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March 29, 2024, 01:30:59 am

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Michael0007

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GAMSAT?
« on: August 06, 2010, 12:30:01 am »
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As an year 12, could you guys please give a bit of an insight into what it takes to do well in it and how hard it is?

Also, is doing a Bachelor of Biomed much more advantageous than Bachelor of Science in order to do well in it?

Cheers!

slothpomba

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2010, 01:09:31 pm »
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I haven't done it but it is much more of a bitch than the umat.

Quote
   
* Section I comprises 75 questions in 100 minutes from the Humanities and Social Sciences

* Section II - 2 essays assessing written communication (1 hour) following a 20 minute break (you may not leave the exam room during this 20 minute break)

* Section III - 110 physical science questions in 170 min after 1 hour lunch

It is obviously significantly longer.

You also need First Year university knowledge of Chemistry and Biology, Year 12 physics is also required (Or university physics i guess).

Biomed is a lot more structured than science, i was told by a lady from UoM you can only pick one or two subjects, the rest is chosen for you (it has physics, chemistry, biology and all you need already chosen for you, along with some other stuff).

Perhaps you may want this and theres anecdotal evidence from someone from this forum that they think biomed melbourne students tend to do better than science students.

Science however you can however choose pretty much everything you want and all the subjects biomed students can ( i think.. dont quote me on this)

Someone actually doing it will be able to help you better

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Russ

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2010, 01:41:49 pm »
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I haven't done it but it is much more of a bitch than the umat.

Not to denigrate the UMAT but this is an understatement. Arrive at 8am, leave at 6pm. And I sat it on my birthday!

Otherwise what kingpomba said is pretty solid. The physics stuff was odd, some was very basic and some I'd never studied, so make sure to check the sample papers and revise all the concepts presented. If you only do uni physics, be careful, they don't teach everything at first year level so you might need to go back and revise it.

To do well requires effort and study. The UMAT tests more abstract reasoning skills, so there's (theoretically) no need to study in order to achieve past the cutoff. The GAMSAT, however, has a double-weighted section 3 that is all about what you know. It's true that most of the questions can be solved with a bit of logical thinking, but you still need the knowledge to eliminate the incorrect options. I studied over the summer holidays and did well, some people say that you need to start working well before that but I'm skeptical.

In terms of Biomed and Science...biomed covers all the (scientific) stuff on the GAMSAT pretty well in first year. Science has the potential to, but only if you choose the right subjects - chem + bio + physics 101. If you pick them, then there wouldn't really be a difference between your background.

The single biggest tip I would give to students sitting the GAMSAT is: start reading literature now. If you want I can post some of the stuff from sections I and II - having a strong English and Literature background will REALLY give you an advantage. Even if it's just half an hour a day, read it now, it will help so much in establishing meaning.

Quote
Perhaps you may want this and theres anecdotal evidence from someone from this forum that they think biomed melbourne students tend to do better than science students

Wouldn't be surprised, but I think this is down to the fact that the average biomed student is smarter than the average science student (compare the course requirements), rather than how good the course is.

Quote
Science however you can however choose pretty much everything you want and all the subjects biomed students can ( i think.. dont quote me on this)

Science kids can't do any of our subjects, but we're allowed to take subjects from science (if we have room for them).
« Last Edit: August 06, 2010, 01:45:45 pm by Russ »

slothpomba

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2010, 01:50:35 pm »
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Oh, thanks for correcting me.

What exactly do you mean sciences kids cant do any of your subjects... both of you can take like bio 101 im sure, so what subjects are you refering to (biomed specific ones obviously) im just interested..(i might do biomed/sci too)

I haven't done year 12 physics either... how hard would it be to learn or if i do it at uni should it cover me
« Last Edit: August 06, 2010, 01:53:01 pm by kingpomba »

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Russ

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2010, 02:06:07 pm »
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What exactly do you mean sciences kids cant do any of your subjects... both of you can take like bio 101 im sure, so what subjects are you refering to (biomed specific ones obviously) im just interested..(i might do biomed/sci too)

Yes and no. All the core subjects in 1st year are biomedicine specific versions of chem/bio/physics (mostly they just chuck a "for Biomedicine" at the end to differentiate it). These aren't the same as the 1st year science subjects. We do very little on plants for example. The reason is that biomed is designed around human health, so they streamline the subjects to better illustrate that. In chemistry, there's not much on the mechanics of electron wave functions compared to science - we do different things.

In second and third year, our core subjects have no direct equivalent. The one I'm doing at the moment combines anatomy/physiology/pharmacology - in science you'd have to do them all separately. But when choosing a major we choose from the science list (plus one special one) so we're allowed to do the science prerequisite subjects. I did Principles of Genetics last semester for my major and shared lectures with science friends.

