Gamsat 2012

lonelywanderer

Good to know that! Thanks Biologic

bill05

Hi I dont know If any body noticed this or not .. that we are not allowed to bring any type of calculator into the exam ..

Jammyc

Just wondering where in previous years, has the exam been held in Dublin? I'm reading Blackrock in the UCD venue there, but has it ever been anywhere else?

Biologic

It was held in RCSI Stephen's Green my year, and every other year I think.

lonelywanderer

bill05 wrote: »

Hi I dont know If any body noticed this or not .. that we are not allowed to bring any type of calculator into the exam ..

I noticed that all right. Not too concerned, thought I'd definitely need it in London but only used it once or twice and that was just to double check something. It's really not a maths heavy exam at all, so much more about your fundamental understanding of the concepts.

Flange/Flanders

I really and truly hope that the fall in posting activity on boards this year is in direct proportion to the fall in entry score in September 2012

etymon

Flange/Flanders wrote: »

I really and truly hope that the fall in posting activity on boards this year is in direct proportion to the fall in entry score in September 2012

wasn't as much interest in the Open Day this year at all, I think it's safe to say interest in dwindling, think our year (2010) was the peak of interest in terms of competition.

mcdonnellk02

I have sent this to a few of my friends interested in doing it so i said i would just paste it to here.

This is Just a summary about the exam and my opinions on what you should focus on from what i have learned,

about the GAMSAT then. ya i sat them in september cause i was studying for the during the summer. the study ddint go to well for them at all, like id say i was up in the library for maybe 6 hours a day before it and i prob literally only did maybe a half hour out of those 6 for study. the rest i was just online on facebook and playing games, so i was really only doing them in september as a practice run cause i was sure i was goinng to do terrible. it turns out though i did well enough and got a 64. as ya know id say, the GAMSAT has 3 sections, first is reading, second is essays and the third is science. the only reason i got that score was cause of the science section. it was def my strongest area and it is worth twice as much as the other 2 sections. i got like a 50 in the essays, 60 in the reading and then 73 in the science so that really brought me up.

i decided i wouldnt sit it then in march cause i hoped 64 would be enough to get me in as the cut of for ucd was 60 the year before and i hoped the cut off wouldnt raise that much. turns out the cut off actually went down this year due to there being more places so that will give ya a better chance aswell.

if your willing to take a year out just to study for the gamsat id say go right ahead, but i honestly think if ya just start now and just do an hour a day until march ya would do really well even with the exams coming up. with all my dossing over the summer id say i really only did 2 full weeks of study when ya add it all up together. so if ya put your mind to it i think ya should aim to get in march. if your not going to study for it, i would def say do it anyway just so ya can have an attempt at it and get a feel for the exam. and just to know where your kinda at in relation to the 3 sections.

if your practicing for section one id say just get some obscure technical scientific journals and just start reading those as they would be difficult to understand but they would get ya used to reading complicated passages so there would be no shocks in the exam. also im sure there are websites online where ya just read extracts and then answer questions on them after. i really didnt do that much for that section, just tried to read alot. There are particular ways on maximising your time in this section, like reading the questions first and then reading the passage, so you are not wasting time going back over the passage to find the answer. There are def loads of these sort of tips online if ya just want to check for them.

for section 2, this was by far my worst section. im terrible at wirting essays and it really showed. i didnt do much practice for it at all and this is the section were with practice is the one ya can really improve your score the most. i would say try to get 3 essays done a week. chose a random quote or topic from some websites( im sure there are a few which generate random quotes or topics and ya have to write an essay on them ). and try to do them in half an hour. just keep doing that and ya will get better with time managment and better with structure and brain storming. i didnt do any of that cause i just was too lazy but since if your sitting it in march i would say to start as soon as ya can so that your workload doesnt pile up. Also I remember cash you were pretty good at English anyway so you might be able to do better in the first 2 sections

for section 3, i found that chemistry for dummies; the inorganic and organic books were extremely helpfull. they were def well worth getting and brought me up a few points on the gamsat. if ya know those 2 books you will do really well in the chemistry section of the gamsat but make sure you understand them and not just learn them off cause the gamsat questions can be abit tricky but if ya understand what is in those books ya should hve no prob. The thing I noticed is that in the science sections they give ya all the material ya would need to answer the question, so just aslong as you understood the concepts instead of learning of particular chemicals structures or names of particular compounds you should be grand. Also if ya got a leaving cert chemistry book, that wouldn’t be too bad just to look over the basics. for the physics i tried to use my sisters leaving cert book. i only got through the first few chapters and couldnt seem to learn that much of it. the physics section is only worth 20% of the science section so it isnt the most important. Hardly any physics questions came up at. Even the ones that did come up, the questions stem supplied you with everything you needed to know, so even though I hadn’t studied I was able to work it out using common sense.

in the science section aswell they give ya info and important things to know in relation to the questions they ask. so say if some einstein came in without ever had studied science he could do really well in the test without ever have studied. it just the study helps ya to understand they info that they give ya. but in that info ya should have everything to answer the question and ya wont have to remember anything. so as long as ya understand what your studying in the physics, chemistry and biology.

i did actually do a course, called des o niels. its not worth it though. the sciecne section isnt the best at all and the books for dummies are alot better and way way way cheaper. they also sent out reading extracts that ya have to answer questions on and they had the answers aswell but ya def can find a book in easons or online that can do the same and once again, it is way way way cheaper. the onlly really good thing about the course was that for the essay questions, they give ya topics and ya can submit them online to a marker how then corrects it and sends ya back info and where ya can improve. your able to get this byitself from des o niels but its still pretty expensive. but if your in college ya could find maybe a person in arts in english or an english lecture and email them and ask if they can maybe correct and essay for ya once a week just to see if your improving. just a thought though.

over all though, def do the exam in march no matter what, if just for practice anyway. if your thinking about doing it seriously start your study now and only doing an hour aday or even less but try and be consistent and ya should have no probs with work load come march. and if ya are studying for it, get books for dummies on whatever topic your struggling with. there really really handy. and the science sections is worth twice as much as the other 2 so work more on this but the essay section is the one that ya can improve in the most if ya work at it abit cause ya learn to wirte good essays fast enough.

