Screwed for Umat, plz help!! (1 Viewer)

[squishball]

I enrolled into the Icarus (Dallas) course which cost me $800 (2 year course), but that was BEFORE I read how shitee he is!

I feel so ripped off now and I duno what to do. Are there any previous people who did Icarus college before? Please help, I feel so dumb. I don't think I can get a refund. T__T

Any advice?

 

[angelasunda]

hey there, i too have enrolled myself at ICARUS for assistance with UMAT for 2008. Having read ur message...i'm now a little worried :S

i dunno..some people have said that the online course is pretty gud...although section 2 consists of 'what would you do' type of questions rather than the emphathising type. Besides this, i haven't really heard any criticisms.

even so..if he is really that bad..wat r we to do? is there any way we can get a refund?

 

[xxJTxx]

you won't get a refund..highly unlikely.
i didn't do icarus. but i've heard terrible stories. terrible.
try for a refund, if it doesn't happen..make the most of it i guess.
you can always try and be a turd, and use the only option that legally he must give a refund .. i.e. the product (the course) didn't match the description that was given (maybe try and pick something really specific that was detailed on the webbie and might not actually be in the course) and therefore ure entitled to a refund.
other than that.
gl! umat is random anyway. anything that gives you exposure to the question styles prior to the actual exam is totally worth it..otherwise, you'll go in and your jaw will drop

 

[Bacilli]

hey there, i too have enrolled myself at ICARUS for assistance with UMAT for 2008. Having read ur message...i'm now a little worried :S

i dunno..some people have said that the online course is pretty gud...although section 2 consists of 'what would you do' type of questions rather than the emphathising type. Besides this, i haven't really heard any criticisms.

even so..if he is really that bad..wat r we to do? is there any way we can get a refund?

I believe a refund is out of the question. It's not necessarily the quality of the packages that are the issue here, Dallas Gibson is the problem! He's a snake - a little too queer for my comfort. If you could copy and paste a few questions from the online content to this thread, I'm sure we would be able to advise on whether or not the questions are relevant.

 

[angelasunda]

section 1

Each year, many Australians suffer from a stroke, which is caused by a lack of blood flow to the brain. Most strokes occur with little or no warning, and people are often left untreated for a while. For this reason, only about one third of stroke patients make a full recovery.

What can be concluded from the above information?

i) Stroke patients who are left untreated do not make a full recovery from the condition
ii) Stroke occurs with no apparent reason
iii) Strokes can occur without people realising it

Question 1

a) i only
b) ii and iii
c) ii only
d) none of the above

Question 2:

Which of the following, if true, can be best supported by the stimulus?

i) It is difficult for patients who are left untreated for a while to recovery fully after a stroke
ii) Strokes cannot be predicted
iii) Two thirds of people with stroke are disabled after the incidence

a) i and ii
b) ii and iii
c) iii only
d) i only

Question 3:


Which of the following would cast most doubt on the conclusion in the stimulus?

i) Patients who were with people at the time of their stroke and have received help as soon as possible have not been able to recover fully
ii) Patients who were left untreated after the incident were able to recover fully
iii) Patients with minor strokes only had minor disability afterwards

a) i only
b)ii only
c) i and ii
d) iii only

SECTION 2 QUESTIONS


Sandy: Mary, I haven’t seen you or heard from you in over two weeks! What’s going on?

Mary: Nothing. I’ve just been busy.

Sandy: Busy with what?

Mary: Just school and stuff. Don’t worry about it.

Sandy: Mary, is anything wrong? Mary: No, nothing’s wrong. Can we just drop it?

Question 1:

How do you think Sandy most likely feels?

a) Annoyed
b) Hurt
c) Concerned
d) Confused

Question 2

How do you think Mary might have felt during the conversation?

a) Annoyed
b) Angry
c)Apprehensive
d) Depressed

sorry for taking such a long time!!!
just out of curiosity, wat exactly do you mean when u say that Dallas is a snake??

 

[Bacilli]

Well, I believe Sandy's concerned, and Mary felt annoyed during the conversation?
The questions are relevant. Personally, I didn't sit the UMAT, but I have tons of questions from Medentry, NIE and AMEPP, and these particular questions you posted are similar in style to other company offerings.

http://medentry.com.au/news.asp#26
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/teens-warned-on-medical-courses/2007/05/25/1179601670582.html

 

[xxJTxx]

I did medentry..they are similar.
but do you have questions for sec one of varying stimulus length and varying difficulty in the content of the stimuli? although a few of the stimuli in sec one will be that short, they definitely all will NOT be like that..
also is there some of problem solving style?

as with seciton two..no joke..the passages / scripts they can give you can carry over a page and a half.

ps. im not doing med, did pretty terribly in umat (well according to unsw, i needed 100 umat score with my uai)..and i dunt think i was ever into med enough anyway..i didn't have many of the ' want to be a doctor' personality qualities.

