GAMSAT - Where to start?

[Bankai]

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Just a question re learning what is required for GAMSAT ( au ).

Next year ( 2008 ) i will be in my final year of my masters degree. I have done no maths/science/biology etc since year 10 and i'm wanting to sit the GAMSAT in 2009.

Can someone give me some advice on the fastest way to learn what i need to learn to sit this exam?

I had a look at medprep but it looks like it's for people that have done previous chem and science.

I would love to be able to do GAMSAT 2008 but i'm not sure i could learn what is needed by then, i'm even doubting i'll be able to do GAMSAT 2009....

Any help and/or abuse is welcome

 

[Ezekiel20]

2/3 of the GAMSAT is like any final year high school English exam.

Section 1: Humanities MCQ

Given excerpts from novels, poems, newspaper articles etc, and you must pick the best answer (eg. "what is the author's attitude towards this issue?" or "in line 18 of this poem, the overall tone changes from ___ to ___")

Section 2: Writing

Must write 2 essays in 1 hour, with statements such as "computers and technology has improved the quality of human life" given as triggers for you to write about. Each essays is usually ~600-700 words in length.

Which brings us to Section 3, the science MCQ.

This section is a test of not how much you know, but whether you can use the given information to derive the answer using logical reasoning.

For example, they will not ask questions like, "what colour is a CuSO4 solution?" but they will ask questions where they might give you some information regarding chemistry followed by questions which require you to use that information in order to work out the answer.

Being familiar with the material is not totally necessary, but it certainly helps, as it will mean you spend less time per question and save time for the more challenging questions.

Time is of the essence, and although I was a science student throughout high school and undergrad I ran out of time and guessed the last 7-8 questions.

I would start preparing by using the high school summary notes for bio/chem/physics and working through them. Also check out the past papers to get an idea as to what it's all about.

Good luck

 

[Bankai]

Humm that's very interesting.

Is it going to look bad if i sit this exam multiple times?

 

[Ezekiel20]

Humm that's very interesting.

Is it going to look bad if i sit this exam multiple times?

Nope. A mate of mine who's now doing his pre-internship sat the GAMSAT 4 times.

The faculty doesn't know if you've sat it once or 5 times, and you can always use your best score.

I sat it twice, and the score was higher by 3 the second time around.

 

[mak530]

Argh! GAMSAT sucks!

I bought some material on line to help guide me with study. However, I have a science background and I work in a chemistry lab, so I had access to some really helpful people.

The most important thing (I think) is the writting. Make sure you can write an essay about anything is 30mins. This is where I got all my marks. While I obviously passed the science stuff, I guessed about 20 questions (I ran out of time especially with the physics questions).

Make sure you buy the practice exams from ACER. Some of the answers are actually wrong though, so make sure you double check (I found some of the chem answers were wrong - also found wrong by a room full of people with PhD's in chemistry...)

Good luck! Definately buy something off the net or whereever to help you know where to start.

 

[thirtysixdreams]

Argh! GAMSAT sucks!

I bought some material on line to help guide me with study. However, I have a science background and I work in a chemistry lab, so I had access to some really helpful people.

The most important thing (I think) is the writting. Make sure you can write an essay about anything is 30mins. This is where I got all my marks. While I obviously passed the science stuff, I guessed about 20 questions (I ran out of time especially with the physics questions).

Make sure you buy the practice exams from ACER. Some of the answers are actually wrong though, so make sure you double check (I found some of the chem answers were wrong - also found wrong by a room full of people with PhD's in chemistry...)

Good luck! Definately buy something off the net or whereever to help you know where to start.

Whoa,
are you saying that many applicants have a graduate degree prior to medical school in Australia?
do you know if it is common?

Also, does anyone know what the average age of matriculants are over there?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Bankai]

In australia to apply for graduate medicine you need to have ( at least ) an undergraduate degree. ( see acer.edu.au for details )

 

[mak530]

Sorry if i confused you. I have an undergrad degree in science. Because I work in a chemistry lab, I could get assistance from those people in the lab with PhD's (I have an undergrad science and honours degree, not graduate degree).

In australia most schools now are offering graduate medicine. that is, you have to already have a degree. therefore, the average age of graduants is around 26 (that is if they went straight from school, into university, and then into medicine).

If you are looking at doing undergraduate medicine, you are confusing the gamsat with the umat. you need to check out acer to work out your needs.