GAMSAT 2014?

moss1989

Hi I'm interested in doing the gamsat in march but have only just decided so was considering doing one of the revision courses just wondering would you recommend them? as I have seen that you did it? I have a strong science background but am probably a bit rusty...Also you said you have some notes I see you made this post in may but if you still have them would you willing to sell them?

Thanks

moss1989

Karlheinz1987 wrote: »

Hey guys, Ive heard poor enough feedback about the Des O Neill notes. I enrolled in the Gradmed Full Revision course and have the entire GradMed Preparation Course Material. I found them extremely useful. The notes are heavily skewed towards GAMSAT style questioning which is great. I came from non science and am just finishing my 1st year of Graduate Medicine. If anyone is interested, let me know!

Hi I'm interested in doing the gamsat in march but have only just decided so was considering doing one of the revision courses just wondering would you recommend them? as I have seen that you did it? I have a strong science background but am probably a bit rusty...Also you said you have some notes I see you made this post in may but if you still have them would you willing to sell them?

Thanks

Confused1987

For anyone who is interested there appears to be a few GAMSATers studying in UCD library if people are possibly interested in starting a weekly revision group? There's a group doing the same thing in DCU who appear to have the right idea by meeting up to discuss possible tricky areas, essays etc, however DCU might be a bit of a trek for some people so if UCD suited any others we could get a group going?

SwiftEagle

Hey guys, Since we are getting pretty close to the big day does anyone know where I could download some practice exam questions/ papers? Everywhere I look they all are looking for money for them I was wondering was there any free sites were I could download some PDFs? Thanks!!

HopefulGEM

Anyone going to the RCSI open day next week? I currently have UCD first and doubt il change my mind but it will be nice to see the facilities:)

HopefulGEM

Just saw that the Khan Academy now has a MCAT folder which might help for S3. https://www.khanacademy.org/science/mcat Happy studying!

letsdothis

HopefulGEM wrote: »

Anyone going to the RCSI open day next week? I currently have UCD first and doubt il change my mind but it will be nice to see the facilities:)

I went to the previous one in November and found it very worthwhile. Lots of food too! I was also favouring UCD but I'm leaning more towards RCSI since.

Confused1987

I registered for the RCSI open day but really think I will be leaving UCD as number one on the CAO.

Did you find the RCSI open day long or did you stay for the duration?

letsdothis

Confused1987 wrote: »

I registered for the RCSI open day but really think I will be leaving UCD as number one on the CAO.

Did you find the RCSI open day long or did you stay for the duration?

I didn't find it long all, the day flew. Everyone is put into mini groups that move between rooms every hour on a different topic, for example one was with two doctors where they did some basic tests and you got to play with a stethoscope...another was a group of clinical years GEM students that we got to interrogate, etc. There a couple of large group sessions too, one of which had a diabetes patient that spoke about his experience managing the disease. As i said the day flew. Unless you've very concrete reasons for choosing UCD, you'd be mad not to go and get a feel for rcsi.

Confused1987

Sure I will definitely go and see what I make of the place, got my acceptance email yesterday so no point in not attending...this is granted I don't throw my organic chemistry books out the window first, it is driving me up the walls!

HopefulGEM

How was the rcsi open day? Unfortunately I couldn't make it:(

pharmacrunch

Anyone else go through periods where they feel they are getting nothing done?

Honestly feel like I've done nothing GAMSAT wise in the past three weeks! Having a bit of a breakdown this weekend.

*rant over

TiredLawGrad

I did a full GAMSAT test today under the usual time constraints.

s 1: 51/75 (Could be better)
s 2: Confident. No problems here.
s 3: 71/110. Very delighted considering that I have always gotten less than 50 in previous tests.

What I did differently for s 3 - I didn't get bugged down with the info in s 3. Went straight to the questions and referred to the info if needed.

We are almost there, 54 days (exam day inclusive) and it will all be over. Good luck all.

