GAMSAT 2014?

TiredLawGrad

Confused1987 Thanks for the info, as per the Griffith's GAMSAT review.

letsdothis

TiredLawGrad,
My science knowledge is more basic than yours - I had a Junior Cert D in science under my belt coming into GAMSAT and managed 62 on Section 3 on my first attempt. I did, however, put a lot of working into bringing up my science knowledge and practice papers.

I wouldn't bother buying Griffith's GAMSAT review if you have already sat it twice. For me, the only benefit to Griffiths was dispelling some of the absolute confusion around what to study for GAMSAT. I referred to it a few times at the start of my study (mainly for the topic lists) and again before my GAMSAT (more to feel I was getting some value for my investment than anything else!)

Leaving Cert Physics should suffice as core material - but it's all about practicing as much questions as possible. If you are investing, buy some practice papers - I used Ozimed. I acquired pdfs of these but in the end only went through a handful of them.

For Physical Chemistry, I used a leaving cert book and then ExamKrackers Chemistry. Again, as with all science, practice papers are essential.

For Organic Chemistry, I've said it countless times here already, as have others, but Organic Chemistry I for Dummies, the accompanying workbook and Organic Chemistry as a Second Language are all you need. They are also incredibly well written and straighforward.

If you've LC biology under your belt, a quick revision of the main systems is as much as is required in terms of actually learning. Here's some new advice I've picked up in last 24 hours from leafing through medical books and (I believe) it's not one that has been suggested here before - the biology core material that you need is a Physiology book. The one I looked at is Vanders. Many of the GAMSAT bio questions concern Metabolic Pathways - I've seen a few of them that appeared in GAMSAT in Vanders. Ok, I'm sure there's more in a Physiology book than what's needed for GAMSAT but after doing your research on topics to cover, you can reduce this down. Again, my advice is to read through the debrief threads on paging dr - like this one http://pagingdr.net/forum/index.php?topic=2671.0 and make lists of the kinds of questions that come up.

I too had issues with concentration and background noise. When this was a problem for me, I tried to use other materials for science study. Amongst those that I can recommend are: Khan Academy, Exam Krackers Audio Osmosis and also organic chemistry question apps, many of which are free on Apple's App Store.

Practice papers for Section 1 earlier on also helped me with timing, speed reading and answer elimination when I got around to tackling Section 3 papers.

letsdothis

Confused1987 wrote: »

There are tonnes of LC and English GCSE books available on Amazon for very very cheap, well worth investing in!

Or from your friendly local library, as I did

TiredLawGrad

letsdothis I am taking all your info on board and thank you very much. I will definitely be buying more practice question materials this time round.


March 2014 ONE LAST GO.

letsdothis

TiredLawGrad wrote: »

letsdothis I am taking all your info on board and thank you very much. I will definitely be buying more practice question materials this time round.


March 2014 ONE LAST GO.

No problem...keep asking away. I got so much help from here over the past months I'm more than happy to pay it forward.

stephenlane80

Im gonna post the preparation that i made for the score of 55 and the plans i have to increase that score in case it helps anyone with a similar background.

The 55 was made up of

S1 55
S2 69
S3 48

My degree is in manufacturing engineering and I have a PhD in software engineering (don't ask!). The only science i did for the leaving cert was biology. I did some physics in university (statics, mechanics) and a very basic general chemistry course in first year of university. When i started to prepare for the GAMSAT i opened a leaving cert chemistry book and its fair to say i was starting from scratch in chemistry. I couldn't remember a single thing from the general chemistry module that i did nearly 10 years before.

To prepare for S3:
I read the leaving chemistry and biology books and took some notes. One mistake i made here was wasting time reading about the experiments or topics that don't show up on the gamsat. I did this whenever i got a free minute over the space of a few months. I also read a rapid revision leaving cert physics book. I found this very good and most of the time i didn't need additional information. I also got my hands on the ExamCrackers notes and read the books for Chemistry and Biology. The jump from the leaving cert to these books was big and i was often frustrated as the ExamCrackers notes, while good, they are more like revision books and don't have enough information if its the first time encountering the topic. I read these over the space of a couple weeks but didn't really "study" them or understand the topics completely. For organic chemistry i read the organic chemistry chapter from General Chemisrty by ebbing and gammon. While quite basic i found it to be an excellent introduction. This is the complete preparation that i did for S3 and found it to be totally inadequate when i completed the sample papers. I did so badly in the sample papers for S3 that i wasn't going to bother sitting it in Sept, but since i had it paid for i said i would give it a go.

