How hard????

[lucyfrombristol]

I'm just in the first stages of thinking about applying for GE into medical school and I thought I'd take a look at the example GAMSAT questions on the GAMSAT website. I am seriously scared now. :shock:

I'd like to think I was a reasonably intelligent person - I have a 1st in molecular biology and I taught A level Biology for 4 years, but those questions were ridiculous.

Am I being thick, or does anyone else agree?

[Gringle]

I have recently survived GAMSAT.
I am not sure what questions you looked at - was it a mini test? If so then this is representative of the real thing.
The questions are hard - no doubt about it - but if you have a reasonably agile mind, can assimilate a lot of information and apply it quickly, and (the hard bit) keep concentrating and stay focussed constantly for hours at a time - its OK.
Sitting GAMSAT is like doing an intellectual triathlon. You need to be mentally fit.
It is very early to start worrying about it yet - I didnt start working for it until October last year, for the January paper, and i was OK.
Look at the questions on the website carefully and without panicking. See the tricks they use to differentiate the people who really see the detail in the question.
For the science, look at the questions objectively and go away and study the basics that you have not already got. Then I would recommend you leave it until after the summer - get the practice questions and do them under exam conditions - always.
Always review your answers to see where you went wrong.

Put the real exam in an envelope and dont think about doing it until December, when you have practiced and learnt what you need to know.

And good luck. Practice IQ tests too - they keep your mind bendy!

There must also be thousands of threads on this topic so do a search as well.

[medicalifragilistic]

Yep, Gringle's hit most of the points on the head there.

I thought alot of the science ones were mostly very A-level orientated, so if you haven't practiced those types of questions recently (especially organic chemistry for me), they might seem very hard. But given a few A-level text books and lots of practice questions, I think you'll find them much more manageable. Many of the questions are about analysing the information they've given you. You won't need to understand everything about the topics, just look at the data and make some conclusions. With a 1st in molecular biology I'm sure you can do that.

Don't let it intimidate you. It is difficult, but you can do it.

Was it the science ones you were finding hard or one of the other sections?

[lucyfrombristol]

Thanks guys. I think I might have just got myself into a bit of a panic! The questions I did were on this site: http://www.gamsat.co.uk/test.htm

The organic chemistry ones were shocking and I will definitely have to do some swotting up to even have a hope of passing. To be honest though I found the non-Science ones even harder. Literary analysis was never my strong point I have to admit and it does make you wonder why it's of relevance even.

I spent all of my time teaching telling my A level students to "read the question carefully", "take a deep breath" etc. and just completely ignored this advice when I first looked at the test.

Does anyone have experience of working full-time whilst trying to study for these tests?

[Rich]

If I remember correctly in that practice test thingy there is a question on pericyclic rearrangements or something like that? Didn't have a clue about that question then, don't have a clue now either but I got a decent mark in the GAMSAT so don't be too put off by them

[dangerrat]

completely agree with rich.

those practice qs were the first experience i had of gamsat questions n couldnt answer any of the chemistry from what i remember. there are not indicative of gamsat also, theres one bio question that assumes knowledge of ATP i think (?) on that website. again this isnt reflective of gamsat as virtually all bio qs were comprehension/data analysis style. about 2 in the actual exam tested actual knowledge (and they were both molecular).

i too managed to pass so really wouldnt take much notice of them. instead use the ozimed practice papers or the official practice papers. i used ozimed but even they were a bit dodgy in parts!

[cjb]

I really don't know much about GAMSAT (thank goodness!) so this could be completely wrong, but I don't think you'd have to *take* GAMSAT with a First in Molecular Biology. I thought GAMSAT was for those who either had a 2:2, or a degree in a non-science subject (isn't supposed to partly be testing your aptitude for science?).

Certainly don't go getting the impression that *all* medschools require GAMSAT for entry. A few do, and the advantage of it is that it gives arts graduates or those who didn't do quite so well in their first degree a chance to enter on a level playing field. But as far as I know, its only five or six med schools at the most. Certainly for Warwick's biomedical science GEP, you don't need it, or for Barts, or Birmingham (and loads of others).

[hippopotty]

yeah, I'm thinkin of doing gams**te, but I remember when I was starting to look at stuff to learn about it, I came across the medprep test first. I took one look at the science paper and I didn't panic, but just closed the webpage and thought I I REALLY need to study for this. After all, it's been 3 years since I did anything to do with chemistry and Biology to the point I can barely remember basic chemistry to standard grade level.

So that's it; I just know I have to get into it all again, and completely immerse myself into the whole science world as much as I can rather than study it from the perspective of A levels or any other education standard. I knida figured if I do it by thinking Alevels and stuff I'm gonna end up studying for A levels rather than a test for medical school - I see it as two very different approaches even if it is the same level of knowledge required.

I don't see any need for panic really, provided you know how you're going to approach and prepare for this exam...I think that's the whole point of it: to show having gone through university we know how to approach something academically difficult completely by ourselves.

It probably means I'm gonna fail this miserably and those panicking are gonna do great lol, always seems to happen to me!

Aliah

[Gringle]

Hi Lucyfrombristol
I worked full time while preparing for GAMSAT. I have 2 kids as well so I studied had to work at night. I think it was good for me - like altitude training for athletes - make your brain work when you are exhausted - and you might stand a chance on the day!
I must say that most of my work was very focussed and on the science section only. I did the questions - reviewed what i found tricky and went and did practice from A-Level texts on those areas. I only managed an average of 3-4 hours study a week from October to Jan - plus doing all the practice and the exam.
I would recommend practicing essays - again don't worry, if you can write a complex sentence, know how to spell and have a few thoughts of your own then the essays should be OK. I wrote a pile of twaddle and got a good mark.

[lucyfrombristol]

Thanks Gringle, that's really encouraging. You must be super(wo)man to work, look after a family AND study for the test! At least I only have to concern myself with 2 out of those 3 challenges

Have you got offers for this Sept?