GAMSAT 2011 ... For discussion of all things related to this exam.

You can sit the GAMSAT UK in September.

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Sorry if this is too long & wordy. I copied it from my new blog which I am hoping will be helpful to some as I go on to college in September as well. Any Q's PM me!

GAMSAT 2009 – what NOT to do


When I started studying: at the end of January 2009.

What I did for Section III: (score – 42)Unsurprisingly, given my woeful score, not a lot!


◦bought Organic Chemistry for Dummies and Leaving Cert Chemistry & Biology revision books and read about 3/4 of them
◦studied a first-year University Organic Chemistry up to being able to identify the functional groups, but remained clueless about reactions.

◦knew NOTHING about physics, acids and bases, rates & equilibria, other general chemistry and interpretation of graphs etc.

What I did for Sections I (score – 63) and II (score – 80):

Nothing, although I had been doing a creative writing course as a hobby & had a law degree so I had some experience of waffling at length (Section II) and interpreting some exceedingly BORING passages (Section I).

My typical essay style was as follows:

1.Choose a quote or stimulus from those given. You have a few minutes’ reading time before the 30 mins to get all your thoughts down.
2.Briefly re-phrase or paraphrase this to show your understanding of it. Use the passive voice rather than personal opinion e.g. ‘most would intepret this to mean-’ rather than ‘I think this means-’.
3.Give examples of one point of view. For example, one topic was Censorship. I gave examples of historical attitudes such as the trial of D.H. Lawrence (Lady Chatterley’s Lover) for indecency and of China’s restrictions on Google and Facebook in modern times.
4.Give examples of the other point of view. In the Censorship example, I wrote about most Western societies’ respect for autonomy when it comes to accessing media of certain themes that would have been banned in the past but with the proviso that certain sectors of society should still be protected.
5.Wind up with a conclusion on how both approaches are useful in different circumstances and a brief personal opinion on a preference or a combination of approaches. Throw in a quote or proverb to finish if one hits you. Paraphrase if you can’t remember – the examiner will get the gist.
I followed this loose formula both years for the essay section, however others have used dialogue/play, fiction and newspaper-report styles and scored well.

GAMSAT 2010 – a slightly more realistic approach!


When I started studying: September of 2009, so I put in about 6 months’ part-time study (with some seriously guilt-ridden slacking around Christmas time!).

I would say I put in 1-2 hours per day, although some study time was hardcore timed MCAT question answering and some was lounging about under the duvet with a handout on something nice like anatomy of the heart while the TV was on


What I did for Section III (score – 59):

◦Got the Examkrackers (marketed as MCAT preparation tools in the USA) Audio Osmosis CDs and listened to the Organic Chemistry section at least 20 times over the next 6 months.
◦Ploughed through the Examkrackers 1001 Questions in Organic Chemistry text three times in all and saw a steady improvement in what I was getting right – and noted what I kept getting wrong!
◦Compiled all the ‘end of lecture’ questions from the end of each chapter in the Examkrackers Organic Chemistry text and did them the week before the GAMSAT – great for a final overview of the course.
◦Downloaded the University of New Orleans Organic Chemistry lectures from iTunesU (a great free resource!)
N.B. Apparently, organic chemistry has always predominated on the GAMSAT but this year a lot of my study was wasted effort given the woeful lack of orgo on the 2010 paper. Bear in mind that future papers might go back to a higher proportion of orgo or might, like this year’s, concentrate more on physical chemistry and maths-y stuff (ugh).


◦Got a Leaving Cert Physics revision book but, to be honest, I did feck all with it apart from peer at it in wonder and look at the pretty pictures.
◦Got Guyton & Hall’s Physiology text which was amazing for learning about cell metabolism and the trans-membrane stuff, etc. It was also great for reading about the cardio, renal & pulmonary systems. A lot of the graphs look similar to GAMSAT stuff and came in very handy. (plus, if you end up in med school, the book won’t go to waste!)
◦Got an A Level book – ‘AS & A Level Chemistry through Diagrams’ which was great for general chemistry topics like acids & bases, Gibbs Free Energy, rates & equilibria etc. These are must-know topics and can be off-putting at first but become clearer over time. (I got the Biology one too which was pretty surplus to requirements and not that helpful.)