For section 1:
I just did the practice papers, i was disappointed with my result for this section as i did better in the practice tests. I attribute this to the fact that i didnt get much sleep the week before the exam as i was staying up late after work to revise. I was exhausted by the time the test came around and found it hard to retain the information from the passages that i had read. I think a week of complete rest before the test or one with some very light revision would benefit you on the day. The test is as much about mental stamina as it is about what you know so don't make the same mistake as me and go into it like a zombie.

For Section 2:
I did 3 or 4 practice essays and that was about it. I was very surprised that i got a good score. I think the key is structure, coherence and spelling and grammar. Even if the content is complete shiite, if it has these attributes it should do well. The time is so tight i spent 1 to 2 minutes making a very rough outline and went at it. I saw some working on their plans for too long and running out of time. I have an interest in philosophy and tried to bring my knowledge of various philosophical topic into the essays where ever i could. I didn't used the book "The Meaning of Things" but i think it would be a very good book to read for this section.

Overall i'm happy that i did it and that i have a score which could secure my a GEM place. After the exam i thought i scored about 40, so don't give up and keep the effort going till the end.

I want to give myself some more options so i'm gonna sit it again in March. I got myself the Des O' Neill notes, these are like the ExamKrackers notes in that they are revision notes but the are specifically for GAMSAT rather then MCAT and that makes a difference topic wise. You would still need some good source material. Im going to use the Des O' Neill notes as the syllabus for the preparation that i will take for march. I think Des O' Neill includes all of the important topics. For chemistry i'm going to use General Chemistry by ebbing and gammon to study in detail the topics outlined by Des O' Neill. For Organic chemistry im going to used the Organic Chemistry for Dummies book and workbook. Don't let the dummies name put you off, these are excellent books published in conjunction with wiley. These books cover most of the topics in the Des O Neill revision notes. For biology im not going to do too much more as biology knowledge doesn't give you the same advantage that chemistry knowledge does. With the biology type questions it is nearly always necessary to read the blurb in detail to answer the questions while chemistry knowledge i feel greatly adds to the speed at which you can answer the chemistry questions. For physics I will brush up on the leaving cert rapid revision book.

If i was starting again from scratch i would use Des O Neill to create a study syllabus and for revision. For actually learning the material, for chemistry I would forget about the leaving cert chemistry book and used the general chemistry book (Ebbing), its very easy to read and gives full explanations suitable for beginners and brings you right up to the level required. For biology I think the leaving cert book is probably ok for most topics, but i would add to the leaving cert book with something like the ExamKrackers book. ExamKrackers can be tough going but i found it ok for biol as i remembered stuff from the leaving. For organic chemistry, the organic chemistry for dummies and the workbook. For physics a leaving cert book would do.

This time round im also going to get the ozimed practice exams and do lots of exams in advance. Mastering the type of question that comes up often will go a long way i think.

When i was preparing initially, i read in a lot of places that you don't need to really know the material well as you get the info in the exam. I thing the only subject this is true for is biology, and at that i think it is still necessary to learn in detail important topics such as the circulatory system and genetics which show up often. I think it is vital to know the chem, organ chem and physics topics that come up in gamsat, in detail. Knowing them will give confidence and speed. If you have to read the question to know what a resonance structure is your not gonna do well in section 3!!

Confused1987

stephenlane80 wrote: »

This time round im also going to get the grad med practice exams and do lots of practice exams in advance. Mastering the type of question that comes up often will go a long way i think.

Just wondering which papers it is you are referring to with this? Currently I have the ACER Sample Q's, Practice Q's and Practice test but thats it. Although there is a good bank of questions, I don't think it will take too long to get through them.

Lub

DoctorDre wrote: »

Well done Lub! Hope you don't mind me asking what you did differently the second time to get such an increase in your score?

Thanks Dre!

S2 was the only section I had any confidence in because I'm a Sociology and Psychology grad with no science. I *cough* 'obtained' some really great practice material for S1 and S3 and worked away at all of those tests in the weeks leading up to the exam. I already had the hang of the science basics from my first attempt (well, reasonably had the hang of them), so just practicing the questions probably helped me improve my score.

I would be happy to share these materials with anyone who wants them. Shoot me a PM with your email and I'll forward them on!

Confused1987

Anyone here sitting the exam in March based around Dublin? Would there be any interest in a group meeting to talk about how people are going about this and also what notes people are using?! I know it is illegal to share notes and books, but if all the material is on a table you cant stop someone looking at it!!!! I have the Griffiths review and practice Q's, the ACER Papers and a lot of science material. Would love to have a look at the Des O'Neill syllabus and just what general practice papers people are using.

