Taking the Gamsat Test from an arts background

[PapaJames]

I am doing a degree in ppe and have not done any science since gcse.

I was wondering how long you would suggest revising for the gamsat test ino it is each to their own but if it is longer than 3 months then it means I would have to change my plans.

many thanks James

[Remus]

hi, James. it obviously varies from person to person, and how many hours you put in, but i would say that 3 months revision would be more than sufficient time to revise for the GAMSAT. get some decent AS/A-level bio/chem/phys guides and make sure you get the ACER practice & sample question books which can be found on the UCAS website or ebay. a lot of people are selling useful material on this forum too, so it's well worth a look. hope this helped. good luck!!

[Martigan]

A friend of mine did it in two months.

I did it over 5, but just using my lunch breaks and two good text books.

[Dr. Cool]

While I had a year, I learnt 90% of what I needed to know in the last couple of months. Perhaps even 50% in the week before. In my opinion, at a bare minimum you can scrape by with a decent knowledge of general and organic chem, and some luck - which is what I did.

My sources where roughly:
2/3 of Organic Chem for Dummies
1/2 of Thinkwell Chemistry (a video textbook thingy)
Chemguy on youtube
16 hours of MCAT DVD’s (at 2x speed, the guy talks slowwwwwlllly)
Griffiths GAMSAT Review

If someone had a day to cover the material, or was looking to establish a base set of knowledge to build from, I’d recommend the DVD’s: MCAT Videos on DVD and heavenlyjohnsons website: Revise Gamsat

[samspade]

im thinking of staring my revision for sept 10 in jan 2010...

is that too early like?, will i forget most of the stuff by that time, im from a Bsc Biochem background, and its the section II that i am dreading soooooo much, anyone from science background?

how did you tackle this part?

[goldhawkgonk]

You could use the March tests for the Ireland/Australian candidates as a warmup, to see where you need to focus your work for the Sept?

I would recommend Griffiths Gamsat Guide for the essays. The writing they're looking for is actually quite formulaic and something you can easily practice. Get into the habit of reading comment pages on newspapers as you need to be able to argue on current affairs etc.

[heavenlyjohnson]

im thinking of staring my revision for sept 10 in jan 2010...

is that too early like?, will i forget most of the stuff by that time, im from a Bsc Biochem background, and its the section II that i am dreading soooooo much, anyone from science background?

how did you tackle this part?

Section 2 is OK once you understand what's needed. The essays are not really like standard academic essays. You need to be well up on current affairs and you need to be able to think freely and laterally. I wrote a piece on it here:

GAMSAT Written Communication Section Essays Revise Gamsat

based in part on input from goldhawkgonk

Good luck in March!

[heavenlyjohnson]

I am doing a degree in ppe and have not done any science since gcse.

I was wondering how long you would suggest revising for the gamsat test ino it is each to their own but if it is longer than 3 months then it means I would have to change my plans.

many thanks James

I took 3 months but wasn't able to work on it full time. The more time you can commit the better as there's a lot to learn. My advice: Nail organic chemistry and you're half way there!

Good luck!

[aishahassan]

Hi,

I am new to this Forum. I am preparing for GAMSAT, I really want to sit the March Irish GAMAST in London, but I am not sure if that will be enough prep time, considering I am from a non science background. I have attempted my first essays an essay from a sample paper I found online, if you lovely people could have a look at it and please give me your honest feedback on it that would be great because believe it or no this section is scaring me more than anything else

I am convinced that he (God) does not play dice (Albert Einstein)

I am convinced that he (God) does not play dice (Albert Einstein). This a bold statement made by Einstein. This quote can be translated as God has every ones lives mapped out for them, and he doesn’t just decide, by the roll of a dice (so to speak) as he goes.

From a Christianity and Islamic point of view, true believers of the religion believe as Einstein did, that indeed God did have everything mapped out for us and that we are the driving forces behind how the plans come about. God throws obstacles our way as part of the plan for which we have to overcome using our faith and effort, as Epictus (A.D 200) once said no great thing is created suddenly, everything require time and effort, in the same way God would not make life easy for us with no obstacles, because it is the obstacles in life that we come across that make us stronger and better people.

