GAMSAT 2010...for discussion of all things related to this exam.

drrunner

figs86 wrote: »

5 months travelling through Africa by Land Rover teaching Rugby to kids.
Given that I'm a lifelong rugby player and am finishing my degree in Sport Science and Health tomorrow (if I get off the internet first!), it would have suited me down to the ground.
Unless UCD give me an unexpected answer tomorrow, I have a gut-wrenching phone call to make to the volunteer head.

These are the guys - www.rugbyinafrica.org

Hadn't expected to get a good enough GAMSAT to get in anywhere this September as March was my "dry run". So I thought; do GAMSAT in UK in September, get good enough score, go volunteer in Africa for 5 months!

Shouldn't complain, got a good enough GAMSAT, that was the longterm plan!

You only live once.....sounds like you're only in your early 20s....you could always sit GAMSAT again if you can't get a deferred place/points for UCD are higher than 60 next (which personally I doubt they will be if there are 55 places on offer again, but who knows what can happen in the meantime!!!)

You'll be a doctor for a long time...this is probably only a once-off opportunity (sorry my tuppnce worth!!!)

Yillan

figs86 wrote: »

Something doesn't add up here?

hurdygurdy85

cailin_fanach wrote: »

I'm the exact same as you! Got 59 in Sept '09 and went down in the March exam. My 1st choice is Cork but I booked accommodation in Limerick as well (just incase!!) Really hoping to get Cork 1st thou....If you compare a score of 59 to the percentile chart that lands us in the 85% percentile so fingers crossed!! Best of luck!

Yeah fingers crossed. August seems like so long away. So tired of waiting. March to August is a ridiculous amount of time to wait to find out. Never mind the amount of time put into preparing for the exam. I think/hope being in the 85% percentile will get us an offer?!!!!:)

MicraBoy

figs86 wrote: »

Gahh got offered the volunteer programme I was considering would be worth deferring for.

In case anybody was wondering, rang each of the admissions offices and these are their Grad Med deferral policies:

UCC - Will allow for one deferral per intake of GradMed. Best reason gets it.

UCD - Call back tomorrow, doesn't sound promising.

RCSI - Case by case basis, it'd want to be a health issue or similar.

UL - Not nobody, not no way, not no how!

figs did you every hear back from UCD about this?

figs86

MicraBoy wrote: »

figs did you every hear back from UCD about this?

Yeah UCD take it on a case by case basis as well.

Everyone but UL asked what score I got in the GAMSAT so I'd say the higher your score the more likely they are to let you defer as you'll just get in the next year and it means they lock in a high score for their college, pushing the exclusivity up for them.

rampere1

Hi everyone,

I've just completed my finals in biochem and would be very keen to find out more about GAMSAT. Firstly, if I sit the exam in the UK in September, can my score be used here in Ireland?? I'm sure this has been answered elsewhere but I would appreciate your help!! Thanks

etymon

Hi Rampere

Yes it is valid and you can use a score for 2 years also. A GAMSAT is a GAMSAT.

mac19

Hi all,
You'll have to excuse my stupid questions but im kinda new to the gamsat thing (and this forum actually) and im fairly confused!
If CAO have contacted us with our gamsat results do we still need to forward the results to them (like it said in one of the letters I got a few months ago)??
Second question...is it just the overall gamsat result that is counted in Ireland? I read somewhere that in England they take the results from the three separate sections into account.
Would really appreciate if anyone could answer these questions...would seriously help with my confusion!

Biologic

Hi Mac,

It's just the overall GAMSAT result in Ireland, no individual minimum scores are required. As for the CAO thing, I'd just check your application on the CAO website. Your GAMSAT results should be there now (in the qualifications section I think) and if they're not it might be worth forwarding them on a printout of your scores.
Hope that helped,

Bio.

mac19

Thanks, that helps a lot! my result is up on the cao website alright. im just terrified im going to screw up the application in some way so trying to be extra cautious!

maggie82

Hi quick question, my CAO application doesnt list GAMSAT score?! Only lists LC number and year under qualifications?!!
Just wondering do those of you who did it the first time in March have scores listed with CAO? Did you send it to them, I know it says they will be automatically forwarded?

ZombieMed

I've only done it in March and my scores are visible in my CAO application and I got the letter to confirm them and allow me to send in better scores if I had them. When applying for GAMSAT you give CAO number and they forward it on.. If they haven't, you should send a certified copy of your results to CAO. If you got a letter from CAO regarding the results it would have said if your results appear as zero below then send your results to them.