 

[squishball]

well, you made me feel a better knowing that icarus's materials are okie but dallas sucks >_>. hmmm is there any way to copy his materials coz its protected. i want a hard copy to read wen im not online.

 

[Bacilli]

Check your PM inbox.

 

[msomana]

Any advice?

IMO, as a student who also did the icarus course, got a decent umat and got into med, prep courses are not really necessary. Especially looking at the other people in my cohort. Sorry, but I think that whether you spent that $800 on icarus or medentry or amepp or nie or whoever, it would have been the same as if you hadn't spent that at all.

Also judging by the people that did get in that did do a prep course, *which* prep course doesn't make any difference, they all give you "practice umat questions" anyway. It doesn't mean you're screwed for the umat. Just do their practice tests, since you paid for them.

N.B. The actual umat is much, much harder, of course, than the vast majority of the practice questions you get in any prep course.

 

[groovydude]

well if anyone wants to offload their dallas material...im always here lol

pm me if u want to talk

 

[Bacilli]

ahh dallas course content is medentry's anyway olol so whats the problem?
:rofl:

 

[loser101]

i can confirm dallas is a fucknut

 

[Marinababy]

Dont be scared as dallas is great from my homework at monash uni. he likes hard workers and the court crap is absolute crap. we did missed entry last year and 3 of us are now trying icarus which is fine so far. icarus actually taught the medentry medical students and after reading the SOMEL files i reckon medentry runs strong chance of losing in court. apparently medentry puts anything on their website - icarus has posted a $1000 reward and read the pdf files on this page - you will be surprised for sure - someone has been telling lies here and eventually i guess the truth will come out - right now relax and enjoy the course - which module are you doing - im still on those boring drills waiting to move on

http://www.medical-entrance.edu.au/studentalert.jsp



M

im kinda scared after reading the two links posted by Bacilli as i have signed up for their champion's course. this dallas person sounds like a conman. i saw a story on TodayTonight about how some dude was offering medical degrees for 3 yrs of study and $120k at some institution overseas which had no approval from the australian medical association whatsoever (ie. the ppl were conned). i just need confirmation if dallas gibson was behind the scheme or if the "vanuatu school of medicine" was the one taht ran this scam.
if it all turns out to be true, i would feel very vulnerable.

oh btw, ne1 know how the law suit turned out or if its still in court? i also heard somewhere that icarus has been around for longer than medentry. if this is true, then i would truly question the credibility of medentry's claims.

 

[Marinababy]

No way bacilli - i did missed entry last year and i am now doing icarus this year - the materials are different - believe me -check this out also - medentry tells lies about endorsements to pump up their course

http://www.medical-entrance.edu.au/studentalert.jsp


M

ahh dallas course content is medentry's anyway olol so whats the problem?
:rofl:

 

[partelephant]

that makes me feel so much better.

It shouldn't. (Having said that, people HAVE gotten into Med whilst having done Icarus, of course, but I would say that doing MedEntry puts you in a much better position)

but every1 i have talked to says to go with medentry(some who have done the course and some who havent).
i would be interested if ne1 can give links to this sort of evidence in support of medentry's claims. if not, then i must say that icarus has much better support evidence wise.

Listen to everyone that you've talked to. I didn't do Icarus personally but I know 2 or 3 people that did BOTH MedEntry and Icarus and said that Icarus was absolute rubbish.

The reason why Icarus has much better support evidence wise is that Dallas NEEDS to create his own evidence and attempt to spread it around. Icarus has been plunged into the gutter by REAL STUDENTS on BoS and other such forums and as such he needs to clutch at straws to rebuild some kind of reputation so that he can get your money.



The point that you can redo practice exams on Icarus is irrelevant. It completely defeats the purpose if you redo exams as if you have a halfway decent memory, you will remember the answers and this will create a false sense of confidence. Plus, as if you have enough time to do exams multiple times anyway.

 

[msomana]

... I think the fact is that prep courses suck in general...

 

[Marinababy]

Partelephant - use your mind -How does he forge this - isnt this all checkable?
I stuffed up last year with crap hype - not this year - i think missed entrys lies will soon be revealed to the world

Dr Deepak Williams B.Sc., MBBS, FRCS(London), FRCS(Edin), FRCS(Glasg), FRACS, FRACS(Vasc)

Dear Dallas

I cannot thank you enough for what you did with our eldest son Zoheb. He was extremely keen to do Medicine. As you know Zoheb was studying in a small school in Ballina - regional NSW. His class was only the third batch of students doing HSc from that school. As a result both the school and us were ignorant of what was required to get into a medical course. There are no tuitions or courses available here as there are in big metropolitan centres. It was only by accident that we came across a pamphlet for your
course. Once we visited your website, we knew that it was what Zoheb needed to succeed.

