GAMSAT UK 16th Sept. 2011

DoctorDre wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Just wondering are there many people here sitting the UK exam in a few weeks? I should be sitting it in London and am curious to find out what sort of preparation everyone is doing until then. Will I meet lots of Irish people?

This is my first time taking the exam and it's sort of on a whim to be honest, so I haven't done much studying. I've done all of the sample papers, all 11 of the ExamKrackers Verbal Reasoning tests and have practised some essays. I have a science background but I haven't put a lot of work into this section and I'm starting to worry!

What is everyone else doing at the moment in terms of last minute preparation? Has anyone who has taken the exam in London before got any advice for a first timer? I'm hoping to get lucky on this practice run and not have to sit the exam in March again :pac:

I'd say you can bank on quite a few Irish milling about the place alright! My score was nothing to write home about but from first and second-hand experience here's my 2 cents given you've a couple weeks left...

As regards doing it on a whim, many don't like to admit it but some people with the right aptitude (I'm not including myself in this group btw!) can rip the balls off this exam with a lot less preparation than others, so just remain positive about how it could go for you. Respect (and fear!) the exam (it is probably one of the toughest exams going) but if you're at absolute full-tilt on the day it can mean more than weeks of studying certain topics I feel.

For all three sections - practice papers, practice papers, PRACTICE PAPERS. Get your hands on as many as possible. Never did the Examkrackers but some other papers are too easy and some just way ridiculously off the mark for how the GAMSAT really is so be careful, especially for the science. The ACER ones are naturally the closest guide so question structure and format should be heeded. All I can remember is the Des O'Neill papers seemed close enough to ACER's.

Between now and the exam you should be trying to fit in as many as humanly possible, especially given you've only a couple weeks left. Mimic exam conditions as closely as possible. Its all about super-tight time-keeping and endurance. This alone can get you there in Section 1. Section 2, make sure you've done a 5 minute essay plan, clear intro/thesis/antithesis/synthesis format and (try) sound as informed and considered as possible - I highly recommend TED.com to cram in some interesting arguments and bright ideas worth listening to!

Section 3 is without doubt the trickiest and for many questions you might be lost without prior knowledge, but so many can be worked out given the information provided if you're quick enough. Its hard to recommend certain topics at the expense of others but what kind of science background do you have??

Ha, Biochem is my background too, can't say it helped a whole lot but it does all depends on the individual I suppose!

Yeah see the thing is obviously prior knowledge can help breeze through certain questions, which is obviously golden for time and confidence in that section. Particularly section 3 can throw up absolutely manky questions and if the concept if fairly foreign it can mess with your head. In my case the less said about Physics the better (zero prior knowledge and was no better off for any study) but if you can get a grip on the guts of Organic Chem and are well enough versed in the Inorganic Chem calculation type questions you should be alright.

As I've said though try take the exam seriously as possible, of course you've got March as a backup but many surprise themselves, plus its a golden chance a never having to the f*cker again!

Best o'luck with it anyway.

lonelywanderer wrote: »

What I can tell you is that the general consensus is that Irish students tend to do better in the London exam. There are claims that this is due to Irish students being of a generally higher standard and therefore coming out on top in curves over there.

Sorry just have to nip this in the bud in case anyone is actually spouting this stuff as truth... Firstly, Irish are definitely not of a higher standard.

I think the simple answer is that due to the much larger numbers (and possibly, more UK students of a higher standard) sitting GAMSAT UK, scores do not translate for percentile curves for GAMSAT Ireland (but are somehow allowed to). For example an score of 62 in the UK last September the 84th percentile of exam takers whereas applying to the CAO with that score will bring you up to about the 94th percentile for GAMSAT Ireland, which guarantees a place anywhere you wanted. There seems to be a percentile increase of about 10 across the board!

So 'high' scores here can translate to borderline scores for applicants to UK universities.

Plus (and this may be fuzzy logic), the scale for Ireland only went up to 76, whereas the UK went up to 86, so I'm guessing these are indications of the highest scores obtained.

I'd be happy to be corrected on any of this!

lonelywanderer wrote: »

But if I understand you correctly, the fact remains that in general (irish) students do better in the London version of the exam. Is that the case?

Well they don't do better in the actual exam on the day compared to anyone else, but yep their UK score seems to ultimately be worth more when applying in Ireland! So yeah, seems a lot more worthwhile doing decently in the UK as a 'decent' score will be worth more on the GAMSAT Ireland curves. Even if you performed the about the same in March you'd probably be in a lower percentile.

Anyway I wouldn't think about this too much at the minute, just concentrate on giving the exam a few shlaps. Best o'luck with it!