Have you gotten all the usual letters starting "you are applying for graduate medicine..." and confirming that your supporting documents are ok?

maggie82

ZombieMed wrote: »

I've only done it in March and my scores are visible in my CAO application and I got the letter to confirm them and allow me to send in better scores if I had them. When applying for GAMSAT you give CAO number and they forward it on.. If they haven't, you should send a certified copy of your results to CAO. If you got a letter from CAO regarding the results it would have said if your results appear as zero below then send your results to them.

Have you gotten all the usual letters starting "you are applying for graduate medicine..." and confirming that your supporting documents are ok?

Yeah got SAE postcard back initially with transcripts etc, then got statement of what I'd applied for but nothing about GAMSAT. Im pretty sure I had to give my CAO number to them when registering for GAMSAT too. Never got letters, just the green and white form and details on courses and stuff?

Do you know how I would get a certified copy and when do results have to be in by?? God if my app is messed up because of this I will be very annoyed!!

Where does it give the results, the qualification section? Are you allowed edit that yourselves like the top section and does that give details of previous degress? Because mine doesnt and I'm freaking out now just a bit

ZombieMed

Looking at CAO website, are your courses coming up with "Medicine - Graduate Entry (Restricted)" beside each of them? This seems to trigger advice letters whch aren't in normal envelopes - more like a piece of heavy paper folded into an envelope shape.. one for having applied to graduate medicine, one for supporting documentation having been examined and found to be ok, and recently, one with the GAMSAT results.

I also got the statement of course choices in an envelope with several pieces of advice and change of mind information too.

If you haven't gotten the advice mails you might need to get on to CAO to see what's up there - have a quick check of your online application too. Also, get the certified copy of results ready to send.

Just one other thing - do you have your degree already? I do, so the letters were relevant to me - they were checking documentation and GAMSAT.. If you're waiting for degree results maybe those letters come later?

maggie82

ZombieMed wrote: »

Looking at CAO website, are your courses coming up with "Medicine - Graduate Entry (Restricted)" beside each of them? This seems to trigger advice letters whch aren't in normal envelopes - more like a piece of heavy paper folded into an envelope shape.. one for having applied to graduate medicine, one for supporting documentation having been examined and found to be ok, and recently, one with the GAMSAT results.

I also got the statement of course choices in an envelope with several pieces of advice and change of mind information too.

If you haven't gotten the advice mails you might need to get on to CAO to see what's up there - have a quick check of your online application too. Also, get the certified copy of results ready to send.

Just one other thing - do you have your degree already? I do, so the letters were relevant to me - they were checking documentation and GAMSAT.. If you're waiting for degree results maybe those letters come later?

Im not applying for medicine so maybe thats why I havent got those letters? But still dont understand why I havent got the GAMSAT results letters?!
I have my degrees and sent copies of transcripts but they arent shown on my application page online.
Ah sure I'll get onto them Monday and see,
Thanks a mill:D

JAN85

Hi All,

Ive been up the walls the last few weeks since getting my results. Got an overall score of 58 (breakdown= 57,60,57). Anyone know if this will be sufficient for UCC. Ive seen some people on here saying that they cant see it going below 59 and that if it does go to 58 it will be subject to random selection due to the apparently huge number of people that got 58. I really dont wanna go through this exam again in September :mad:
Have I any hope??

JAN85

Hi All,

Dont know if I can take the agony of waiting for cutoff scores to be published for much longer. Got an overall score of 58 (breakdown= 57,60,57). Just wondering does anyone think this is enough for UCC? Ive seen some people on here say that they cant see it going below 59 and that if it does go to 58 it will be random selection, this will greatly diminish my chances due to the apparently huge number of people on 58. Really dont wanna do this exam again in September:mad:
Do I have a hope?

etymon

JAN85 wrote: »

Hi All,

Dont know if I can take the agony of waiting for cutoff scores to be published for much longer. Got an overall score of 58 (breakdown= 57,60,57). Just wondering does anyone think this is enough for UCC? Ive seen some people on here say that they cant see it going below 59 and that if it does go to 58 it will be random selection, this will greatly diminish my chances due to the apparently huge number of people on 58. Really dont wanna do this exam again in September:mad:
Do I have a hope?

To be honest you have a hope but I would be studying for September/next March just in case as, although UCC has 5 extra places this year, there was a rise in applicants so yes it will probably even itself out and stay on a 59. There is no way of knowing if you will be lucky so the best thing to do is presume you won't, I'm afraid.
If it's any consolation I missed out first time too on a place in Dublin and repeated, but the year flew and by in retrospect I've no regrets really.
You would probably get UL if you have any interest in that course.

