Gamsat 2012

jibber5000 wrote: »

Hey,
am thinking of sitting the GAMSAT in March.I am currently doing a masters degree but to be honest the amount of work as part of it would allow me to put 10 weeks study into the gamsat.My sister done it in 2008 and literally done 2 hours a day for 8 weeks and done extremely well in it and she came from a non science degree..Im also living with someone who done it in 2007 and he worked full time whilst studying and told me he spent 2 hours a night for the first 8 weeks study den 5 hours a day for the last 2 weeks before the exam..both of these people would have been very strong on the essays so id say with a bit of study on the sciences it could easily be possible to do in 3 months

IMO its really not practical to compare x's 2hrs study a night for whatever months to yourself. Different people are at different levels at different subjects.

Simply put, if you want to do medicine, you should give it a go. You can always do it again and if you REALLY want it, that won't bother you one bit.

Hey, Yeah Im doing it in March and I live in Dublin, I live near UCD so could meet there or somewhere city centre, whatever suits.

To say that illness and medicine have had profound impact in my life is an underestimation of the highest form.I have lost my boyfriend and my Dad to cancer, and for as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a doctor.
I just want to share my GAMSAT story with you and hope that you can give me some help please.
Realising I would not get enough points in my Leaving Cert I settled on primary teaching...During the 2nd year of my 3 year B.Ed degree I began researching how I could access medicine as a mature student. Graduate entry medicine was just being set up and although I was going to complete my teaching degree, I set myself the goal of achieving a 2.1 to ensure I meet the graduate medicine requirements.
As I began my final year my beautiful boyfriend was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare soft tissue sarcoma, or cancer. I was completing 3rd year as my sweetheart endured treatments aimed at arresting his disease by cutting, burning and poisoning. All of his suffering and sacrifices were not enough.
After graduation I did not want to accept any teaching job. I was devastated and completely heart-broken. Yet on my parents and my boyfriend’s parent’s advice I took a job in a local primary school.
My best friend and deepest love slipped away in March 2009.

In August 2009 my Dad was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, lung cancer with metastases to brain and bone. A terminal diagnosis. My Dad’s illness was even more complicated that my boyfriends...
My lovely Dad slipped away in June 2011.

I have lost so much; I have felt pain and sadness beyond words and anything I ever dared to imagine. My world has been turned upside down.

In spite of this, I managed, at a whim, to sit the GAMSAT in London in 2010, just as sort of a practice and to see how I would actually get on. Between my grief at losing my boyfriend and caring for my Dad I did not have much time or energy for preparing or for studying for the exam. I didn’t tell anyone that my dream to study medicine was still in focus. I think it’s a bit like doing your driving test; it you tell people you’re doing the exam, not getting a place is basically like failing... But my desire to become a doctor is even stronger than ever....

Anyway I scored a 53. (S1 = 56, S2 = 70 and S3 = 43)
It was not good enough, but almost.... I think Limerick was 54 last year? I had not even written one full essay. I didn’t do any courses. I got the Griffiths Gamsat Review book, became familiar with the exam, kindly got some help from my friends with the science section, and that’s about all. So I was very actually very happy with my score. There was/is hope that one day I would/will make it.

I decided that I did not have a lot of time left with my Dad, but a lot of time to get into medicine, so I dropped the idea after doing the exam in Sep 2010, only feeling strong enough to try to take it up now again. But I need your help.
When I did the exam last year, I did not put any pressure on myself; it was just a trial run. Now though I am very serious about trying to get a place for college in Sep 2012. I am applying for a career break from my teaching job; I have to do that by a certain deadline which is actually before I sit the exam. I have to do well enough this time around...

I do have some good Biology books belonging to my sister who is a nurse, as well as access to the UCC library, a leaving cert Chemistry book, Chemistry for Dummies, Organic Chemistry for Dummies and Rapid Revision Physics. But I am completely overwhelmed with all the other resources available.
I am planning on doing the GradMed intensive revision course for Biology, Chemistry, and Written Communication. Although the only thing putting me off is that I’m not from Dublin, so it will mean travelling and staying overnight etc...for 3 weekends. Do you think it will be worth the time and effort and loss in time for study??
I am also thinking of getting the Des O’Neill notes on the verbal reasoning and the essay practice package. Or I have just read about the new essay preparation package offered by Griffiths Gamsat Review, though this is new, so there is no real feedback. It’s hard to know which one to go for?
I will buy the Examkrackers for the verbal reasoning... What else can or should I do?
I am just seriously worried about section 3, especially all of the chemistry. 43 is such a poor result, I’m hoping the extra notes from the courses will be a help as it is very hard opening up books and studying blind.
Hopefully having sat the exam already will stand to me, but what if my score actually goes down this time?

