Gamsat Ireland

dillonrabbit

Hi, has anyone signed up to do the Gamsat Ireland exam in March? Have you sat the gamsat before and do you have any advice for any particular section?

car83

Hi, i have applied to sit gamsat in March too, and dont know where to start, have you heard of any material to study or good courses-I dont know where to start-help!

dillonrabbit

Hi, I think a good place to start is with the sample papers that are available from the gamsat website - they're expensive and they don't really give a whole lot of advice, but they do allow you to familiarise yourself with the format of the exam and may help you to identify any weak areas.

The science based questions are quite tricky at times, especially if you haven't covered any of the subject areas in college. The questions seem to based at a 1st year college level of knowledge.

I've heard that there are course run in the uk to help you prepare for Gamsat and there are books and revision courses available online but they are not officially endorsed. I haven't looked at any of them so I couldnt say if they are a help or not. Keep your eyes peeled for preparation courses coming up in ireland, now that the graduate entry programs are starting to get off the ground i'd say some courses might be provided.

Oh, and good luck!

alanoc83

hi guys, i was thinkin of sitting the GAMSATS in march too. only ordering the books now though and am a bit worried about the time it might take to get ready for the tests! im comin to the end of my final year in college too so i gots the serious exams in may and june!! has anyone heard of a good ammount of time to give before sitting the exams and does anyone know the pass rate??

and good luck with the studies dudes!!!

Echani

alanoc83 wrote:

hi guys, i was thinkin of sitting the GAMSATS in march too. only ordering the books now though and am a bit worried about the time it might take to get ready for the tests! im comin to the end of my final year in college too so i gots the serious exams in may and june!! has anyone heard of a good ammount of time to give before sitting the exams and does anyone know the pass rate??

and good luck with the studies dudes!!!

There's no good amount of time before sitting the exams; if you have a strong scientific background then it won't take more than a few weeks, if not then it'll take longer. I didn't apply last year so that I could concentrate on my degree and getting the results I needed, but I've been studying pretty much since finishing my finals.. Of course that could be overkill. We'll see

The 'pass rate' depends on how many course places there are available; in the UK people in the top 20-30% tend to get interview offers, and half of those will get into the GEPs. Out of about 300 people who took the GAMSAT in Ireland last year (when it wasn't nearly as publicized), I know that 13 got a place in UCD without an interview. Dunno about RCSI though.

alanoc83

thanks dude! just the info i was looking for. im doin experimental physics at the moment and its pretty intense when it comes to the work load so im not sure if sitting them would be a good idea. i have the book ordered so ill decide when i get my hands on them. and then theres the money issue. i dont fancy spendin 300 quid next year too if i didnt get them. stressbags!
well thanks for the info man! and good luck in the exams. let us all know how you get on and what you think. itll be interesting to hear from first hand expierience what they are like!

cheers again!

kateevanne

In so far as I know RCSI took students on an interview only basis but this year it will be GAMSAT

Panserborn

Hi all,

How did the GAMSAT go? Was it similar to the sample papers on the GAMSAT site?

Echani

Compared to the ACER and Ozimed practice tests, I think the GAMSAT this year was pretty difficult in terms of timing. I'm not sure I've heard anyone say they completed Section 1 comfortably - most had to take a few swinging guesses (at the Eskimo spaghetti flow chart, for example). Essay titles were nice, I think mine went quite well - one of them could have been better, but hey. There was a collossal amount of org chem on Section 3, suited me alright but it was still pretty time consuming.

Hazeldochas

Hi,

I am 32, female and will be studying for GAMSAT 2008. I'm just wondering if there is anyone in Galway that would be interested in a study group??? It might not be as painful.....!!!

You can mail me if you are interested at hazeldochas@yahoo.com,

Hope to talk spoon

aoifecmcc

Hey, i'm sitting the gamsats in march 08 too. im in dublin tho, sorry. anyone else around doing them? Im currently in my final year of zoology in UCD and im doing the gamsats to get into veterinary in UCD. another three of my friends are thinking of sitting it this year too, gotta get my act together and get the papers tho!

