AceGamsat - The Study Bible

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The GAMSAT Bible A Complete Outline of All Techniques, Tips, Strategies, and Resources for GAMSAT Success www.AceGamsat.com The information contained in this guide is for informational purposes only. The publication of such Third Party Materials does not constitute my guarantee of any information, instruction, opinion, products, or services contained within the Third Party Material. Publication of such Third Party Material is simply a recommendation and an expression of my own opinion of that material. No part of this publication shall be reproduced, transmitted, or sold in whole or in part in any form, without the prior written consent of the author. All trademarks and registered trademarks appearing in this guide are the property of their respective owners. Users of this guide are advised to do their own due diligence when it comes to making decisions and all information, products, and services that have been provided should be independently verified by your own qualified professionals. By reading this guide, you agree that AceGAMSAT is not responsible for the success or failure relating to any information presented in this guide. ©2018 AceGAMSAT. All Rights Reserved.

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About GAMSAT The GAMSAT (Graduate Australia Medical School Admissions Test) has been developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). This test selects for students that have the greatest capacity to advance their studies in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. The GAMSAT was developed for Australian universities and its component of use for admissions has spread to institutions in the UK and Ireland. GAMSAT evaluates the nature and extent of abilities and skills gained through prior experience and learning, including the mastery and use of concepts in basic science as well as the acquisition of more general skills in problem solving, critical thinking and writing. Candidates whose first degree is in a non-scientific field of study can still sit GAMSAT and succeed in an application for admission to one of the graduate-entry programs. A science degree is not always a prerequisite and institutions encourage applications from candidates who have achieved academic excellence in the humanities and social sciences. However, it must be stressed that success in GAMSAT is unlikely without knowledge and ability in the biological and physical sciences.

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Table of Contents OVERVIEW OF THE GAMSAT

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INTRODUCTION FORMAT WHAT DO I NEED TO SCORE IN GAMSAT? WHICH UNIVERSITIES CURRENTLY USE GAMSAT SCORES?

GAMSAT: STRUCTURING YOUR STUDY

1 1 2 3

4 5 10 10

THE TIMETABLE BEING FLEXIBLE HELP I’VE RUN OUT OF TIME

SECTION I: REASONING IN HUMANITIES

12 12 12 13 13

OUTLINE SUGGESTED READINGS VOCABULARY PRACTICE

SECTION II: WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

15 15 17 17 18 18 19 20 21

OUTLINE TASK A TASK A SAMPLE PLANNING TASK B TASK B SAMPLE PLANNING TASK A PRACTICE QUOTES TASK B PRACTICE QUOTES SUGGESSTED READINGS FOR SII

SECTION III: REASONING IN BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES OUTLINE TOPIC LIST FOR GAMSAT WHAT LEVEL OF MATHEMATICS IS RECOMMENDED? THE BASICS – STUDYING FOR SPEED THE BASICS – FIRST PRINCIPLES MAXIMISING YOUR SCORE GAMSAT SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES GAMSAT TRAPS

IV

22 22 22 27 28 29 30 31 32

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TIPS FOR GAMSAT

33 33 33 34 34 36

GENERAL TIPS FOR EACH SECTION THE ACEGAMSAT ELIMINATION STRATEGY THE ACEGAMSAT GUESSING STRATEGY THE ACEGAMSAT MINDSET TECHNIQUE FINAL THOUGHTS

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Overview of the GAMSAT Introduction The GAMSAT is a prerequisite test run by ACER for the admission into dental and medical schools in Australia, Ireland, and the UK. Throughout this text the words ‘candidates’ and ‘students’ will be used interchangeably to represent anyone preparing to sit the GAMSAT. Test dates in Australia and Ireland are in March. The test date in the UK is in September. Candidates can sit the GAMSAT twice in one year. In Australia: Candidates can take the Australian GAMSAT in March and/or the UK GAMSAT in Melbourne in September. In UK: Candidates can take either the Irish or Australian GAMSAT in London in March and/or take the UK GAMSAT in September. GAMSAT results are valid for two years.

