Last minute advice on Section III of MSAT.

[moigescr]

I am taking the MSAT on Monday, and although I'm reasonable well
prepared for Section I [Critical Reasoning] and Section II
[Interpersonal understanding] (did MSAT sample questions and related
GAMSAT sample questions and various other similar tests), I'd welcome
advice on Section III [Written Communication].

Here are my questions about Section III, answers to any would be
useful, answers to all would be great:

1) Should I use all the information given (i.e. in Task 1 all
graphs/cuttings/etc., in Task 2 all quotes)? I know the option of
concentrating on only one quote is given for Task 2 (do you recommend
that approach), but what about task 1?

2) How do I refer to the given information in the text? For example,
in one sample Task 1 question, we are given two graphs, one bar chart
and press cuttings -- am I allowed to say at the beginning of my essay
something like "Items referred to in text are numbered as given in
exam paper, e.g. Item 1: Percentage Mobile Phone Ownership; Item 2:
Communications Usage"?

3) I know from the paltry "MSAT Information Booklet" that Task 1 is a
Report writing exercise, and Task 2 is an "argumentative essay". Does
this mean Task 1 should be factual and neutral and Task 2 should be
personal and opinionated?

4) Should I give the essays a title?

5) How long do the examiners anticipate the essay to be? I read
somewhere four paragraphs is a good rule of thumb. Do people agree?

Any help or advice you might provide would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Stu.

[kiya]

Hmm, I'm sitting it Monday too - not really feeling prepared, have had so little time to do, well, anything, but hoping I'll get through it!!

I think with the essay section, having had a brief look through the MSAT sample paper, the first task should use all the information given and the second you can just use one quote as a springboard for your response.

It would be great to hear what people who've sat this exam before think. I'm feeling really nervous right now!

[Thickshit]

Mmmm the dreaded MSAT section III!

I sat the exam two years ago, ranked 91st percentile and am now in year 2 of GKT GPEP course but I must say that my section III marks were way down on sections I and II! From what i remember, i only used 1 quote as you have so little time to write anything. I think the quote i used was about motivation which was ok and the first section was about accident statistics I think! The MSAT website is completely unhelpful with practice material but to be honest you really can't prepare for MSAT anyway! I did no work for it as was stressing about final year of my degree at the time!

I would say that the second task can be opinion based and that length isn't that important you must have an introduction, arguments for, against and summary/conclusion as i think it is structure they are most interested in. Whether or not it is titled or not is unimportant, as long as you refer to the figures clearly and consistently it doesn't matter etc.

Of course you might not want to listen to me as I didn't exactly excel at section III and only scraped in overall!

My tips for the day are go to the loo before you start - it took ages to get everyone in when I did it and then I needed the loo before it even started and we were then sat there for 3.5 hours. Although I think this may have given me a sense of urgency that helped! Lastly, for sections I and II there is an overwhelming amount of information to be assimilated so stay calm and try not to go back to a previous question as this means you have to reassimilate all that information and it takes ages!

Good luck!

[kiya]

To be honest, I'm more worried about section 1 than anything else. I was useless in the UKCAT - couldn't calm down enough to read the questions properly, which was awful. Need to find something to stop me from panicking! Ho hum... just a couple of days to go now...

[moigescr]

Cheers TS and Kiya. As you say, there's no advice to be gained from ACER but thanks for your helpful comments.

I think the consensus (insofar as you can have a consensus with 3 opinions) is:

- For Task I, make the most of the material you have, try and touch upon all given information and bear in mind that ACER describes this as "report writing", so the focus should be on identifying the key ideas in each item, and the main theme(s) that connect them and not to present a critique of the information.

- For Task II, you can choose whether to use one, two or three quotes. My _personal_ inclination is to pick just one quote and follow this advice I found online: pick one quote, have for paragraphs, i) Intro (introduce the quote a define key argument in the quote), ii) arguments for, iii) arguments against and iv) well argued conclusion where you take a stand. I asked a friend and she answered "what they are looking for here is just an ability to write fluently and sensibly about something you know nothing about - i had no facts or evidence to back up what i said, but they obviously didn't care. I think you're
right - you should show that you can develop an argument and i think you
can be as opinionated as you like!"

