Miller Analogies Test (MAT) Study Guide for 2023
The Miller Analogies Test (MAT) is a popular assessment used mostly to get into graduate schools. It includes 120 computerized analogy questions that may seem simple at first, but actually require A LOT of general and academic knowledge, as well as sharp thinking skills.
Trying different types of MAT analogy questions will give you an idea of the level of knowledge required to correctly solve these challenging questions. The following preparation guide will get you familiar with different MAT Test analogies, the knowledge they require, and how to solve them.
Coming soon! our team is currently working on an online, accurate Miller Analogies Test preparation. It will include practice tests designed to simulate the exact test format and question types you will see on your test.
What is the Miller Analogies Test?
The Miller Analogies test (MAT) is used for graduate school admission in hundreds of institutes in the United States, and for getting into high IQ societies. You can only take the MAT test assessment once a year, in designated Pearson assessment centers.
The Miller Analogies is a verbal test containing 120 multiple-choice questions you must answer within 60 minutes. All questions are sophisticated analogies that assess analytical and critical thinking. Unlike most analogy tests, the MAT test not only requires identifying relationships between words but also heavily relies on previous knowledge from various fields (scientific, historic, general, and more) to do so.
Millers Analogies Test Sample
In each analogy, you are given 3 terms. The relationship between the terms could be between any 2 pairs of terms.
For example, the second and fourth terms:
Top: Bottom :: High : Low
Or the third and fourth terms:
Switch : Electricity :: Valve : Pipe
Try 4 different types of MAT practice questions:
Question #1
Group : (a. Regularity b.Folkway c. Education, d. Obsession) :: Person : Habit
Explanation:
A habit is a practice, or a custom, followed by an individual person. Similarly, the definition of a folkway is a custom or tradition shared by a group.
Here, a close distractor is c- education- if you define a habit as something a person acquires, then education might seem fit. In this case, we would want to come up with a more precise definition: education is deliberately acquired by individuals in a group, and not by a group, unlike a habit that is acquired by an individual person, typically unconsciously.
This is a typical analogy that relies on a semantic relationship between each of the two terms. Meaning, you can use one of the words to define the other word.
Question #2
Aquinas : Scholasticism :: (a. Becket, b. Machiavelli, c. Plato, d. Sartre) : Existentialism
Explanation:
Thomas Aquinas was a key figure in the philosophical movement of Scholasticism (in medieval Europe). Similarly, Jean-Paul Sarte was a key figure in the philosophy of existentialism, a modern philosophical movement.
Finding the relationship between each two words on MAT Questions such as these requires knowing prominent philosophical and scientific figures.
Question #3
Eros : Sore :: Loot : (a. Angry, b. Find, c. Lose, Tool)
Explanation:
Looking at the words Eros and Sore- Eros is the word Sore spelled backward. Similarly, loot is the word tool spelled backward.
On this kind of MAT Questions, thinking about the semantic relationship between the words will not work. Here you have to think about the terms like logic riddles and analyze the logic in this sequence to find the relationship between the words.
Question #4
Heat : Igneous :: (a.Liquid, b. Slate, c. Acid, d. Pressure) : Metamorphic
Explanation:
Both Igneous and Metamorphic refer to types of rocks. Since the word heat does not have a similar relationship with any of the possible answers, let’s look at the relationship between the first two words. Heat contributes to the formation of igneous rocks, just as pressure contributes to the formation of metamorphic rocks.
MAT questions like this require Geological/ Scientific knowledge about natural processes.
How to Study for Miller Analogies Test?
As you can see, Miller Analogy Questions rely on several capabilities:
- Extensive knowledge: humanities, language, natural sciences, social sciences, mathematics, and general.
- The ability to identify different kinds of word relationships: semantic, logical, classification, and association.
The best way to practice these questions is by practicing diverse, challenging questions just like those on the actual test. This will allow you to effectively learn the required knowledge while working on the ability to find different types of relationships between words.
Coming soon!
Our team of psychometric experts is currently working on an online, accurate MAT Test preparation. It will include practice tests designed to simulate the exact test format and question types you will see on your test.
If you have any questions about your Miller Analogies test please feel free to contact us and we will do our best to help within 24 hours.
Miller Analogies Test Scores
100 questions out of the 120 are used to calculate your score, while 20 are experimental and not considered in your scoring.
What is considered a good MAT Test score?
Scoring on the MAT Test ranges between 200-600 (scaled scores. The median MAT score is 400, with a standard deviation of 25 points, so any score above 425 is considered high. Scores are also given to candidates as percentiles (1-99), so you can see where your score is located compared to other candidates.
Keep in mind that each graduate school and program has a different cutoff score, so to find the score that's best for you check the requirements of the particular programs relevant for you.
Institutes That Accept MAT Scores
Some programs from the same institute may accept MAT scores while others don't. So, if you are interested in one of the following institutes, it is recommended to go to their official site and check your specific program.
Buffalo State College
College of New Rochelle
Hofstra University
State University of New York
Utica College
California
Brandman University
California State University
Chapman University
Humboldt State University
Pepperdine University-GSEP
University of California
University of La Verne
Texas
Abilene Christian University
Baylor University
Lamar University
Our Lady of The Lake University
Sam Houston State University
Southern Methodist University
St. Mary’s University
Stephen F. Austin State University
Tarleton State University
Texas A & M University
Texas Tech University
University of Houston
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Rutgers University
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Rowan University
Seton Hall University
William Paterson University
North Carolina
Appalachian State University
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Elizabeth City State University
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Gardner-Webb University
North Carolina State University
Pfeiffer University
The University of North Carolina
Troy University
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Berry College
Atlanta Metropolitan State College
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Georgia Regents
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Mercer University
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Troy University
University of Georgia
University of West Georgia
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Illinois
Bradley University
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Quincy University
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Trinity International University
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Massachusetts
Fitchburg State University
Salem State College
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