If ya need anything else or dont understand anything, just send me a facebook message and i can answer anything ya want to know.

also, if you put in the effort you will def get the exam!

beardedmaster

mcdonnellk02 wrote: »

also, if you put in the effort you will def get the exam!

They told me that about the Leaving Cert. :pac:

Flange/Flanders

Thanks for that mcd. Can i ask you what your undergrad was?

Poppo4

Exam ticket arrived this morning, unfortunately it has my DOB on it incorrect. I've contacted ACER and hopefully it will be sorted out. Anyone else have a similar problem?

Viral Vector

Anyone doing the GAMSAT in Limerick?

Do you know where Room EG010 in the Main University Building is?

eimear25

hey everyone. i just attempted two practice exams. i found i scored very low on the science section. i found it hard to figure out the questions with such limited time. just wondering is anyone trying out practice exams? and are they indicative of the actual exam?

Flange/Flanders

hi eimear. Well i suppose it depends on what tests you're practising with. The official tests would be fairly similar, but I'm practising with ozimeds at the moment and i don't know how representative they are to be honest. Section 1 there i got 80% in which i know is not reflective of where i am at the moment.

How's everyone else fairing at the moment? 2 long weeks ahead of us!

cliona88

I did the official practice test the other day. I got fifty in science and 65 in verbal reasoning. It's kinda disheartening after five months study to still be pretty crap at science. I did a few practice tests in September before the london exam and i was failing miserably at science but then i got a score of 44 in section three for the exam. My other sections brought me up a good bit but not enough. So i did better in the exam then i had been doing in the practice tests!

eimear25

thanks guys. yup it will be two very long weeks. lots of practice is all that can be done. good to know that you can come up in the actual thing though. good luck everyone:)

SmileyRK

Viral Vector wrote: »

Anyone doing the GAMSAT in Limerick?

Do you know where Room EG010 in the Main University Building is?

If you've been on campus before it's really easy to find. If you go into the main building through the "ski slopes" just turn left and pass under the stairs. It's right in front of you.

declanmoffit

can not wait to have this over with-section 3 is seriously tiring my brain..........

I see the ACER guidelines say that the exam "tests knowledge gained over a long period of time" and there's "little value to last minute cramming" (paraphrasing) - ehmmmmm I certainly hope not! Hopefully less calculations on the day and more graphs/distillation of information.

imagine 10 days and it will all be over with!

best of luck everyone!

Flange/Flanders

you said it, i thought I'd have an awful lot more science know at this time! There'll be serious pints had Saturday week!

reasoning

does anybody know if there is any soultion answers/ rational booklet for the purple acer booklet?

Viral Vector

SmileyRK wrote: »

If you've been on campus before it's really easy to find. If you go into the main building through the "ski slopes" just turn left and pass under the stairs. It's right in front of you.

Thanks buddy, i've never been in UL before!

Do you have to be in the exam centre on the allotted time on your admission ticket? 8:15am is very early when you could be doing some last minute revision!

Poppo4

Do you have to be in the exam centre on the allotted time on your admission ticket? 8:15am is very early when you could be doing some last minute revision![/QUOTE]

Nope, that's just what time they start registration and begin to allow people into the exam room. You have to be seated by like 9:15am I think.

Jammyc

Did the first practice test today under (somewhat) timed conditions (Fire alarm just had to go off). My god that is a tiring experience. 66% in S1 and 59% in S3. Not brilliant but its a start I guess!

cliona88

Hey guys, I did gamsat in London in September. I know one of the essays I wrote was about space exploration but can anyone remember the other. I think I remember it being about laughter but i think i could be wrong. Can anyone remember?

Wings2010

cliona88 wrote: »

Hey guys, I did gamsat in London in September. I know one of the essays I wrote was about space exploration but can anyone remember the other. I think I remember it being about laughter but i think i could be wrong. Can anyone remember?

I went to Bristol for the September GAMSAT...the first essay was on space exploration and you're right, the second was on humour.

Sarah1379

Hope that reluctantly opting out of the Paddy’s day festivities this weekend serves me in the end … Once we hit tomorrow it’s officially GAMSAT WEEK. Dun dun dunnnn!!! :eek: Getting very close now…

Nope, that's just what time they start registration and begin to allow people into the exam room. You have to be seated by like 9:15am I think.

this is extremely helpful. Was not looking forward to rising so early. THanks Poppo4!

boynesider

On the admission ticket does anyone know what the document number you need to fill in is? Is it just your passport or driver's licence number?

Getting very nervous and brain isn't functioning correctly

strangeweather

boynesider wrote: »

On the admission ticket does anyone know what the document number you need to fill in is? Is it just your passport or driver's licence number?

Getting very nervous and brain isn't functioning correctly

Ya I guess it's the number of whatever document you're using as ID

I am super nervous too, this has crept up way too fast!!

Flange/Flanders

not a good week for the brain to stop working.

whatsthecraic

What do people reckon, will the fact that we're not allowed calculators make much of a difference?