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UKCAT

Forum for discussion of the UKCAT exam.

UKCAT is short for 'UK Clinical Aptitude Test' and is a new entrance exams for medical school entry.

Post a question in this forum if you have any questions about the UKCAT!


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Old 22-02-2008, 07:06 PM   #1 (permalink)
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UKCAT vs GAMSAT

Hi everyone,
just joined the forum yesterday and am really a newbie to the whole grad-med scene. i have decided to sit the GAMSAT and it looks extremely painful, but i have gotten some good advice on where to start on the gamsat forum. i have also been advised to apply to 2 gamsat colleges and 2 ukcat colleges just in case i fall short in one of the exams (makes sense).

i have a journalism background and the small bit of research i have done on the ukcat makes it seem more suited to someone like me from a non-science background. is that fair to say?

any advice on how and where to start ukcat prep would be a huge help. thanks
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Old 22-02-2008, 07:29 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Research your options, you get the UKCAT score as soon as you've sat it, so if you get a really high score it's wise to use that as the GAMSAT is kept a secret until after you've applied, so if you think you've done badly it's a good idea to go with the UKCAT score. If I were you I'd find 4 UKCAT schools that you like and make sure you like all the GAMSAT ones then you'll be able to tailor your application to how you did on the UKCAT and how well you think you did on the GAMSAT.


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i have a journalism background and the small bit of research i have done on the ukcat makes it seem more suited to someone like me from a non-science background. is that fair to say?
No. With enough work anyone can take the GAMSAT and apparently stats show that non science Grads actually do better.
The UKCAT isn't a difficult exam and if you approach it logically and with some sense then prep is easy and methodological, just takes a few weeks to prepare. It's much too early to be worrying about it When you do start there is a book, that isn't that good in itself, but will make you familiar with the concepts that you'll be expected to tackle. The stupidity of the book actually is good to learn from because you read the official instructions off the website and find yourself correcting the book.

The GAMSAT is a different issue though, start getting materials together for that because people will begin to sell them off now as they get offers. However, a lot of the stuff that is out there is pretty rubbish, so do some research into what there is and how good it is. The GAMSAT takes a lot of time (think the whole summer) so you might need to do some long planning for that.

Neither exam is impossible, but especially with the GAMSAT, you need to plan ahead.

Good luck and ask anything else if you like (I took both)

Nik
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Old 22-02-2008, 07:33 PM   #3 (permalink)
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You can't really prep that much for UKCAT... its basically just a big, needlessly expensive IQ test. You're right though, you won't be at a disadvantage without a science background.

I just did the practice questions on the UKCAT site a few times. If you look at the answers they give you, you can work out the way they expect you to think on some of the more difficult sections. I'd brush up on your basic maths if you think you need it - to my eternal shame I'd forgotten how to work with percentages before my UKCAT. Thats a biology degree for you.

I went for the same tactic as you and took both exams, and it seemed to pay off. If you're confident about GAMSAT then apply to Nottingham GEP, cos you get a guaranteed interview if you get in the top 25% (but you're probably screwed if you don't). The interview style is horrendous, but hey, its an interview.

Hope that helps!
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