GAMSAT 2014?

pc11

Lub wrote: »

Thanks for the info Confused, that's really helpful. I thought only UB offered the loan for UL! Will you let us know when UB get back to you with some of the details?

You're right, UB only cover UL. Don't waste your time with UB for other colleges. I pursued this last year, it won't work.

BOI is the only option for the other colleges. BUt, don't bother with BOI if you're going to UL. The UB package is more favourable. It's a shame they won't offer it to other colleges, but it's not going to happen.

scallywaggles

AFAIK the interest rate once you graduate on the boi loans is variable, so while they currently quote around 7% it may go up or down but probably not by much. Would agree with Hypnos, choose the uni you want first rather than based on cost if you can, then stick the others in order of preference and if you're mid to high 50s happy days your into one of the courses. Don't worry about age, there is a big mix across unis from 21 to late 40s.

Confused1987

For anyone who is currently in UL maybe you could shed some light on accomodation there!

Without sounding like a knob, going in as a mature student, with a €60,000 debt I don't really want to get stuck with a group of first years, who are there just to drink. Don't get me wrong, I did this, but I'm passed that and don't need the fire alarms ringing every night!

Is it advisable to stay on campus or try get a group for an off campus house?

Hopefully I haven't insulted too many people!

Flange/Flanders

kanurocks wrote: »

@Hypnos



Thanks a lot dude. Great information to have.

Tell me this, Oh wise GEM sage, most people in your course got it with a 58 last year, then there were a few who got in on the second round at 57 ??

Im GEM1 in UCD as well, yeah some people got in second round.

Cymini Sectores

Well done everyone that's happy. Scored 54, down 2 points from last September... Wishful thinking that UCD might just accept 56 this year, but I just have to wish. Will gladly undertake the GAMSAT again in September if I don't make UCD but at 29, I think time is passing me by. Well done once again. If anyone is planning to resit, it should be done this September, for I think the September exam is easier.

pharmacrunch

Anyone dead set on UCD next year would potentially be looking for a house ? Would like to get moving on it in the next month or two to secure somewhere reasonable and close

Hypnos

kanurocks wrote: »

@Hypnos



Thanks a lot dude. Great information to have.

Tell me this, Oh wise GEM sage, most people in your course got it with a 58 last year, then there were a few who got in on the second round at 57 ??

As flanders said! I'm almost certain* it was only 2-3 people who got in with 57* last year. Reason being: this was the score required in the last round of offers and they joined the rest of the class mid-september so 2 people I think. They were offered elsewhere first and ended up coming to UCD. We also had 2 drop outs in the first week so I assume that's where the extra couple of places came from which were given to a couple people with a 57 score

sofy_123

Got 58, very happy indeed. For anyone whom, like myself last year, received a poor result and was/is devastated, don't give up. This was not my first or second attempt at gamsat. Fortunately, I was always good at essay writing (A's in JC and LC english, always loved essays). Got 67 in my essays this year, 63 last year, a good structure to use is the Griffith's one. Two resources that got me from an overall score of 52 up to a 58 are the MCAT 101 verbal reasoning passages (great for sec 1, timing has to be spot on), and organic chem WORKBOOK for dummies. I used the organic chem for dummies textbook (not workbook) the year before and found it useless, but the workbook on the other hand is great, especially if, like me, you have never done chem before. Overall though, if medicine is your dream, then don't give up on it, work as hard as you can on your weak areas and you can make it happen. I'm sure there are many more people like me who creeped on this forum for a long time, and were too embarrassed to say they got 52, when everyone else seemed to be getting 55+ ha

kanurocks

Cymini Sectores wrote: »

Well done everyone that's happy. Scored 54, down 2 points from last September... Wishful thinking that UCD might just accept 56 this year, but I just have to wish. Will gladly undertake the GAMSAT again in September if I don't make UCD but at 29, I think time is passing me by. Well done once again. If anyone is planning to resit, it should be done this September, for I think the September exam is easier.

