GAMSAT 2014, UK sitting: Discussion Board

Bloomberg

Thought we could have a bit of regarding September 2014 sitting. Bit of a support group I guess... Questions and answers session!

loopylulu

Good idea! Where have you booked in the UK? I applied for Bristol, need to sort flights and hotel now. Started organic chem revision last night and remembered how much I hated it back in college

Bloomberg

Ah org's fine once you get into the swing of it! I've never done it before so I prob haven't reached the sticky tedious stuff yet! That's funny, I'm going to Bristol too! I actually haven't booked it yet but I am too going to Bristol just because I'm familiar with it! you planning on hitting the UK for UNI or staying in Ireland, where you situated?!

PS don't get bogged down by the boring stuff, see it as a means to an end, and the dream job

malchym

Hi, just registered for UK gamsat in September. Would love to chat about ways of study and test practice.

malchym

Hi, just registered for UK gamsat in September. Would love to chat about ways of study and test practice.

loopylulu

Flights and hotel booked, haven't told anyone yet as I don't want them knowing if I get a crap score!
I'm just going to go through some sample tests for S1 and practice writing a couple of essays. Trying to get my brain back in learning mode.
For SIII, I'm going to go though organic chem and basic physics before starting any practice tests as those are my weakest areas.

Ballet17

Hi guys I'm off to do the gamsat uk as well, best of luck to everyone in the same boat! Loopylulu I just noticed you've booked your flights and accommodation, I'd love to do the same asap but am worried that I wouldn't then get my first choice of test centre... Do you/anyone else reckon the chances of that actually happening are pretty low? Thanks

loopylulu

Hmm as far as I knew once you selected a test centre when registering then that was where you ended up! when I log into my account on Acer it showed the centre I picked. Hope to god now that it doesn't change!

Ballet17

loopylulu wrote: »

Hmm as far as I knew once you selected a test centre when registering then that was where you ended up! when I log into my account on Acer it showed the centre I picked. Hope to god now that it doesn't change!

Thanks Looplulu I think you're right! They used to have a disclaimer about how places are limited and you may not get your first choice but I checked again and it seems now that if the places for a specific centre are full up you can't choose it when registering.. If I'm wrong though apologies and feel free to correct me!

Bloomberg

Yeah it was a bit weird, it just said preferred centre which does offer a bit of uncertainty! I highly doubt you won't get the centre you want anyway! I can't imagine so! Can't believe its only 2 months away! So much to do yet!
Looplulu you're wise, I told just about everyone so if I fail miserably- all will know! All the more pressure to succeed!
How are ye guys getting on? Are you finding the studying is bringing the confidence up?
I can't wait to just to do it! At least we still have the March sitting if it goes to **** for some reason! Although I'm staying positive!!
I've done no physics yet really- focusing on chem- i think its the best area to get marks in- if you know your stuff you'll do well! Biology is a bit less predictable and more about applying rather than knowledge! Are ye both science students?

jimijames

Hi Guys,

I redid my LC in bio and chem in June gone by and am just wondering whats the best way of going about doing the study for this or what is everyone else doing?

Ballet17

jimijames wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I redid my LC in bio and chem in June gone by and am just wondering whats the best way of going about doing the study for this or what is everyone else doing?

Hi JimiJames, firstly fair play to you for sitting the LC biology and chemistry! I'd say since you've gone over all the relevant material so recently you could just go ahead and get stuck in to the practice papers. ( if you haven't already) . Just to know the exam inside out, types of questions etc and so you know what to expect, then just practice, practice and try to get the timing up. Also there's a fair bit of organic chemistry in the science section, not sure if you've covered that already but if not it's worth doing Hope that helps some little bit!

Ballet17

Bloomberg wrote: »

Yeah it was a bit weird, it just said preferred centre which does offer a bit of uncertainty! I highly doubt you won't get the centre you want anyway! I can't imagine so! Can't believe its only 2 months away! So much to do yet!
Looplulu you're wise, I told just about everyone so if I fail miserably- all will know! All the more pressure to succeed!
How are ye guys getting on? Are you finding the studying is bringing the confidence up?
I can't wait to just to do it! At least we still have the March sitting if it goes to **** for some reason! Although I'm staying positive!!
I've done no physics yet really- focusing on chem- i think its the best area to get marks in- if you know your stuff you'll do well! Biology is a bit less predictable and more about applying rather than knowledge! Are ye both science students?