Format There are 3 sections in the GAMSAT. Section I This section is called Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences. Students are given 100 minutes to complete 75 multiple-choice questions. Section II This is the Written Communication section. Students are given essay Task A and B to complete in 60 minutes total. Section III This is called the Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences section. Students are given 170 minutes to complete 110 multiple-choice questions. Rulers and calculators are not permitted for the exam.

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What Do I Need to Score in the GAMSAT? The overall GAMSAT score is determined using the following formula: Overall score = (Section I + Section II + 2 x Section III)/4 As you can see, the formula gives greater weight to Section III (Sciences) of the exam. Therefore, this section is extra important as it accounts for 50% of the final grade. Minimum GAMSAT entry scores can be found at: http://www.acegamsat.com/minimum-gamsat-scores-/ These scores have been put together from scores that students have submitted on the Paging Dr forum. These minimum scores are not set in stone and they should only be used as a guide. Students will receive an individual score out of 100 for each section. These scores are not percentage scores because ACER scales each year’s scores. They are adjusted each year so that results can be directly comparable with results from previous years. As a general guide, a minimum score to get into medicine needs to be between 60 and 65. For entrance into dentistry it is slightly lower. However, students must remember that their GPA and Interview Scores will affect their chances of gaining acceptance. For example, a student who obtains a GAMSAT score of 70, but has a poor GPA and does not perform well in the interview may not gain acceptance into medicine. However, another student may get accepted into the same medical program with a GAMSAT score of 65 if they perform well in the interview and have an outstanding GPA. Every university has different entry requirements. Students should read the information below regarding acceptance for each university.

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Which Universities Currently Use GAMSAT Scores?

Australia:

Ireland:

Australian National University - Medicine

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Medicine

Deakin University - Medicine

University College Cork - Medicine

Flinders University - Medicine

University College Dublin - Medicine

Griffith University - Medicine

University of Limerick - Medicine - Physiotherapy

The University of Queensland - Medicine

UK:

The University of Melbourne - Medicine - Dentistry - Optometry

Cardiff University - Medicine

The University of Notre Dame (Fremantle) - Medicine

Keele University - Medicine

The University of Notre Dame (Sydney) - Medicine

Plymouth University - Medicine - Dentistry

The University of Sydney - Medicine - Dentistry - Pharmacy

University of Exeter - Medicine

The University of Western Australia - Medicine - Dentistry - Podiatric Medicine

University of Liverpool - Medicine

The University of Wollongong - Medicine

St George's University of London - Medicine Swansea University - Medicine The University of Nottingham - Medicine www.AceGAMSAT.com

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GAMSAT: Structuring your study The GAMSAT is a tough exam that needs to be treated with great respect. It is, at its basis, an exam that will analyse your ability to problem solve. It is not an exam that can be defeated through brute memorisation. The GAMSAT is a task that tests how you think, not what you’ve managed to cram into your brain. Just rote learning for the GAMSAT is a critical mistake that some first-timers with little prior knowledge of the format will make. Don’t make this mistake - the GAMSAT is more similar to an IQ test than a first year university exam (where often just memorising the lectures will give you a passing mark). Now you’re probably wondering “how can I possibly study for a IQ test…isn’t my score set in stone?” Well luckily, after a great deal of research and exploring a great many strategies, it turns out it is possible. The GAMSAT mindset can be learnt. Luckily for you by obtaining this book you’ve already made the crucial first step in adopting the GAMSAT mindset. You’ve already made a decision to learn the rules of the game that underlie the GAMSAT testing method, placing you in front of the countless people who don’t do any effective study for this exam. Once upon a time, when I had just started my undergrad studies, I heard of people that managed to get very respectable scores in the GAMSAT without any study. But times have changed. With the explosion of GAMSAT companies and tutoring services, people are much more competent at this exam now than five years ago. To stay competitive, you’ll likely need to put some time into learning how the GAMSAT works before you go in on that day. But how much study is required? It varies. Obviously. But here’s a table that estimates when you should start studying at certain levels of science knowledge/writing ability:

Overall Competency

Study Time (for each section)

Science Undergraduate + Strong in Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Maths

1-2+ Months (Section 3)

Science Undergraduate + Strong in Chemistry, Biology + Weak physics, Maths

3+ Months (Section 3)

Non-Science Background + Strong Maths

4+ Months (Section 3)

Non-Science Background + Weak Maths

6+ Months (Section 3)

Weak writing skills

2-4+ Months (Section 2)

A person who only requires one month of study is going to have a vastly different academic foundation to a person who needs six months. I’d like to bring up two examples that illustrate this difference.

