Semmelweis University Entrance Exam

This post is all about the Semmelweis University entrance exam. You can read about the interview here

8:00 (AM)

Registration. 
 
The main entrance door opens and all the students must deliver their documents.
 
You pay the exam fees and once they check your identity you can go to one of the classrooms where the exam will be taken. 
 
09:50 (AM)
 
The exam started. You are given a periodic table but you are allowed to use your own calculator.
 
English Part
 
I found this part fairly easy. If you are comfortable with the English language you will do fine. 
 
60 multiple choice questions. It is mostly grammar and verb conjugation. Some of the questions are supposed to test your medical language knowledge but I haven’t even felt like that was a part of the exam. 
 
After the multiple choice, we had to write a paragraph about the role that high technology plays in the medical field. Here you have to come up with a little text and that should tell them enough about your English. 
 
 
Biology Part
 
20 multiple choice questions. I was very surprised to find that no questions were about mitosis or meiosis
 
Questions that I remember (I’ll make up some of the answer options since I can’t recall everything in detail):
 
Where are the carbohydrates digested? 
 
1 – mouth, stomach, small intestine.
2 – stomach, small and large intestine.
3 – mouth and small intestine.
4 – mouth, stomach, small intestine, large intestine.
Which of these is not surrounded by a membrane?
 
1 – Centeriole
2 – Mitochondrion
3 – Ribosome
4 – Lysosome
5 – Nucleus
 
A: 1,3      B: 1,2     C: 3, 4, 5    D: 2, 4, 5    E: 1, 4
 
What type of disease is connected to a malfunction in haemoglobin?
 
1 – Sick Cell Disease
2 – Albinism
3 – Hemophilia
4 – Depression (of some kind, do not remember what exactly)
5 – Something else (can’t recall right now)
 
A: 1,3      B: 1, 2, 3     C: 1, 3, 4    D: 3, 4, 5    E: 1, 4
 
What holds the quaternary structure of a protein?
 
1 – Peptide bonds
2 – Hydrogen bonds
3 – Hydrophobic regions
4 – Salt bridges 
 
A: 1,3      B: 1, 2, 3, 4     C: 1, 3, 4    D: 2, 3 
 
Where in the liver are drugs detoxified?
 
1 – RER and lysosomes
2 – Smooth ER and lysosomes
3 – Smooth ER and peroxisomes
4 – Golgi Apparatus
5 – RER and peroxisomes
 
A lot of questions of this type: 
Select the wrong statement. – 4 or 5 options. 
Which statements are true about actin? – 4 or 5 options.
Which of these produce hormones? – 4 or 5 options.
What is true about DNA replication? – 4 or 5 options.
What is true about fermentation? – 4 or 5 options.
What is the wrong statement about sweat glands? – 4 or 5 options.
What is true about epithelium tissue? – 4 or 5 options.
Many of the questions were about physiology. We were asked for sure about the kidney, the digestive system, the nervous system, and endocrine system. Only 1 question about genetics – phenylketonuria. 
 
I really recommend spending some time studying physiology because it can save you. I was not sure about some of them but I am really glad that I spent the last days reading about it because it made a huge difference. 
 
Chemistry Part
 
20 multiple choice questions. Overall I must admit they were quite basic but I managed to fail at least two of them already. Quite embarrassing ones I’d say.  
Questions that I remember:
 
An atom has 26 protons, 30 neutrons and 24 electrons. Which of the following represents this atom? – Then you are given several representations of the atom and you must choose the one that has 26 protons (bottom left), 56 neutrons (top left) and a 2+ sign (top right) meaning the lack of 2 electrons.
 
Le Châtelier’s principle type of problem. We were given an endothermic reaction and we were asked which of the options given would make the equilibrium shift to the right.
 
Molarity problem. – A very simple one.
 
Organic Chemistry. – You must know how to identify structural isomers, the difference between the chemical groups (alcohols, ketones, amines, amides – please understand the difference between an amide and an amine if you don’t want to be in trouble!), substitution / addition / elimination / oxidation / reduction reactions. There were 4 – 5 questions total in our exam today. 
 
pH and pOH problems.
 
Periodic Table trends.
 
Which of these has the lowest freezing point? 
Options: Glucose, KCl, FeCl3, MgCl2 and another option that I can’t recall at the moment.
 
Rank the following molecules with increasing solubility. 
 
Electron configuration. 
 
Acid/Base reactions and simple questions about buffers.
 
Dilutions. – A solution with a certain concentration is diluted and you are asked to find the new concentration of the solution.
 
This is pretty much it. Some of the chemistry questions are a little trickier than others but essentially they are not difficult. You just need to pay attention. And I am pretty sure that I have already 3 questions wrong. Small details that one doesn’t account for and ends up choosing the wrong option. As long the rest is good. Hopefully, I will be fine.
 
12:20 (AM)
After the exam, we all have to wait for the interview lists to come out. Today we waited for about 1 hour. 
 
I am scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10 AM. 
 
Everyone has to go through the interview. The better you perform in the exam the better are your chances to impress the professors, I guess. But there is no score that you must achieve to get in. It’s in their hands to decide whether you are up to the challenge or not.
 
Hopefully, this post has given you some valuable information about the exam.
Good luck to all of you taking the Semmelweis University entrance exam.

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