Exactly the same boat mate. 56 and need a place in Dublin for financial reasons. Some things that give me hope

-Only 670 applicants this year ( as mentioned by another person earlier)
-Scores have been dropping due to the availability of financial instruments (supposedly).
-Some people with higher scores will have UL and UCC as their first choice, as they should. It should about the university that's the right choice for you.

kanurocks

Cymini Sectores wrote: »

Well .................. If anyone is planning to resit, it should be done this September, for I think the September exam is easier.

I'm just wondering if this is speculation? I hear a lot of people mentioning that the UK exam is easier?? Can you shed some light on why this is???

Thanks.

DanKnev

Confused1987 wrote: »

For anyone who is currently in UL maybe you could shed some light on accomodation there!

Without sounding like a knob, going in as a mature student, with a €60,000 debt I don't really want to get stuck with a group of first years, who are there just to drink. Don't get me wrong, I did this, but I'm passed that and don't need the fire alarms ringing every night!

Is it advisable to stay on campus or try get a group for an off campus house?

Hopefully I haven't insulted too many people!

I know its early days, but I'm in a similar boat to you. Got 58 and have UL as first choice, so presuming I'll be good to go come September (loans pending, etc). I personally don't want to live in student accommodation and would prefer a private house near the University. Looking on daft.ie, there seems to be a good selection in Castletroy which is practically beside the GEM building. Rents are excellent, especially compared to that of student accommodation. I don't think it would be the worst idea to see who'd be interested in house sharing even at this early stage!

Confused1987

DanKnev wrote: »

I know its early days, but I'm in a similar boat to you. Got 58 and have UL as first choice, so presuming I'll be good to go come September (loans pending, etc). I personally don't want to live in student accommodation and would prefer a private house near the University. Looking on daft.ie, there seems to be a good selection in Castletroy which is practically beside the GEM building. Rents are excellent, especially compared to that of student accommodation. I don't think it would be the worst idea to see who'd be interested in house sharing even at this early stage!

Yeah that would be excellent, I know this is only a forum and no one has a clue who other people are but I would most certainly be interested in a house share!

Haven't had a chance to look at all really and don't know Limerick, any rough ideas what rent would be in a nice area?

paul4green

Hey guys.

Sat the March 2014 sitting in Dublin with no study whatsoever and managed 53.

I'm wondering will this be enough for UL 2015? I'm only on 3rd year college atm so have plenty of time to repeat if needs be.

Anyone planning on applying UK? My friend got 52 this year and has a 2.1 in Biochemistry and got an offer for Medicine in University of Manchester, including UKCAT results.

Scored 52, 61 and 49 in each section

kanurocks

paul4green wrote: »

Hey guys.

Sat the March 2014 sitting in Dublin with no study whatsoever and managed 53.

I'm wondering will this be enough for UL 2015? I'm only on 3rd year college atm so have plenty of time to repeat if needs be.

Anyone planning on applying UK? My friend got 52 this year and has a 2.1 in Biochemistry and got an offer for Medicine in University of Manchester, including UKCAT results.

Scored 52, 61 and 49 in each section

Can you give us any more info on the application process for the UK?

person78

paul4green wrote: »

Hey guys.

Sat the March 2014 sitting in Dublin with no study whatsoever and managed 53.

I'm wondering will this be enough for UL 2015? I'm only on 3rd year college atm so have plenty of time to repeat if needs be.

Anyone planning on applying UK? My friend got 52 this year and has a 2.1 in Biochemistry and got an offer for Medicine in University of Manchester, including UKCAT results.

Scored 52, 61 and 49 in each section

I'm applying to the UK but anywhere I'm looking at seems to need 58+ as I'm not from a science background.
Definitely resitting the exam in September!

DanKnev

Confused1987 wrote: »

Yeah that would be excellent, I know this is only a forum and no one has a clue who other people are but I would most certainly be interested in a house share!

Haven't had a chance to look at all really and don't know Limerick, any rough ideas what rent would be in a nice area?

