IMAT ranking list for dummies

If you enroll in an English-taught medical program in Italy , you better get familiar with Italian bureaucracy (there’s a lot of it, trust us).

This article will guide you through the different registration steps and how the IMAT ranking list works.

IMAT Registration

The first step is signing up for the IMAT test . The IMAT registration usually begins in early July and ends by the end of the month. The procedure is done on www.universitaly.it .

You will be asked to choose the universities you are interested in in order of preference. If you decide to sit the exam in an Italian center, the first option is where you will have to take the exam.

In practical terms, if you put Milan as your first choice and you wish to take the exam in Italy, you will have to take it in Milan.

You will be allowed to change the preferences until the deadline.

To sit the exam abroad, you must indicate the venue during registration.

During the registration, you must pay the registration fee of around 130 €.

No worries: registration and pre-enrolment of non-EU candidates are covered in a separate article!

IMAT Ranking list

The ranking list is in decreasing order of score and includes only candidates who obtained at least 20/90 points.

Note that the threshold does NOT apply to non-EU students living abroad.

The score is calculated using the following formula:

• 1.5 points for each correct answer
• minus 0.4 (-0.4) points for each wrong answer
• 0 (zero) points for no answer

Let’s make a practical example: imagine you correctly answered 37 questions, got 12 wrong, and left 11 blank ones.

Firstly, we calculate the points for the correct answers: 37 x 1.5 = 55.5 (well done!) Secondly, we calculate the points for the incorrect answers: 12 x 0.4 = 4.8

Finally, we subtract the incorrect points to the correct ones to obtain your final score: 55.5 – 4.8 = 50.7

CINECA publishes the national IMAT ranking list around the first week of October (date not yet published).

What happens if two candidates score the same points?

Here are the criteria that shall determine the final IMAT ranking order:

1. Priority is given to the candidate with a higher score in Logical Reasoning and General Knowledge, Biology, Chemistry, and Maths&Physics (in this specific order);
2. In the case of an equal overall score and equal scores in all subjects, priority is given to the candidate who declared a language certificate during registration.
3. In the case of identical scores and language certificates, the younger student has priority.

ASSEGNATO, PRENOTATO, IN ATTESA

Once the ranking list is out, you must check your personal area on Universitaly.

Based on your position in the IMAT ranking list, you will be able to see your status, which can read: ASSEGNATO (i.e. ASSIGNED), PRENOTATO (i.e. RESERVED) or IN ATTESA (i.e. WAITING FOR).

• If you get ASSEGNATO as your first choice, you must enroll within 4 days (Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays do not count). Congrats! If you fail to enroll within the deadline, you lose your right to enroll, regardless of your motives.
• Suppose your first choice has no available spot (because other students with the same first choice scored higher). In that case, your status will be PRENOTATO for a subsequent University choice (according to your position in the ranking list). This means that this university has RESERVED a spot for you. In this case, you may either: Enroll on the degree for which they are PRENOTATO within 4 days OR Wait for the next scrolling (usually one week) to see if their better choices become available.

If you enroll at the University for which you are PRENOTATO, you lose the right to compete in the ranking list.

If you wish to wait, you must confirm your interest (CONFERMA DI INTERESSE) in enrolment in the dedicated area of Universitaly , or you lose your position in the ranking list.

This doesn’t sound very easy, we know! So here is an example that should help you understand better.

Mario wants to study Medicine and Surgery in Italy. He registers on Universitaly . His dream University is Bologna , so he makes it his first choice. Note: Mario must sit the exam in Bologna!

Since he wants to be sure to have as many chances to get in, he also puts other Universities, based on his preferences:

• Bologna (1st choice)
• Torino
• Roma
• Messina

When the IMAT ranking comes out, Mario is PRENOTATO for Turin. This means that Bologna has now assigned or reserved all the available spots. However, Torino is saving a place for Mario. Therefore, if Bologna runs out of available spots, he’ll get ASSIGNED to Torino on the next scrolling.

Mario could enroll at the University of Turin but will wait to check if Bologna becomes available. If he enrolled in Torino, he would lose the chance to compete for Bologna.

Important note: Mario cannot enroll at Roma or Messina because he scored a high enough grade to get into his 2nd choice. He can still access his 1st choice (with scrollings), but he cannot go down to his 3rd or 4th.

A week later, Mario is ASSIGNED to Bologna! He must enroll in 4 days and be a medical student at the University of Bologna.

Lastly, a candidate might be IN ATTESA , meaning there are no available spots in any Universities among their choices. In this case, one should continue to confirm their interest (conferma dell’interesse) and might eventually be PRENOTATO or ASSIGNED to one of the universities they select.

The take-home message is that you should select your preferences based on your natural likings and not on which University is more accessible.

• Suppose you put Messina as your first choice because “it’s easier to get into” and Milan as the second choice. If you score very high, you will be assigned to Messina, not Milan (although Milan usually requires a higher grade)!
• Suppose you put Milan first and Messina second. If your score is insufficient to access Milan, you will be assigned to Messina. You will get in sooner than candidates who selected Messina as their first choice but didn’t score as high as you did.

The IMAT ranking will always favor those with a higher score, regardless of their choices.

Finally, the minimum score varies yearly, so don’t focus too much on that. You should aim to obtain as many points as possible (ideally 90).

We hope this article was helpful. Let us know what topics we should cover next. 🙂

Good luck!