◦Did LOADS of Kaplan MCAT practice questions and from January 2010 I did one full length MCAT every Saturday coming up to the exam. I split the sections into Verbal Reasoning and Essays first (to mimic the GAMSAT’s Sections I and II) and then picked randomly what would equate to 110 science questions (to mimic Section III). I sat them in a local library with earplugs and timed myself strictly. Oddly enough, my scores declined for a while but then picked up again. MCAT is a different format (especially the verbal reasoning) but it was great for spotting little tricks in the science paper. On the Sunday I would then use the detailed answer explanations to ‘correct’ the exam.
◦All this time I had a little black notebook and everytime I learned something I did not previously know, or realised a silly error I made, I noted it and looked up the correct information. I then read that little notebook the day before Gamsat (and nothing else).
◦Made a Word document from the Australian Paging Dr website listing what topics came up in 2008 and 2009. I then filled in the ‘answers’ or cut and pasted paragraphs of information following each topic and read it coming up to the exam, filling in info I did not know by research. The contents of c.70% of the 2010 paper were somewhere on that list. Some questions were reproduced in full and I had cut and pasted forum posters’ answers into my little ‘cheat sheet’ which was great. Some questions reappeared but focused on different things, but I still had the gist of the question so found it easy to focus.

What I did for Section I (score – 72):


◦At first, I was disappointed with my 63 in the 2009 exam as I was convinced I had aced it! Looking back. though, I was so naive to think that. I flew through Section I and had 20 minutes to spare which I spent sitting there smugly thinking about how I had gotten 100% for sure. However: I did not read the questions properly. I did not take account of little clues like ‘according to narrator A’ vs. ‘according to narrator B’ which can give two totally different answers. I was choosing answers too quickly which were ‘right’ but not the ‘best’ – I wasn’t examining all the answer options. Instead, I would just pick the first one that I agreed with and move on.

◦For 2010, I got the Examkrackers 1001 Verbal Reasoning Passages (which is DRAINING) and got into the habit of reading each answer carefully before eliminating the answer choices in turn until one was left. (The passages in the book aren’t necessarily similar to those found in GAMSAT, which has more visual and poetry stimuli, but the practice was still useful.)
◦The week before the Gamsat I saw on the ACER website that ACER administer lots of different exams, such as the MSAP which has a very similar style of question to the GAMSAT Section I. I got the trial papers for all those different exams online (free sample questions are available for all the exams) and also a sample booklet of MSAP questions from a friend who happened to be sitting it. I found that even though some questions were a bit skewed off topic (some of the subject matter in the business or HR type exams, for example) they still had graphs and required logical reasoning so were useful for practicing those skills. I spent an afternoon doing all these questions the week coming up to GAMSAT and got into a sort of ‘ACER mindset’. Again, some questions were far more GAMSAT-ey than others but it was still good practice.

What I did for Section II (score – 76): just the timed practice essays as part of my fake ‘GAMSAT’s on the Saturdays leading up to the big day.


Obviously, everyone studies differently and finds different topics more of a struggle. I’m not sure if these tips are going to be of much use given that I look back on that period and wonder who the crazed carbon-counting loon crashing in my bedroom was. Hopefully, it’s clear that the science IS do-able, but, in my opinion, you need time if you’re going to start from scratch like I did.

will do some editing, also ppl have asked me to do an essay outline so will add those in - thanks for feedback!
The compiling previous Q's is risky as it might divert attention from actually reading the passages again in the exam if some topics are repeated and I didn't think it would be any use but after the exam I couldn't believe how much is repeated.

Yes Biologic we must get acquainted in cyberspace before college!! I am 99% set on RCSI but going to try and get a tour of UCD before making up my mind. Either way it's exciting! I would hope to get some people starting in the other colleges to do some posts if interest in the blog picks up.

hey! i'm zepplin on NMM, another possible RCSI-er for 2010. i sat the gamsat once in the uk last september (originally it was to be a trial run) and got 64.

S1: 66
S2: 87
S3: 51 (ahem)

Background:

haven't taken the most orthodox route to medicine it has to be said. i wasn't exactly the most diligent student in 6th year (too busy blogging about how miserable the leaving was, oh noes!) but somehow scraped through LC chemistry & physics. went off and did a BA in english & history. followed that up with a fun few years taking photos of bands and working minimum wage retail. realised about 2 years ago that i actually wanted to do something that challenged & interested me. i'd always found medicine fascinating so did lots of work experience, research and talked to people to make sure i wasn't away with the fairies. cue gamsat.

Time I had to prepare:

i started studying part time in mid-may but had to go right back to basics. took a few weeks off completely during the summer for a holiday but generally i tried to get in a few hours most days and then full days study towards the end. nothing insane.