King John V

It seems that gamsat is growing in interest in Ireland but I wonder which course is generating more interest?: veterinary in UCD or GEM in any of the 4/5 colleges offering it? From what I know, last year was a 3:2 divide between med/vets.
Personally, I'd love the opportunity to study med in any of the colleges next year.

fionamce

aoifecmcc wrote: »

Hey, i'm sitting the gamsats in march 08 too. im in dublin tho, sorry. anyone else around doing them? Im currently in my final year of zoology in UCD and im doing the gamsats to get into veterinary in UCD. another three of my friends are thinking of sitting it this year too, gotta get my act together and get the papers tho!

Hi, i'm registering for GAMSAT in march too.has anyone any advice on books/courses? i did a pharmacolgy degree but i've been working in investment banking the past 4yrs so completely out of the science zone.i've always wanted to be a doctor but didnt get points in leaving cert and sort of gave up. if anyone has any tips,i'd really appreciate it.Thanks a mill! Fi

shannoc

Hi All

I have just registered for the Gamsat and ordered the required material off the UCAS website. Any tips from the physics/chemistry side as these as my weak points! Also, does anyone know the success rate from RCSI??

Thanks

culboy07

hi there, jus registered as well for the GAMSAT got the books online, and now completley freaked out , in 4th year of college as well so feel your pains, however was talking to few who have done it last year, its completely random random stuff they ask, have a good knowledge of the basic sciences and then after that it is all time managment , keep doing the practice questions.

mloc

I did the GAMSAT last year and have given "grinds" to a few friends this year.

It's quite a difficult test to prepare for; only the third (science) section is study-able in the conventional sense. There are several good resources available for this section.

For the first section, I think a bit of practice might help. I find it's vital to really take everything very literally and weight nearly every word the same (particularly for the questions).

The second section (essays) is also something you can practice for, but its very important here to time yourself. You are not practicing simply writing an essay; you are practicing writing an essay in 30 minutes, which is an entirely different thing.

As for required results, AFAIK a student was admitted to UL last year with a score of 57. I would imagine with the hugely increased demand, a score of 65 will be required this year. I'm not sure about the per-college scores neccessary; this year UCC and UCD will be added to UL and RCSI, although total places I think have only increased by 50 or so.

Echani

mloc wrote: »

As for required results, AFAIK a student was admitted to UL last year with a score of 57. I would imagine with the hugely increased demand, a score of 65 will be required this year. I'm not sure about the per-college scores neccessary; this year UCC and UCD will be added to UL and RCSI, although total places I think have only increased by 50 or so.

I wouldn't be too sure about that, the Gamsat marks are weighted so they don't vary much from year to year, so cut off doesn't tend to vary significantly either. I don't know about anyone getting into UL with a score of 57, I think it was somewhere around 60-61. 61-62 tends to be the cutoff in the UK from year to year, regardless of demand, and Gamsat Ireland are almost definitely using the same system here.

Demand will definitely be higher, but I should think this'll just mean that there'll be fewer people who get mid to high 60 scores. They still caution that the cutoff can change from year to year for anyone who applies using a previous year's Gamsat result, but in practice it doesn't really seem significant.

But, I could be wrong

david mc namara

dillonrabbit wrote: »

Hi, has anyone signed up to do the Gamsat Ireland exam in March? Have you sat the gamsat before and do you have any advice for any particular section?

Practice essay's, the time will fly, focus on org chem, get a dummies guide for org chem. Study hard and long, missed it last year trying again in March, very very hard work

blipp

A student definately ( I hope!) didn't get into UL on 57. I had 59 and lost out on random selection. :(

goldenmaverick

How do you feel about getting yourself in debt to the tune of 60,00 just for fees?

Will there be enough Training places for the doctors once they have finished the course?

Could a repeat of what is happening in the UK, happen here?

imagine getting yourself in all that debt (unless of course D4 Daddy pays for it) and no job at the end of it? OUCH!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4741489.stm

katie24

I´m gonna sit the GAMSAT next year, and reckon that with enough practise, sections 1 and 2 should be ok, but its section 3, that with no bio or chem background that im worried about - wot are the several good resources for studying for these?
I think that if i have the materials it should be fine, but it seems very vague on what exactly is need to study...
any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
cheers

I did the GAMSAT last year and have given "grinds" to a few friends this year.