Confused1987

Could be a stupid question but I assume the acer papers that are released year on year vary in the questions asked? If so does anyone wanna copy each other's papers? I have the 2009 set of three books and also the 5 ozimed papers!

Had a bit of a meltdown today with org chem and learning from the for dummies book so am now starting to work through every past paper/question that I can get my hands on! Having looked at the acer papers today I am definitely a small bit more confident and relaxed, I was working through the prep101 organic chem questions and they were killing any confidence I have/had!!

pharmacrunch

Confused1987 wrote: »

Could be a stupid question but I assume the acer papers that are released year on year vary in the questions asked? If so does anyone wanna copy each other's papers? I have the 2009 set of three books and also the 5 ozimed papers!

Had a bit of a meltdown today with org chem and learning from the for dummies book so am now starting to work through every past paper/question that I can get my hands on! Having looked at the acer papers today I am definitely a small bit more confident and relaxed, I was working through the prep101 organic chem questions and they were killing any confidence I have/had!!

Are those Ozimed tests worth getting Confused? Was considering it for a while but decided not to because of the price tag!

Confused1987

Yeah they are quite good so can't complain! You get a booklet of 5 full sample tests so there is a bank of 550 section 3 questions to tackle which is what I was looking for! I read somewhere online of people complaining section 1 is too easy which I would agree with, it is written in much plainer English and doesn't seem all that challenging so have swapped to using the MCAT 101 section 1 book which is brilliant for the comprehensions!

letsdothis

Confused1987 wrote: »

Yeah they are quite good so can't complain! You get a booklet of 5 full sample tests so there is a bank of 550 section 3 questions to tackle which is what I was looking for! I read somewhere online of people complaining section 1 is too easy which I would agree with, it is written in much plainer English and doesn't seem all that challenging so have swapped to using the MCAT 101 section 1 book which is brilliant for the comprehensions!

For what it's worth, I did just one Ozimed paper before my GAMSAT in Sept (did it a week before) and scored 77% on Sec 1 and 46% on Section 3. The section 1 score equates with what I was getting on the Acer sample papers and the Section 3 result about 10% lower. I felt the Ozimed science papers assumed more scientific knowledge than GAMSAT actually requires. Overall I would recommend Ozimed for full sample tests - so long as fitting in the ACER papers is your number 1 priority.

Confused1987

For anyone who has done the GAMSAT in Dublin previously, can someone post their experiences of the regulations of the test centre I.e. What you can and cannot bring in?Before anyone says it, obviously knowing the material will get you through the exam, but would love to know if people were allowed to bring in ear plugs, glucose tablets or any drink other than water? I always prefer to study with the ear plugs in and in silence so would love to be able to bring a set of these in.

Any general advice, tips etc will be well received!!!

letsdothis

Confused1987 wrote: »

For anyone who has done the GAMSAT in Dublin previously, can someone post their experiences of the regulations of the test centre I.e. What you can and cannot bring in?Before anyone says it, obviously knowing the material will get you through the exam, but would love to know if people were allowed to bring in ear plugs, glucose tablets or any drink other than water? I always prefer to study with the ear plugs in and in silence so would love to be able to bring a set of these in.

Any general advice, tips etc will be well received!!!

I sat the exam in the UK but some of my advice will cross over, I'm sure. I was studying with ear plugs and learned a few weeks beforehand that they are not allowed. I continued to do practice exams with ear plugs and this was probably the single biggest mistake I made in my prep. I think it was a significant factor in my worse than usual performance in Section 1 including (for the first time ever) running out of time and having to guess a few answers at the end. It took my most of the morning session to block out the noise and there's plenty of it too. My seat was beside the toilet block and LOADS of people used the facilities towards the end of section 1 (because there is no break between 1 and 2). Also, the test centre was a leisure centre and there was groups of screaming kids going in and out in the background. ARRRGH! Even the noise of pens, moving chairs, invigilators pacing, etc. affected my concentration. So again, forget about the earplugs now (unless, of course, you want to chance them).