'You wouldn't steal a handbag...you wouldn't steal a car...would you steal a movie...?'...Or copy notes.....probably yes!!

Pollipop

I'm up for this! would be nice if we could get a group together. It'll benefit everyone tbh.
I have lots of practice papers and the gold gamsat book.

Confused1987 wrote: »

Anyone here sitting the exam in March based around Dublin? Would there be any interest in a group meeting to talk about how people are going about this and also what notes people are using?! I know it is illegal to share notes and books, but if all the material is on a table you cant stop someone looking at it!!!! I have the Griffiths review and practice Q's, the ACER Papers and a lot of science material. Would love to have a look at the Des O'Neill syllabus and just what general practice papers people are using.

'You wouldn't steal a handbag...you wouldn't steal a car...would you steal a movie...?'...Or copy notes.....probably yes!!

stephenlane80

Confused1987 wrote: »

Just wondering which papers it is you are referring to with this? Currently I have the ACER Sample Q's, Practice Q's and Practice test but thats it. Although there is a good bank of questions, I don't think it will take too long to get through them.

I bought some ozimed papers from a guy who did gamsat a couple of years ago. In my post i mentioned gradmed by mistake sorry!

Agrif

Hi,

I’m looking for some advice from those in the know!

I sat GAMSAT UK and got, 59, 64, 48 overall 55 which I wasn’t overly delighted with. Although it might get me to UL I would be worried that with such a low score and 48 in sciences I would struggle with the course itself.

I’m non-science background. I work fulltime and in all spent about 7 weeks preparing for the test concentrating pretty much only on science. I did 2-3 hours of study a night and also used my entire weekends. I started out studying biology then moved on to chemistry and organic chemistry, using the Dummies books and doing practice questions off the new as well as ACER papers. I took the week leading up to the exam off work and spent it studying pretty much all physics. Organic chemistry/chemistry are like Chinese to me and I only understood bits of it. Physics is the one area that I actually understood when I studied it and for me seems to be the easiest, but then not many physics questions appear on the exam:(

I didn’t find the exam itself as bad as rumoured but I underestimated the time constraints and ended up leaving 14 questions in the first section unanswered.

I was happy enough with my s.1 score considering I didn’t answer all questions, but am a bit confused about s.2 as I thought it would be by far my best section. I am sure that my grammar, spelling etc. was sound so I can only assume that my argument wasn’t what they were looking for or it wasn’t structured how they like.

However my main problem is the science section which was a bit of a disaster. I’m concerned that if/when I resit I won’t be able to improve on this score. In the exam there were very few questions that I’m sure I answered correctly and I guessed the vast majority which leads me to think that my score may just have been lucky guesses and could actually decrease second time around!

I don’t know if it is a case that I did not spend enough time preparing for the exam or that I just can’t grasp simple science concepts.

Does anyone have any advice on what I could do to bolster the science section as I am going to start again soon-if I can get the motivation. Has anyone failed science the first time and managed to improve resitting and if so how long did you study for?

Apologies for long rambling post. Any help or opinions would be much appreciated.

diverboy83

Agrif - I wouldn't worry too much about your S 3 score; you will have plenty of time between now and March to get comfortable with orgo and stoichiometry. As a lot of the questions are based around these, in some form or another, once you have developed an intuition, you will be able to move faster and more accurately through the paper. It's not about knowledge, it's about understanding and being able to use basic principles to reason out more complex situations.

On S 2 - I think it's important that the essays are of the type that are required i.e. thoughtful, well-structured and supported responses. Again, plenty of time to practice between now and March - two essays a week and you should be well on your way. I also think essay planning is important; taking a few minutes before writing to plot out the structure and key points.

If I were you, I would be focussing on getting the score for S 2 up rather than throwing everything into S 3.

That's my tuppence anyway, if it's any help. (by way of background, I'm a non-science-r too. Sat GAMSAT in March this year with a 61 score).

Good luck!

HopefulGEM

Hey guys,

I'm just writing to let people know to not be too disheartened with their GAMSAT results, you can go up 9 points!! mine are as shown:

Sep 12: 52-62-47=52
Mar 13: 49-56-49=51
Sep 14: 52-68-60=60

All I did different this time was to learn general essays and quotes off as well as working through the ACER practise questions and sample questions booklets.

Super excited for next September, science degree from ucd is already complete so now all I have to do is wait:D Still cant make my mind up between RCSI and UCD but atm its looking more like RCSI. What are people thinking?

diverboy83

HopefulGEM - check out this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056952505

Heaps and heaps of info on the RCSI vs UCD debate.

