GAMSAT 2018

santino · 29-03-2018 8:33pm

Bartman26 wrote: »

Ilovesmecounty - I am in a very similar boat to you. Was fortunate enough to get Limerick last year and missed ucd by 2points..or one if it came down to 59 not sure if it did. In any case I was rejected the grad med loan because I bought a house in 07 when I was working full time which subsequently crashed into neg equity with the recession. So had to take a year out and go back to work. I sat the exam again on Sat didn't feel it went aswell so I'm really hoping 58 will get ucd this year as UL for me throws up financial issues too..not sure it would be viable I'd have to see. It's a shame the whole thing is so costly, it's not as if the career isn't hard enough as it is...well for those who make a vocation of it at least. I wish you the best for what may come!

Hi guys, can I hijack for a moment and ask a question.

I had ASSUMED that the grad med loan was more or less guaranteed if you got into GEMS but from Bartman's experience above, it is not, which is worrying. My wife and I bought our house in Limerick last year, mortgage isn't huge but it's still there. My wife also did GEMS and is into her 2nd year of servicing her loan. Do people think this might be a problem if I applied for the loan on my side (on the slim chance I got into UL)? If so, I may have a bigger problem than GAMSAT...

29-03-2018 9:44pm

santino wrote: »

Hi guys, can I hijack for a moment and ask a question.

I had ASSUMED that the grad med loan was more or less guaranteed if you got into GEMS but from Bartman's experience above, it is not, which is worrying. My wife and I bought our house in Limerick last year, mortgage isn't huge but it's still there. My wife also did GEMS and is into her 2nd year of servicing her loan. Do people think this might be a problem if I applied for the loan on my side (on the slim chance I got into UL)? If so, I may have a bigger problem than GAMSAT...

I had thought about GAMSAT also (still do on and off) and I would have a similar background. It could be an issue definitely so talk to the bank before you go any further to gauge the situation. It’s like a second mortgage in essence which is what I found so off putting.

Bartman26 · 30-03-2018 12:13pm

santino wrote: »

Hi guys, can I hijack for a moment and ask a question.

I had ASSUMED that the grad med loan was more or less guaranteed if you got into GEMS but from Bartman's experience above, it is not, which is worrying. My wife and I bought our house in Limerick last year, mortgage isn't huge but it's still there. My wife also did GEMS and is into her 2nd year of servicing her loan. Do people think this might be a problem if I applied for the loan on my side (on the slim chance I got into UL)? If so, I may have a bigger problem than GAMSAT...

Hi Santino - Oh no from my experience it's definitely not guaranteed! The main problem that went against me was the fact that a number of times over the years my mortgage fell into arrears and of course this shows up on the credit bureau. I have the house rented now and the mortgage is being serviced but I've been told by BOI that my chances of getting the grad med loan are 'improved' now. I also have a good guarantor which they will probably look for from you too. If you and your partner have always met your repayments you should be ok. All the best.

Celestial12 · 31-03-2018 9:29am

Has anyone applied to mature entry medicine to the undergraduate courses?

Limk88 wrote: »

Celestial did you sit the March exam as well?

Ilovesmecounty I can understand what you mean regarding not sitting it for a 3rd time, it is an exam that is mentally very tough! You did amazing in September and would more than likely get Limerick with a score like that - have you considered making the move down?

A fair exam would be nice but looking at the comments on online student boards in the UK and Oz it looks like we are all in the same boat so my hope is that the marking will be fair and our scores won’t be as bad as we think

No, I sat it last September. I'm applying for entry for September 2018.

