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GAMSAT 2015!
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19-09-2014 10:40am#1
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I'll be sitting it in March, did the UK one in September but it went pretty badly.
I got the Des O'Neill notes and found them good for the essay section. Only wrote 2 practice essays before the exam but the notes gave me the format of how to structure the essay, it was probably my best section. Not looking forward to studying again
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Hi Guys, just said I'd write this as last year I spent a huge amount of time combing through this and its nice to have a few different peoples perspectives.
A little background first. I sat the Gamsat in Ireland (in Dublin) in March of 2014 for the first time, scored 64. I am currently in first yr Grad Med in UCC. I was working full time in a pretty demanding role and study was limited to weekends and I got 2-3 days off the week of. I did a degree in Biotech a lifetime ago, and did a PhD after, was working in industry for 3-4 years before doing this. Honestly, I may as well have being coming at the GAMSAT as if i'd never studied science, it had been so long since i'd seen so much of the examinable material.
I started studying for it in the 2nd week of Jan, so if you are worried already about time---don't be! I used the Griffith Gamsat review as my study aid, cost around 30€, and I honestly thought it was brilliant. There are a lot of expensive courses advertised, they may or may not be worth the money, there's a few here who used them and more who didn't, each to their own.
For studying I used the AS and A2 revision books recommended as was in England at the time, but leaving cert revision books for chem, bio and physics should do perfectly well.
If you are currently a science student in 2nd yr or above in college, the science section should be a doddle, most of it is based on leaving cert and upto 2nd yr college level for some minor topics.
If you are not from a science background or its been ages since you've done anything like this, you have plenty of time
Main advice for the science section is to work through one of the sample exam papers (griffiths has a few thrown in as well) so you know what to study. I found myself trying to cover everything first and then going to the exam papers and looking back would have been better served by having a go at a sample paper earlier to get a feel for the questioning.
For Section A, it's a bit of a lottery, hard to study for in a way. If you are from an arts or non science background, this is probably your time to shine I love to read anyhow which helped no end- if you are not a bit of a bookworm, try and take up reading even something like the Irish Times or similar regularly and reading it critically. Do go over poetry, the technical aspects of it etc. also. Taking data from graphs and reading charts is something to also practice.
Section B, Practice practice and practice. Set yourself an hour, pick two essay or sample essay questions, and go at them. Have a plan for how you are going to structure your essays going in. Again, I'll refer to the griffiths review here, good section on essay structuring and approach. I tried to identify a central topic from the quotes, something that I could argue for and against I made as the title, and used a spider plot to give me some starter details. Your essay needs to have a clear layout (intro, main sect, conclusion etc.) as it makes it easier for the examiners to give you scores. If you are not confident on your practice essays, grab a family member or friend, preferably an english or language teacher or similar, anyone basically who can give you sound advice. If you have a study group going, correct each others. AFAIK, there are also commercial outfits that will grade and correct essays for you. Pretty sure Griffiths offered something like it, if you have no one to look at your stuff or really are struggling, they could be worth a look- again, each to their own on this.
Section C, like everything, if you know it its easy. I've already kinda covered it above. I went in pretty damned nervous to this section. However, the marks in sect A ,and especially B, can really help pull up your score here if you don't do as well as hoped.
Overall I easily spent the most time on section C, and fitted in sect A and B around that.
On the day, its a long exam, some centres are pretty strict on the no food, only water policy, others seem to care less. Again, when you are doing the sample exams, sit yourself down in a quite room, no music, set a watch, and make it as real as possible, because its a hell of a long day if you haven't practiced for it. That means no tea/coffee breaks or food during the practice exam as well . For anyone with medical requirements to have food with them, exceptions are made in the venues for this I made sure I had a good breakfast, and brought a packed lunch so I wasn't running around Dublin looking for somewhere to get food on the day. Also meant I could chill for the hour and look over some notes I had for Sect C. If you have friends who like to discuss exams straight away sitting it with you, avoid them like the plague over lunch (and after the exam for a little bit) or you'll stress yourself needlessly and waste time that would be better spent relaxing after the morning or studying.
Also don't get too caught up on your college selection just yet. After the results come out for the gamsats you can still use the CAO change of mind form to select a different course if for whatever reason you wish to go to a different venue.
