Good Luck for the GAT!

[sjayne]

weeell I did most of he multiple choice on last years 

[amabeyde]

This is probably a stupid question but I have no idea how to write a good essay (well 2 essays technically) for the gat! I did the gat last year with no preparation at all and uh.. needless to say the writing section was really bad.. :/ Can anyone post one of their practice ones up? Or is there a place with sample gat essays already? Thanks heaps guys! (I know this is really really late... :/ )

[NekMennit]

I just ask people what would happen if on the day of your English exam, while you're getting out of the car, your mum closes the door on your writing hand by accident.

This is why I am going to take the GAT seriously, although I've done no preparation for it ahaha.

[lala1911]

Good luck.
Even if you don't want to prepare for it, you'd be a fool not to just go briefly read over the writing components. It really helps to sit down and think about what you'd write about for the previous GATs, just so it comes easier for this upcoming one.

Also just skim over the multiple choice questions to get an understanding of what may be examined in the 2013 GAT.

Best of luck

[Stick]

This is probably a stupid question but I have no idea how to write a good essay (well 2 essays technically) for the gat! I did the gat last year with no preparation at all and uh.. needless to say the writing section was really bad.. :/ Can anyone post one of their practice ones up? Or is there a place with sample gat essays already? Thanks heaps guys! (I know this is really really late... :/ )

The first essay is just testing your ability to rearrange, organise and connect pieces of information together. During reading time, identify three major subtopics within the major topic (for your three body paragraphs) and essentially regurgitate the information provided correctly and in a manner that makes logical sense. This task isn't too difficult, but some people do silly things like state where on the page the information is from, or if the information was provided on a graph or something. Don't show off and do anything too fancy here, unless the topic really lends itself to something other than an essay (for example, a few people took on the persona of David Attenborough for the wolves task). Also, this is just to assess your ability to present information in a user-friendly manner, so remain objective throughout your piece.

The second essay is much harder in my opinion. You are provided with four stimulus statements and you have to write a piece of prose presenting your point of view, basing your argument on the provided prompts. In the three times I have now sat a GAT paper (two trials and the official GAT last year), I have adopted a diary entry style simply because I have essentially no real evidence to back up any arguments I may make in a conventional essay. To be honest, more often than not, I've had to force myself to have some sort of opinion on the provided topic. I must add that you do not need to directly respond to each statement or focus solely on one statement. They are provided as a basis for you to start your writing, much like a context response in English.

I recently did the 2011 paper as a trial and the persuasive response required me to write about fashion and beauty. This was not something I could identify with at all. In the end I adopted the persona of a teenage girl who was being bullied because she didn't wear the latest fashion trends and wrote a diary entry about a particular experience of being bullied (and giving into the bullies) and how I felt the way society was moving. I got a 9/10 for this by an external examiner so it's a style that I have stuck with.

Also, your responses do not need to be long! One teacher was shocked that I wrote three pages for each response given the fact that we are only supposed to spend 30 minutes on each task. I have heard anecdotally that one and a half to two pages should suffice.

[mikehepro]

Same here!

So...............How many practice GAT exams have you guys completed? I'm on my 7th one. It's so tedious.




Just kidding

Dedication. Got 48/50 for maths last year and I didn't even do a single practice. U will ace it ahhaha

[Dejan]

Dedication. Got 48/50 for maths last year and I didn't even do a single practice. U will ace it ahhaha

Not everyone has the same mathematical skills and abilities as you

[jeanweasley]

The GAT'll be fun. I'm looking forward to doing it, although I have to be honest and say I have not completed any of the papers. I have looked at the papers though and it doesn't seem that bad.

[mikehepro]

Not everyone has the same mathematical skills and abilities as you

That was luck I reckon, since I'm failing GMA atm....

[vashappenin]

I'm really curious to know, how does each section affect the 3 different results in the GAT? Are the 2 written pieces represented by the written communication bit, the maths by 35 mc and humanities by the other 35 mc?

And also, don't hate, but what sort of style of writing do I use for the first written piece and the second one? Just want to know so I can do it properly tomorrow, because I did not take it seriously at all last year and I need to this year just in case of anything happening during VCAA exam period 

[amabeyde]

The first essay is just testing your ability to rearrange, organise and connect pieces of information together. During reading time, identify three major subtopics within the major topic (for your three body paragraphs) and essentially regurgitate the information provided correctly and in a manner that makes logical sense. This task isn't too difficult, but some people do silly things like state where on the page the information is from, or if the information was provided on a graph or something. Don't show off and do anything too fancy here, unless the topic really lends itself to something other than an essay (for example, a few people took on the persona of David Attenborough for the wolves task). Also, this is just to assess your ability to present information in a user-friendly manner, so remain objective throughout your piece.

The second essay is much harder in my opinion. You are provided with four stimulus statements and you have to write a piece of prose presenting your point of view, basing your argument on the provided prompts. In the three times I have now sat a GAT paper (two trials and the official GAT last year), I have adopted a diary entry style simply because I have essentially no real evidence to back up any arguments I may make in a conventional essay. To be honest, more often than not, I've had to force myself to have some sort of opinion on the provided topic. I must add that you do not need to directly respond to each statement or focus solely on one statement. They are provided as a basis for you to start your writing, much like a context response in English.

I recently did the 2011 paper as a trial and the persuasive response required me to write about fashion and beauty. This was not something I could identify with at all. In the end I adopted the persona of a teenage girl who was being bullied because she didn't wear the latest fashion trends and wrote a diary entry about a particular experience of being bullied (and giving into the bullies) and how I felt the way society was moving. I got a 9/10 for this by an external examiner so it's a style that I have stuck with.

Also, your responses do not need to be long! One teacher was shocked that I wrote three pages for each response given the fact that we are only supposed to spend 30 minutes on each task. I have heard anecdotally that one and a half to two pages should suffice.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! That really cleared up a lot for me!
But um.. last year I found it really hard to make my essay flow and embed a lot of the information presented. I'm more of a science/maths type person so english is not my strongest point which is probably why I couldn't do it. Maybe I will write one now and try to find some way to 'make it flow'. Hopefully I'll find some techniques that will work for me tomorrow.
And for the second essay, I never thought about a diary entry! That would make my life so much easier! I think I will stick to that I guess. Thank you again! You are a legend!

[DetteAmelie]

Dedication. Got 48/50 for maths last year and I didn't even do a single practice. U will ace it ahhaha

I actually haven't completed 7 practice GAT exams...I was being sarcastic.

Anyways, GOOD LUCK EVERYONE...You'll do great! Don't stress, take a good nights rest and stay calm

[Mr Keshy]

I'm really curious to know, how does each section affect the 3 different results in the GAT? Are the 2 written pieces represented by the written communication bit, the maths by 35 mc and humanities by the other 35 mc?

And also, don't hate, but what sort of style of writing do I use for the first written piece and the second one? Just want to know so I can do it properly tomorrow, because I did not take it seriously at all last year and I need to this year just in case of anything happening during VCAA exam period 

I think I almost wrote it as a report type, giving subheadings to various things, and then copy pasting relevant facts.. My memory doesn't serve me that well though!

[siddhartharora]

LOL, my Dad just told me that I should study for the GAT because one of his workmates' son is studying for it. Not sure if I should really try and do some practice GAT's? What's the worst that can happen?

[Mr Keshy]

LOL, my Dad just told me that I should study for the GAT because one of his workmates' son is studying for it. Not sure if I should really try and do some practice GAT's? What's the worst that can happen?

Hahah, that would happen to me too.   I guess it's good to get a feel for the English section!