Gamsat 2013

Rc11 · 19-08-2013 3:18pm

Hey guys just wondering did many people get an offer in round 1 today?

gh1 · 19-08-2013 5:34pm

Any fellow UL bound heads get a higher preference offer today?

Flange/Flanders · 19-08-2013 5:37pm

pc11 wrote: »

Update on BOI: they gave me a letter yesterday saying I've been approved for the loan, but it will be next week before the credit agreement is prepared to be signed. The letter is not formally binding, just an indication really.

I've typed up my notice to quit work letter, just waiting to submit it.

Anyone had any progress with BOI?

Alright pc11, what you doing for living expenses for the 4 years?

Billydolan · 19-08-2013 5:46pm

gh1 wrote: »

Any fellow UL bound heads get a higher preference offer today?

I'm in the same boat, accepted ul but waiting for higher preference, no luck today but calling the appropriate admissions office tomorrow! They can give early indications about the next round of offers

okdune · 20-08-2013 12:55am

pc11 wrote: »

Register now for GAMSAT UK. You'll thank me later

EDIT: it would be better to keep this to the other thread, this isn't the right place.

UK exam it is!

okdune · 20-08-2013 1:03am

pc11 wrote: »

I'm going to offer what may be a differing experience of sitting GAMSAT. I entered the UK GAMSAT in September as a dry run for sitting it properly in Dublin in 2013. I did exactly 49 hours study for it (I kept a log). I was off work sick while studying as I was laid out with glandular fever and I could only do an hour or 2 of study per day and I was really struggling with concentration, alertness and energy. I was almost unable to read new information, so my preparation was pitiful.

My background is in Science but I have a lot of work experience in communications also so I felt like the exam was well suited to me. However, I have never studied Biology beyond Junior Cert and I only had first year college Chemistry.

I didn't buy any expensive notes or attend any expensive courses. I bought one Org. Chem for Dummies book and got some relevant PDFs from a friend, I did every sample paper I could find, I used Wikipedia and Google to find out what I didn't know to answer science questions.

I did maybe 8 or 9 essays after reading lots of guides online. These I did under the clock which I do think was important. I posted 1 essay on the PagingDr forum to get feedback.

I did the Section 1 samples under the clock also. However, most of the time I did the Science questions slowly and tried to work them out and remember the science involved. I tried to work on some of the big topics that are likely to come up regularly.

I sat UK GAMSAT while still quite ill but managed to get through it. It really helped me that I was relaxed about it as I had no expectations. I figured I was just learning what it was like for the next attempt. What everyone says about managing time is correct; you really have to keep moving and not get bogged down. Somehow I managed to answer every question though a few were pure guesses.

To my own surprise I have scored 67 and I'm certain to get in to any Irish college and there's no need for me to study for and sit the Irish GAMSAT. I'm not sure what to say to others though; maybe I was lucky, maybe I just have an aptitude for it, maybe my relaxed approach paid off, I really don't know.

I'm now a little sceptical of these expensive GAMSAT courses. Maybe they are great for some people, I don't really know as I haven't done them.

Advice: Do sample papers. Find out the regular topics in Science and hit these hard. Practice writing essays against the clock and get others to read them and feed back. Learn how to spell and use grammar. To be honest, I am shocked at how bad the English is of many prospective GAMSAT students is here on boards.ie. I'm certain that structure, style, grammar and spelling are deemed important by the markers. Identify your strengths and weakness in each section and attack your weakness. Unless you are a writer, you are likely to be unused to writing your thoughts down on paper for others to read. You need to break through this, so write and get feedback from others. Study poetry if you're not very used to it. I was weak in this area.

In the exam, don't try to work out the answer in full to every question in Section III, you need to identify how to eliminate the wrong answers in a few seconds and narrow it down. Make plausible guesses. They are testing your reasoning more than your knowledge. Keep moving. Skip questions you think look too hard for you, do not get bogged down. But bear in mind questions often look way more complex than they are. They put in way more info than is really needed and they are looking to see if you can cut across it to see what's relevant. The more verbose the question, chances are the answers are even more obvious. Very few people will answer all questions, you're not really expected to. But, do make random guesses to every question if you have no idea, leave 5 minutes to do this. To save time, copy your answers to the answer sheet each time you complete 2 facing pages in the question book.

I strongly recommend doing GAMSAT once as a practice before doing your real attempt. The UK sitting in September is great for this. I got lucky in that my practice one went well, I was fully prepared to sit it again.

Read the Pagingdr.com forum a lot. Other source for science topics is Khan Academy. I heard Exam Krackers MCAT material is good but I don't know myself.

I'll try to answer questions, but as I didn't do a lot of things that others do, I may not be able to answer everything.

You mention above that you tried to hit on the big science topics that come up regularly. What, in your opinion are these? Thanks you!