Cost of living I would say in order of expense is Dublin, Cork, Limerick. I had Cork as my first choice for a plethora of reasons, and absolutely delighted to be here. Rent is affordable, and it is easy to get accommodation Limerick I would imagine to be the same, Dublin -bit of a 'mare as the locals would say, unless you are already living there or are from there. But there are plenty of Dublin college Grad Med students here who can help point people in the right direction also if ye start to get a bit stressed about that sort of stuff.
Only other thing really is Fees. Again, get your scores in your GAMATS first, worry about this in April. BOI offer fees only for Cork. AFAIK thats all any of the colleges and their assoc banks are offering these days. Again, worry about this after march, there's a load of us on this who can help with info and the colleges will be able to point you in the right direction also.
If anyone has any other questions, I'll do my best to keep an eye on this or feel free to send me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
TL;DR?
-You've plenty of time still. It will be fine. Don't get hung up on which college or fees for the time being. Do practice sitting the exams in exam conditions, and get your hands on as many of the sample papers as you can.
Finally, Best of Luck Its an amazing course to be on, and is well worth the effort 
Stitch0 -
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Does anyone know where past venus have been for the GAMSAT in Dublin? I am re-sitting this March and booking accommodation for the trip (first time ever to Ireland!).
Also, does anyone know what non-Irish sitters need to put in as our CAO Application Number? I read somewhere that you can just make it up...
For those curious I scored 53/54 in Sept 2014.
Cheers! 0 -
Hi Marathi, the venue in Dublin is the RCSI on Stephens Green. Its pretty well served by buses and local hotels etc. Its slap bang city centre. If you just Google RCSI and St Stephens green you'll get all the info you need
No Idea about the CAO number I'm afraid, I'd email ACER and run it past them, or email one of the colleges you are applying for and they should be able to help you out as well. Hopefully someone else might pick that question up for you here though 0 -
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They were pretty good indicators I found. If you save a sample paper that you haven't seen before till a bit closer to the exam and give it a shot, say a month out, should be a pretty good indicator of strengths and weaknesses to address.
I've decided to do the GAMSAT 2015 as of yesterday......I've been out of college since 2006 (only went back to get a 2nd business degree last year part time) I have a computer science degree but not really done any sciences since LC and that was honors physics and applied maths, but no chemistry. Do you think I'd be wasting my time starting this late in Jan? I can probably allocate 2 hours per day study. A friend has provided me with some GAMSAT materials and past papers for study purposes.
I've gotten an A in honours English in the LC but god since I've started with auto spell checker on word I may as well be at a C level.
Quick question, upon getting my GAMSAT this year is it still valid for applying September 2017. I would like to complete my part time business degree, I'm 1 year into a 3 year stint.
Many thanks0 -
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Heya, @tennisfan1, the results for the gamsats last year came out in mid may. My course started the first week of sept (UCC-most of the colleges will be able to give you predicted start dates if you need to run it by them), so more than the 3 months you require the change your mind form from the CAO doesn't close until sometime in June, so if you get more than enough points and decide that you would prefer to be in Cork over Dublin or whatever, you can choose to change your course preference still with the knowledge that you have your first choice in the bag. and yes, you are correct, if you turn down your offer, you cannot do so to choose something further down the list. The only risk in relation to your situation would be if you get the minimum required points for any of the courses that were offered last year, if the points go up, you could find yourself in bother, if the points drop or you get an offer, you wont have your 3 months that you were hoping for. The official offer doesn't get extended until end of july i think.
The only other thing i'd offer is that, maybe depending on the nature of your work, but most companies will let you go early from a 3 month notice as they won't want someone who doesn't want to be there working for them anyhow...and i'd imagine its hard to force someone to stay on working for you??
Hope that answers some of your questions!!!! Best of luck with the Gamsats, if i was you Id do what i can for them anyhow and worry about the other stuff after 0 -
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heya,sorry, only seeing this now. If at all possible, give it a good shot in the UK. its hard to gauge how you are going to perform in it, and its still a good bit away. If you can get stuck into it for the next few weeks theres no reason you shouldn't be able to give it a good go....a lot depends on background and so on of course but at the very least you will get a good idea of what to expect in March, or you'll know what you need to target more next time around. Also, if you do get the marks you want, it gives you a lot more time to get yourself sorted financially and so on before starting. Also if you leave it till March and you don't get the points you need, its another full year before you can get a shot at starting. Give it a determined shot this september would be my advice If you have any other questions sure fire them up or pm me if you would prefer. Best of Luck! 0
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