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One prospective doctor is Kylie – a 2nd year Biomed student. Kylie has completed compulsory physics, chemistry and biology subjects over the past year that just so happen to overlap perfectly with the concepts tested in the GAMSAT. She is getting above average marks in all her subjects. She scored highly in her Year 12 English exam, and has been sitting highly pressured tests for the last 3 years consistently. Her study habits are disciplined and her motivation to get into medicine is strong. She studied intermittently for one and a half months, only really studying full time (5+ hours a day) for the GAMSAT for one week, and got a 71 in the GAMSAT. Another prospective student is Bruce. Bruce is a mature aged student, whose previous degree was in music teaching. He hasn’t opened a science book in 10 years and Maths concepts like indices and logarithms elude him. His writing is good, but Bruce isn’t used to writing under time constraints. Bruce hasn’t sat a timed exam in 10 years, but he is highly motivated to do medicine. These are two different but very real students that I tutored for the GAMSAT. Bruce is starting at a much lower level than Kylie, and he will likely need to start studying for the exam 6 months before the testing day. What I do know is that Bruce will have a fighting chance at this exam, if he starts 6 months out. The odds may have been stacked against him, but with lots of preparation under his belt, Bruce eventually gets a good enough score to interview at his choice university.

The Timetable So now you have a starting date, how should you structure that study? Note: this timetable has been constructed for a non-science background, low writing skill student. It is not the only way to do it, however, it is a framework from which you can chop and change to suit your individual needs.

6 months prior to the exam Complete all practice exams from ACER (highly recommended). This is the FIRST thing any student should do. Do not worry about completing questions under timed conditions at this stage. Once completed, make a list of all problem areas, sorting by subject (Chemistry, Maths, Biology etc.) then topic (logarithms, buoyancy, punnett square etc.) then by type of mistake (lack of knowledge, inability to interpret question, too unfamiliar etc.). If you haven’t done a lot of science before this list may be very long - that’s okay! You’ve got plenty of time to space out your revision. This list of topics will form the core of your study. They have a high probability of turning up on the exam, and must be learnt. www.AceGAMSAT.com

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Once you’ve completed this list, add on other topics from the GAMSAT bible list (see topic list toward end of book). High priority topics are ones that you are unfamiliar with. If you are running out of time, focus on chemistry and physics, learning these topics will have a greater effect on your GAMSAT score than biology. Once you’ve finished all practice exams, construct a timetable. This timetable should be back heavy (i.e. you ramp up your workload as the exam gets closer). You may potentially only spend 3-6 hours a week at the very beginning, but do that much in a day the week before the exam. For Section 2: Split up your timetable into two phases, resource gathering and writing. For resource gathering compile a list of themes that often recur in the GAMSAT. Start to watch TED talks, read novels/newspapers/magazines that relate to those topics, looking for a wide variety of sources. Record all the interesting facts, statistics, quotes you find in a master document. Then, when you start writing, focus on writing an essay with a large time limit to begin (1 hour each essay) and scale it back over time until you get to the time limit that the GAMSAT requires you to write it in (30 minutes). Note: Make sure that you are getting these essays reviewed as you write them, as it is not very beneficial to write them without receiving feedback. Our team offer an exceptional and affordable professional Essay Marking Service. Whilst it is good to prepare for section 2 by gathering resources, do not become over reliant on having prepared for a topic before writing an essay. Both times I sat the GAMSAT I had prepared for one topic and the other I had never seen before. Yes, you will write better if you have an armory of facts/statistics/examples behind you. But you also need to be ready to write on a topic that has not been posted on any forums or on any ACER paper before. Essentially you need to be able to improvise. So, try to practice this as you write your essays, have resources gathered for some and for others come up with points on the spot (in the time limit). We offer a free GAMSAT Quote Generator, which is the ultimate resource for Section 2 essay practice. For Section 3: Generally, you can split it up into three stages: note making, completing individual questions and completing exam papers. The first stage (note making) should be completed over 1-2 months. Basically, it involves reading up on the individual topics and writing down explanations and examples in a summary document. This period is where you familiarise yourself with the various concepts. The second stage (completing questions) is where you start applying that knowledge. For students with a shaky foundation this is where the majority of your eventual GAMSAT mark will be determined. In general, doing more questions will make you faster, and analysing your mistakes will make your answer percentage higher. Aim to learn time saving techniques in this period. We have released thousands of the highest www.AceGAMSAT.com

