GAMSAT 2015

Med2015

Omega28 wrote: »

I agree, you really need to sit the exam to fully grasp it! I know next time what to expect.

I am almost 100% certain I didn't get near 53+. In fairness, I only started studying 5/6 weeks ago. I think you need a good 6 months prep for this exam.

I got 56 for UL from their site or maybe from a recent post/thread on here.

I really hope you're right about the essay section, but how much can it realistically bring your score up?

Not sure if I should bother with the UK exam, or wait until March next year.

With a score of 71, why re take the exam?

Fair enough, I was about the same with my first sitting and didn't expect much.. But yeah a good dedicated 4 months should do it ... especially having experienced it before. Timing is really everything..! Oh god no I didn't get overall 71, just a 71 in the essays! I WISH!!!
Yeah but I would seriously recommend sitting it in Sept- you can relax for the year if you get it.. and you know where you stand.. Not knowing where you stand until May is a sh1t position to be in.. And it also means that there is no third chance if for some reason it doesn't work out yanoo... Whatever you feel is right if it comes to that! Well I didn't answer 25 q's in sect 1 cos I hadnt done a practice test before, so I scored 51 wasnt a good score but in fairness I didn't answer a 1/3 of the paper... And I scored 43 in science which was pretty much the worst you could get yet I got an overall 52 which just shows that you can do crap in science and if you have a decent score in your essay section and get your timing perfect in section 1 (which is something I evidently failed to do) you can get a decent score like maybe a 57 ish which is more than enough for UL. I obviously didn't get a good score but it illustrates the impact of a good section 2 on your overall!

Omega28

Med2015 wrote: »

Fair enough, I was about the same with my first sitting and didn't expect much.. But yeah a good dedicated 4 months should do it ... especially having experienced it before. Timing is really everything..! Oh god no I didn't get overall 71, just a 71 in the essays! I WISH!!!
Yeah but I would seriously recommend sitting it in Sept- you can relax for the year if you get it.. and you know where you stand.. Not knowing where you stand until May is a sh1t position to be in.. And it also means that there is no third chance if for some reason it doesn't work out yanoo... Whatever you feel is right if it comes to that! Well I didn't answer 25 q's in sect 1 cos I hadnt done a practice test before, so I scored 51 wasnt a good score but in fairness I didn't answer a 1/3 of the paper... And I scored 43 in science which was pretty much the worst you could get yet I got an overall 52 which just shows that you can do crap in science and if you have a decent score in your essay section and get your timing perfect in section 1 (which is something I evidently failed to do) you can get a decent score like maybe a 57 ish which is more than enough for UL. I obviously didn't get a good score but it illustrates the impact of a good section 2 on your overall!

You got a 51 and left out 1/3 of the exam? That was brilliant! I didn't leave anything blank, just guessed the one's I didn't have time for!

I 100% agree with you, it's all down to your timing! I wasn't really prepared in fairness.

I might go over to the UK - how much did it cost you inc. hotel/flight etc

I did the the exam in RCSI this year, few empty seats!

Med2015

Omega28 wrote: »

You got a 51 and left out 1/3 of the exam? That was brilliant! I didn't leave anything blank, just guessed the one's I didn't have time for!

I 100% agree with you, it's all down to your timing! I wasn't really prepared in fairness.

I might go over to the UK - how much did it cost you inc. hotel/flight etc

I did the the exam in RCSI this year, few empty seats!

It's a scary exam to take, I'm not surprised! I almost bailed the first time! Didn't want a bad score to knock my confidence!

You'll get flights for under 50 quid return.. I stayed in a hostel which was like 20 a night..
And then the cost of the exam.. looking at over 400 squid I guess including cost of gammy, although its cheaper in pounds!

I put C down for the remaining 25... So I didn't leave them blank but obv it massively diminished my chances of doing decent!

