GAMSAT 2015

[EspoirTron]

So anyone sitting it at any point this year?

Post questions here and let's get some discussion going! Even if you're not sitting it this year, use this thread to ask any questions or if you've sat it in the past please feel free to share your wisdom.

Cheers

[MelonBar]

Will sit in March to keep my post undergrad options open, need to conquer physics and practice questions still. I sat the UK last year and not a lot of scientific knowledge was needed for section 3, because it tested reasoning skills, graph interpretation and whatnot. This is different to Des questions, lots of which seems to require science knowledge to solve.

So I can't tell if I should be spending more time on theories or solving the more logical questions in the Des book. yeah, the Des questions are just an imitation of the real thing but i remember some ppl saying the particular exam was funny and the gamsat has assumed knowledge every other time - any advice?

[EspoirTron]

Will sit in March to keep my post undergrad options open, need to conquer physics and practice questions still. I sat the UK last year and not a lot of scientific knowledge was needed for section 3, because it tested reasoning skills, graph interpretation and whatnot. This is different to Des questions, lots of which seems to require science knowledge to solve.

So I can't tell if I should be spending more time on theories or solving the more logical questions in the Des book. yeah, the Des questions are just an imitation of the real thing but i remember some ppl saying the particular exam was funny and the gamsat has assumed knowledge every other time - any advice?

Hey I'm using Des's books at the moment too. After having look at ACER questions too I feel that you're right, Des pretty much requires you to have a firm understanding. In my opinion, a lot of the questions would be self-contained. Although from my observation having a strong foundation in organic chemistry would help a lot and covering gases, thermodynamics, equilibria and galvanic cells would be advantageous.

The general consensus I seem to find - and don't quote me - is that many question in Section III are self-contained. In saying that, I think just like in VCE, spamming practice questions and understanding the reasoning behind the answer could help a lot.

That's my 50 cents at least.

[nerdgasm]

Hmm - I sat the GAMSAT Australia in 2013, and I would have to say that most (but not all) of the Section 3 questions were indeed self-contained. It's been a while, but from what I recall, knowledge of the following would have been beneficial for some (but I reiterate, a minority) of questions:

Constant acceleration formulae from Year 12 Physics (xuvat)
One question required an understanding of forces applied on an axis
Markovnikov's rule to predict a major product
Some knowledge of DNA (base pairing and kinds of mutations)

The official ACER practice books also have questions that require more knowledge (e.g. of osmosis and diffusion). It goes without saying, that being passingly familiar with more topics is helpful. For example, in one of ACER's practice questions, they ask you to deduce the correct order of events that allows a person to breathe in. Now, at that time, I had not studied lung physiology (I would later that semester). However, it would still have been easier to answer the question if you are aware of the relationship between pressure and volume, and that pressure moves from high to low, where possible. Whether you know this from the general gas laws, some study of physics, atmospheric science etc., these kinds of knowledge make solving the question both easier and faster (because you don't need to 'derive' or use thought experiments to deduce the answer).

[Shenz0r]

There's also always a question relating to static equilibrium and work. For example, in AUS 2014 they had something on you calculating the force on the ball of your feet when you stood up on your toes, and in UK 2014 you were supposed to calculate how much work each arm had to do during a pushup, taking into account how long their body was and how much they weighed. Completely guessed those.

Hey I'm using Des's books at the moment too. After having look at ACER questions too I feel that you're right, Des pretty much requires you to have a firm understanding. In my opinion, a lot of the questions would be self-contained. Although from my observation having a strong foundation in organic chemistry would help a lot and covering gases, thermodynamics, equilibria and galvanic cells would be advantageous.

The general consensus I seem to find - and don't quote me - is that many question in Section III are self-contained. In saying that, I think just like in VCE, spamming practice questions and understanding the reasoning behind the answer could help a lot.

That's my 50 cents at least.

Yup, you should be able to answer the Section III questions just by using the information they give you. Although from experience Des is some whacky as questions, you can still answer most of their practise questions just following the stimulus (just ignore everything on closed pipes and sound and shit).

[Mg12345]

I suck at physics. At this point i'm thinking I might as well give up studying physics becuase I get good marks on the chem and bio questions (in practice tests). What do you reckon the chances are of getting a good enough mark of I pretty much guess all the physics questions?

[Edward21]

Does anyone have a good indication of what % of questions we need to be getting right for a decent-ish score in the GAMSAT (65ish) [I know realistically it needs to be higher] but I just want to know a sort of range for this.

[ChickenCh0wM1en]

Does anyone have a good indication of what % of questions we need to be getting right for a decent-ish score in the GAMSAT (65ish) [I know realistically it needs to be higher] but I just want to know a sort of range for this.

It's almost impossible to work out because it is all a ranking and some questions are weighted more than others due to greater difficulty (similar to the UMAT).

[Shenz0r]

They also tend to use trial questions each year to make the scoring even more complicated.

If it gives you any idea, I was getting around 80-100/110 and got 73 and 74 for S3. S1 I was getting around 50-65/75 and I got 62 and 55 for S1. It's hard to tell how you'll go on the day because pressure and also exhaustion can get you to do really weird things

[Sheldon]

...so who else here had the misfortune of being in zone 12, and got a defective paper for Section I? 

[ChickenCh0wM1en]

...so who else here had the misfortune of being in zone 12, and got a defective paper for Section I? 

LOL my friends had that - poor you.
I'm just glad the gamsat is over - I hope I never need to sit it ever again...

[Shenz0r]

Oh my god who fucking parked their car at the exit? Distracting much?

It's so late and I'm still ages from the warmth of my bed. Zzzzz.

[ChickenCh0wM1en]

LOL I don't think it was a big deal about the parked cars tbh... I just think that guy was an asshole for making those announcements repetitively....

[MelonBar]

am i the only one who thought s3 was hard?

[ChickenCh0wM1en]

am i the only one who thought s3 was hard?

I thought s3 was hard, but I think i may have bombed s2... (really generic essays)