this, hopefully your final exams of A Level/FSc etc. have gone well, and you're probably now considering starting your preparation for the AKU MBBS aptitude test to be held on the 1st of July. I'm writing this in order to give you all some sense of direction.

First of all, like I mentioned in my previous post, pretty much all I have to say is contained in the guide I wrote and shared after my own admission last year. Here is the link again: https://goo.gl/Q4e8Wg

Please do go through this, especially the entire section on the entry test, which is very useful. However, I'll summarize the essentials in one place here.

Sample Test

Here is the sample AKU aptitude test paper, do go through this to get a very brief overview. https://www.aku.edu/admissions/Documents/sample-paper-MBBS.pdf

English Section

For the English section, go through this sample test here, for this most closely resembles the English section on the AKU test for the last few years after they updated the format: http://practice-test.englishlanguagetesting.co.uk/

They themselves actually state we can head on over here in their sample test I've provided above.

Biology/Chemistry/Physics

For A Level students who have taken the SAT 2 as well recently, are satisfied with their prep for it and their A Level concepts, it's best to grab FSc books and go through them as much as feasible with the syllabus AKU provided alongside them. Here is the syllabus: https://www.aku.edu/admissions/mbbs/Pages/curriculum.aspx

Focus on topics not found in A Level that overlap between SAT 2 and FSc and do them well via SAT 2 books and practice questions, and do the rest from the FSc books of course. You can also use AKU EB (AKU's own board for matric/FSc) past papers, which I've collected over here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8zG6ETp7LjBcWZRSW5seE5wU1U

A Level students who did not sit for the SAT 2 should focus on making sure their A Level concepts are strong and then move on to SAT 2 books and work especially on topics that aren't covered in A Level but do overlap between FSc and SAT 2. Do as many questions as you can from SAT 2 books as well as the official past papers of SAT 2. Once done, move on to spend the remainder of your time with FSc books as above. Again, use AKU EB past papers and syllabus too if you want to, both of which I've linked above.

FSc students on the other hand need not dive into A Level books. Make sure your FSc concepts are very, very strong. If you have taken the SAT 2 then it's great, but if not, SAT 2 is something you'll definitely have to use for your preparation as it will help cover syllabus with a focus on MCQs. Use the AKU EB curriculum and past papers I've linked above as well. You need to have an overall grasp over the FSc syllabus and be comfortable with attempting MCQ style questions that will check your clarity concerning the concepts.

In my personal experience, I did well in A Level and in the same period of time took the SAT 2, in which I performed well too. As an A Level student, I had a strong grasp on both A Level and SAT 2. However, I still felt that the test was definitely hard. Thus, in my opinion, the test was majorly FSc based. With that said, the SAT 2 is definitely something that is useful and an important bridge between the different syllabi, and most students who passed the test will agree that it's integral for your preparation. Furthermore, it's hard to be sure where the test will come from as there's difference of opinion from year to year.

For the SAT 2, here is a folder I made during my preparation for it, which might be helpful for you: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8zG6ETp7LjBRi0yd0R6YjZiZ28

In summation, A Level students follow this order: A Level --> SAT 2 --> FSc.

FSc students follow this: FSc + SAT 2.

Mathematics Reasoning

The first thing I'd like to say is that it's not going to be any more complex than your usual Matric/O Level math, since Math is not even a requirement to be studied at FSc/A Level for medicine in Pakistan. With that said, it should be noted that questions aren't basic maths, they do have an element of problem solving/logical thinking involved, which is why it's titled "reasoning". The way I prepared for this was very briefly revise my O Level math concepts and ideas. FSc students should revise their Matric math, of course. After that, if you want to, you can try out the New SAT math questions (not SAT 2 math, I'm talking about SAT 1). Open up this link: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice/full-length-practice-tests There are 8 practice tests here under the "Resources" section. Click on "Show all" under each test, open the "SAT Practice Test (test number)" file and the "SAT Practice Test Answer Explanations" file, and then you can use the math questions for your practice (ignore the English parts).

More important than that however, I feel are the International Kangaroo Mathematics Contest (IKMC) questions, which was first recommended by one of the founding members of this blog in this post: http://theakuchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/11/aku-test-prep-guidelines-by-subject.html In fact, go through this entire post as I used this as well for my own preparation (and go through other posts in the past concerning the entry test too, minus the part on English as that section has been changed a lot over the years), although this is like 5 years old. For practicing the IKMC questions, open up this link http://ikmc.kangaroo.org.pk/download/3162/past-papers.html and practice questions of "class 9-10" of the different years. The answer keys are available there as well.

It's hard to pinpoint where exactly the questions come from, but basically they test your ability to think rationally. Do revise topics like probability etc.

Science Reasoning

In my experience this was basically a cluster of science questions from bio/chem/phy. If you really want to dive into "reasoning" then try out these ACT science questions: https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation/science-practice-test-questions.html However, like I've said in my guide, they're more difficult than what shows up on the AKU test. Honestly, some of the questions didn't even seem too "reasoning"-like to me. Just make sure your sense of science is strong and focus on your preparation for the other science section. Over the years of studying science, if you were someone who took active interest in your subject and tried to make sense of it, you should have developed the skills to solve these questions. Beyond that, do as many SAT 2 practice questions as you can.

Attempting Techniques and Other Tips

One important aspect is the negative marking. The pure sciences portion have a -0.25 mark for every question you get wrong. So you have to be very careful with that. Most of the times when you are confused between multiple options, it's best to leave a question unanswered, and I can tell you I left more than I guessed on. On the other hand, the science reasoning and mathematics reasoning sections don't have any negative marking, and in their case, feel free to guess. In fact, don't leave any question unanswered.

Another thing I'd like to talk about is timing. The English section has its own separate time and it's pretty sufficient. The science portion as a whole with the pure sciences and reasoning sections is all in one go. I personally went once through the pure sciences and eliminated questions that I found easy. After that, instead of wasting time on guessing questions, I spent a decent amount of time on maths and science reasoning because there's no negative marking there. I did all questions there without any pressure, and then spent the remaining time on the pure sciences questions. This helped because instead of wasting time on questions that have negative marking, it was better to make sure I answer each of the non-negative marking questions with full concentration as there I have a chance of getting a mark even if I guess without the risk of losing marks. Thus, do time everything carefully and keep your eyes on the clock.

Finally, do note that if you can't figure out the correct answer at first glance, try eliminating the wrong answers first as much as you can to narrow down your options. This is a very basic technique for attempting MCQs but I felt that it's important to reiterate it here.

Don't lose sleep over anything, make sure you take regular breaks, and best of luck! Feel free to comment any questions/concerns below, or email me at akuhelp@outlook.com.

(Do check out the comments below as I've addressed lots of things below.)

- Mohammad Yasrab, AKU Class of 2022.