Lebanese University Faculty of Public Health Entrance Exam common mistakes
Lebanese University Faculty of Public Health Entrance Exam · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Applying a memorised biology rule (for example, a cross ratio or an inheritance pattern) to a question whose wording changes the given conditions, without re-reading the stem to confirm which allele, generation, or organism the question is actually asking about.
Candidates rehearse standard textbook problems until the answer becomes automatic, so under time pressure they pattern-match the first familiar keyword and stop reading carefully; the exam deliberately inverts conditions (dominant/recessive, affected/unaffected, parental/F1) to test comprehension rather than recall.
What to do instead
Before computing, underline the subject and the condition in the stem and restate the question in one sentence in the margin. Check whether the stem asks for a genotype, a phenotype, a probability, or a ratio, and confirm which generation or individual is meant before applying any rule.
Balancing a chemical equation by adjusting subscripts inside a formula (turning H2O into H2O2 or Fe2O3 into FeO) instead of placing coefficients in front of intact formulas.
Candidates treat balancing as an arithmetic puzzle to make atom counts match and lose sight of the fact that subscripts encode the identity of the substance; this usually surfaces under time pressure when they are counting atoms quickly.
What to do instead
Adopt a fixed routine: list each element and its count on both sides, change only coefficients, and finish by re-counting every element. Treat any temptation to alter a subscript as a signal to stop and re-check the formula from the periodic table or the name given.
Using degree mode instead of radian mode (or the reverse) on the calculator for trigonometric questions, or reporting an answer with the wrong number of significant figures or units after a physics calculation.
Calculators retain the last mode set, and candidates rarely check the mode indicator; unit and significant-figure discipline is often skipped in school practice where only the numerical answer is graded.
What to do instead
At the start of the exam, set the calculator to the mode the paper requires and verify with a known value (sin 30 = 0.5 in degrees, sin(pi/6) = 0.5 in radians). Write units at every intermediate step and round only at the end, to the precision the data justify.
Reading a data table or graph by its headline number (the highest bar, the steepest segment) instead of the axis labels, units, and baseline, and then drawing a causal conclusion from a correlation.
Charts in the exam are built with truncated axes, per-capita versus absolute counts, and confounded variables; candidates scan for the visually largest feature and answer from impression rather than from the labelled quantities.
What to do instead
Read the title, both axis labels including units, and the scale before looking at the data. State the comparison in words with units attached, check whether the axis starts at zero, and ask whether a third variable could explain the pattern before choosing a causal option.
Answering public health questions from personal belief or media anecdote rather than from the epidemiological concept being tested (incidence versus prevalence, sensitivity versus specificity, relative risk versus odds ratio, association versus causation).
These terms sound interchangeable in everyday Arabic, English, or French usage, and candidates have strong opinions about vaccination, smoking, or diet that override the technical definition the item is testing.
What to do instead
Build a one-page glossary of paired terms with a one-line definition and a worked example for each, and practise classifying each question as definition, calculation, or interpretation before answering. When a stem describes a study design, identify the design first, because it determines which measure is valid.
Writing a multi-step word problem as a single chain of calculator keystrokes without recording intermediate values, so an early arithmetic slip propagates and cannot be located, and the final answer is left unjustified.
Candidates are used to short school exercises and have not practised problems with several dependent stages; the pressure to save time encourages skipping written steps, which actually makes errors invisible.
What to do instead
Write one line per stage with the quantity named (total dose, per-patient dose, number of patients) and carry units through. Do a reverse check on the final number, and sanity-check its order of magnitude against the inputs before selecting an option.
Treating physics as formula recall: picking an equation that contains the given symbols without checking whether the conditions for that equation hold (constant acceleration, negligible friction, ideal gas, series versus parallel circuit).
Revision concentrates on memorising formulas and substituting numbers, while the exam tests whether the candidate can select the right model; the symbols in the stem often match several formulas at once.
What to do instead
For each problem, first write what is given, what is asked, and which physical situation it is (constant velocity, free fall, closed circuit). Choose the law that matches the situation, and state the assumption you are making in one short line before substituting.
Spending disproportionate time on one hard item in the sciences and then rushing the language and general-knowledge sections, leaving easy marks unattempted or answers mis-transferred.
Science candidates over-invest in calculation-heavy items because those feel like the core of the exam, and they underestimate how quickly reading-comprehension and vocabulary items can be answered; panic on a single item also erodes time for the rest.
What to do instead
Do two passes: answer everything you can resolve quickly first, flag the rest, then return. Set a per-item time budget from the total number of items and the exam duration, and transfer answers in blocks, checking numbering alignment at each block.
Answering a reading-comprehension item from prior knowledge or personal opinion about the topic instead of from the passage, or choosing an option that is true in general but not stated in the text.
Scientific passages often cover familiar subjects such as immunity, nutrition, or climate, so candidates substitute what they know for what the author wrote; distractors are deliberately built as plausible general truths.
What to do instead
For each item, locate and underline the sentence in the passage that supports the chosen option, and reject any option you cannot tie to a specific line. Distinguish explicitly between 'stated in the passage' and 'true in reality' when the question asks what the author claims.
Leaving items blank when there is no negative marking, or changing a first answer to a second one on a vague feeling during review without a concrete reason from the stem.
Candidates carry over habits from exams that penalise wrong answers, and anxiety during review produces the illusion that the first choice was wrong; answer-changing without new evidence tends to lower scores.
What to do instead
Confirm the scoring rule from the instructions, and if there is no penalty, ensure every item has an answer before time expires. During review, change an answer only when you can name the specific word or fact in the stem that the original choice ignored.