Bartman26 wrote: »

Ilovesmecounty - I am in a very similar boat to you. Was fortunate enough to get Limerick last year and missed ucd by 2points..or one if it came down to 59 not sure if it did. In any case I was rejected the grad med loan because I bought a house in 07 when I was working full time which subsequently crashed into neg equity with the recession. So had to take a year out and go back to work. I sat the exam again on Sat didn't feel it went aswell so I'm really hoping 58 will get ucd this year as UL for me throws up financial issues too..not sure it would be viable I'd have to see. It's a shame the whole thing is so costly, it's not as if the career isn't hard enough as it is...well for those who make a vocation of it at least. I wish you the best for what may come&#55357;&#56396;

What about RCSI? I think that came down to 58 last year. UCD was 59/60 I believe. UCD is my first choice. I've also applied to Scotland, not sure if I'll get anywhere there!

Bartman26 · 31-03-2018 12:02pm

Celestial12 wrote: »

Has anyone applied to mature entry medicine to the undergraduate courses?

No, I sat it last September. I'm applying for entry for September 2018.

What about RCSI? I think that came down to 58 last year. UCD was 59/60 I believe. UCD is my first choice. I've also applied to Scotland, not sure if I'll get anywhere there!

Celestial - Yeah RCSI came down to 58* last year which meant a handful of 58s were offered places, unfortunately I wasn't one :-) Without the loan it would have been a major struggle anyway. I looked at Scotland briefly but seemed like you need a 2.1 in science primary degree. That might have just been for that particular uni though.

santino · 31-03-2018 9:57pm

Bartman26 wrote: »

Hi Santino - Oh no from my experience it's definitely not guaranteed! The main problem that went against me was the fact that a number of times over the years my mortgage fell into arrears and of course this shows up on the credit bureau. I have the house rented now and the mortgage is being serviced but I've been told by BOI that my chances of getting the grad med loan are 'improved' now. I also have a good guarantor which they will probably look for from you too. If you and your partner have always met your repayments you should be ok. All the best.

Thanks Bartman. It's good to be aware of. Will wait for the results and take it from there I guess.

ilovesmecounty · 02-04-2018 6:22pm

I'm certainly at the phase of I'm not going to worry about a loan until I get in. IF I get in. I'm lucky enough to have saved enough to cover 2.5-3 years fees (especially if I get into a Dublin college). That will be eaten into though, if I have to pay rent elsewhere. I'm still having flashbacks of that horrid, horrid exam! :eek:

Celestial12 · 04-04-2018 12:13pm

Bartman26 wrote: »

Celestial - Yeah RCSI came down to 58* last year which meant a handful of 58s were offered places, unfortunately I wasn't one :-) Without the loan it would have been a major struggle anyway. I looked at Scotland briefly but seemed like you need a 2.1 in science primary degree. That might have just been for that particular uni though.

i think you can have any degree, you just have to meet certain requirements with chemistry and maybe a couple of other things (can't remember!). I've applied to it only because of the free fees. I'd rather stay in Ireland to be honest, but I'll see what happens. Not expecting an offer anyway.

ilovesmecounty wrote: »

I'm certainly at the phase of I'm not going to worry about a loan until I get in. IF I get in. I'm lucky enough to have saved enough to cover 2.5-3 years fees (especially if I get into a Dublin college). That will be eaten into though, if I have to pay rent elsewhere. I'm still having flashbacks of that horrid, horrid exam! :eek:

Well done! That will certainly take the pressure off you, being in a more secure financial position than most. How are your friends/family reacting to your decision to go back to study medicine?

For me, it's mostly been positive! I honestly thought I'd be questioned more, but only one person has been negative about it.

ilovesmecounty · 04-04-2018 8:08pm

Celestial12 wrote: »

Well done! That will certainly take the pressure off you, being in a more secure financial position than most. How are your friends/family reacting to your decision to go back to study medicine?

For me, it's mostly been positive! I honestly thought I'd be questioned more, but only one person has been negative about it.

I haven't told anyone aside from my other half and my sister that I'm doing this. People would think I was nuts. Plus, since there's no guarantee that I'd get in, I really didn't want to be handing people that stick to beat me with! I learnt a long time ago that when I took a notion I was better off just doing it than talking to people because I ended up being talked out of things.