HopefulGEM

diverboy83 - I think I read that your in UCD. How are you finding first year?

pharmacrunch

HopefulGEM wrote: »

Hey guys,

I'm just writing to let people know to not be too disheartened with their GAMSAT results, you can go up 9 points!! mine are as shown:

Sep 12: 52-62-47=52
Mar 13: 49-56-49=51
Sep 14: 52-68-60=60

All I did different this time was to learn general essays and quotes off as well as working through the ACER practise questions and sample questions booklets.

Super excited for next September, science degree from ucd is already complete so now all I have to do is wait:D Still cant make my mind up between RCSI and UCD but atm its looking more like RCSI. What are people thinking?

Hi Hopeful,

Just wondering what do you mean by learning off standard essays?

As in did you just learn off themed essays on say relationships, war, politics etc etc?

Just starting to get into study for March now and I think the section I and II will be my biggest problems

HopefulGEM

Hi pharmacrunch,
Yes precisely, wrote essays on general themes such as education, war democracy etc... I included 3-4 quotes in each of my essays from inspirational figures. Also my essays were a page and a half to two pages long, so there's no need to kill yourself learning long essays. I drew plans of my essays in the booklet, I think the examiners really appreciate this ad it allows them to dissect your thought process:)

TiredLawGrad

Hello all, with the disappointment of the very low score (44) in s 3 still vivid in my mind, I decided today to make an effort to practise the damned section. I came across this question and got 0.3 mol (without using calc.). I used calc. and got 0.299 mol. The answer must be c) then but I am not 100% sure! Somebody, anybody help!

A non-expansible fuel tank containing 20g of butane gas at 27°c and 93kPa has a valve fitted so that the maximum pressure cannot exceed 120kPa. At 180°c, approximately how much butane gas is released to maintain maximum pressure?

a) 0.5 mol b) 0.05 mol c) 0.25 mol d) 0.1 mol

pharmacrunch

HopefulGEM wrote: »

Hi pharmacrunch,
Yes precisely, wrote essays on general themes such as education, war democracy etc... I included 3-4 quotes in each of my essays from inspirational figures. Also my essays were a page and a half to two pages long, so there's no need to kill yourself learning long essays. I drew plans of my essays in the booklet, I think the examiners really appreciate this ad it allows them to dissect your thought process:)

Great thanks thats something I might start doing actually,,,

Did people have a general structure in mind when doing these essays? As in did you have a predetermined essay structure in mind before you went in?

i.e. Paragraph 1- Introduction
Paragraph 2 - State the theme/ argument
Paragraph 3- State which side you are on etc etc

Trying to come up with a defined structure - would appreciate others input

For instance do people feel its best for example in section A to argue both sides of an argument, or pick one side and argue that

HopefulGEM

My layout was introduction, thesis, anti-thesis and conclusion. Good luck:)

FairytaleGirl

Hi Lads,

Been on boards a long time now, after bombing CAO for Mature Med twice, I've finally decided to go for GAMSAT for Grad Med in UK. Havn't started studying quite yet, although I'm basically a science novice.

Have a degree in English and Media, so not too Worried about S1 &S2 (should i be?!) Recently purchased GAMSAT practice papers and sample question booklets and two 'AS and A Level combined' books - One Physics, one biology. Planning to get Organic Chem for dummies from the library, and possibly MCAT 1001 Verbal reasoning book (not sure yet.)

What I need to know is does that sound like enough to cover study? Id be so grateful if any of you non science-ers could PM me or even Post a 'topic list' or 'study plan' for S3? As I have no idea where to start!!

Dee

letsdothis

FairytaleGirl wrote: »

Hi Lads,

Been on boards a long time now, after bombing CAO for Mature Med twice, I've finally decided to go for GAMSAT for Grad Med in UK. Havn't started studying quite yet, although I'm basically a science novice.

Have a degree in English and Media, so not too Worried about S1 &S2 (should i be?!) Recently purchased GAMSAT practice papers and sample question booklets and two 'AS and A Level combined' books - One Physics, one biology. Planning to get Organic Chem for dummies from the library, and possibly MCAT 1001 Verbal reasoning book (not sure yet.)

What I need to know is does that sound like enough to cover study? Id be so grateful if any of you non science-ers could PM me or even Post a 'topic list' or 'study plan' for S3? As I have no idea where to start!!

Dee

Hi Dee, if you read over the last few pages in this thread, I (and others) have written some advice posts on studying and materials. Have a read over them and we will answer any specific questions you have. The previous years' threads are great too.