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quality practice questions in our study courses and packages. The last stage, completing exam papers, is where you start to think like the examiners. Generally started two weeks before the sitting date, you should complete all the ACER papers again. After each paper, a very thorough analysis must be conducted, and any thoughts/mistakes should be written down. As you complete these exams, hopefully patterns in the questions should start to emerge, which will help you immensely in the actual exam. Expect to be studying heavily/full-time in the two weeks before the exam. Any effort spent in this period will be a lot more effective than in the preceding months. After completing the timetable, the next step is to compile resources for Section 3. Find a wide variety of relevant textbooks, practice questions, writing resources and websites. The go-to online forum for the GAMSAT (and indeed becoming a doctor) is PagingDrNet. Then, having compiled your final resource, you can get started on each section!

3 months prior to the exam By now you should have finished reading up and/or summarising each of the topics, and have started doing questions. It is extremely important to do a high volume of questions. It is the main way in which you will improve your speed and works to solidify concepts in your mind. Remember to log your mistakes. As you go through questions for each of the topics analyse what type of mistakes you are making and try to correct for them. Now is when you may want to start gathering resources for Section 2 in preparation for essay writing practice.

2 weeks prior to the exam Complete all the practice exams under timed conditions over the next week. It is important to do the ACER exams with a large break in between each sitting, and preferably as few times as possible (2 times in total is ideal). This is because the ACER exams are your most high quality study resource (aside from ACEGAMSAT material of course), so you don’t want to accidentally memorise all the answers by doing the same exam too frequently. You want it to be as realistic as possible when you sit it the second/third time, so definitely save it for just before the exam. Do some in depth analysis of your attempts, marking down the type of mistake and it’s frequency. Try to correct those mistakes as you attempt a new ACER exam each day. Do the practice exams under timed conditions, and preferably with identical breaks to www.AceGAMSAT.com

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the testing day (short break between section 1 and 2, long break between section 2 and 3) Relax for a few days. It’s important not to feel burnt out for the exam, especially as you may be in the testing center for 10 hours. Take some time to do whatever relaxes you in the days just before the exam. Get enough sleep. Try to develop a routine sleeping schedule a week ahead of the exam.

Exam day Bring a jumper just in case. Even if it's 30 degrees plus outside, the air-conditioning can be very cold in the examination room.
 Moderate amounts of caffeine can boost cognitive performance, meaning 1-2 cups at most on the morning of the GAMSAT. Arrive early - nothing is more stressful than worrying about being on time.
 Remember your pencils and invest in a good pen for Section II. Pack a nice morning tea and good lunch so you have something to look forward to. Include lots of low GI food for long-lasting energy. Good examples are a chicken and salad sandwich on multigrain bread, yogurt, fruit, and tuna.
 DO NOT nap in the afternoon in the weeks/days leading up to the exam. It is not good for your body to expect a nap at 3 in the afternoon because you will be doing section III at this time.
 Bring water in a clear bottle and make sure the label is removed. 
 Example timetable for Non-Science background student: Timeframe

6 Months From GAMSAT

Section 3

Section 2

Weeks 1-2: Complete all ACER papers. Make list of problem topics. Supplement this list with topics from The GAMSAT bible. Weeks 3-4: Construct timetable. Compile resources. Begin taking notes/reading up on physics.

