Seriously, how bad is the GAMSAT?

[stonecold]

I would like to know.  I can feel VCE is slipping away from me, particularly the Englishes.  I'm going to try my hardest, but I'll probably end up having to try for grad medicine.

Compared to the UMAT, what is the GAMSAT like?  It is obviously a lot longer, and has a writing component, but is it like the UMAT in the sense that it isn't really a test that can be studied for?

Or will background knowledge in the sciences/humanities put you at a significant advantage?

This is what I hated about the UMAT.  It seemed to be testing nothing important.  If you put in for the GAMSAT, are you more likely to see results?

I did ~13 practice UMAT's plus a stack of other questions, and that didn't work out very well.  I just don't want this to happen again...

[shinny]

I would like to know.  I can feel VCE is slipping away from me, particularly the Englishes.  I'm going to try my hardest, but I'll probably end up having to try for grad medicine.

Compared to the UMAT, what is the GAMSAT like?  It is obviously a lot longer, and has a writing component, but is it like the UMAT in the sense that it isn't really a test that can be studied for?

Or will background knowledge in the sciences/humanities put you at a significant advantage?

This is what I hated about the UMAT.  It seemed to be testing nothing important.  If you put in for the GAMSAT, are you more likely to see results?

I did ~13 practice UMAT's plus a stack of other questions, and that didn't work out very well.  I just don't want this to happen again...

The science section can obviously be studied. My brother did pharmacy and did the GAMSAT this year as a practice run, intending to do it again next year in his pre-registration year. Since it was just a practice run, he didn't do any preparation except the GAMSAT trial sold by ACER (of which he only completed half of). To his surprise, he actually got enough to get into graduate Med so he'll now be doing that next year. Point is that just from doing pharmacy alone, he scored enough in the science section to get into Med since he said he found the science amazingly easy. He did pretty average in both English sections (my brother isn't that great at Eng, 38 raw I think in VCE and I can only assume his English has deteriorated since), but getting very high in the science section was enough to compensate. Just like the UMAT, once again, no one is an all-rounder (or not many at least). So yes, you can definitely prepare much easier for the GAMSAT.

[happyhappyland]

I would like to know.  I can feel VCE is slipping away from me, particularly the Englishes.  I'm going to try my hardest, but I'll probably end up having to try for grad medicine.

Compared to the UMAT, what is the GAMSAT like?  It is obviously a lot longer, and has a writing component, but is it like the UMAT in the sense that it isn't really a test that can be studied for?

Or will background knowledge in the sciences/humanities put you at a significant advantage?

This is what I hated about the UMAT.  It seemed to be testing nothing important.  If you put in for the GAMSAT, are you more likely to see results?

I did ~13 practice UMAT's plus a stack of other questions, and that didn't work out very well.  I just don't want this to happen again...

The science section can obviously be studied. My brother did pharmacy and did the GAMSAT this year as a practice run, intending to do it again next year in his pre-registration year. Since it was just a practice run, he didn't do any preparation except the GAMSAT trial sold by ACER (of which he only completed half of). To his surprise, he actually got enough to get into graduate Med so he'll now be doing that next year. Point is that just from doing pharmacy alone, he scored enough in the science section to get into Med since he said he found the science amazingly easy. He did pretty average in both English sections (my brother isn't that great at Eng, 38 raw I think in VCE and I can only assume his English has deteriorated since), but getting very high in the science section was enough to compensate. Just like the UMAT, once again, no one is an all-rounder (or not many at least). So yes, you can definitely prepare much easier for the GAMSAT.

I worried about the physics part of the GAMSAT, can you ask your brother if the physics in it can be covered in uni such as a subject like biomed at monash? It has been said generally year 12 physics is required

[Russ]

It's an interesting question. I read something on another forum once that summed it up pretty well; when you sit the GAMSAT, it will be the hardest exam you've ever done but looking back you'll realise it wasn't that bad.

Comparing it to the UMAT...I spent Jan/Feb preparing for the GAMSAT, so it's definitely something that can be studied for. Whilst the science section does place an emphasis on questions that require reasoning rather than memory, having studied the material is definitely a major bonus. The first section is the closest to anything you'll see on the UMAT, the majority of questions will have to do with reading passages and answering questions about them. Most of the passages are a pretty high level of english, but it's not impossible to study for it. The second section is the writing tasks and, just like VCE english, you can write essays to study for it. The topics will be similar to the stuff on the GAT.

Since section 3 is double weighted, you can do well enough there to compensate for poor scores in the other two sections...that said, they will look at individual section scores and UoM refuses to double weight the science section (which I actually agree with). Someone in my year got a 50/54/100 for his section scores, which gave him an overall score high enough to get into MD (pending interview). Background knowledge in the sciences is necessary to be able to do the questions on section 3. You WILL need to have done chemistry in uni, you could probably scrape by with biology and physics at high school level.

If you put in the effort for the GAMSAT you will see results. Some people do ridiculous things like studying for several months full time, but you don't need to go that far. I wrote a dozen sample essays or so and revised all of 1st year chem/bio/physics (which sounds like a lot, but over two months it was only a bit a day). I have a ton of study stuff, PM me if you want to see a sample paper or response or something, I've got a lot of it floating around my external HD.

physics in it can be covered in uni?

Yes, of course it can. I never did VCE physics and did well on the gamsat. There might be a few bits and pieces that slip through, but you can either study them individually or not worry (there probably won't be many questions on them)

[mikee65]

thanks Russ good info

[Edmund]

As Russ said, Section 1 is similar to the UMAT but way harder. If I do recall, one unit on S1 GAMSAT was taken from the UMAT practice books. But don't expect similar questions to pop up

Section 3 isn't hard at all provided you have a Science related background which saves heaps of time (e.g. skipping through the passage and going for the questions). I think all you need is first year Biology and Chemistry and first year Physics may be useful (nuclear physics and optics which aren't covered in VCE). I remember I couldn't finish about 30 questions on my first attempt on the GAMSAT, just because I wasted time reading all the passages. Second attempt - I completed the whole section with 20 minutes to spare.

GAMSAT isn't that bad since you can actually prepare and study for it. Of course, you can have multiple attempts during your undergrad degree that will serve as the best practice you can get. As long as you have the money