It's quite a difficult test to prepare for; only the third (science) section is study-able in the conventional sense. There are several good resources available for this section.

For the first section, I think a bit of practice might help. I find it's vital to really take everything very literally and weight nearly every word the same (particularly for the questions).

The second section (essays) is also something you can practice for, but its very important here to time yourself. You are not practicing simply writing an essay; you are practicing writing an essay in 30 minutes, which is an entirely different thing.

As for required results, AFAIK a student was admitted to UL last year with a score of 57. I would imagine with the hugely increased demand, a score of 65 will be required this year. I'm not sure about the per-college scores neccessary; this year UCC and UCD will be added to UL and RCSI, although total places I think have only increased by 50 or so.[/quote]

Echani

katie24 wrote: »

I´m gonna sit the GAMSAT next year, and reckon that with enough practise, sections 1 and 2 should be ok, but its section 3, that with no bio or chem background that im worried about - wot are the several good resources for studying for these?
I think that if i have the materials it should be fine, but it seems very vague on what exactly is need to study...
any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
cheers

I don't know if you're asking this or answering it, but here's my reply anyway...

There's a very rough guide here, which has a few bullet point topics that you should probably cover if you're running out of ideas. They're fairly broad suggestions, nothing too specific which isn't surprising seeing as the exam has no official syllabus that it examines. I went into the Gamsat with leaving cert biology (plus a bit of revision), and the only chemistry and physics I had was what I had taught myself in the 5-6 months beforehand, so don't let that put you off. If you're looking for books, I recommend Organic Chemistry for Dummies, any decent A-level physics text, and a general chemistry book like Chemistry - the Central Science. I've no decent recommendations for biology, but it shouldn't be too hard to find one - I used Chiras's Human Biology as a bit of revision. It doesn't really cover everything in the amount of detail you might want, but it's quite hard to know what you should prepare for the exam's biology questions.

As for required results, AFAIK a student was admitted to UL last year with a score of 57. I would imagine with the hugely increased demand, a score of 65 will be required this year. I'm not sure about the per-college scores neccessary; this year UCC and UCD will be added to UL and RCSI, although total places I think have only increased by 50 or so.

59 was the final cut off score from UL. The cutoff this year isn't likely to change very much, the demand isn't really as high as you might think. I doubt it'll go above 62 or 63, certainly not 65 unless a couple thousand applied in the last couple of days.

Elsa Hayes

Hi Folks,
Well done to those who completed Gamsats in March , I hope they went ok! I plan to sit mine next yr, found out the date will be Sat. 21st, If anyone interested in completing the exam again or for the first time.
Trying to wade through organic chem at the mo. Anyone who is tipping away studying for next year you might let mew know what suggestions you have to cover the organic chem. less painfully. All suggestions welcome.;)

katie24

hey guys

was just wondering if anybody knows roughly the ratio of people sitting gamsaat ireland to the number of graduate places available in ireland??

seein as theres no interview it essentially reliant on this i guess...!!!

Echani

katie24 wrote: »

hey guys

was just wondering if anybody knows roughly the ratio of people sitting gamsaat ireland to the number of graduate places available in ireland??

seein as theres no interview it essentially reliant on this i guess...!!!

I guess we'll know when people start posting up the GAMSAT results, which came out in the last hour or two It was about 1 place for 8-10 candidates last year.

tallaght01

Echani wrote: »

I guess we'll know when people start posting up the GAMSAT results, which came out in the last hour or two It was about 1 place for 8-10 candidates last year.

Are the results out? do you find out if you've gotten a place when you get your results, or do you have to wait like the leaving cert points?

Good luck to everyone who did it. let us know how you get on.

Echani

You need to wait until the CAO offers come out, so unless you're in the top percentiles it's a bit of a pain having to wait another few months before you know what you're doing in September.

tomgamsat

Hey anyone studying for the gamsat in galway interested in a study group?Am going to sit it in the uk in september 08
.

ferggamsat

Tom, doing the same exam myself. Would be interested in getting the ball rolling in terms of a study group..would consider meeting up to discuss..am from city centre galway..

alanoc83

hey,
did anyone sit it in march or is this the first time for a lot of you?

Nukes86

hey
I would also be interested in joining a study group..living in galway this summer. Might as well start doing something, not doing much else!!