30mins is not a lot of time so 5mins to read quotes/info carefully _and_ draft my essay outline, then that's about 5mins per paragraph (4-5).

Good luck everyone who's taking the MSAT on Monday.

[moigescr]

Cheers TS and Kiya. As you say, there's no advice to be gained from ACER but thanks for your helpful comments.

I think the consensus (insofar as you can have a consensus with 3 opinions) is:

- For Task I, make the most of the material you have, try and touch upon all given information and bear in mind that ACER describes this as "report writing", so the focus should be on identifying the key ideas in each item, and the main theme(s) that connect them and not to present a critique of the information.

- For Task II, you can choose whether to use one, two or three quotes. My _personal_ inclination is to pick just one quote and follow this advice I found online: pick one quote, have for paragraphs, i) Intro (introduce the quote a define key argument in the quote), ii) arguments for, iii) arguments against and iv) well argued conclusion where you take a stand. I asked a friend and she answered "what they are looking for here is just an ability to write fluently and sensibly about something you know nothing about - i had no facts or evidence to back up what i said, but they obviously didn't care. I think you're
right - you should show that you can develop an argument and i think you
can be as opinionated as you like!"

30mins is not a lot of time so 5mins to read quotes/info carefully _and_ draft my essay outline, then that's about 5mins per paragraph (4-5).

Good luck everyone who's taking the MSAT on Monday.

[moigescr]

Got this back from a friend who passed (with as excellent grade) 2 years ago and got a GEP place a King's, so I thought I'd share:

> The exam is on Monday for me, and although I'm reasonable well
> prepared for Section I [Critical Reasoning] and Section II
> [Interpersonal understanding] (did MSAT sample questions and related
> GAMSAT sample questions and various other similar tests), I'd welcome
> advice on Section III [Written Communication].
>
> Here are my questions about Section III, answers to any would be
> useful, answers to all would be great:
>
> 1) Should I use all the information given (i.e. in Task 1 all
> graphs/cuttings/etc., in Task 2 all quotes)? I know the option of
> concentrating on only one quote is given for Task 2 (do you recommend
> that approach), but what about task 1?


I only used what I considered to be the graphs relevant to my
point/argument. YOu may well find that you have enough time and
arguments to incorporate all graphs, but I would concentrate on making
as many points as poss, and using whichever graphs support them. I def
didn't use all the graphs in my report.

>
> 2) How do I refer to the given information in the text? For example,
> in one sample Task 1 question, we are given two graphs, one bar chart
> and press cuttings -- am I allowed to say at the beginning of my essay
> something like "Items referred to in text are numbered as given in
> exam paper, e.g. Item 1: Percentage Mobile Phone Ownership; Item 2:
> Communications Usage"?


That sounds like an excellent idea!

>
> 3) I know from the paltry "MSAT Information Booklet" that Task 1 is a
> Report writing exercise, and Task 2 is an "argumentative essay". Does
> this mean Task 1 should be factual and neutral and Task 2 should be
> personal and opinionated?


Yes, to a certain extent. YOu want to show that you can argue and put
forward a point of view, but avoid being judgmental/overly opiniated!

>
> 4) Should I give the essays a title?

Only if you're given one in the question.

>
> 5) How long do the examiners anticipate the essay to be? I read
> somewhere four paragraphs is a good rule of thumb. Do people agree?


As much as you can fit into 25 mins. The important thing is not to
overrun with your first essay. If you hit the 30 mins mark, don't be
tempted to make any more points, just conclude and get on to the next
part.

[kiya]

Great advice. Thanks for sharing that. I've managed to calm down quite a lot, but will still be glad when it's all over.

Good luck to you too!