Signed up for Gamsat UK as a practice and want to give it a decent enough shot!

pc11 · 20-08-2013 8:42am

Flange/Flanders wrote: »

Alright pc11, what you doing for living expenses for the 4 years?

What a personal question!

Well, I spent a lot (a LOT!) of time this past year working on budgets. I have been saving hard and cutting living expenses. I don't want to go in to personal circumstances here too much but I have also been able to get some help from family, and I am able to keep my living costs very low, luckily.

I will still be living on less than the dole, effectively, and it will be very tight. Any unforeseen expense could ruin me. I will see about getting some work too, though the first summer holidays in RCSI are very short so it may be the second summer that is more productive for working.

Also, if you are over 23 and doing GEM, you can claim dole during the summers.

How are your financial plans?

pc11 · 20-08-2013 8:46am

okdune wrote: »

You mention above that you tried to hit on the big science topics that come up regularly. What, in your opinion are these? Thanks you!

Signed up for Gamsat UK as a practice and want to give it a decent enough shot!

I know you're sitting GAMSAT in 2013, but this thread is for people entering GEM this September, so let's discuss future stuff in the 2014 thread.

Flange/Flanders · 20-08-2013 10:25am

pc11 wrote: »

What a personal question!

Well, I spent a lot (a LOT!) of time this past year working on budgets. I have been saving hard and cutting living expenses. I don't want to go in to personal circumstances here too much but I have also been able to get some help from family, and I am able to keep my living costs very low, luckily.

I will still be living on less than the dole, effectively, and it will be very tight. Any unforeseen expense could ruin me. I will see about getting some work too, though the first summer holidays in RCSI are very short so it may be the second summer that is more productive for working.

Also, if you are over 23 and doing GEM, you can claim dole during the summers.

How are your financial plans?

Yeah pretty much the same, I'm depending on some help from my parents (free healthcare in future

), small bit of savings, loan from credit union, some part time work and hopefully some work next summer!! Gonna be a fairly tight 4 years tho!!

demure · 20-08-2013 10:49am

Flange/Flanders wrote: »

Yeah pretty much the same, I'm depending on some help from my parents (free healthcare in future ), small bit of savings, loan from credit union, some part time work and hopefully some work next summer!! Gonna be a fairly tight 4 years tho!!

Exactly guys! Fairly tight four years beats building up a huge debt any time of the day!

WoolahUrma · 20-08-2013 11:06am

Does anyone have an opinion on orientation week in UCD? worth it or waste of time?

Hypnos · 20-08-2013 11:08am

WoolahUrma wrote: »

Does anyone have an opinion on orientation week in UCD? worth it or waste of time?

Waste of time! Had it for the undergrad. However you do get a free meal and a free UCD usb key so it's worth it for that I guess. It's mandatory anyway. You have to attend the Orientation for IT induction. I'm registered for med with my old 09 account, so I don't think I can get the USB stick :S Anyways, go to see some of the classmates and for the USB

Flange/Flanders · 20-08-2013 11:09am

WoolahUrma wrote: »

Does anyone have an opinion on orientation week in UCD? worth it or waste of time?

Doesnt matter if its a waste of time, its compulsary!! I think it'll be a good way for us to meet our new classmates.....Im sure a drink or two will be had

WoolahUrma · 20-08-2013 11:14am

When do we get the breakdown of our gem specific orientation stuff? I dont think i can register online until the 22nd unless there is some kind of it problem

Hypnos · 20-08-2013 11:15am

WoolahUrma wrote: »

When do we get the breakdown of our gem specific orientation stuff? I dont think i can register online until the 22nd unless there is some kind of it problem

I got an email to my UCD email giving me a date for registration.

"Dear Student,

You may start your online module registration from Tuesday 27 August 2013 at 04:00PM.

Information on Registration Start Times is available at http://www.ucd.ie/students/stimes/faq.html

Regards,

UCD Registry"

WoolahUrma · 20-08-2013 11:20am

Hypnos wrote: »

I got an email to my UCD email giving me a date for registration.

"Dear Student,

You may start your online module registration from Tuesday 27 August 2013 at 04:00PM.

Information on Registration Start Times is available at http://www.ucd.ie/students/stimes/faq.html

Regards,

UCD Registry"

I didn't get this. the last thing i got from them was about the packs being sent out which i got this morning and to register after the 22nd. did you get this today?

also, im in hardware hell. Opinions on best laptop and is there any need for a tablet? I haven't had one before and I don't like them but someone was like, you need those for serious study. I guess, anything will do laptop wise. Connectivity and word and off you go?

pc11 · 20-08-2013 11:30am

WoolahUrma wrote: »

I didn't get this. the last thing i got from them was about the packs being sent out which i got this morning and to register after the 22nd. did you get this today?

also, im in hardware hell. Opinions on best laptop and is there any need for a tablet? I haven't had one before and I don't like them but someone was like, you need those for serious study. I guess, anything will do laptop wise. Connectivity and word and off you go?

