Gamsat?

[mak530]

Is anyone here from Australia, and sat the GAMSAT yesterday? If so, how do you reckon it was? Me, I thought hard! Also, does anyone know the average number of people who have to re-sit it? I couldn't think of anything worse!

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[ryght]

Yeah, I was there!

I thought it was pretty hard, but this was just a practice run for me - the real thing is next year...

I don't have a strong (or at all) background in chemistry and the prep I did for that was nowhere near enough. I thought section 1 was bearable though.

Not sure on how many people resit it, I heard a few talking saying that this year was a practice run though.

I never thought that there would be that many people there - about 1600 I guess.

 

[megaluna]

i took it in dc, it was small, about 30-40 people.
the science section is brutal, 3 hours with no break, man.
it was the real thing for me, although its also a practice run for the mcat.

 

[3Xhelix]

i took it too - although it was my 2nd time (my scores from last time expired). I thought the science section was significantly harder this time - not the material but just the sheer volume of questions. Not sure if this is just because I've been out of uni for a while now or if it really was longer..

 

[mak530]

Yeah, I thought the chem section was hard - mainly organic chem, which I guess I had been prepared for about half and half organic and non-organic, therefore a bit of a shock.

We had about 100 i think in the test room. I was hearing all these random things (I guess you'd call them gunners, I think gossips though would also suit) like that if you want to do surgery only go to Melbourne or Sydney don't go Canberra, Newcastle or Wollongong. I don't know if this was just crap or serious?! Anyway, I'm figuring that a med degree is a med degree - they are all accredited so therefore sould all end up with the same result, right?

Thanks for your input!

 

[ryght]

I guess you'd call them gunners

Or just nobs....

From the people I've talked to the Newcastle and Canberra degrees are done through problem based learning (Newcastle is undergrad and Canberra is post grad only) and the graduates come out with a more patient focused as opposed to a more knowledge focused point of view.

Also - Newcastle Uni Rocks!!! If you're doing the UMAT give Newcastle a shot!!!

 

[mak530]

Thanks - I have not even thought about sitting umat. I was planning on entry at ANU - see how we go! Good luck with your studies.

PS: 'nobs' for sure. What was funny though was the main person saying all these things was a 'murse'

 

[nicko18]

Ah yes I remember the GAMSAT - i can't imagine having to sit through it twice. An 8 hour day, and mine was a saturday. Came out of the thing with a pretty bad headache - as you really have to keep your concentration up.

My year (2003) - the essay section was the worst. I just hate writing essays, at least the science questions there is some logic at arriving at the right answer.

Anyway, the GAMSAT experience is worse than anything med school throws up at you. Once you get in, its pretty hard not to get through. The hard step is getting in at the first place. There are big exams at the end of 2nd and 3rd year, though they are mooting the possibility of a first year barrier as well. 4th year is littered with smaller exams, more specific to the rotations you've just done. 80-90% of people get through the barriers, so yeah, GAMSAT is the hard one.

The interview is much easier than the GAMSAT, but theyve changed the format (i will be an interviewer - six stations now) so i dont know how hard or stressful it is for people now.

 

[UQgrad]

that talk about surgery is rubbish - your medical school has absolutely no bearing on what you can get in to post grad. the only effect it has is that you are first in line for internships in that state, ie. if you graduate in queensland you're first in line for an internship in qld but if you want to go to another state its just a bit harder to get into the big city hospitals.