Szeged entrance exam scoring: pass mark, penalty and blanks

Because a wrong answer costs nothing and a blank is impossible, there is no decision about whether to guess, only about how well. A guess among n options is right one time in n, so on average it is worth 1/n of a point.

Guessing blindly at every question would score, on average, (40 × 1/5) + (20 × 1/4) = 8 + 5 = 13 of 60, about 22%: 40 science questions with five options, 20 English questions with four. Every point above that comes from knowing the answer or ruling options out.

Ruling options out is worth more than it looks. Taking a five-option question down to two choices lifts its value from 0.20 to 0.50 of a point. Across 20 science questions, that is 20 × 0.30 = 6 points, a tenth of the test.

None is published for fee-paying applicants. The Entrance / Evaluation Examination page, both of Szeged's FAQs, the Medical Programme page and the Online Application page give no pass mark, minimum score or ranking rule, and none of them says how the written test and the oral are weighed against each other.

One number is often mistaken for a pass mark and is not one: the GED score. It is a condition for applying with a GED diploma, not a score on the entrance exam. Szeged's two FAQs disagree on it for General Medicine: the Foreign Students' Secretariat's says at least 165 in each subject, the faculty's says at least 145. Ask the Admissions Office which applies.

Szeged's Stipendium Hungaricum page sets special conditions for scholarship applicants. They are invited to the oral only if they 'reach at least 50 % at the written examination (in every subject separately)'. With 20 questions in each subject, that is at least 10 correct in Biology, 10 in Chemistry and 10 in English.

Each subject counts on its own. A total of 30 made of 14, 10 and 6 does not qualify, because 6 of 20 in one subject is below half. For scholarship applicants the exam cannot be repeated, no exemption is possible, and Physics is not offered instead of Chemistry.

Decisions are made by the Admission Board of the Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School. The exam has two parts: the written test, then the oral, about 20 minutes on Zoom with a University Professor, where a general conversation is followed by two Biology and two Chemistry questions in English. If you are admitted, the Letter of Admission comes through Dream Apply. Admission is rolling, with places offered 'on a first come first served basis'.

With no published pass mark, aim for strength in all three blocks rather than a peak in one: each is worth 20 points. A useful check, IvyTest's suggestion, is the scholarship rule: if a mock leaves any block under 10 of 20, that block needs work first.