Gamsat 2012

Bonnieaurstomp

1. Degree in biotechnology, but no Physics beyond the junior cert and I had been out of college for 8 years.
2. About 4 months part time study, mostly a few hours in the evening after work.
3. Got it first go.
4. Score: 68 (75 in section 3)

Babs, 4 months is more than enough time. In relation to the science section; for physics get yourself a leaving cert physics book and just learn the course off, it really doesn't take as much time as you'd think. For the biology questions, I feel that it is essentially impossible to study for it. Know a bit about genetics (maybe just inheritence patterns) and that's about it. Maybe as well have a very basic understanding of the major organ systems of the body, but the questions are so completely random.
For the chemistry, if you have no chemistry beyond the junior cert then by all means start with a leaving cert book, but don't go beyond a basic understanding of atomic structure. Then move on to a first year chemistry text book. I covered pretty much everything in the book i used beyond the odd chapter on things like the environment. For organic chemistry, you cannot go wrong with organic chemistry for dummies, it starts with the very basics and is all you need to know as far as I'm concerned.
I was equally strong in all three subjects by the time came around, so there is no reason if you work hard enough, that you can't do well.

Bonnieaurstomp

Sorry, just to add, i sat it in 2011.

cambridge

I think people giving their stories as a pep talk is fine, but we weary of taking other peoples' advice, regardless of how well natured.

There are plenty of people that do exceptionally well in GAMSAT without a science degree. These however, are people who would have done exceptionally well in a science degree had they done it but rather choice something else. They are not people who would have not been able to physics/chemistry/biology for LC or college. You need to be honest with yourself and ask yourself if you could have done "Science" in college if you had to.

People take variable amount of times to study for this thing and can come out with the same score. I know a guy that studied 2 weeks for it or less and got short of a 60 and i know people that claimed to study 6 months for it and get mid 50.

There are all too many people that come out of the word work with good results who say 'gamsat isn't that hard'. It is hard if you're not already very intelligent, with high academic capacity and an ability to teach yourself.

Right now the competition is so low you really need to be in the top 85% to get an offer (even lower I'd imagine) so anyone can do it but not everyone will find it routine.

Stephan Grundy

Babs_1208 wrote: »

Congrats to everyone on your results!!! As someone who is only a month or so into studying for September in London, I'm very envious of you all!

Just as a reassurance/scare tactic for me, would any of you mind answering the below....I'd love to gauge where I sit in comparison with other's backgrounds, etc. Currently going cross-eyed trying to get up to speed with a LC chemistry book and feeling what seems like the usual (and reoccurring!) feeling of despair!

1. Science background? (I only have JC science from 11 years ago...)
2. Length of time studying? (I'll be doing May - Sept full-time)
3. No. of times you have sat GAMSAT? (My first time will be Sept!)
4. Score

Dear Babs:

My science background: last science class taken was "Biology for Boneheads" in 1990, a class created so that science/math deficient liberal arts majors could actually nominally fulfill graduation requirements. Last one before that was high school chemistry in 1983-84.
My length of time studying: 3 months, but it was pretty intensive (ca. 8-10 hours/day), and I engaged a tutor for physics, as I had never ever done anything even slightly resembling physics in my life, and my math background was even farther in the past than my science background.
Number of times I have sat GAMSAT: this was the first.
Score: 66 (55 on the science section, pretty good on the verbals - but I do have a Ph.D. in Old Norse religious studies from Cambridge, and double-majored in English and German Area Studies as an undergraduate).
Advice to other non-science folk (or at least how I did it): go through all the Acer tests, starting with the oldest ones, which are simplest. Establish exactly what you didn't get regarding each question, and why. Study topics and repeat tests until you are getting the vast majority of questions right. The GAMSAT gold standard review book is very good as a guide to basic studies: it will only give you a foundation to work from, because the difficulty level of this year's test was apparently ramped up insanely, but if you don't already have a science background, at least it will tell you what you don't know and point you to where to find it. Engage a tutor for topics where you are clueless starting out. In retrospect, I might have done a bit better if I had gone with one of the actual prep courses or study groups, but I am still pretty happy with my results, considering that I've spent the last two months wondering if I might have been lucky enough to scrape a 30 (yeah, you read it right, 30!) in the science section. And if you don't know an answer on the test, guess that sucker and keep moving!
It worked for me, anyway. Truly, with the right guidance and good focus and application, you *don't* need to be a sciencehead coming in to at least get an okay score on section III.

