Posts tagged ‘GAMSAT Advice & Tips’
GAMSAT Advice From 1st Year GEM Students
I surveyed the University College Dublin Graduate-entry Medicine class of 2016 to gather some advice for anyone sitting the GAMSAT. Word for word, here’s what they had to say:
- Look around on the forums for advice before planning how you are going to tackle the GAMSAT. Use newmediamedicine.com and pagingdr.net. The GAMSAT is tough but a good score is achievable. Use the previous experience of others to help you maximise your chances.
- Start studying early. If you have any decent level of English the essay section will be fine.
- Don’t waste your money on the preparation courses, there are plenty of free online resources and also get all the sample papers from ACER off their website, well worth paying for.
- Use Khan academy online videos, really helped me through.
- You have to want it. If you want it badly enough then the study, the stress, the cost, the grinds and the time it takes up won’t matter. I sat the GAMSAT 4 times. The only difference in the last time I sat it, I just wanted it more than anything. I gave up everything for an entire summer and just focused on it. On a side note get the Guru Method books. I know 5 people including myself that used these books to prepare for the GAMSAT and they are all now in medicine. Once each person used them, they got in. I used mine on the 4th time I sat the exam and got more than enough to get in anywhere. All 5 individuals got over 60 too. I know they’re expensive but they are definitely worth it. Grinds in areas you are weak in will definitely help too. I got grinds in chemistry and it without doubt got me through the science section. I know I’ve rabbeted on a bit but main piece of advice is just want it more than anything.
- Don’t stress!
Top 5 Ways to Save Time on GAMSAT Section 1
1) Read The Questions First – Sometimes
Sometimes it’s appropriate to read the questions first, other times it’s not.
Short Poems, Songs and Units that don’t require very little reading: Questions first.
Poems and songs can often be interpreted in many ways and will always require multiple readings. The material is ambiguous, but the questions are not. Therefore allow the questions to guide your interpretation. Read one question, then look for the answer. Read another question, look for the answer. Each question frames your interpretation of the ambiguous material and informs the meaning you will attribute to it.
In the case of units that require interpretation of charts or diagrams, most of the reading is in the questions anyway. Posters too. You might spend a minute reading the text of a poster, only to discover that there’s only one question – and it asks about the image!
More…Tutorial: Vocabulary For GAMSAT Section 1
There is a subset of questions on GAMSAT Section 1 which specifically tests vocabulary.
These questions are structured in relation to the passages in such a way that it is very difficult to infer an unambiguous meaning of the key words without having a prior understanding of them.
Some forms these questions might take include:
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