Limk88 · 05-04-2018 11:48am

I echo ilovesmecountys post - I first started thinking about applying to GEM in 2011 (1 year into my engineering career) and (mostly) due to my own insecurities which were reinforced by other people saying at the time that it would take a long time and the job is hard, long hours, years of studying etc. that I didn't apply until this year! What I have learned from it is that if you want to do something then go and do it, you know yourself if it is right for you and also, because we are going into adult education we all have other degrees and careers open to us then we should only enter into med if we enjoy the work that has to be done both in college and think that we will love the job. That's my 2 cents on my long, tedious and ponderous road to the GAMSAT.
This 6-8 week wait for results is torture though!!!

ilovesmecounty · 05-04-2018 12:26pm

It's very torturous. Especially since you never actually can tell if you've done good or bad. I'm still so disappointed with section 3, after all my prep. But sure, it's done now and all we can do is wait it out.

Rainbowdash1 · 05-04-2018 6:07pm

I'm so bad at waiting.

futuremedic777 · 10-04-2018 7:35pm

I'm going against the grain and i'll just be VERY honest with you all (this is not for clout)
..I really enjoyed Gamsat March 2018, I left the centre at London Liverpool Street with a smile on my face....This was my 3rd time doing it and I didn't revise one bit and i've never bought any prep material.
My previous results were 54 and then 55 respectively (with no revision) which i found hard and stressful, but this time round im optimistic about this exam

futuremedic777 · 10-04-2018 7:43pm

I simply decided to not revise for anything. I'm a biomedical science graduate and I'm confident with AS-level Physics so section 3 has always been fine for me, I knew revising any material would not help the way this exam is formatted.
Revising for Essays was never my thing since I've been in school, i preferred to read books and understand for-against arguments to help in any way, so prepping for Section 2 was not my cup of tea

And section 1 is just not...revisable
I read random fiction & non-fiction books for the past 6 months, that was my support lol

Rainbowdash1 · 10-04-2018 8:28pm

So you found it easier than previous attempts?

futuremedic777 · 10-04-2018 10:51pm

Fortunately I found this one easier, it might've been my lucky paper, I'm a sucker for Bio/chem Graphs and Data.
Last two attempts, I was sweating my knees, I previously achieved
50/59/53 avg 54 in March 2017
57/63/50 avg 55 in September 2017
As you can see the shift of improvement from march to sept, but with 1 point+ on avg. If i smashed my sec3 previously, i might have made it.

Although with my confidence level for March 2018's paper, im hoping to hit that 58-60, as i didn't have to rush and guess any question this time round, i even had 10mins left after sec3, so i really winged it this time.
I simply gave up on revising a test like this, it doesn't work for me and it doesn't work for a lot of people. If i get a good score then ill try and give good tips for a more simple Lucid revision technique without spending £$£ for silly material.
But i guess im the last person to take tips from if ive done it 3x now...although ive met people who;ve done it 4-5x! it's great to see others not giving up.

ilovesmecounty · 11-04-2018 10:20am

Wow lucky you! Glad to hear someone had a good experience. I hear what you're saying about the study. If you're good at complex reasoning, study is less 'necessary.' I just am not. I can retain information and I can make good critical assessments and arguments and I knew the only way I'd do enough in Section 3 was to learn off things that other people find simple like acids/bases, thermodynamics, stereochemistry, that kind of stuff. That's why I was so disappointed that none of those bankers showed up. Maybe I should've done law...! :pac:

Rainbowdash1 · 11-04-2018 4:32pm

It was first attempt here so nothing to compare it to.

futuremedic777 · 11-04-2018 5:55pm

honestly i was expecting the same revisable topics, i felt lucky that the most focused bio/chem subjects were on data alone.
But thanks for the uplift, I hope we all get a desirable goal.

squarecircle1 · 14-04-2018 2:27pm

Good Luck to all you waiting on GAMSAT results. I too thought of sitting it years ago, I'm good at science but S1 and S2 were just not my thing. I bought loads of prep material and started revising anyway. While doing this I applied to Queen's University Belfast to their undergrad course and to my surprise got accepted two weeks before I was due to sit the March GAMSAT. Now I'm over half way to being qualified. I never actually sat the exam in the end as being accepted to Belfast was the better option financially for me.