My experiences have brought me to the furthest reaches of sorrow. Everything has been impossibly difficult the past few years.
Doctors watch the wheel of life and death turn in front of their eyes as they welcome newborns into the world and hold the hands of others as they leave. I want to be a part of it all, the science, the care, the ugly, and the joy.
I am determined to draw from my personal experiences and develop the skills I have already acquired and to transfer them into a future career in medicine. I may have been powerless when I lost loved ones to cancer, but I refuse to be helpless in what I can do to perpetuate purpose in my own life.

This is the first time in so long that I am a little hopeful for the year ahead. I am not content as a teacher; I want to be a doctor more than ever. I would really appreciate any help you could offer. Thank you!

Hey guys, i might join that group if there's space.

Another quick question, this could be more so for current GEMs. I read a few people saying they did the 1001 questions in MCAT org chem, Im currently trying to do that myself and find the going really tough. Im doing it in conjunction with the book as well and its really tough. Did ye find it the same when ye were practising them. Like some of the questions seem to assume a fair bit of prior knowledge.

Thanks guys

Hi there,

Can anyone give me a link to the marking scheme for the GAMSAT exam. I have heard a lot of information regarding weighting of questions dependant on proportion of candidates answering them correctly, as well as well as there being "trial" questions included in the exam which don't necessarily contribute anything to your final mark.

Can anybody share a link to how the GAMSAT is really marked? I haven't yet been able to find one.

Thanks in advance!

From what I've heard the exam is marked so that the questions people get correct most are worth the lowest and vice versa.

Also, unless you've taken the exam already you won't know but there are a number of exam papers on the day. The exam paper that you get will have questions in different orders and completely different questions to the exam papers given to the people around you. Obviously to ensure no one can cheat by copying someone beside them.

Surprised by how quiet this thread is with less than a month to go before the big day. Hopefully thats a sign of falling interest in the courses and thus lower points in 2012

Ok, Im around UCD, anyone want to meet up to exchange ideas one of the days?

I haven't gotten anything either, does anyone know where it is normally held? Hopefully the lack action on the thread means there's not too many doing the exam, it could also mean that they're all really busy studying though!

Yeah things seem v.quiet alright compared to previous years. Here's hoping my 62 from London last year us good enough for UCD as I'm not sitting it again.

Best of luck to you all. It's not as bad as you think but practice under exam conditions is essential!!!

Hi guys,

I did it in RCSI last year and i dont think i got the entry ticket until about 3 days before hand so Im not stressed about that yet. I packed in my job on friday there to concentrate on it properly so here's hoping it all goes well. This is complete idle speculation by me but Doc2be said on her blog that there seemed less interest in the GEM at the RCSI open day and I thought the numbers at the UCD open day were down (only a small bit down but down none the less!). So Roger, thats great score to have.

Im really hoping and praying that the numbers hold this year again or preferably go down cos i REALLY want to be in GEM in september, wherever....though preferably UCD....cos i always wanted to go there....tho I'll go to RCSI, Limerick or Cork no bother.

I'd go along with that... Even though it is speculation I've been keeping an eye on this forum and the GEM world for about 18 months and this is definitely as quiet as I've seen it. Great news for everyone who wants to get in but I'd also be curious to know why. Do others know something that we don't? That sounds so paranoid lol

Havent been to Limerick but I hope to get down in April sometime, even just to see the college and hopefully one of the staff will show me around.

Yeah, definitely agree that its really quiet here, maybe its the cost thats putting people off. I think this time last year the forum was up to about 10 or 15 pages at this stage, tho that could be GAMSAT induced madness gripping my long term memory.

lonelywanderer wrote: »

All other things being equal I hate that RCSI have post Xmas exams... Much prefer the pre-Xmas stress/madness and then having a relaxing week or two over Xmas where you don't have to feel guilty about not studying

1st year has xmas exams in January, 2nd year has them in early December. I didn't mind the timing of 1st year exams too much because you still get 3 weeks off after them.