GAMSAT Success

gamsat

Hi Everyone,

For the ones that have done well and on their way to fulfulling their dream - Good Luck! But for many hopefuls like myself, the journey lies ahead. I did sit the GAMSAT earlier this year but did not do well enough. I didn't realise how much was involved. A few weeks study isn't enough when compared to people starting a year in advance. I have heard people resitting the exam many times and I certainly don't want to end up in that situation. As disappointed as I may have been, I think it was good for the experience.

I would dearly love to get in next year. I would really appreciate hearing from people who sat the exam and did well and are now starting medicine. I would like to hear the approach that you took and material that you used.

I have been exploring different prep courses and I must say, they are extremely expensive but I suppose if they are worth it, then I could dip into my savings. Did anyone undertake any prep course?

Look forward to hearing from everyone ... all advice, tips and guidance welcome ... thanks!

Zahra

Lub

Hi Zahra,

Lots of us were in the same boat as you this time last year. The only real way to improve your score is to practice exam papers until you're blue in the face. The first time I sat the GAMSAT I scored 49 (Dublin, March) and the next time I sat it I scored 55 (Bristol, September). Not an amazing score by any stretch, but it was enough to get me a place this year. Practice your essays under timed conditions and try to take an original slant on every topic. Don't be afraid to have a broad idea of what you'll base your essay on before you go in. Follow a general introduction - thesis - antithesis - why thesis is better - conclusion type essay structure and you won't go far wrong.

S1 - all you can do is practice. The 101 MCAT verbal reasoning passages book is good. So are the Gradmed S1 papers if you can get your hands on a copy. (PM me)

S3 - Are you from a science background? If you are, then you are at a great advantage and a lot of the concepts should be easier for you to grasp. If not, organic chemistry for dummies and leaving cert physics would be what I'd recommend putting the effort into it. Probably better asking someone else about this! But again, practice the questions under timed conditions otherwise you'll waste time in the exam. The S3 questions all have basic concepts attached but it's all convoluted and presented in a way that'll make you want to die.

Best of luck! If I can do it, you certainly can... and I mean that!

DonalG45

Hello Zahra!

If you're looking for tips with this exam you've come to the right place. I probably spent nearly as much time trawling the boards here as I did studying for the exam itself. Following the advice of others on the forums here, I sat the UK exam in September as a practice run for the one in march but luckily got 63 overall so I now have no need to sit the one in march!

I spent about two months studying, though I work full time so I didn't really get down to business until the final two weeks before the exam. I'll start with the dreaded Section 3. As far as material goes, I ordered 4 'For Dummies' books: Organic Chemistry, Physics, Biology and a workbook for Org. Chem. I don't have a science background per se but I did have the opportunity to study biology through arts in my first year of college. Because of this, I completely neglected my biology book in my study prep. The physics book also got very little action. As I was pressed for time I focused almost entirely on the Org. Chem book and workbook, both of which I found very helpful for understanding basic chemistry. What I'm getting at here, and it's been said before, is that you don't need to memorize a mass of scientific knowledge for this exam. I covered much less material than I would have liked but if you have a solid understanding of the basics it can take you a long way. Practice the Acer papers and check over the questions you got wrong carefully. Quite often I found that questions I thought I had no hope of answering correctly could be reasoned or at the very least an educated guess could be made.

Section 1 and 2 I found were much easier to prepare for. As section 1 is primarily about quickly reading and comprehending text, it makes sense to get some practice in doing exactly that. I got the Examcrackers 101 passages in verbal reasoning online, which I thoroughly recommend and I also got back into reading books. Because I just bought books I had always wanted to read, this hardly felt like study but I definitely think it helped for the exam. A few weeks/months of reading everyday is sure to improve your reading speed and might even give you some ideas for section 2. The only other prep I did for section 2 was writing timed essays. Because you are given very little time in the exam (1 hour for 2 essays plus an extra 5 minutes for reading) it is important to get used to writing a coherent essay in that time. Everyone seems to have a different approach to this. Personally I found doing plans for structure etc. wasted valuable writing time so I would begin writing almost immediately and as Lub said "Follow a general introduction - thesis - antithesis - why thesis is better - conclusion type essay structure and you won't go far wrong." Also don't be discouraged if you find it difficult to finish 2 essays in an hour at home. I could never seem to write enough in my practice essays but the pressure on the day pushed me to think and write that bit quicker.

As far as prep courses go, I don't know enough about them to dismiss them outright but if you have the motivation to do your own study then I would definitely give this approach another shot. You don't need a year's worth of study to do well, just a solid grounding in science and lots of practice. Don't study hard, study smart! Finally, here's a link to another thread from someone who scored a 70 and how they prepared for it edit: I can't post the URL because I'm a new user but it's in the GAMSAT and GEM section, titled GAMSAT Advice and it's by Somalion.

Best of luck whatever you choose to do. If you've any more questions about prep feel free to ask. It's a daunting exam but, with the right mindset, you can do it!

rachel12311866

Hello,

I am looking for sample papers in improving my timing for the gamsat 2015. I have all the ACER sample papers. Could anyone help me out?

Thanks

Mccloskc

Hi guys. Does anyone know how the loan process goes? I'm hoping for Rcsi but am unsure as to what the best bank option is? Anyone know who offers what or if certain banks are linked with certain universities.


Thanks

pfannkuchen

Mccloskc wrote: »

Hi guys. Does anyone know how the loan process goes? I'm hoping for Rcsi but am unsure as to what the best bank option is? Anyone know who offers what or if certain banks are linked with certain universities.


Thanks

Some of the info you need should be on this page, under 'course fees': https://www.rcsi.ie/gem

At the Open Day in January, they encouraged people to get in touch with the team in BoI before offers are made, though I have heard that they are reluctant to discuss anything until you have an offer.