The other side of the argument would therefore be that God does ‘play dice’. The implication of this would be that there would be great uncertainty in our lives but also in God’s plans for us and the thought of that makes me think that the world would potentially be quite disastrous, imaging if Gods ‘dice’ resulted in conflicting plans or strategies. It is almost unbearable, perhaps the reason why Einstein chooses to believe that God does already have a plan for us all.

It is interesting how certain Einstein is that God doesn’t play dice. There is really no way for mortals to know for certain whether or not God does or does not play dice. I guess the only reason one can hold such a firm opinion would be if one was religious and therefore placed all their trust in what the faith told them to believe.

[heavenlyjohnson]

Hi aishahassan

Good luck with the Gamsat! I'll do my best to critique your essay:

I am convinced that he (God) does not play dice (Albert Einstein)

I am convinced that he (God) does not play dice (Albert Einstein). This a bold statement made by Einstein. This quote can be translated as God has every ones lives mapped out for them, and he doesn’t just decide, by the roll of a dice (so to speak) as he goes.

This paragraph defines your terms and gives the marker a clue about how you plan to tackle the essay. The quote is about randomness in quantum theory. Einstien disagrees with his own theory which predicts that randomness is at the heart of everything and prefers the deterministic Newtonian worldview.

Here you indicate that you will take a religious perspective which is reasonable approach but I would like to see some discussion of the scientific ideas alluded to by this quote, determinism vs. non-determinism.

From a Christianity and Islamic point of view, true believers of the religion believe as Einstein did, that indeed God did have everything mapped out for us and that we are the driving forces behind how the plans come about. God throws obstacles our way as part of the plan for which we have to overcome using our faith and effort, as Epictus (A.D 200) once said no great thing is created suddenly, everything require time and effort, in the same way God would not make life easy for us with no obstacles, because it is the obstacles in life that we come across that make us stronger and better people.

In this paragraph you take one point of view, that there is a plan and that the universe is not random. You back this up with Epictus. A point backed up by an example like this is a very good structure for a paragraph.

I would be slightly wary about putting words into Einstein's mouth though, he had a pretty complex belief set.

The other side of the argument would therefore be that God does ‘play dice’. The implication of this would be that there would be great uncertainty in our lives but also in God’s plans for us and the thought of that makes me think that the world would potentially be quite disastrous, imaging if Gods ‘dice’ resulted in conflicting plans or strategies. It is almost unbearable, perhaps the reason why Einstein chooses to believe that God does already have a plan for us all.

This paragraph tackles an alternative view, the idea that god comes up with plans at random. A point followed by an opposing point is a good structure, though I'm not overly keen on the argument, it feels slightly out of keeping with the determinism vs non-determinism theme of the quote.

Other alternatives for this paragraph would be that there is no god and the universe is random, or that there is a god but that his plans are so vast and sweeping that we cannot comprehend them, or that what appears to be random is actually not that at all or that there is a god and randomness is part of the plan in a way we can't yet fathom.

It is interesting how certain Einstein is that God doesn’t play dice. There is really no way for mortals to know for certain whether or not God does or does not play dice. I guess the only reason one can hold such a firm opinion would be if one was religious and therefore placed all their trust in what the faith told them to believe.

Interesting conclusion. Albert Einstein was a free thinker and did not follow any particular religion. I would not have said that he was certain of his standpoint, as a scientist he maintained a skeptical attitude, even towards his own beliefs. A final paragraph would usually pull together all the threads of the argument to come to a conclusion.

This is a very tricky essay to approach from a non-scientific perspective but you've given it a good go and come up with something reasonable. Your argument has flow but perhaps lacks strength in paragraph 3. I would have chosen an alternative theme for this paragraph or tackled it in a more speculative way. You've also attributed beliefs to Einstein which I don't think he held which could cost you marks.

I hope this is helpful and not overly critical. Best of luck in March!