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Week 1: Continue taking notes on physics 5 Months From GAMSAT

Week 2-3: Take notes on chemistry topics Week 4: Take notes on biology topics

4 Months From GAMSAT

3 Months From GAMSAT

Weeks 1-4: Start doing questions for physics topics. Make sure you are keeping a list of mistakes + shortcuts.

Weeks 1-4: Start doing questions for chemistry topics

Week 1: start compiling list of essay topics from ACER papers and other resources Week 2-4: start gathering resources (statistics, quotes, examples) on a few topics Weeks 1-4: Write one essay a week, 1 hour time limit, on the topics you’ve prepared resources for. Continue to gather resources (from a wide variety of sources)

Week 1: Do questions for biology topics 2 Months From GAMSAT

Weeks 2-3: Redo/review questions for physics topics

Weeks 1-4: Continue writing one essay a week, lower time limit to 45 minutes. Continue gathering resources.

Week 4: Redo/review questions for chemistry topics 4 Weeks From GAMSAT

Review biology/chemistry

Write 3 essays over the week in 30 minutes.

3 Weeks From GAMSAT

Review any problem topics from chemistry, biology, physics

Write 6 essays over the week in 30 minutes.

Monday: ACER blue paper

On the review days (Tuesday, Thursday), write out the respective ACER GAMSAT essay topics under timed conditions, consecutively for the half papers (blue and red ACER papers).

Tuesday: Review ACER blue paper 2 Weeks From GAMSAT

Wednesday: ACER red paper Thursday: Review ACER red paper Friday: ACER purple paper Saturday: Review ACER purple

For the full papers complete them all in one sitting under exam conditions (i.e. do

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paper

all the sections on the same day)

Sunday: ACER green paper

Monday: review ACER green paper 1 Week From GAMSAT

Tuesday-Friday: finish reviewing anything you’ve left out. Once you’ve done that, relax! There’s not much more you can do by this stage, all the hard work is over.

Being Flexible It’s important to note that this timetable is something that will need to be adapted to your individual needs. Some students will only need 1-2 months to study for the GAMSAT, and as a result their timetable will be a much more abbreviated version of this one, although probably in the same order of events. But also, don’t be afraid to swap out parts of it, for example you might want to skip gathering examples for Section 2 and go straight to writing essays. That is a perfectly viable strategy if it works for you! Just try to understand why the timetable is structured in this way. For example, if you feel like you need to review the ACER papers more often, then go ahead and complete them more regularly, however just be aware that it’s important to have forgotten most of the content in the papers every time you do them, otherwise it will become a much less realistic exam resource.

Help I’ve run out of time! If you’ve discovered all this advice too late or you’ve been tied up with other commitments, there are a couple of things you can do. First is to not panic. Over the years, I’ve seen the whole spectrum of GAMSAT effort, and people have gotten very respectable scores with minimal effort. It is just that the method with the highest chance of getting a 70+ overall score is one with months of study. But it is still possible to do it with not much time at all. Second is to prioritise your study and target the subjects you feel you can improve the most in. For most people, priority will be allocated like so: physics/chemistry > writing > biology. Now you might be wondering why biology has such a low priority despite making up the greatest percentage of the exam. Whilst understanding core biology concepts will enhance your problem-solving ability, ACER exam writers structure GAMSAT biology questions such that they generally answered purely based on the stem (the stimulus material). As a result, you can mostly go into a GAMSAT biology question knowing absolutely nothing about the topic and still answer every single question comfortably, www.AceGAMSAT.com