Yes it's an extra year as it's a 5 year course but I got in first go and didn't have spend an extra year redoing gamsat as a lot of people seem to do. Fees are circa £4200 per year for EU students (ROI students considered EU) (increase by about 100 ish each year). This is obviously subject to change pending Brexit etc. but that's the case for now. Cost of living is way less than Dublin. It's not that far away, can drive to Dublin in 2 hours. Approximately 25-30% of the class each year are graduates. Just thought I would let you all know it's an option if you don't want to pay the crazy GEM fees of Ireland but still end up with the same degree.

ilovesmecounty · 15-04-2018 11:15am

squarecircle1 wrote: »

Good Luck to all you waiting on GAMSAT results. I too thought of sitting it years ago, I'm good at science but S1 and S2 were just not my thing. I bought loads of prep material and started revising anyway. While doing this I applied to Queen's University Belfast to their undergrad course and to my surprise got accepted two weeks before I was due to sit the March GAMSAT. Now I'm over half way to being qualified. I never actually sat the exam in the end as being accepted to Belfast was the better option financially for me.

Yes it's an extra year as it's a 5 year course but I got in first go and didn't have spend an extra year redoing gamsat as a lot of people seem to do. Fees are circa £4200 per year for EU students (ROI students considered EU) (increase by about 100 ish each year). This is obviously subject to change pending Brexit etc. but that's the case for now. Cost of living is way less than Dublin. It's not that far away, can drive to Dublin in 2 hours. Approximately 25-30% of the class each year are graduates. Just thought I would let you all know it's an option if you don't want to pay the crazy GEM fees of Ireland but still end up with the same degree.

Maybe it shows my 'free state' mindset, or maybe I had the 'UK system is always more expensive' mindset but it never actually crossed my mind to apply for Queens. Thanks for giving us your perspective, it really is food for thought.

Limk88 · 20-04-2018 1:40pm

By my calculations we are halfway to results day - hope everyone is keeping well!

Rainbowdash1 · 20-04-2018 5:57pm

What's your estimate so?

Limk88 · 20-04-2018 6:03pm

I'm thinking they will be back on the 18th of May as that is 8 weeks. But that is just my own speculation. Could be later, could be sooner :(

ilovesmecounty · 25-04-2018 11:25am

Did ye hear about the Liverpool fiasco? Apparently they lost the box that had the section 2 papers and people who took the test there were told they'd have a resit, and then apparently, they were found again. I'd imagine that could possibly delay our results?

Limk88 · 25-04-2018 11:30am

Saw that alright - bit of a nightmare for those who sat it in Liverpool! Could delay results too... How are you finding the wait? I have tried to put the GAMSAT out of my head but cannot stop thinking about the results!

ilovesmecounty · 25-04-2018 11:34am

Limk88 wrote: »

Saw that alright - bit of a nightmare for those who sat it in Liverpool! Could delay results too... How are you finding the wait? I have tried to put the GAMSAT out of my head but cannot stop thinking about the results!

I'm very good at blocking out the things I don't want to think about! It pops into my head every once in a while but it pops straight out again when I push it away. That's might change once we hit May though!

Rainbowdash1 · 25-04-2018 4:47pm

Any idea where they were found? Such a bad thing to misplace

futuremedic777 · 26-04-2018 1:12pm

Apparently they've finally found the lost Papers, which means our result day may be stretched further away to compensate for delays.

Limk88 · 26-04-2018 1:28pm

futuremedic777 wrote: »

Apparently they've finally found the lost Papers, which means our result day may be stretched further away to compensate for delays.

Hey futuremedic777, have GAMSAT announced that results will be delayed as a result? I understand that it makes sense logically - but I would hope that GAMSAT would communicate with candidates if results were delayed...

GAMSAT 2018

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