Bonnieaurstomp

I have to say i agree with everything that cambridge has said. The Gamsat is not easy, it is a horrible exam. And being brilliantly prepared is absolutely no guarantee of success. But for those people who do not have a science background, I think that with the right study that section 3 is managable and it is only half the exam.

tiredcity

Congrats all! It's the start of a manic but interesting journey...

markitzero

Hi,
Thought I'd make a post here about my whole personal experience of Gamsat, my background and my scores so that it might help other people and that I might get feedback from others about my situation..
First, I got a score of 65 which from what I gather should be enough for the colleges.
I am a pre-reg pharmacist (having studied Arts previously) who was having second thoughts about it as a career so I thought I'd sit the Gamsat and see how I got on.
I didn't really do much study, one full week before the exam and another week a month before hand. I was dipping in and out every weekend or two for a few hours since Janurary. I used griffiths review and the Acer tests as my resources, which were ample. I focused most of my study on science but still only got 58 in that section, which is slightly disappointing. Overall, pharmacy is an advantage for sitting Gamsat, (although there wasn't one Acid Base question this year!) so would encourage any pharmacy graduates to go for it.

I'm uncertain about medicine as a career for me, time is marching on (27yo) and it's a massive financial commitment. So much so that I didn't bother applying for the CAO this year.
But I'm guessing seeing that my score should be enough I might apply next year. Is 28/29 years old too late to be embarking on a career in medicine? And are there many pharmacy graduates who got there results today?

Stephan Grundy

I'm uncertain about medicine as a career for me, time is marching on (27yo) and it's a massive financial commitment. So much so that I didn't bother applying for the CAO this year.
But I'm guessing seeing that my score should be enough I might apply next year. Is 28/29 years old too late to be embarking on a career in medicine? And are there many pharmacy graduates who got there results today?[/QUOTE]

28/29 too old? HAHAHAHAHA! I'm turning forty-five next month, and applying for 2013. My father is creeping up on 80, and he is still (despite a bad bout with Guilliam-Barre a couple of years ago) working with patients, researching, and turning out important articles on new topics. If anyone wants to say 45 is too old to start a medical career, this old guy will happily put them in a headlock and give them noogies until they adjust their attitude. My friend, you have the considerable advantage of a bit of extra experience and perspective, you should be in your physical prime, and have, with a little luck and care, up to 50 years (or more, as *people just like us* are extending healthy and active lifespan all the time) of medical practice ahead of you. So don't even think that you might be too old to get started in the medical field!

Reality_Check1

1. Science background? JC science, LC biology
2. Length of time studying? Just shy of 3 weeks flat out
3. No. of times you have sat GAMSAT? once
4. Score 62

I knew it was pointless studying everything and any biology wouldn't help me at all because generally any info you need for those questions are in the question anyway (in terms of graphs etc)

For physics I learned off all the formulas and knew when to use them ( i was good at maths so that helped) apart from that I didn't do any physics

chemistry was the toughest but the scope you are required to go into is ridiculous - I just learned the basics of organic and inorganic chemistry and tried to come up with educated guesses.

I tried to practice section 1 as much as possible by doing sample papers (I dont think you can study for it tbh)

I learned the format they like for question 2 and blitzed the sh!t out of the essays (got a 78 in that section)

Stephan Grundy

I may be talking through my arse here, but from what I have seen (and, growing up in a medical family, heard) about med school, I can now say that my experience with the GAMSAT leads me to believe that it is the live toad of the medical career. As in, "if you eat a live toad first thing in the morning, nothing worse will happen to you all the rest of the day". There may be insane amounts of stuff to memorize, assimilate, and take on board; you may be pimped until your eyes bleed; sleep may become one of those mythical creatures that is spoken of, but never seen; but there is nothing to compare with, "Learn everything thoroughly, but the vast majority of things that you had every reason to expect to see and worked your butt off to learn will actually be on the test. Except, of course, that some of them might be".
(Am I still pissed off about the absence of acid-base questions this year? How did you guess?)