You aren't allowed food or drink accept water into the test centre. I've heard of people dissolving the likes of sugar or energy sachets into their water. I took the strategy of a massive bowl of porridge before the exam and more slow release carbs at lunch. This helped me minimise energy slumps on the day. Stamina is a huge part of GAMSAT. As much full day sample papers are possible is the best training for this anyway.

Another thing I wasn't prepared for is just how long they take to set up on the day. ACER don't advertise a start time but we were told to be there by 8:30 and the exam didn't start until just after 9:30. So just be prepared to sit around and relax and don't pass the time drinking water!

briocht

Hey all,

I just read that there's a DCU group set up. I'm currently studying there and would love to meet other people interested in studying for the GAMSAT (although I really have yet to start studying properly) any more details on it?

stephenlane80

Is there any study group in limerick, anybody want to start one?

BeeBees_Gem

Somalion wrote: »

Just to chime in on this, I will be honest in that I do not believe the prep courses offer much. I am from a science background myself but I can guarantee you that I did not focus on learning of formulae or methods or tricks or any of this stuff. I just got my results last week and got a 70 overall (Sect. 1 = 66, Sect. 2 = 72 and Sect. 3 = 71) without any of these courses or the likes If you need more of a guide I'd be happy to type one up for you!

Hi Somalion,

I'm taking the GAMSAT this September, and I don't want to be let down my lack scientific experience (my first degree was in Law). Would you be up for, typing up a science guide for me?

Anything would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

pharmacrunch

I got my hands on one of these Ozimed papers- I must say I found the science section very difficult.

I did alot worse in these than I did in the ACER papers

letsdothis

pharmacrunch wrote: »

I got my hands on one of these Ozimed papers- I must say I found the science section very difficult.

I did alot worse in these than I did in the ACER papers

Like I said above, Ozimed papers expect a higher level of science knowledge than ACER. They are useful for practice since we've so few ACER papers to go on but only that.

You've loads of time left

Confused1987

Did you happen to do the first paper in the book? Any idea with Q95 in section 3? The one about the B cells retuning to half their original value! Cannot for the life of me understand where they are getting the answer from!

Started the MCAT 101 section 1 today, great for practice, really shows how quick you need to read, decipher and answer!

pharmacrunch

Confused1987 wrote: »

Did you happen to do the first paper in the book? Any idea with Q95 in section 3? The one about the B cells retuning to half their original value! Cannot for the life of me understand where they are getting the answer from!

Started the MCAT 101 section 1 today, great for practice, really shows how quick you need to read, decipher and answer!

I was stumped by this too - and I would have thought I was usually quite good at interpreting graphs having a science heavy background.

I've completed two Ozimed papers at this stage and have disagreed with one or two of the answers from science sections

SwiftEagle

briocht wrote: »

Hey all,

I just read that there's a DCU group set up. I'm currently studying there and would love to meet other people interested in studying for the GAMSAT (although I really have yet to start studying properly) any more details on it?

Hi Briocht,

We are planning on meeting up in DCU on Monday if that is any use. Theres three of us in the group (2 science and one humanitarian) email me if your interested in joining up

SwiftEagle

Is anyone going to this mock gamsat exam in UCD on March 8th? I was tempted myself, but I find 400 Euro a bit steep! Does anyone know if it's worth it?

GEMgungho

Hi Guys,

Im taking the GAMSAT this year and I have been relying heavily on the ACER practice papers. I was wondering to anyone who has already sat the exam, how similar to the exam are the papers? Is the exam material much harder? As far as I can see these papers are over 6 years old so I find it hard to believe that they can consecutively bring out a exam each year which resembles the material in the exam papers!

TiredLawGrad

Gamsatters,

28 days to go excluding exam day. I'm definitely jumping ahead here, but an overall score of 60 consisting of 60, 80, 50 will be great. Wishful thinking or self limitation. Anyhow, this will be my third and final sitting.

Goodluck all.