God luck!

hurdygurdy85

Does anybody know if the cut-off points are published on the CAO website before CAO make their offers on 4th Aug? I have a feeling they took a while to actually publish the cut-off points for last year....

rampere1

Thanks for the info etymon!! I am really keen to get going on GAMSAT now especially as job prospects are so limited. My cousin sat the exam last year and she scored 58, she told me today not to think of doing it unless I get some prep course in. What u think?

Nonoperational

Depends on your background and genereal ability in those sort of tests. I didn't open a book or even know the layout of the paper and got 62. It's that kind of exam. I probably could have studies for 3 months and done no better.

etymon

I would recommend hard graft for September and see how you get on, bearing in mind you might be offered UCC in August, before doing any prep courses. I never did one and have always been wary of grinds of any sort really so I would just put in the work myself but only you know your strengths. If you think you're never going to go beyond average in Section I or II then you might need some outside help to improve but I think Section III can pretty much be done on your own, science background or not - you just need time.

As for the CAO, they gave us our offers online at 6am or something ridiculous last year and posted the first round cutoffs at midday online.

Sid_Justice

gpf101 wrote: »

Depends on your background and genereal ability in those sort of tests. I didn't open a book or even know the layout of the paper and got 62. It's that kind of exam. I probably could have studies for 3 months and done no better.

I'd agree with this to a certain extent. The first section, Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences is something you can't 'study' for. You can prepare for it, practice these type of exams, but if you're naturally very bad at this, I think it would take more than a few weeks to overcome this deficit.

The second section, the essay (written communication) is another example of something you can't really study for. If you're very lucky and naturally capable of writing competent essays on the spot you have an advantage. Again if you're very bad at this, it's something that could take a huge amount of time to overcome. You can practice and prepare, getting your timing and refreshing your grammar and spelling to its best, but I'm not sure if you can bluff this by reading a 'how to write a good essay' book - open to correction.

Finally, I think the 3rd section is something you can (and must) study for. People say all the information you require is in the leaving cert text books and on the page and you can figure the questions out on the spot. The people that score 60 or above in this with "no study" are in my opinion, liars, or very very clever people who know their basic sciences very well.

So if you're a potential gamsat candidate and you want to know how much work you need to get an offer you need to accurately assess your own abilities. If you've never read a book or written more than a text message since Leaving Cert. English, you need to find out if you're screwed for Section 1 and 2 or not. The only way to do this is to do the practice tests and get someone who knows their stuff to assess your essay.

Secondly you need to know where you stand scientifically. If you've not done chemistry since the Junior Cert, you may need to spend A LOT of time catching up on the people who did Science/Engineering in college.

My results are earlier in the thread and they're not great, borderline offer. My best scores were in section 1 and 2 and I didn't do any more than a weekends preparation for these sections. I did about the same amount for section 3 (but have a science degree) and I did very badly (51). If I was going to do it again (hopefully I won't) I'd do what Etymon said she did in a comprehensive post and go overboard on the sciences and do it again.

I'd like to qualify the above by saying I had a very good idea what was on the test, I probably spent more time reading message boards about how to prepare for the gamsat than actually preparing for it.

moncai

I agree with Sid's opinion of the exam and i reckon if you play to your strengths you can 'beat the system' of the exam, i got a 59 overall, (67,68,50).
Obviously science was my weakest section by a long shot, I knew this would be the case as i havent studied it since leaving cert and i have an arts degree in philosophy. I didn't really prepare too much for the first two sections, but i was familiar with what was wanted, i sat it in 2009 and got a 53, (62,63,44).
The science section was what i was supposed to be busting my balls for but i also fell into the category of people who read more about how to prepare than actually preparing. I got university level text books on chemistry and biology and a leaving cert level revision book on physics, which was odd since i had done chem and bio for leaving cert and never physics (:P?) However all i really got from the study was an interest in science and a familiarity with terminology and methods.... i didnt feel particularly confident because i took an all too casual approach to science. Guess it doesnt bode well for my career as a doctor
I reckon if i sat it again next year I would improve on the science a bit and break into the 60's overall.... simply because i'd be even more familiar with the paper. Acer's annoying policy of not realeasing past papers is reasonably purposeful.



Ps someone should invent a key that allows you to move flashing typing thingy to the end of a text immediately instead of using the arrow keys. I can see myself becoming one of those old people who cant work computers in a few years, i think i'll grow into it.... (sigh)

Sid_Justice

'End' key?