Reality_Check1

Stephan Grundy wrote: »

"Learn everything thoroughly, but the vast majority of things that you had every reason to expect to see and worked your butt off to learn will actually be on the test. Except, of course, that some of them might be".

Ha you have just described every exam I have done in med school in the last 2 years (thats a lie we have some very simple modules) but its an illusion to think it gets any easier when you get in. Sure the implications of the exams might not mean as much but difficulty wise they are still the same.

Stephan Grundy

Reality_Check1 wrote: »

Ha you have just described every exam I have done in med school in the last 2 years (thats a lie we have some very simple modules) but its an illusion to think it gets any easier when you get in. Sure the implications of the exams might not mean as much but difficulty wise they are still the same.

Perfectly willing to accept that I am briefly enjoying a pleasant delusion here...

markitzero

28/29 too old? HAHAHAHAHA! I'm turning forty-five next month, and applying for 2013. My father is creeping up on 80, and he is still (despite a bad bout with Guilliam-Barre a couple of years ago) working with patients, researching, and turning out important articles on new topics. If anyone wants to say 45 is too old to start a medical career, this old guy will happily put them in a headlock and give them noogies until they adjust their attitude. My friend, you have the considerable advantage of a bit of extra experience and perspective, you should be in your physical prime, and have, with a little luck and care, up to 50 years (or more, as *people just like us* are extending healthy and active lifespan all the time) of medical practice ahead of you. So don't even think that you might be too old to get started in the medical field![/QUOTE]

Cheers, that's encouraging, when I saw my result today I was a little disappointed that I didn't bother doing the CAO form! Ah well, at least I'll have another year to pay down my debts and ultimately decide on what I want to do.
Just for clarity my scores were 70, 74 and 58. I'm really surprised at my score for section two as I had no idea of what the standard of my essay writing was, haven't not sat gamsat before and neglecting to do much practice. All I'll say is that Griffith's method is pretty darn good way of approaching them.

Stephan Grundy

I really have no idea myself how they mark the essays - only got a 77 on mine, and I make part of my living as a professional writer. I did sign up for one of the on-line things where they grade the essays, which made me really nervous (like I needed more nervous in my life two weeks before G-Day!), as I don't think I got better than a 71 on any of my trial runs with them and they added, "GAMSAT scores will probably be 3-5 points lower". Of course, they carefully don't tell you what you got on each individual essay just in case, you know, someone might guess something about what the actual criteria are.
Truly, I am beginning to wonder if they do the scoring by putting your horoscope on the wall, Jackson Pollocking a bottle of homeopathic distilled water at it, and adding up all the drops that fall in a house with a planet in it, or something equally nutsoid. It's the only thing I can think of, because I am *sure* that I did not get 55% of the science questions right! (although I got a huge break on the vampire bat wee, having researched this process extensively for a reason that is way too silly to describe...okay, maybe not: I was writing a paper for Tolkiendom on the biological functions of Ents, which also have a liquid diet).

markitzero

My score really is a bit of a shock, I remember coming out of the exam and thinking well that was a complete disaster and just feeling glad I told no one about doing Gamsat. I still haven't accepted my essay score, writing about love was pure torture for me. The science section was painful enough, I remember thinking what is the obsession with radiation physics? I was banking on acid base questions cause they are something we learn in detail in pharmacy.

I'm guessing the gamsat is all about trying to be mentally tough, and to focus solely on doing the test, not creeping thoughts of the fairness of it or counting wrong/right answers.

Does anybody know what the fail rate is for gradmed? Or is this the wrong forum?

GradMed

markitzero wrote: »

Does anybody know what the fail rate is for gradmed? Or is this the wrong forum?

My entire grad class have passed their final exams and I'm sure the failure rate is very low across the medical schools.

tiredcity

I don't know the specifics but we've been told repeatedly by higher uppers that most of the gradmeds are in the upper 50% of results in RCSI in the clinical years. We had a few drop outs in first year but none were due to failed exams. From what I've seen some non-scis (and scis!) may struggle for the first semester but after that, everyone's pretty much on even footing.