The course was very detailed, and you were there at all times to answer Zoheb's questions, and to guide him - sometimes at 1 am!!!. The skills you taught him not only put Zoheb at the same level as his city counterparts, but also gave him the edge in both UMAT and the various interviews. He was able to utilise the same skills in his preparation for the HSc exam as well, and am sure will be able to use them for the rest of his life.

I was amazed at your enthusiasm, and single minded dedication to our son. With your help Zoheb got offers for both Monash and Newcastle Universities, and he has accepted the offer from Newcastle. We as a family will always be grateful to you for what you did, and personally as a surgeon I feel that you give the students the edge which they require to
be the best and reach their potential. I commend you for your good work and would have no hesitation in recommending your course to any one who wants to excel, and achieve their dream in the field of Medicine

Deepak Williams
Vascular & Endovascular Surgeon

B.Sc., MBBS, FRCS(London), FRCS(Edin), FRCS(Glasg), FRACS, FRACS(Vasc)​

It shouldn't. (Having said that, people HAVE gotten into Med whilst having done Icarus, of course, but I would say that doing MedEntry puts you in a much better position)



Listen to everyone that you've talked to. I didn't do Icarus personally but I know 2 or 3 people that did BOTH MedEntry and Icarus and said that Icarus was absolute rubbish.

The reason why Icarus has much better support evidence wise is that Dallas NEEDS to create his own evidence and attempt to spread it around. Icarus has been plunged into the gutter by REAL STUDENTS on BoS and other such forums and as such he needs to clutch at straws to rebuild some kind of reputation so that he can get your money.

 

[Wooz]

Partelephant - use your mind -How does he forge this - isnt this all checkable?
I stuffed up last year with crap hype - not this year - i think missed entrys lies will soon be revealed to the world

Dr Deepak Williams B.Sc., MBBS, FRCS(London), FRCS(Edin), FRCS(Glasg), FRACS, FRACS(Vasc)

Dear Dallas

I cannot thank you enough for what you did with our eldest son Zoheb. He was extremely keen to do Medicine. As you know Zoheb was studying in a small school in Ballina - regional NSW. His class was only the third batch of students doing HSc from that school. As a result both the school and us were ignorant of what was required to get into a medical course. There are no tuitions or courses available here as there are in big metropolitan centres. It was only by accident that we came across a pamphlet for your
course. Once we visited your website, we knew that it was what Zoheb needed to succeed.

The course was very detailed, and you were there at all times to answer Zoheb's questions, and to guide him - sometimes at 1 am!!!. The skills you taught him not only put Zoheb at the same level as his city counterparts, but also gave him the edge in both UMAT and the various interviews. He was able to utilise the same skills in his preparation for the HSc exam as well, and am sure will be able to use them for the rest of his life.

I was amazed at your enthusiasm, and single minded dedication to our son. With your help Zoheb got offers for both Monash and Newcastle Universities, and he has accepted the offer from Newcastle. We as a family will always be grateful to you for what you did, and personally as a surgeon I feel that you give the students the edge which they require to
be the best and reach their potential. I commend you for your good work and would have no hesitation in recommending your course to any one who wants to excel, and achieve their dream in the field of Medicine

Deepak Williams
Vascular & Endovascular Surgeon

B.Sc., MBBS, FRCS(London), FRCS(Edin), FRCS(Glasg), FRACS, FRACS(Vasc)​

There has been alot of feedback and praise on both Medentry and Icarus sites but it only represents a fraction of the feedback recieved and of course displays of feedback are bias as only positive ones are put up, i guess it is very hard to tell which prep course would best suit the individual student.

Marinababy it is not fair for you to judge Medentry because you did not do well in UMAT since you have not done Icarus aswell and sat the UMAT, we will see in due course whether you do well in umat this year as a result of Icarus. Untill then it is not necessary to 'bash' each other. Also the terms and conditions for Medentry do not guarentee entry most students who do prep courses don't get in and many do not get into med via umat at all you are very very naive to suggest so esp when around 15,000 people sit this exam anually and only a few hundred get in this equates to up 2-4% of the candidates getting in and many hopefuls do prepcourses only to fail.

 

[Bacilli]

... I think the fact is that prep courses suck in general...

That's probably the only sensible thing you've typed throughout your eDays.
I agree though. Many of us attempt to praise one course over another; for example, I myself believe Amepp is of the best quality, and of the closest relevancy, yet how would I know seeing as I have never sat the UMAT? The prep course game is like choosing the least necrotic tomato from a bunch of 5 rotten tomatoes.
Peace out,
-Bacilli

P.S. Gees that metaphor is gh3y