I'm not too familiar with Limerick myself, but have a good few mates who went there and know the lay of the land. From what I've seen, looking at about €50-60 a week for a nice place in the Castletroy area (based on 3-4 sharing). Some places were even less, but were typically more run down/dated. Ultimately private accommodation works out a cheaper option typically, and with money such a concern for many upcoming students would be foolish to limit yourself to student residences.

Again, its early days but would be great to have set up a FB group for incoming UL GEM students. I've heard other Universities socs have done same in the past? At least then you could put a face to the name!

Roly91

kanurocks wrote: »

Can you give us any more info on the application process for the UK?

Hey kanurocks, I'm from the uk and have applied for graduate medicine in Ireland and the uk this year. As a graduate in the uk you have more options than Ireland, but the application process is a bit more tactical. You can chose to sit GAMSAT , UKCAT AND/or BMAT all of which are admissions tests, different university's want different ones so you could end up sitting a few. Manchester require the ukcat and so wouldn't even consider GAMSAT scores. You can find out which admissions test each medical school wants on their websites. Currently I think only 7 universities want GAMSAT, the vast majority use ukcat.
(Could be seen as a positive as if one doesn't go to plan you can always sit another!)

I haven't done the BMAT but I think it's an easier form of the GAMSAT as it's aimed at school leavers. The ukcat doesn't require much knowledge but you need to practice a lot as it's easy questions abut you only have around 10 seconds for each question, the whole test made up of 5 sections is done on a computer and is multiple choice. For your GAMSAT to be competitive you need a score of 60+ With at least 50 in each section.

On the whole I've found appling to the uk a lot harder as you have to have your application into ucas by 15th October which includes a personal statement , then wait to see if your invited to interview which could be anytime from November-March. The selection criteria also seems a lot tougher due to the sheer numbers of people appling to each university. (I applied to warwick graduate medical school and >2900 people applied for 164 places)

On the whole I think he irish process relies a lot less on luck! And if you want any more info I can do my best to answer it!

sofy_123

Just to clear up the whole GAMSAT UK thing. It's not easier, it's the same exam, same organic chemistry questions that appear to be in Japanese. However, because your exam score is based on percentile, your score will naturally be 2-3 points higher. For example, a score of 57 this year in GAMSAT Ireland put you in and around the 80th percentile. The 80th percentile equivalent in GAMSAT UK equalled a score of 60. So basically, if you do better than 79% of the other exam takers in Ireland, you'll end up with 57, if you achieve the same in the UK, you'll end up with 60.

DroghedaTutor

I have a question about the clinical placements. I will be starting in UL in September and in year 3/4 will be spending weeks/months rotating through the various teaching hospitals in Waterford, Tipperary, Limerick, Galway etc. How do people manage accommodation during these times? If it's close to UL, I presume it's a commute each day but if it's further away e.g. Waterford, do people book into a B&B?

pc11

sofy_123 wrote: »

Just to clear up the whole GAMSAT UK thing. It's not easier, it's the same exam, same organic chemistry questions that appear to be in Japanese. However, because your exam score is based on percentile, your score will naturally be 2-3 points higher. For example, a score of 57 this year in GAMSAT Ireland put you in and around the 80th percentile. The 80th percentile equivalent in GAMSAT UK equalled a score of 60. So basically, if you do better than 79% of the other exam takers in Ireland, you'll end up with 57, if you achieve the same in the UK, you'll end up with 60.

Hi, that's very interesting, would you have a source for more info on that? I would have expected they would try to normalise across the various tests so you don't have an advantage in any country?

I posted the UK GAMSAT curve here last year. Does anyone have the Irish one for comparison?

kanurocks

sofy_123 wrote: »

Just to clear up the whole GAMSAT UK thing. It's not easier, it's the same exam, same organic chemistry questions that appear to be in Japanese. However, because your exam score is based on percentile, your score will naturally be 2-3 points higher. For example, a score of 57 this year in GAMSAT Ireland put you in and around the 80th percentile. The 80th percentile equivalent in GAMSAT UK equalled a score of 60. So basically, if you do better than 79% of the other exam takers in Ireland, you'll end up with 57, if you achieve the same in the UK, you'll end up with 60.