Hi Bloomberg thanks for your message, yeah hopefully the centre we choose doesn't change, I've my flights booked now anyway . My prep is happening slowly but surely it feels! When it comes to the science section I'm just trying to understand it all as well as I possibly can so I can reason the hell out out of it when it comes to exam day. And getting my hands on as many questions as possible. Also trying to focus on the essay section, reading a lot of current affairs and trying to form opinions on what I'm reading. Hope it's going ok for you! I'm the same trying to stay positive and exactly we also have March if needs be

gilyb

Hi everyone really happy to see this thread! i booked my gamsat a few weeks ago, struggling a bit to manage study and full time work, anyone any tips? also i read in the gamsat handbook no calculator permitted, however when i read the Griffith review it mentioned that you can take in a non programmable calculator to section 3, is this true?? thanks

Bloomberg

Hi, as far as I've heard, we can't bring a calculator in although you used to be able to. Maybe that's why it's specified in Griffiths- and that publication may be a few years old and is not up to date in terms of regulation and that's why it's confusing! Acer say(which means nothing cos they want to make the exam as confusing as possible, let's be honest :P) that all the maths was made doable w/o calculator- basically simplified when the change came about! Which, quite frankly, is a bummer!
And I'm in the exact same boat so I feel your pain! I'm getting full time hours which I can't do anything about unfortunately! It's so tough when you want it so bad and you want to give it everything but the reality of other things gets in the way! I just keep saying to myself it's okay there's still March and try to look at this one as a mock to figure out my strength and weaknesses and if I get lucky then wahay!
I hope this helped somewhat on te calculator Q front but don't take my word nevertheless I'm not 100%. There's prob an email address on gamsat site!

And if your looking for tips, best thing I ever did study wise was get out my red and green practice test and look at free gold standard vids. Do the quest before vid and then watch him- you learn so much about not just the material but acers tricks and how to get around them! He makes it look so easy! Dr Ferdinand is the man!

Ballet17

gilyb wrote: »

Hi everyone really happy to see this thread! i booked my gamsat a few weeks ago, struggling a bit to manage study and full time work, anyone any tips? also i read in the gamsat handbook no calculator permitted, however when i read the Griffith review it mentioned that you can take in a non programmable calculator to section 3, is this true?? thanks

Hiya no calculators are definitely not allowed! Hope the prep is going ok, also a part time studier here, trying to just work at it day by day and not get too overwhelmed! Yikes!

Also does anyone know or have any idea when the names of the test centres will be released? Thanks

Bloomberg

Two weeks before the exam, we will recieve an email with our exam ticket and the test centres name and location.

Ballet17

Bloomberg wrote: »

Two weeks before the exam, we will recieve an email with our exam ticket and the test centres name and location.

Thanks!

amber92

hey, just wondering does anyone know where you can get the answer for the acer tests (green/red booklet?) To me, some of the answers don't seem right so would love to know the reasoning behind them (sec 1) and then for section3, there were lots of guesses when i did the sample test, so would love to see what the answers are...and how to get them ! Doing the gamsat in sep also.

ibizarocks

Think Brett Ferdinand's YouTube page has worked solutions to all SIII problems

Mccloskc

amber92 wrote: »

hey, just wondering does anyone know where you can get the answer for the acer tests (green/red booklet?) To me, some of the answers don't seem right so would love to know the reasoning behind them (sec 1) and then for section3, there were lots of guesses when i did the sample test, so would love to see what the answers are...and how to get them ! Doing the gamsat in sep also.

What ones you have trouble with? Pretty sure none have any errors

Mccloskc

Does anyone know when the results for uk 2014 are out?

loopylulu

It seems to be mid-late November. The ACER website doesn't have an exact date but looking at the past few years its been on a Friday around the 20th. My guess is on Friday 21st!!
Are you also going mad waiting for the results like I am??

Mccloskc

loopylulu wrote: »

It seems to be mid-late November. The ACER website doesn't have an exact date but looking at the past few years its been on a Friday around the 20th. My guess is on Friday 21st!!
Are you also going mad waiting for the results like I am??

Yes. Been through this before. It's horrible. Sat back in March and missed out. How confident you feeling? What u think of the whole exam?

loopylulu

Awful. I planned to study over the summer but family events, deaths and working fulltime meant I only opened the books two weeks before hand in a panic. Did a small bit of organic chem and watched some Khanacademy videos. Wrote my only two essays in the hotel the night before the exam S1 and S2 I think I did fairly alright but guessed more than a third of S3, even with a science background. Really hard to know which way it will go.

Mccloskc

loopylulu wrote: »

Awful. I planned to study over the summer but family events, deaths and working fulltime meant I only opened the books two weeks before hand in a panic. Did a small bit of organic chem and watched some Khanacademy videos. Wrote my only two essays in the hotel the night before the exam S1 and S2 I think I did fairly alright but guessed more than a third of S3, even with a science background. Really hard to know which way it will go.