I would highly recommend the MCAT 1001 and I would suggest getting your hands on Organic Chem as a 2nd Language (pdfs tend to float around the internets). Also the OC for Dummies workbook is great too so I'd recommend that. Good luck!

HopefulGEM

FairytaleGirl wrote: »

Hi Lads,

Been on boards a long time now, after bombing CAO for Mature Med twice, I've finally decided to go for GAMSAT for Grad Med in UK. Havn't started studying quite yet, although I'm basically a science novice.

Have a degree in English and Media, so not too Worried about S1 &S2 (should i be?!) Recently purchased GAMSAT practice papers and sample question booklets and two 'AS and A Level combined' books - One Physics, one biology. Planning to get Organic Chem for dummies from the library, and possibly MCAT 1001 Verbal reasoning book (not sure yet.)

What I need to know is does that sound like enough to cover study? Id be so grateful if any of you non science-ers could PM me or even Post a 'topic list' or 'study plan' for S3? As I have no idea where to start!!

Dee

Dee,

Try using the Khan Academy for learning science, I found it beneficial, especially for physics! Also just practice exam papers and make sure you understand how the correct answer is achieved. Good luck!

lawlesp4

Hey Everyone,

I have been studying on/off for the last 3 months for GAMSAT 2014 in Dublin and I am just starting to really crack down in my study and I was just wondering if there were any people interested in setting up a relatively small study group in the coming weeks? I just graduated from DCU with a 2.1 in Analytical Science so I am pretty familiar with chemistry/biology and have done physics and maths in first year. I hope to set up a diverse group so that we can contribute to different aspects of the exam based on our degrees/strengths.

Phil.

SwiftEagle

lawlesp4 wrote: »

Hey Everyone,

I have been studying on/off for the last 3 months for GAMSAT 2014 in Dublin and I am just starting to really crack down in my study and I was just wondering if there were any people interested in setting up a relatively small study group in the coming weeks? I just graduated from DCU with a 2.1 in Analytical Science so I am pretty familiar with chemistry/biology and have done physics and maths in first year. I hope to set up a diverse group so that we can contribute to different aspects of the exam based on our degrees/strengths.

Phil.

Hi Phil,

I would be also interested in setting up a study group! However my degree is in genetics in DCU so our strengths are pretty much the same. But I am all for a study group in the new year even just to meet other people that are sitting the exam as I always find that I study better in groups.

Thanks.

TiredLawGrad

lawlesp4 wrote: »

Hey Everyone,

I have been studying on/off for the last 3 months for GAMSAT 2014 in Dublin and I am just starting to really crack down in my study and I was just wondering if there were any people interested in setting up a relatively small study group in the coming weeks? I just graduated from DCU with a 2.1 in Analytical Science so I am pretty familiar with chemistry/biology and have done physics and maths in first year. I hope to set up a diverse group so that we can contribute to different aspects of the exam based on our degrees/strengths.

Phil.

Hello Phil, it's a good idea. I have Bachelor of Laws and Masters of Laws from DIT and GCD respectively. It will be great to study with science students. Having done the GAMSAT twice, I think I will bring experience into the group.

Chris.

lawlesp4

Hey Chris and SwiftEagle (sorry didn't catch your name) sorry about only getting back to yous now. Yeah that sounds great, I've never set up a study group before so don't really know where to begin. Just wondering if you guys live up in the Dublin area and if you would like to meet up over the Christmas break or in the New Year? Feel free to private message me at this stage rather than having to go back to this thread every time and the same goes for anyone else considering interested.

optimist90

Hi guys if there's room for one more I'd love to give my two pence too.

I'm a graduate of Civil Law, with a really solid foundation in the essay and comprehension sections of the exam, having sat it in September in the UK and scored 77 and 60 in those sections respectively. However, I fall short in the science department, as you can imagine, having only studied biology at LC level and got a meagre 42 in that section.

I only did about 4 weeks study for the exam in September, while also working full time in a demanding work environment, I really just wanted to do it as a trial run, but it definitely showed me that a good grade is achievable in all sections, given that we all have different strengths and weaknesses, with a few months hard work.

Cathal1992

I sat the GAMSAT in London last September for the first time. I was shocked when I achieved 60 overall, hopefully that's enough to get me into UCD next September, as I doubt the points will jump by two or three from last years round zero points. Just have to get my 2:1 now this coming semester ! One major tip I will give to anyone sitting in March is know your organic Chemistry really well. There were questions on the paper which I only covered in second year Chemistry in Uni which was surprising.