GAMSAT Question

[West Coast21]

Hello,
I'm a Canadian living in BC, and going to UBC (don't know if anyone will know where it is). According to the ACER chart I have a 6.8/6.9 GPA. However, I don't have first year chem, but I do have chem 12, physics 12 and bio first year university. Would taking a prep course prepare me for the chemistry that will be on the test, can I expect to do well enough without taking a full year of first year university chem to get into an australian med school? Or is taking a first year chem my only option (which I would hope to avoid at all costs)?
Cheers

 

[Ezekiel20]

Hello,
I'm a Canadian living in BC, and going to UBC (don't know if anyone will know where it is). According to the ACER chart I have a 6.8/6.9 GPA. However, I don't have first year chem, but I do have chem 12, physics 12 and bio first year university. Would taking a prep course prepare me for the chemistry that will be on the test, can I expect to do well enough without taking a full year of first year university chem to get into an australian med school? Or is taking a first year chem my only option (which I would hope to avoid at all costs)?
Cheers

Hi,

The science section of the gamsat is a test of your reasoning skills, not your knowledge. It will not test rote memory - e.g. it will not ask, 'what colour is CuSO4?' It will however, provide information from which you can extract the relevant bits, and use to derive an answer. It's not essential that you are familiar with the material, but it certainly helps (in terms of time).

ACER's official stance is that you are supposed to know 1st year university chem/bio, and high school physics.

It would definately help if you did first year chem, but having said that I know lots of people in my course who majored in finance/law/music/geography and passed the gamsat. As far as I know, they studied in their own time, and some have enrolled in short courses (which basically teaches highschool level science for arts/law/commerce majors etc).

So my recommendation would be to get final year high school review books for chem/physics, and make sure that you have a good grasp of redox reactions, types of bonding, equilibirum etc. Short prep courses aren't bad, if only to allay your fears more than anything else.

Oh, and do make sure you look at the sample paper.

Good luck