Gamsat 2012

supraspinaswim

Cheers , was kind of hoping i could make my life a bit easier but also get med that bit faster .

Back to organic chem , physics and essays , the biology ive done for 2 yrs -

beardedmaster

supraspinaswin, it all depends on where you're doing your degree, and what it is you're doing. Some places the degree you leave with after 3 years isn't a Honours degree, per se, but still a Level 8, which is of course eligible.

Biologic

beardedmaster wrote: »

supraspinaswin, it all depends on where you're doing your degree, and what it is you're doing. Some places the degree you leave with after 3 years isn't a Honours degree, per se, but still a Level 8, which is of course eligible.

I've never heard of anywhere which will knock a year off a 4 year level 8 degree and still offer a 2.1 level 8 degree. Do you have any links for this? I know some places let you accept a pass degree after year 3 of 4, but not a 2.1 for GEM eligibility.

beardedmaster

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/nfq.htm

Here you go. It is eligible for GEM too, assuming you get a 2:1.

Jammyc

beardedmaster wrote: »

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/nfq.htm

Here you go. It is eligible for GEM too, assuming you get a 2:1.

Where on that page does it say so? I believe that an ordinary degree is 3 years and is a level 7 award, whereas an honours degree is 4 years and a level 8 award.

http://www.nfq.ie/nfq/en/FanDiagram/nqai_nfq_08.html This shows that an ordinary degree is level 7.

Edit: This statement on that page is pretty confusing. I fail to see how someone who leaves a course 3 years in gets the same award as someone who stays the extra year and submits a final year dissertation.

Students who do not progress to Stage 4 of the BSc programme but who have achieved 180 credits with a minimum of 100 ECTS at level 2 or above and a minimum of 40 ECTS at level 3 or above will be awarded a BSc (General Science) Level 8.

ciara84

Jammyc wrote: »

Where on that page does it say so? I believe that an ordinary degree is 3 years and is a level 7 award, whereas an honours degree is 4 years and a level 8 award.

http://www.nfq.ie/nfq/en/FanDiagram/nqai_nfq_08.html This shows that an ordinary degree is level 7.

Edit: This statement on that page is pretty confusing. I fail to see how someone who leaves a course 3 years in gets the same award as someone who stays the extra year and submits a final year dissertation.

alot of arts degrees are 3 years, 180 credits and level 8, BComm in UCC used to be 3 years and level 8, I know this because I did it and I'm studying medicine (they've changed it to 4 years now though)

Jammyc

ciara84 wrote: »

alot of arts degrees are 3 years, 180 credits and level 8, BComm in UCC used to be 3 years and level 8, I know this because I did it and I'm studying medicine (they've changed it to 4 years now though)

Thats fierce odd. I don't see how 180 credits = 240 credits. I'm not questionning you or anything, I just don't see the logic!

BarnhallBull

Arts degrees are 3 years and are level 8, i'm sure there are plenty of others too

Biologic

beardedmaster wrote: »

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/nfq.htm

Here you go. It is eligible for GEM too, assuming you get a 2:1.

It doesn't say anywhere that you can be awarded a 2.1 honours degree after year 3. It says you will be awarded a level 8 degree, but there's no grade attached to it. I'd say even that is a misprint. Why would any student put themselves through 4th year when they can get the exact same degree by leaving 3rd year? I just took a look at NUIM's marks and standards and they award a pass (lvl 7) degree if you don't complete 4th year, even though you've completed as many credits as an arts grad at the end of 3 years.

Jammyc

Biologic wrote: »

It doesn't say anywhere that you can be awarded a 2.1 honours degree after year 3. It says you will be awarded a level 8 degree, but there's no grade attached to it. I'd say even that is a misprint. Why would any student put themselves through 4th year when they can get the exact same degree by leaving 3rd year? I just took a look at NUIM's marks and standards and they award a pass (lvl 7) degree if you don't complete 4th year, even though you've completed as many credits as an arts grad at the end of 3 years.

This. I'm wondering why I've bothered continuing into my final year this year. I could be out working this year saving up money to pay for living expenses for GEM if this is the case!

beardedmaster

Biologic wrote: »

It doesn't say anywhere that you can be awarded a 2.1 honours degree after year 3. It says you will be awarded a level 8 degree, but there's no grade attached to it. I'd say even that is a misprint. Why would any student put themselves through 4th year when they can get the exact same degree by leaving 3rd year? I just took a look at NUIM's marks and standards and they award a pass (lvl 7) degree if you don't complete 4th year, even though you've completed as many credits as an arts grad at the end of 3 years.

Your grade that you get from leaving after the 3 year degree is based on your results in 2nd and 3rd year. I dunno about anything in NUIM, but that's what it is in UCD. If you leave after 3rd year, you get a BSc, not a BSc (Hons). The grade of both degrees depending on results gained.

ciara84

Jammyc wrote: »

Thats fierce odd. I don't see how 180 credits = 240 credits. I'm not questionning you or anything, I just don't see the logic!

levels dont have anything to do with the amount of credits or number of years spent learning, most masters are 90 credits, 60 credits over 2 semesters and a dissertation worth 30, so level 9 and one year long, I never got the whole thing, seems pretty arbitrary, I'm guessing it has to do with difficulty of credits etc. Two classes can be worth 5 credits but be totally different in terms of work required to pass

PeadarGalway

ciara84 wrote: »

levels dont have anything to do with the amount of credits or number of years spent learning, most masters are 90 credits, 60 credits over 2 semesters and a dissertation worth 30, so level 9 and one year long, I never got the whole thing, seems pretty arbitrary, I'm guessing it has to do with difficulty of credits etc. Two classes can be worth 5 credits but be totally different in terms of work required to pass

This.

supraspinaswim

thing is , i was hoping that if i could finish up with 3 yrs of my medical degree under my belt and the gamsat too that i could then do as jammyc says - take yr out and save like crazy .