StanC

Hey, I've been reading through the board and I'm only new to this but I felt I had to reply to the thread. Why does everyone with a low score just 'assume' UL will do?I am sitting on a 68 and UL is and always has been my first choice. People who score high in GAMSAT do put it as their first choice so this stigma of 'everyone in UL is only there because they have low GAMSAT scores' is ridiculous.

Anyway,Congrats to everyone who sat the exam this year!I hope you all did well enough to gain a place-even the low 50's I'm pretty sure will get in this year, but think twice about slating UL. I know people who scored 72-74 who chose UL.

dmccormack01

StanC wrote: »

Hey, I've been reading through the board and I'm only new to this but I felt I had to reply to the thread. Why does everyone with a low score just 'assume' UL will do?I am sitting on a 68 and UL is and always has been my first choice. People who score high in GAMSAT do put it as their first choice so this stigma of 'everyone in UL is only there because they have low GAMSAT scores' is ridiculous.

Anyway,Congrats to everyone who sat the exam this year!I hope you all did well enough to gain a place-even the low 50's I'm pretty sure will get in this year, but think twice about slating UL. I know people who scored 72-74 who chose UL.

Well done Stan...and well put!

Karlheinz1987

With number of applicants down and the marks slightly down on last year, is it safe to say offers will go out at in and around the same as 2011?

GOING4BROKE

Great to hear Stan, refreshing to hear something different. Most of the naysayers around here have no first hand experience and base their views on pure speculation and an in built condescending attitude. A Medicine degree is a Medicine degree no matter where you get it from. As for those struggling in their first year, this is to be expected. No one thinks this will be an easy ride but I think people have made sacrifice enough to show they want it and should surely not be beaten down for their efforts.

In the last few weeks I have taken it upon myself to ask several consultant surgeons if limerick is merely a GP feeder college. One of them asked me who told me that b**l s**t and another completely rejected the idea and said it is purely based on what they have done after college, proof of this was when he said one of the best people he had hired was educated in Tehran. I have decided that Limerick is my first choice. I feel its new approach to teaching will be a breath of fresh air as opposed to the way most of us were taught in our primary degrees.

Once again congrats to everyone who took the exam and now has the opportunity to begin such a fulfilling and rewarding career in any of the four renowned and highly esteemed Irish Universities.

Anyways just my 2 cents.

Sing

Guys have been watching this thread from the beginning and feel like im in a bit of a rock and hard place so any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I am sitting on a 53 at the moment. Ive been offered a masters in NUIG which requires a deposit of 500e by this fri. Ultimately I want to be a doc and am just contemplating the idea of resitting in sept in the UK.

The question I have is do people really believe there is a chance of getting into UL on 53 this year...?
My masters is in Toxicology which i feel would be an advantage if I was to make it into med next year. However Im in two minds tho to spend 7000e on masters if I plan to do med n spend 100000e next year too. Im scared if I dont get in this year and dont do better in sept Ill still be in the same position next year with no masters and no prospects for medicine. Im almost 30 and dont want to screw around with time

Is there really a chance this yr with 53 ....be honest with me please as Ive a hard decision to make and money doesnt grow on trees in my house so I really want to make the right choice here

Thanks in advance

yit

Sing wrote: »

Guys have been watching this thread from the beginning and feel like im in a bit of a rock and hard place so any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I am sitting on a 53 at the moment. Ive been offered a masters in NUIG which requires a deposit of 500e by this fri. Ultimately I want to be a doc and am just contemplating the idea of resitting in sept in the UK.