Nonoperational

Ya I had a science based degree in college (pharmacy) where we covered pretty much all the sciences except physics (which I did for leaving cert).

hurdygurdy85

rampere1 wrote: »

Thanks for the info etymon!! I am really keen to get going on GAMSAT now especially as job prospects are so limited. My cousin sat the exam last year and she scored 58, she told me today not to think of doing it unless I get some prep course in. What u think?

I did the GRADMED course bout 2 years ago in UCD-they're an English company who come over to Dublin to give preparation courses for the GAMSAT-they have long courses during the week if you can afford to take the time off work/study or weekend intensive courses (3 weekends of 2 days-sat & sun). I did the intensive course and found it to be very good for the essay section and biology & physics-but not much else to be honest. The organic chemistry teacher was a disaster but you can select which parts of the exam you want to attend for-section I, II or III. Think it was about €300 to attend the classes for the Intensive Revision course for sections I, II and III. Not sure about the cost of the long revision course. If you decide to go to the intensive revision course, I would strongly advise getting a lot of the study out of the way beforehand. If you're seeing the material for the first time during the revision course, it isnt really revision and it wont re-enforce the information in your head. You'll be too busy trying to learn it quickly (the pace of the class is really fast),you wont get the value of the course and you'll be left behind. They hand out lots of notes and some valuable bound sets of simulated questions with explanation papers for all 3 sections which came in very handy for those head-wrecking "intellectual" questions on Section I.
This is their website: http://www.gradmed.co.uk/

However, most of the work even if you do a preparation course will fall to studying at the weekends and weeknights if like me you didnt have a lot of free time. The preparation course is held very close to the actual date of the exam and wont really help unless most of the work is already done.
Hope this helps.

ljg1

rampere1 wrote: »

Thanks for the info etymon!! I am really keen to get going on GAMSAT now especially as job prospects are so limited. My cousin sat the exam last year and she scored 58, she told me today not to think of doing it unless I get some prep course in. What u think?

Hi Rampere 1,

Just to let you know I did the Gradmed course this year and found it really good. I hadn't even looked at a science paper since Junior Cert and was really worried about what I had to study beforehand. However, I gave up work(which a lot of people didn't), got a loan for the course and focused completely on getting enough the first time around so I wouldn't have to sit the hellish exam again.

The full revision course is on at weekends and starts nine weeks before the exam in RCSI, Stephen's Green (the intensive course starts only a few weeks before the exam and isn't supposed to be great as people do it to save money when really they should do the full, because they have a lack of knowledge). If you commit fully to the course it and give up your social life completely (I didn't go out at all from January til the night of the exam) then you will not be disappointed that you gave it a fair shot. I didn't start studying until January and I got 58 (59,73,50). I was really nervous on the day and thought I had done terribly.

I would definitely recommend the course as it structures what you have to study, and without it I don't know where I would have begun. If I did physics the first week, I would study physics the following week and make out flashcards for all the main points that were gone over in the class. I also made sure to ask loads of questions in class if I didn't understand. The lecturers are very obliging and they will stay after class to help you if you need it. I left the exam papers until the second month of my studies as I felt there was no point in tackling them when I didn't know much yet.

Initially, it was incredibly daunting and all the way along I kept thinking I would never get there. If I had a cooler head on the day I think I probably would have done better in the science section, but I panicked at the lack of organic chemistry and just kept flicking to try and find the ones I could do.

What really helped was having people to study with. A couple of my friends were doing the exam as well and we had fine combed the exam papers by the day of the exam.

Hope this info helps. If you are still worried about the course, you should phone GradMed. The woman there is really nice and gives you detailed information, without trying to push you to do the course.

danthefan

Just how expensive are these GradMed courses?

robjmiller

I did the gradmed course in Dublin also. To put my critique in context I got 61 (without a science background and first time) so I'm not motivated by sour grapes:

Biology: good tutor, well organised, kept the focus on GAMSAT questions, gave good advice regarding the exam, notes good.

Physics: leaving-cert style teaching, death by analogy, ignored gamsat questions, lashed through a load of material, you'd be better off reading a-level physics book, notes ok.

Physical chemistry: enthusiastic but erratic, notes very poor quality, pin-pointed key areas but made little attempt in linking concepts to develop understanding.

Organic Chemistry: an absolute disaster, tutor did not have the ability to get concepts across, IMO did more harm than good.


Verbal reasoning: Lots of waffle but tutor did a good job in drumming into us the need to practice essays, the essays can really bugger you up.

Cost of full course: circa 3000

What the course does have in it's favour is that it puts some structure on your study and gives you a support network (kind of).

BTW I've been lecturing for 10 years so I'd hope to be able to judge teaching quality.