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because everything you need to know is in the stem. In a way, GAMSAT biology questions are more reading comprehension than assumed knowledge and as such will benefit less from learning the background material than the other two subjects. Whilst it is still critical to learn the biology content (it will help a lot with efficiency and understanding) and practice biology questions to enhance your speed (especially as there is so much biology in the exam), learning the actual background material for biology is less important as all the necessary information is provided in the actual question. Next up is writing. Whilst significant gains can be made in your Section 2 score with the appropriate effort, unfortunately writing is something that takes a lot of time to improve in. If you run out of time, focus on writing a couple of high quality essays on a few topics and hope that one of them comes up on the day. To prepare yourself for a wide array of topics with minimal effort, you can compile a list of topics and for each one write down three points and three examples for each of these points in dot point form. Then you can memorise all of these before you walk into the exam and hopefully some of these points will be useful on the day. Our Free Advanced Essay Bible will show you everything you need to know for writing the perfect GAMSAT essay. Finally, chemistry and physics should take the highest priority, as they are most easily improved in the shortest amount of time. Learning to use a formula does not take a long amount of time, and knowing the right concept in the right place will secure you marks. So that’s it! It’s a tough exam, but one which you can do well in with the right mindset. It will be very stressful and draining, but if you can keep a cool head then you will be ready not only for the GAMSAT, but also medicine itself.

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Section I: Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences Outline Section I of the GAMSAT consists of multiple-choice questions with 4 options. Candidates are provided with stimulus material – essays, poems, cartoons, dramas, editorials, graphs, figures, short stories, essays, letters, journals, and biographies. These types of stimulus material can be categorised into the following 4 categories: 1. Prose (in all diverse types) 2. Poetry (including Drama) 3. Social and/or Behavioural Sciences 4. Editorial Cartoon and/or Graphic Representations An in-depth analysis of these different categories is covered in The Humanities Bible. The Humanities Bible also provides over 75 questions and solutions for all the categories. Regular reading and practice are the most effective ways to prepare for this section. An e-book reader is a worthy investment (I use an Amazon Kindle). E-books can easily be downloaded through the Amazon store and unfamiliar words can easily be learnt via the inbuilt dictionary. This is a great way to improve your vocabulary through reading.

Suggested Readings Some great readings that will help prepare you for the type of texts you will receive in Section I include: The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald If you are not a regular reader, you should start with this. An easy read, but still covers some important concepts. Defying Hitler - Sebastian Haffner A tale of being a regular person in pre-NAZI Germany. Also provides great examples for a range of themes that can arise in Section II. English Passengers - Matthew Kneale This book circulates around problems that an Aboriginal family are faced with when the British settle in Australia. The ideas covered in this book can also serve to be great examples for Section II.

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Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens This is a great book for honing your language manipulation skills. This book has a lot of difficult words and will prepare you to quickly understand classical texts in the actual GAMSAT. Make sure to look up all words that you are unfamiliar with and write them down along with their definitions. The Penguin Book of Twentieth Century Essays - Ian Hamilton This book is a collection of the best essays written in the English language during the past one hundred years. It is also great at exploring a vast range of ideas that can be used for Section II. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson This book is like an introduction to Physics, Chemistry, Geology, and Astronomy all in one wonderfully droll book. The Story of My Life - Helen Keller This is an amazing story of a deaf and blind woman who achieved so much and experienced so much of life despite her handicaps.

Vocabulary A sound vocabulary will be highly beneficial for SI. It will aid in the understanding of texts and can be helpful in crossing off the incorrect multiple-choice answers when in doubt. An excellent resource to improve vocabulary can be found at vocabulary.com. This resource has helped many of our students improve their vocabulary. Get into the routine of completing one mini-test every day (10 words), which will take less than 5 minutes. Choose the MCAT word list to practice, as this includes words that are commonly found in Section I of the GAMSAT.

