Is it possible for me to revise, book and sit the GAMSAT before UCAS deadline?

[AimsRJ]

which puts soooooo much more pressure on!! I was really annoyed at Peninsula open day when they said they wouldnt look at any of your grades.

[ibinabo]

im ok wit dat...cos i dn hav d grades to flaunt

[Imhotep]

Originally Posted by ibinabo

so imhotep....hw exactly did u study for this in a month??wot did u do..wot didnt u do...im rily curious....just im rily considering writing this year with ur story

I didn't do a lot of work on sections 1 or 2 (I'd studied courses in humanities and social sciences with the OU for fun for several years and had lots of recent experience in writing essays).

For section 1 I did work out the number of questions I needed to complete every 15 minutes and stuck to that rigidly in the exam itself. I think the best preparation for this section is to do practice questions (the official ACER ones) and read as much as you can in different formats (newspaper articles, short stories, poems, etc.)

For section 2 I just stuck to the basic essay structure of introduction, 3 paragraphs each making 1 point and a conclusion (on the topic of the quotes provided without using any of the quotes themselves - which is the strategy I'd decided on before hand). I didn't write an essay plan beyond a summary list of points I could make (altogether less than 20 words) as 30 minutes isn't long for an essay. A couple of practice runs helps you get an idea of how much you can write in that time.

My main focus was on section 3 (as I hadn't done any science for about 10 years) - I bought A-level books on biology, chemistry and physics. I only managed to work my way the whole of the way through the chemistry one and skim read the other two. I did memorise a few of the easier physics formulae on mechanics and optics (but didn't find that I needed them). I also stuck to very strict timings for questions in this section too. I found that most of the questions contained all the information needed to answer them - it was just a question of interpreting and applying it within the time limit.

For all sections timing is really important - in 1 & 3 don't get bogged down answering a question at the potential expense of missing others you could answer more easily. If you get stuck, make an educated guess, mark this on the question paper and return to it if you have time at the end. I managed to get all the questions finished with a few minutes to spare, so wouldn't really have had much time to go back at the end had I missed many out.

One note: I found the ACER practice and sample questions for sections 1 & 3 much more difficult than the real thing.

Best of Luck,

Stephen

[curlysin]

Hi there,

wonder does anyone have any advice for me, i am considering last min applying for GAMSAT. would like to get a flight over and home the same day it would keep the cost down. The other thing is although im a nurse, i didnt do A level science and my GCSEs are crap in it, however i do have a good grasp on it funny as that sounds. Would it be unrealistic to apply now? I will be working full time unsocial hours etc.

Hope someone can advise

[Imhotep]

In previous years you have to be seated for Section 1 by 9:15 and prior to that you havre to register (show your admission ticket and photo id). So, that doesn't really leave a great deal of time to get over that same morning - especially with the potential delays involved. The associated stress and lack of sleep (if there are even any flights early enough) wouldn't put you in a good frame of mind for GAMSAT (which is a test of stamina in itself).

On the other question I think that is is worth a shot at the GAMSAT. I can't comment on working unsocial hours (my mum and brother do and I know it can throw life out of kilter), but a bit of brushing up on science (especially organic chemistry) and doing some sample questions when you can and I'm sure you've got a chance.

Stephen

[curlysin]

Thanks for the reply Stephen

[hodiurnal]

If you have a good science base, you can probably wing the exam with a couple of days reading before - mainly on the format so you know exactly whats coming up/timing etc and write a few random essays to get your hand warmed up! I'd say a month is a massive amount of time.