I just hope I get it this time, it's a hard aul journey!!

magsyc

I think section 1 and section 2 went really well, but I came from a science background and I guessed 80 % of section 3. Disaster ! How long does it take for the results to come out? Anyone sucessfully get into grad med with a bad section 3?

Med2015

magsyc wrote: »

I think section 1 and section 2 went really well, but I came from a science background and I guessed 80 % of section 3. Disaster ! How long does it take for the results to come out? Anyone sucessfully get into grad med with a bad section 3?

Results will be out about the third week in May!

jody24

any one planing to prepare for the uk exam? if yes any one interested in forming a group to meet up at least for mock exams from beginning of July on in maynooth or dublin area?

magsyc

Med2015 wrote: »

Results will be out about the third week in May!

Thank you ! What did people think of this years exam ?

Omega28

jody24 wrote: »

any one planing to prepare for the uk exam? if yes any one interested in forming a group to meet up at least for mock exams from beginning of July on in maynooth or dublin area?

I am considering the UK exam. The study group could be a great idea (Dublin based myself)

sReq | uTeK

Omega28 wrote: »

I am considering the UK exam. The study group could be a great idea (Dublin based myself)

Im going to liverpool myself, dublin based also.

cyt123

Omega28 wrote: »

By the time I settled in, Section 1 was over. In comparison to the practice papers, I found S1 to be much harder. I was having to read Q's over and over, wasting valuable time!

S2 was straight-forward, got 2 x 1.5-2 page essays done in the 60 minutes allocated.

S3 was a disaster, found myself guessing a lot of the questions.

I was chatting to a lad who graduated from Dentistry in Trinity, going back to do Medicine, and he said he was half guessing - what chance did I have coming from a non-scientific background!

I was shocked to see so many people handing up half full answer sheets, why not put something down?!- it's not like it's negative marking!

Med2015, I found it to be taxing alright, still a bit shattered from the overall build-up and experience of it!

Applying to UL myself. 56 was the cut-off last year. Overall, delighted I did the exam, but I won't be holding my breath for an offer.

seriously? and how d'you know they were half full?

Cymini Sectores

http://www2.cao.ie/points/Graduate%20Medicine%202014%20Round%200.pdf

medpad

Strangely starting to feel a little more hopeful based on the comments. I definitely did horrendous in section 3 - Guessed the majority but maybe If I do ok in the two other two sections might be enough to scrap in.

For some of Section 3, I genuinely don't know how Id approach study if I have to do it again. The Organic Chem seemed the only straight forward stuff.

Omega28

medpad wrote: »

Strangely starting to feel a little more hopeful based on the comments. I definitely did horrendous in section 3 - Guessed the majority but maybe If I do ok in the two other two sections might be enough to scrap in.

For some of Section 3, I genuinely don't know how Id approach study if I have to do it again. The Organic Chem seemed the only straight forward stuff.

Delighted to hear I wasn't the only one who really struggled. It seems like a guessing game to be honest.

Like yourself I really don't know how to prepare for S3! I was considering taking the LC again (Science subjects) and using this as a platform.

Mccloskc

I found section 3 very tough. I have a 53 already but not confident of getting in with that. In section 1 an extract of a book I read came up ha. It's called how doctors think by Jerome groopman. Really interesting read. Section three had so much text to get through that it all just came too confusing under the allotted time. English paper seemed more straight forward for me.

jody24

any one knows how to improve timing? i have a biology degree and masters as well. if i have time i could get a score of mid 60s. when i do the exam the most i could answer is about 50 questions in section 1 and maybe about 60 in section 2 which is very depressing! i sat yet last year and this year and couldnt see improvement at all.

Omega28

jody24 wrote: »

any one knows how to improve timing? i have a biology degree and masters as well. if i have time i could get a score of mid 60s. when i do the exam the most i could answer is about 50 questions in section 1 and maybe about 60 in section 2 which is very depressing! i sat yet last year and this year and couldnt see improvement at all.

Did you read Griffith's GAMSAT Review? Some good info in there.