Id be lookin at rcsi maybe , given im in trinity it helps that way , but going to see what happens

Jammyc

According to the course handbook for Trinity Science, those wishing to may leave after the third year and be awarded an Ordinary Bachelors degree which is level 7, so no chance there for that.

DeadEight

The Round 1 offers came out today:
RCSI 59
UCD 57*
UCC 56
UL 53*

eire_245

I still didnt get an offer from UCD, so there's either a lot of people on 57 or no one turned down their offer! guess the loan situation didnt affect the places too much

chips365

eire_245 wrote: »

I still didnt get an offer from UCD, so there's either a lot of people on 57 or no one turned down their offer! guess the loan situation didnt affect the places too much

Give it a bit of time mate, offers have to be made before they can be turned down! I'd say the bank loan situation did cause a lot of trouble this year! just wait until next year, talks about bringing back all college fee's over the next year or two!

eire_245

chips365 wrote: »

Give it a bit of time mate, offers have to be made before they can be turned down! I'd say the bank loan situation did cause a lot of trouble this year! just wait until next year, talks about bringing back all college fee's over the next year or two!

Im just going to go with my offer from UL, have my loan already approved etc and really want to get stuck into it now. I dont have an option of a guarantor so have to go with UB and am i right in assuming they are still not offering loans to UCD students?

Where did you hear about them bringing back the loans btw??

chips365

eire_245 wrote: »

Im just going to go with my offer from UL, have my loan already approved etc and really want to get stuck into it now. I dont have an option of a guarantor so have to go with UB and am i right in assuming they are still not offering loans to UCD students?

Where did you hear about them bringing back the loans btw??

You have an offer so at least its something! I was talking about college fee's in general for undergrads. So getting a loan from the banks for any sort of education is going to get very difficult in the coming years. Getting 100K isn't going to be too easy i would imagine.

eire_245

chips365 wrote: »

You have an offer so at least its something! I was talking about college fee's in general for undergrads. So getting a loan from the banks for any sort of education is going to get very difficult in the coming years. Getting 100K isn't going to be too easy i would imagine.

i think the days of 100k loans are dead and buried! Im pretty happy with my UL offer as it worked out perfect in terms of me being able to get a loan.

onehardslog

DeadEight wrote: »

The Round 1 offers came out today:
RCSI 59
UCD 57*
UCC 56
UL 53*

When do Round 2 offers come out? Do they keep going with offers even when the course has started? Even if you have started in, say UL, could you still get offered Cork and switch if you have right score?

EngDoc

onehardslog wrote: »

When do Round 2 offers come out? Do they keep going with offers even when the course has started? Even if you have started in, say UL, could you still get offered Cork and switch if you have right score?

https://www.cao.ie/apply.php?page=myapp

onehardslog

EngDoc wrote: »

onehardslog wrote: »

When do Round 2 offers come out? Do they keep going with offers even when the course has started? Even if you have started in, say UL, could you still get offered Cork and switch if you have right score?

https://www.cao.ie/apply.php?page=myapp

Thanks for the link but still wondering can you still get another offer if you have accepted and started Gradmed in another college?

Biologic

onehardslog wrote: »

Thanks for the link but still wondering can you still get another offer if you have accepted and started Gradmed in another college?

Yeah you can. 2 people I know did that, with the swaps involving 3 different schools.

supraspinaswim

Did anyone this year use guru methods or any other prep course for the gamsat , just wondering what courses are decent and what arent ?

Palo Alto

I did the Gradmed course, it was pretty good overall I thought although expensive. It was less important to me content wise though as opposed to giving me some structure to my revision as left to my own devices I'm not the best at motivating myself sometimes. In retrospect, it definitely improved my mark but I reckon I'd have done perfectly fine without it also. It was useful for exam technique more than actual content, definitely got me up to speed on mental maths and making educated guesses to save time but nothing you couldn't practice by yourself either.

If you struggle in Chemistry/Organic Chemistry and Physics in particular I thought the quality of teaching was excellent and it was hard to fault really.

supraspinaswim

How much's the gradmed course , im looking really for help on the first 2 sections , the third i can handle - have done biochem , anatomy , physiol , etc plus the organic . One thing though , should i study the section 3 stuff or merely read through and understand , ive found a lot of misconception on that part ?

Palo Alto

I think if you just cherry-picked the Section 1 preparation with Gradmed it'd work out roughly €1000, maybe a bit less, but don't quote me on that! If you request one of their brochures it has a breakdown of all the prices and you can pick and choose the modules for the areas you want.

Just read through and understand the section 3 stuff, it's far more important to focus on speed and being able to rule out wrong answers quickly through common sense, there were maybe a couple of pure knowledge based questions but they were as rare as hen's teeth. Most important thing by far I learned was practicing my arithmetic and getting my mental maths up to speed, especially multiplying and dividing numbers quickly to powers of 10 and also making sure I had a good grasp of manipulating logarithms.

My 2 cents anyways!

supraspinaswim

Cheers for that , any help at all is appreciated , especially with this