What I did:

it'd been 8 years since i'd done anything relating to science and i remember the rather crushing realisation on day one that looking up every third word wasn't working so pulled out junior cert (completely useless) and leaving cert (better!) revision books for the first few weeks to get a grip on the foundations again. a friend gave me their grad med notes which were invaluable and pretty comprehensive, as was buying organic chemistry for dummies & doing the whole workbook. played with a borrowed molecular kit a bit to get a grip on stereochemistry (and to leave C2H5OH models on the kitchen table as a hint for my boyfriend every time it wasn't going great) etc. i got all the acer booklets i could get my hands on and made sure i answered and then explained the answer in detail for every question. i work in a shop that sells magazines so i got the manager's permission to nick the economist, time and the new yorker every week and devoured them cover to cover.

What worked:

consistency with the study. i got out of bed every day i was off and sat my bottom in the chair and learnt some science whether i was hungover or tired or whatever.

reading so much about current affairs. i love all that stuff anyway but it definitely helped me have some fresh ideas and arguments for the essay section and also kept my brain happy with a bit of variety from all the science.

as others have said, practise the essay timing like crazy. i wrote about 30 practise essays over the time i was preparing and they were all complete rubbish until about essay 20 because i wasn't focusing my arguments enough and ran out of time.

doing every GAMSAT-esque question i could and making sure i could explain it thoroughly. as that mtv celebrity diaries thing used to say, 'you think you know, but you have no idea...'

What didn't:

SIII was a complete disaster for me on the day so to be honest i was just glad i'd passed. i'd been rattling along happy as a clam until the lunch break which was rushed and extremely stressful. i'm a coeliac but couldn't get to my food in time due to the crowds in the locker room so basically ended up having one bite of my gf sandwich, a slug of diet coke and a handful of raisins while queuing for the bathroom. it freaked me out and the lack of food definitely contributed to fuzzy head and some defeatist thoughts halfway through sIII but at least i got through it. definitely would advise you to find a quiet place to lunch away from all the people going 'OMG I HAVE A PHD IN NEUROSCIENCE' and possibly have a friend waiting with food outside the venue if you've any specific dietary needs because the queues in london will be insanely long to get anywhere/do anything.

replacing pub quizzes with GAMSAT questions when your baffled mates are over having beers and you're sober and locked in a room surrounded by books. no, they don't know why some random animal's respiratory cycle looks like that and no, it's not rly rly cool like you think it is. at least not to them!

Conclusion:

clearly science wasn't my strong suit either before or during the GAMSAT but it's like learning a new language and the more you learn the more accessible it is. if you're from an arts background accept that you cannot waffle your way through this one and you'll need to put in a good bit of study to get through. your reasoning and deductive skills may come in handy for interpreting the biology portion of SIII but mostly it's going to be a bit of a mountain to climb, particularly initially. it's totally doable though. giving a specific time period is hard because it'll depend on how you study. i didn't see the point personally in killing myself right at the end and had the luxury of being able to work part time in the few months preceeding the exam so took my time and made sure i really understood organic chemistry etc.

i second etymon's recomendation of guyton & hall as an AWESOME book for physiology. if i was doing the GAMSAT again i'd try get a loan of a copy because i'm reading it now and its thrown so much more light on certain things and its full of graphs like the exam. granted, you probably could get through the GAMSAT as a science grad without investing much money or time in anything other then the acer papers, but if you need all the help you can get then go down to the likes of the clarendon medical bookshop, flick through some cell bio and physiology texts and if something seems like it'd work for you then grab it. watch the chemguy videos on youtube and use resources like www.revisegamsat.com. one of the most frustrating things about the gamsat is the lack of a clear syllabus and you could get bogged down in detail but just try and get a good general understanding of the key topics. learn off some common physics formulae and know how to apply them. keep a ridiculously sharp eye on the clock on the day and most of all, don't panic. it's a hard exam but it's really not the bogeyman it's made out to be. best of luck everyone

hey guys, im just wondering is anyone willing to sell/share GAMSAT prep material? im hoping to get my hands on the Griffiths GAMSAT review and/or Des O'Neill's essay notes if possible. thanks a mill, Susie :P

If you sit the GAMSAT in September (this is in the UK I assume?), surely that can't get you a place in a course in Ireland in 2010, can it?

Yeah 'fraid so. Scores are valid for 2 years but GAMSAT results need to have been submitted by the May of year of entry and you need to have applied to the CAO by Jan of the year of entry so you'll be going for 2011 entry if you sit it in September.