From what I can gather from reading on forums/Griffith's etc it's all down to practice.

I found S3 this year to be very text heavy, even if you had your timing nailed prior to the exam, you would have struggled to get through it!

jody24

thanks omega28

no. i dont have griffiths material. i have des oneill material. i find it very helpful. i do alot of practice but with one little issue! which is i never time my self! to be honest with u i fear timing!!!!!!!
any ya this year i found the first 40 questions easy but then i did about 25 question which not sure of and the last 20 to 25 questions i guessed them.

Mccloskc

Exactly... It was so text heavy. The more u spend reading the more you panic because you haven't got around to actually making sense of the info yet.

Omega28 wrote: »

Did you read Griffith's GAMSAT Review? Some good info in there.

From what I can gather from reading on forums/Griffith's etc it's all down to practice.

I found S3 this year to be very text heavy, even if you had your timing nailed prior to the exam, you would have struggled to get through it!

jody24

the biology part was never making any sense to me even though i am a biomedical graduate. i had a full module about stem cell and after wasting 10 minutes on the 2 questions about stem cell, i only guessed them. couldnt see the answer in the passage at all. other biology ones aswell.

Omega28

I found myself wasting 10-15 mins over Q's, then just guessing, complete waste of time. Like many, I will have to focus on my timing and just learning how to read faster!

Omega28

jody24 wrote: »

the biology part was never making any sense to me even though i am a biomedical graduate. i had a full module about stem cell and after wasting 10 minutes on the 2 questions about stem cell, i only guessed them. couldnt see the answer in the passage at all. other biology ones aswell.

As mentioned in a previous post, a lad beside me (graduate from Dentistry), told me he guessed more than half the paper.

sReq | uTeK

Omega28 wrote: »

I found myself wasting 10-15 mins over Q's, then just guessing, complete waste of time. Like many, I will have to focus on my timing and just learning how to read faster!

If you read every paper like the MCAT and Kaplan they all say learning to read faster is irrelevant. It takes an average person under 3 minutes to read 600 words. Timing should not be an issue the concurring problem people seem to face is simply going back over material which is contradictory to every thing I've read you should do.

You should try and grasp each question and try and understand the idea behind it. Its funny we do this in every day life but it doesn't translate well to academia. If you are talking to your mate you don't listen at every detail instead you just develop an overall picture the same applies for section 1 and 3 or so all the prep material I've read says

Another thing is if you can't answer a question guess and move on

Peter_j

What worked for me, and I'm pretty sure Griffith's recommends it to, is to prioritize questions before you start working on them. There is no point in spending 10 minutes on 2 or 3 questions and them finding yourself in a situation you could use that time to work on questions you're more likely to get good answer. If you're weak is physics, don't even look at it, just move on to next section, whichever you find doable. Then when you have time, just go back or simply guess (I used to put C in every question I didn't have clue). GAMSAT is all about tactics and getting as much as possible in short time they give you.
Indeed, Griffith's is very useful so I'd recommend to get a copy!

Med2015

Timing:
Yeah prioritising can help to a degree. But obviously there is a number of questions that at a glance seem doable .. For instance, I saw the q's on genetics -was chuffed until I actually attempted them. I had done loads of genetics especially dihybrid stuff which featured and for some reason..not a notion ! I think it is limited in it's usefulness in a paper like this. It does certainly apply to more knowledge based questions such as org. If your good at org do not loose out on easy marks. Same applies with physics -if you have a mathematical mind- prioritise physics/physchem oriented qs. I think what it is really about is training yourself to gauge whether continuing to try and solve the question will actually give you any more clarity than the impression you've initially gotten if that's makes any sense! Initially if it's like what!?!? It's probably not going to change to 'I know how to do this' ! And the reality is when you don't really get a Q by trying to answer it- your as likely to get the answers right/wrong as you are by guessing them which obv takes a lot less time ! In short you need to practice analysing whether a question is worth your time and whether you have the ability to make something of it.. And if not move on and quick! And most importantly have a set time you will give to each set of 5 questions and stick to it no matter what.. Also I found that with questions that I knew I could get but weren't coming to me- by actually coming back to them later- I got clarity! So sometimes simply detaching yourself from
the Q and coming back later can give you a fresh angle!