I would personally go cheap and cheerful. Look in all the daily deal websites for a cheap Android tablet for either side of €100 (but read reviews on them first). Occasionally they have laptops too. Store all your files online and don't worry if you lose your laptop. With models advancing so fast, you get lots of bang for your buck and less depreciation if you go cheap. Decide the size of machine you want (screen size, keyboard size, weight etc). 15 inch laptops will often be cheaper than 10 or 11 inch ones. Look for a decent battery life too.

No need for Word or Office either, there are free alternatives like Open Office and Libre Office for Windows.

Hypnos · 20-08-2013 11:35am

WoolahUrma wrote: »

I didn't get this. the last thing i got from them was about the packs being sent out which i got this morning and to register after the 22nd. did you get this today?

also, im in hardware hell. Opinions on best laptop and is there any need for a tablet? I haven't had one before and I don't like them but someone was like, you need those for serious study. I guess, anything will do laptop wise. Connectivity and word and off you go?

Yeah I got the welcome pack this morning too. I'm going straight from undergrad so I might be the only one? I know that usually to avoid online traffic disaster they give dates for registration times or they allow you to book a reg time (not for new incoming students) so you'll get an email when reg is open I'm sure.

No need for a tablet in my opinion. Don't see many of those being used. All reports are written on laptops in most cases and I'd think you'd be better getting a slim netbook if you want something portable at all times. Laptop is necessary most definitely!

WoolahUrma · 20-08-2013 11:54am

Went into pc world a few weeks ago and saw a samsung for 399. asked the guy why it was so cheap and he said that it was end of range. he then went a bit further and said that a lot of the stock at the higher prices gets discounted every few months when a slightly newer tech comes through. Im pretty far from mr. techtastic so i think ill go the cheap and cheerful route. i prefer paper anyway so i think ill leave the tablet.

I haven't seen any other people straight from undergrad yet but we're a small enough portion of the group. Im sure there will be a nice few going straight through. did many from the health sciences degree go for it?

Hypnos · 20-08-2013 12:07pm

WoolahUrma wrote: »

Went into pc world a few weeks ago and saw a samsung for 399. asked the guy why it was so cheap and he said that it was end of range. he then went a bit further and said that a lot of the stock at the higher prices gets discounted every few months when a slightly newer tech comes through. Im pretty far from mr. techtastic so i think ill go the cheap and cheerful route. i prefer paper anyway so i think ill leave the tablet.

I haven't seen any other people straight from undergrad yet but we're a small enough portion of the group. Im sure there will be a nice few going straight through. did many from the health sciences degree go for it?

Absolutely! Those laptops will do everything that's needed for college. I love computers, so I'm one of those tech types I guess. I've seen a few on the Facebook page who are coming from undergrad. Surprisingly not many from the health sciences move. The highest influx comes from the science based students more so than the health science ones. That's what it appears like but sure we will have a better idea soon enough.

WoolahUrma · 21-08-2013 9:57am

So is there an official gem orientation bit where we all meet up?

Flange/Flanders · 21-08-2013 10:12am

WoolahUrma wrote: »

So is there an official gem orientation bit where we all meet up?

Id imagine the first time we'll all get a good chance to meet each other will be the BBQ. I'm really looking forward to starting now.

WoolahUrma · 21-08-2013 10:20am

Flange/Flanders wrote: »

Id imagine the first time we'll all get a good chance to meet each other will be the BBQ. I'm really looking forward to starting now.

I don't see anything anywhere about course specific meet ups? When is the gem bbq?

Flange/Flanders · 21-08-2013 10:28am

WoolahUrma wrote: »

I don't see anything anywhere about course specific meet ups? When is the gem bbq?

There's a GEM orientation timetable:

http://www.ucd.ie/incomingstudents/timetable/dn401_medicine_graduate_entry.pdf

WoolahUrma · 21-08-2013 10:34am

Flange/Flanders wrote: »

There's a GEM orientation timetable:

http://www.ucd.ie/incomingstudents/timetable/dn401_medicine_graduate_entry.pdf

Dunno how i missed that.

demure · 21-08-2013 10:43am

Anyone RCSI-bound any idea about our orientation week?

It would be nice to know

pc11 · 21-08-2013 11:45am

demure wrote: »

Anyone RCSI-bound any idea about our orientation week?

It would be nice to know

AFAIK we just have an orientation and registration on the first day (Sept. 9th) and that's it. We'll be in class the following day and cutting up dead people on the 3rd day, I believe they said.