So, essentially by dint of scale/volume and nothing else, if you perform identically in a Irish and UK exam, the same level of performance (percentile wise) will get you a higher score in the UK....

trendy88

kanurocks wrote: »

So, essentially by dint of scale/volume and nothing else, if you perform identically in a Irish and UK exam, the same level of performance (percentile wise) will get you a higher score in the UK....

By virtue of that fact, were one to do it in Australia their score would go up exponentially?

person78

kanurocks wrote: »

So, essentially by dint of scale/volume and nothing else, if you perform identically in a Irish and UK exam, the same level of performance (percentile wise) will get you a higher score in the UK....

Yeah that couldn't be right, if it is, I'm off to Australia next March!
The ACER site says 'Scores are scaled by ACER to make them directly comparable from year to year', surely that would mean it'd be the same regardless of the country/time/year etc?

kanurocks

trendy88 wrote: »

By virtue of that fact, were one to do it in Australia their score would go up exponentially?

It really comes down to the quality of applicant as the score is based of the percentile, which is essentially a rank.

Is it easier to better than 79% of Austrailian people (If there are 10'000 taking the exam) or is it easier to be better than 79% of Irish people (If there are 800 taking the exam).

The score is just a transformation of the rank, designed to give granularity around the the top end of all performers. It is inherently unfair, as the quality of candidate will fluctuate between countries, and from year to year, based on demand.

kanurocks

person78 wrote: »

Yeah that couldn't be right, if it is, I'm off to Australia next March!
The ACER site says 'Scores are scaled by ACER to make them directly comparable from year to year', surely that would mean it'd be the same regardless of the country/time/year etc?

I really don't think they are. I did the exam in 2012 and section III was on scale of 2 -3 times easier than it was in 2014. In that case my 2014 score for section III should have been proportionately higher!

I honestly think the system is open to gaming.. And unfortunately, people will miss out purely on the luck of the draw..

(Obviously this is just my personal view and I will gladly accept being wrong if any of you wise people have evidence to the contrary)

HopefulGEM

kanurocks wrote: »

So, essentially by dint of scale/volume and nothing else, if you perform identically in a Irish and UK exam, the same level of performance (percentile wise) will get you a higher score in the UK....

That's a load of bull, I know a number of people who went down a point or two when sitting the UK exam. It's a standardised exam across the board and if anything it may be a little harder to do well in the UK exam because your competing with a much larger number of candidates!

sofy_123

The score you receive in the UK can be used in Ireland. This is not a new phenomenon, I know a lot of people doing grad med, and GEM students at the RCSI open day, who advise everyone to sit the UK exam to try gain extra points. Obviously this is not a guaranteed way of doing better, you may not perform on the day etc. but the percentile curve will tell you that this year a 57 in Ireland was the equivalent of a 60 in the UK (ie. you did better than 79% of the other candidates). The exact reason for this is anybody's guess, maybe the more people that do the exam, the more who are there just to try it as a dry run etc. and that may increase the floor effect.

Poppy1314

I sat the UK 2012 exam and I sat the march 2014 one, UK 2012 (for me) was much more difficult. Science was impossible, there was hardly any biology (my strongest of the three) and the paper was laced with chemistry. I did far worse in the UK than march. I guess it depends on your strengths but I don't think the exam was easier at all.

kanurocks

Poppy1314 wrote: »

I sat the UK 2012 exam and I sat the march 2014 one, UK 2012 (for me) was much more difficult. Science was impossible, there was hardly any biology (my strongest of the three) and the paper was laced with chemistry. I did far worse in the UK than march. I guess it depends on your strengths but I don't think the exam was easier at all.

There might be a psychological element to your performance in the UK, in that you know if you don't perform well, you can always take the March exam in Ireland. I always feel like the March GAMSAT is that years 'Last Chance Saloon' ....

Poppy1314

No I perform better when relaxed so with that theory I would have performed better in the UK. Whatever about the curve you can't predict how the test is going to be, as in whether your strengths will turn up.