If you go to UoM do Principles of Genetics, the exam is literally just questions randomly taken from the last decade of past exams.

Quote
I haven't done year 12 physics either... how hard would it be to learn or if i do it at uni should it cover me

I didn't do year 12 physics. Didn't feel it was that much of a problem, it was taught in 1st year anyway...just with a few missing bits and pieces.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2010, 02:11:30 pm by Russ »

slothpomba

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2010, 02:21:31 pm »
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Biomed specific? Really... i didnt know that... i thought they were exactly the same as science... now maybe i should do biomed

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Russ

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2010, 02:26:26 pm »
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Yes, biomed specific. If you go to the handbook and search for "Biomedicine" you can see our core subjects and what they'll contain. You can also search for Science and check out their pathways etc.

My opinion on biomed vs. science runs something like this: if you know that you want to apply for PG medicine, then you might as well do biomed. It will prepare you well and your course will be structured around it. If you do science with the intention of applying for PG medicine, then your course will resemble the biomed one very closely anyway.

The major advantage science has is that if you're not sure of where you want to go, science has so much more freedom.

It's not a huge deal though, one isn't "way better" than the other

slothpomba

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2010, 02:29:53 pm »
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I know this is going into the realm of an making predictions into a crystal ball and all that but im not sure if ill get an enter high enough for melbourne biomedicine, which do you think would be better melbourne science or monash biomed?

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vexx

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2010, 02:43:39 pm »
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I know this is going into the realm of an making predictions into a crystal ball and all that but im not sure if ill get an enter high enough for melbourne biomedicine, which do you think would be better melbourne science or monash biomed?

it's personal preferences..
it doesn't make a difference as long as you have prereqs, but i personally think science at melbourne is superior due to the fact it's at melb (i just like melbourne more haha) and you get to choose all your subjects~
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slothpomba

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #9 on: August 06, 2010, 02:47:32 pm »
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I know its personal preferences but i meant more interm of quality and preparing me for the gamsat thanks anyway though

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Russ

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #10 on: August 06, 2010, 07:28:57 pm »
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I don't know much (anything) about the monash biomedical science course, so i really can't answer that. If the course at monash offers you the same amount of freedom as the course at melbourne, then there's essentially no difference since it will depend on what you pick. I think that courses focused around the health sciences will help develop latent critical thinking ability specific to scenarios encountered in the health sciences - that said, it's not a major advantage over doing science and it's certainly not that helpful (if at all) for the GAMSAT.

Don't worry so much about the name of the course, it's not a big deal. I personally like UoM, so that's what I'd recommend but I'm sure that the faculty at Monash is just as competent. UoM has half a dozen hospitals located within walking distance + a dozen major research institutes, so that might sway you a bit I guess. At the end of the day, if you do well on the GAMSAT and have a high GPA nobody important cares what course you came from.

vexx

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #11 on: August 06, 2010, 07:30:59 pm »
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I know its personal preferences but i meant more interm of quality and preparing me for the gamsat thanks anyway though

well biomed prepares you slightly better ahah
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Russ

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #12 on: August 06, 2010, 07:32:01 pm »
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Oh, I just read a PM from someone asking what I meant about "literature" so I'm going to attach some photos to this post for them/anyone else interested

e. This is a sample of some of the questions you can expect to see. Obviously a familiarity with classical literature and drawing meaning from text will be extremely beneficial in answering them - the best way to get this familiarity is just to read. Austen/White/Gogol/Keats/Wordsworth/Homer/Waugh/etc. The goal is for you to not have to laboriously read each passage in the exam and thus save time. (so if you need to google 30. A to find out what it means, then doing more reading will help you :P)

You guys can give them a shot if you want, I'll go find the answer key and post the answers if anyone tries them.

[IMG]http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/598/17036874.png[/img]
[IMG]http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/8249/63255349.png[/img]


[IMG]http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/5319/34081478.png[/img]
[IMG]http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/64/25966624.png[/img]

« Last Edit: August 06, 2010, 07:48:51 pm by Russ »

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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #13 on: August 06, 2010, 09:43:00 pm »
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UoM has half a dozen hospitals located within walking distance + a dozen major research institutes, so that might sway you a bit I guess. At the end of the day, if you do well on the GAMSAT and have a high GPA nobody important cares what course you came from.

yep... melbourne is surrounding by research institutes...mmm
but monash is closer to me =) and its still good
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Re: GAMSAT?
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2010, 05:55:30 pm »
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oh yeah, Monash has plenty of places associated with it as well, I was just saying that UoM is apparently the highest concentration of research institutes in the world (there was some statistic at an info session I went to, can't remember it exactly)