The question I have is do people really believe there is a chance of getting into UL on 53 this year...?
My masters is in Toxicology which i feel would be an advantage if I was to make it into med next year. However Im in two minds tho to spend 7000e on masters if I plan to do med n spend 100000e next year too. Im scared if I dont get in this year and dont do better in sept Ill still be in the same position next year with no masters and no prospects for medicine. Im almost 30 and dont want to screw around with time Is there really a chance this yr with 53 ....be honest with me please as Ive a hard decision to make and money doesnt grow on trees in my house so I really want to make the right choice here

Thanks in advance

I know how ya feel, I missed out on Medicine this year, but I'm starting a 2 year masters in September that's going to cost me in excess of 30K (fees+living accommodation). I'm going to do the masters though instead of taking a year out because with the GAMSAT there's no guarantee you will do better if you do it again surely. I would suggest pay your deposit and if you don't get into medicine (You have an okay chance!) then start the masters and do GAMSAT in London to give yourself the option of doing med after you've finished

Reality_Check1

StanC wrote: »

Hey, I've been reading through the board and I'm only new to this but I felt I had to reply to the thread. Why does everyone with a low score just 'assume' UL will do?I am sitting on a 68 and UL is and always has been my first choice. People who score high in GAMSAT do put it as their first choice so this stigma of 'everyone in UL is only there because they have low GAMSAT scores' is ridiculous.

Anyway,Congrats to everyone who sat the exam this year!I hope you all did well enough to gain a place-even the low 50's I'm pretty sure will get in this year, but think twice about slating UL. I know people who scored 72-74 who chose UL.

Congrats on the high GAMSAT score. I was just wondering what draws you to UL considering you have your pick of the colleges? Just to play devils advocate for discussion;

-They have an unfinished med building
-They have no cadaver labs
-They dont do biochemistry
-They dont do pharmachology
-The face to face teaching time is a lot less than other colleges yet the fees are the same. why pay as much to teach yourself?
- The teaching hospitals are not as good as the other colleges and the GP practices are miles away from campus
- Arguably they are looked down on by other colleges
- To combat the point someone made above I was told by one ortho consultant and one cardiac SPR that I should not go to UL if I wanted a serious medical career in a hospital. why put yourself at a disadvantage?

Like i said Im just playing devils advocate but I find it hard to understand how someone with the pick of any college they wanted would rationally choose UL?

PaddyA

The numbers applying for GEM through the CAO remain the same this year.

Jammyc

Now that I have the score, I'm growing more impatient over having to finish out this degree, haha!

Karlheinz1987

Where did you hear that Paddy A?

Sing

yit wrote: »

I know how ya feel, I missed out on Medicine this year, but I'm starting a 2 year masters in September that's going to cost me in excess of 30K (fees+living accommodation). I'm going to do the masters though instead of taking a year out because with the GAMSAT there's no guarantee you will do better if you do it again surely. I would suggest pay your deposit and if you don't get into medicine (You have an okay chance!) then start the masters and do GAMSAT in London to give yourself the option of doing med after you've finished

Thanks Yit for your response. Its what im leaning towards at the moment. Another niggling fear I have is doing a master of science when ultimately i want to end up helping people even if it is a different aspect of health like social work, speech therapy. Sadly i missed those deadlines and wonder if I should hang on for the year and apply next year for something like this. Whats your masters in out of interest?
I also want to get out of my current job but Its def not the reason to do a half hearted masters. I dont want to end up soley in a lab and def not in industry!!!

dmccormack01

Sing wrote: »

Guys have been watching this thread from the beginning and feel like im in a bit of a rock and hard place so any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I am sitting on a 53 at the moment. Ive been offered a masters in NUIG which requires a deposit of 500e by this fri. Ultimately I want to be a doc and am just contemplating the idea of resitting in sept in the UK.

The question I have is do people really believe there is a chance of getting into UL on 53 this year...?
My masters is in Toxicology which i feel would be an advantage if I was to make it into med next year. However Im in two minds tho to spend 7000e on masters if I plan to do med n spend 100000e next year too. Im scared if I dont get in this year and dont do better in sept Ill still be in the same position next year with no masters and no prospects for medicine. Im almost 30 and dont want to screw around with time

Is there really a chance this yr with 53 ....be honest with me please as Ive a hard decision to make and money doesnt grow on trees in my house so I really want to make the right choice here

Thanks in advance

tough one, id prob fork out the €500 if i could afford it, just to give myself the option! maybe worth ringing the college letting them know the situation, see what they say..no harm in trying!

PaddyA

Spoke to man in CAO office today. Said numbers the same as last year and that all those on 54 got places in UL in subsequent rounds. Is curve posted the Irish version?