Critical thinking MMI questions are relatively rarer than other station or question types,and might appear at more academic or research-leaning universities. In particular, they will appear in the panel interviews of Oxbridge, or perhaps the MMIs of universities like King’s College or Edinburgh. Here we’ll take a look at some possible Critical Thinking questions and how you might approach them.
A group of five patients were weighed to see who was the heaviest. Felix was unsurprised to find that he was the lightest of the group. William was the very middle patient, with two lighter than him and two heavier. Reginald was heavier than Douglas, but found that he was outweighed by Roger. Using this information, whom of the patients was the second heaviest?
Answer: Reginald
Explanation: The order of patients, from heaviest to lightest, must be Roger, Reginald, William, Douglas, then Felix. You can work from Felix first, then William in the middle, then Douglas must be the fourth for Reginald to be heavier, making Roger the heaviest in turn.
500+ Questions, Model Answers with Expert Techniques & Simulated Interview Circuits
Mock Interviews, Personalised Feedback & Support From Your Own Interview Specialist.
20+ Interview Stations & Expert Feedback. Taught By Medical School Interview Specialists.
Five different patients all live in different types of houses. Their houses are: an apartment, a cottage, a manor, a rectory, and a terrace. Caroline does not live in a detached property – in other words, her dwelling does not stand alone. Larry lives in a detached property that was never used by a vicar. Felix’s property is larger than Larry’s. David’s property was previously owned by the Church of England. Matt’s property is not detached, but is over two floors.
Where does Felix live?
Answer: The Manor
Explanation:
Felix: Manor
Matt: Terrace
Larry: Cottage
David: Rectory
Caroline: Apartment
There are four patients, all of whom have a different number of farmyard animals. Rahul has four cows, and two donkeys. He is sad to realise that Bob has twice the number of both types of animal. Sarah has no cows at all, although she does have two donkeys and six horses. Robert has the same number of cows as Sarah, and although he has no donkeys, he has twelve horses and two goats.
Who has the most animals?
Answer: Robert
Explanation:
Rahul has 4 cows, 2 donkeys
Bob has 8 cows, 4 donkeys
Sarah has 0 cows, 2 donkeys, 6 horses
Robert has 0 cows, 0 donkeys, 12 horses, 2 goats
Learn the best interview strategies and practice with past interview questions & model answers.
An elephant weighs 1000 lbs. It is to be sold for a price 1/8 of its weight, bundled with a cow that costs twice its price. In total, how much does the buyer pay for the two animals?
Answer: 375 pounds
Explanation: This is 125 for the elephant (note the use of ‘pounds’) and 250 for the cow (double the price of the elephant).
Dr Wilkinson is putting patients into rooms. Each room ought to have one patient. He puts one patient into each room, but realises he has one patient too many. However, if he puts two patients into each room, he has an empty room. How many patients and rooms does he have?
Answer: 3 rooms, 4 patients
It takes ten minutes to walk from the bus stop to the medical school. Alternatively, the bus takes 4 minutes. The bus comes every 3 minutes. Assuming that Tim has just got off the bus at the medical school and walks back to the bus stop, how long would it take him to make a round trip from the medical school to the bus stop and back? He may catch the bus back if that is faster.
Answer: 16 minutes
Explanation: The bus arrives at the bus stop two minutes after Tom gets back there. He takes ten minutes, then the bus arrives after two minutes. Then the return trip is an extra four minutes.
How many times does the number 2 occur from 200-300?
Answer: 119
Explanation: Add the 2s in the hundreds, then the 2s in the 10s, then the 2s in the individual units, to get a total of 119.Â
Adam buys a wallet and a pair of shoes. Combined they cost $100. The wallet cost $10 more than the shoes. What did the shoes cost?
Answer: $45
Explanation: The costs are $55 and $45