All I can say is whatever the result keep at it. The first time I sat it I did terrible. It was hard to pick myself back up but u will if u really want it. You will be fine.

loopylulu

Thanks! Will defo try it once more anyway. Fingers crossed that you get it this time too

Yuri

The UK GAMSAT results are out everyone, good luck!

Happy enough with mine! I can't believe they released them at 1 am, I was just going to bed and had one last check of the email. Been bricking it all week

Mccloskc

Yuri wrote: »

The UK GAMSAT results are out everyone, good luck!

Happy enough with mine! I can't believe they released them at 1 am, I was just going to bed and had one last check of the email. Been bricking it all week

I got 53... Enough for limerick last 2 years. Don't know whether to resit. How did u get on?

Yuri

I got 57 and I am very happy with that. I went over to the UK with the exam in my head as a trial for the Irish one in March but being honest with myself I really wanted to do well in the UK one.

I don't see why you wouldn't resit - unless you have personal reasons? I'd say having a feel for the day itself could really help you, I know I made mistakes (like not managing my time correctly during the last section) and was nervous just in general.

Mccloskc

Yuri wrote: »

I got 57 and I am very happy with that. I went over to the UK with the exam in my head as a trial for the Irish one in March but being honest with myself I really wanted to do well in the UK one.

I don't see why you wouldn't resit - unless you have personal reasons? I'd say having a feel for the day itself could really help you, I know I made mistakes (like not managing my time correctly during the last section) and was nervous just in general.

When do the offers come out do you know?

Yuri

Mccloskc wrote: »

When do the offers come out do you know?

The offers for the Irish universities don't come out until mid-August 2015 with the Leaving Certificate results because it's done through the CAO system. I'm not entirely sure about the UK ones, will need to check that out myself.

loopylulu

omg I got 59. I'm actually in shock here!

Durf

loopylulu wrote: »

omg I got 59. I'm actually in shock here!

Congratz, Loopylulu

loopylulu

Thanks Durf, it was your motivational PM's that made me go and sit the test!!

Durf

loopylulu wrote: »

Thanks Durf, it was your motivational PM's that made me go and sit the test!!

Well, I am very happy for you. It is a great achievement all considered!

beardedmaster

Yuri wrote: »

The offers for the Irish universities don't come out until mid-August 2015 with the Leaving Certificate results because it's done through the CAO system. I'm not entirely sure about the UK ones, will need to check that out myself.

GEM CAO offers this year were out the 31st of July this year. Leaving Cert CAO offers are out 17th-18th August.

Ballet17

Well done everyone who is happy with their results today!! Got 58, absolutely delighted! it was my second attempt and from a non-science background Anyone who is disappointed this time I know exactly how you're feeling I was there myself earlier this year, don't give up!!

Mccloskc

Anyone here on the edge like myself? Got 53... Just two more marks and I'd be laughing. Well done everyone. What do people think about this years cut off? Do we reckon there will be any movement?

Mccloskc

Also when are the official cut off points announced? I presume after the March exam?

Meg_Med_2013

Mccloskc wrote: »

Anyone here on the edge like myself? Got 53... Just two more marks and I'd be laughing. Well done everyone. What do people think about this years cut off? Do we reckon there will be any movement?

I am in a similar boat I guess - this was my first attempt from a non science background and got a 54. I am in my final year now so have quite an intensive work load...I am considering resitting in March but don't know what would be wisest. I would be delighted to get into Limerick but am unsure of if the scores will move much.

What are you thinking yourself - do you think you will resit? Are you still in college?

EM1308

Could someone who sat the 2013 Ireland Gamsat please post the percentile curve? I'm trying to work out what the cut-off scores might be next year. Cheers

EM1308

Ballet17 wrote: »

Well done everyone who is happy with their results today!! Got 58, absolutely delighted! it was my second attempt and from a non-science background Anyone who is disappointed this time I know exactly how you're feeling I was there myself earlier this year, don't give up!!

Where are you hoping to get into? I got 58 too but not sure whether or not to repeat to be sure to get one of the Dublin colleges

Ballet17

EM1308 wrote: »

Where are you hoping to get into? I got 58 too but not sure whether or not to repeat to be sure to get one of the Dublin colleges

Hey! UL is my first choice, I have to stay in Limerick but would be more than happy to study there! I know I should be ok but can't help worrying about worst case scenarios, suppose because it's still so far away there's lots of time to think! I'd say you should be fine for rcsi/ucd! The points actually dropped last year I think? so can't see them raising much if at all! But I guess it's just what you feel comfortable doing yourself.. I wonder if you rang the colleges would they be able to give you any idea?