Also have the timing organised in your head before you go in.. That's what I did for sect 1, got 50 qs done the first time I did it (did not do this) - got 75 done the second because I did. Every 20 mins you have to have 15 q's down. So at 40 mins you need to be looking at your watch and be moving onto your 31st Q. And you have to be absolutely cut throat with it. You have to speed it up and risk at times being less certain with your answers because well that's the reality of the exam. Get it out of your head that you can do 75 qs and come out thinking you have given every question as much dedication as you would have liked to cos that simply isn't possible. Also by wasting your time on questions that are confusing you (especially in sect 1) you could be missing out on passages that you find totally doable.. So see it like that.. Also listen to your gut.. Let go of the ambiguous notions going on in your head when you can as difficult as it is!

RainBow_xo

I completely agree with the above poster. Timing is essential. I really didn't think I was hot in section 1/2 but came out in the end with an overall score of 60.

I cannot recommend Griffith's enough. His timing schedule is gold! It was my first time sitting GAMSAT last year and I managed to finish all the questions (I think I may even have had 1/2nins left to spare because I remember seeing other students with about one while grid left).

Another things which I think is essential is PRACTICE and practice it with timing!!! You cannot leave it until the exam day because you will not finish all the questions. I guess prioritising is up to each individual. I, personally, didn't. I just went with it and weighed each question equally. I figured if I don't understand it now, I wouldn't understand it in an hour :P (this may have just been a way for me to prevent myself from freaking out).

Also I came out, fully sure, thinking I would have to resit the exam and it ended up going well. So I would say, maybe wait until you get your results because you may all be pleasantly surprised. If a lot of you have found it hard, chances are everybody else did.

magsyc

medpad wrote: »

Strangely starting to feel a little more hopeful based on the comments. I definitely did horrendous in section 3 - Guessed the majority but maybe If I do ok in the two other two sections might be enough to scrap in.

For some of Section 3, I genuinely don't know how Id approach study if I have to do it again. The Organic Chem seemed the only straight forward stuff.

I agree, I dont even know how to approach study based on this years section 3. I guess I'll have to study a bit differently this time round if I dont get it. Maybe focus on reading graphs and physics. The organic chemistry was the only thing that made sense to me.

Omega28

I am a bit lost myself with how to study for the exam again. I'll focus more on my timing and reading more over the next few months.

pickmeplease

timing is pretty key I agree! i kept reading novels for my section I - section III you are always going to have questions left over, I know very few successful candidates who got it completed! if anyone wants griffiths review i found it a great read! I've plenty of practice papers for sale too! happy to give advice

Academia

The GAMSAT is certainly an exam of technique in which timing plays a crucial part. It is difficult to say how one did until the results come out. Getting a good score, say 60+ is one thing but getting into college is another; I say this because of the loan issue. So if you believe you'll get a score or already have a score to get into college this September, bear that in mind. However if funds pose no problems for you, it's not too early to pick up a physiology and/or anatomy text and start going through them, looking back I wish I had done so. Goodluck people.

SwiftEagle

Academia wrote: »

The GAMSAT is certainly an exam of technique in which timing plays a crucial part. It is difficult to say how one did until the results come out. Getting a good score, say 60+ is one thing but getting into college is another; I say this because of the loan issue. So if you believe you'll get a score or already have a score to get into college this September, bear that in mind. However if funds pose no problems for you, it's not too early to pick up a physiology and/or anatomy text and start going through them, looking back I wish I had done so. Goodluck people.

Hi academia,

Where would you recommend starting to study for us hoping to start next year? I have a decent score from the last gamsat and I was looking to start studying early so I could hit the ground running. What would be the best place to start??