Practice Practice is key. A free site that provides Section-I-like questions is readtheory.org. It will provide detailed feedback for each series of questions. For GAMSAT preparation, candidates should do at least one passage per day (less than 10 minutes). Our team has released a full-length GAMSAT Practice Test, which is identical to the actual GAMSAT exam. Students should complete all the Section I practice questions in this test. Students should then check all answers and go back and see where they went wrong. This is the most effective and fastest way to improve your score in Section I. www.AceGAMSAT.com

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The more questions you can do, the better you will get! This is the key rule that I always engrave into our students. Our GAMSAT prep books contains thousands of the highest quality Section 1 questions are the perfect resource for practising Section I questions. The 4 ACER booklets also provide many great questions to prepare you for Section I. It may be a good idea to work through the two half-length ACER booklets and save the two full-length papers for just before the GAMSAT to sit under timed conditions. I repeat. TIME YOURSELF! You will adapt to working at this pace and with consistency these stimulus-based questions will become like second nature.

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Section II: Written Communication Outline In the exam, students are to complete two essays – both Task A and Task B. Essays should be at least 350-400 words. Five quotes are provided for each essay task and all the quotes surround a common theme. Task A deals with socio-cultural issues and Task B deals with social and personal issues. A title is recommended for each essay. Be creative! The markers are looking for the best ideas. Ideas are more important than spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The best ideas get the best marks, so planning your essay in the first 5 minutes is the key to success. When planning your essay, read the series of 5 quotes carefully and determine the overall theme. The theme is quite obvious. Some examples of themes include: freedom, crime, poverty, wealth, punishment, science, technology, love, friendship, humour, suffering, youth, beauty, ageing, conformity, originality. On the following page is an example of how Section II looks in the GAMSAT. We will use Task B as an example to see how quickly we can find the theme.

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Task B - Example Consider the following comments and develop a piece of writing in response to one or more of them. Your writing will be judged on the quality of your response to the theme, how well you organise and present your point of view, and how effectively you express yourself. You will not be judged on the views or attitudes you express.

It gives me strength to have somebody to fight for; I can never fight for myself, but, for others, I can kill. Emilie Autumn, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls

A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. Lois Wyse

Friends are the family you choose. Jess C. Scott, The Other Side of Life

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked. Bernard Meltzer

There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them. J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Here we can see that the common theme is friendship. There will always be a common theme that all 5 quotes relate to in the exam.

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Task A Task A is an argumentative essay. Each paragraph should be planned. Below is a basic recommended outline for planning your GAMSAT essay. Paragraph 1: Introduction – explanation and interpretation of a chosen quote or standpoint you have concerning the overall theme. Students should aim for three body paragraphs. They should be Thesis, Thesis, Antithesis (or Thesis, Antithesis, Antithesis). A concluding paragraph should then sum up and reconcile between the Thesis’ and Antithesis. Common themes that students could expect in the GAMSAT Task A include: • Freedom • Crime • Poverty • Wealth • Punishment • Science • Technology

Task A Sample Planning - Basic The following is a sample of the planning for each body paragraph. This is quick and simple and can easily be done in 5 minutes. This will provide a framework and will allow you to know what you are going to write about before you even start your essay. Quote - ‘The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature, but plunges him more deeply into them.’ Thesis: Cars, computers = decrease physical activity = diabetes, stroke and heart problems. Thesis: Invention of electronic devices = use of electricity = burning of fossil fuels = increase global warming, drought, etc. Or mobile phones = less intimate and personal communication (SMS) = destructive to essence of human nature = great problem. Antithesis: Biotechnology = vaccinations have cured diseases. Or computers have allowed education to isolated students with no access to schools and other resources = solved problems. www.AceGAMSAT.com

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Task B Task B is a personal essay. It should be written with feeling. Students need to be able to explain and visualise how other people may be feeling in different life situations. The quotes that students receive have a personal theme, which allows students to relate the themes to their own experiences in life. Paragraph 1: Acquaint the reader with the topic/theme and state your specific point of view. There should be 3 body paragraphs. Each paragraph should focus on a different idea that supports your specific point of view. A concluding paragraph should summarise the main points, then support the main view and end with a great impact on the reader. Common topics that students can expect in the GAMSAT Task B: • Love

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Beauty

• Conformity

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Friendship

• Originality

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Humour

• Suffering

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Youth

• Ageing

Task B Sample Planning - Basic Quote - ‘The secret to happiness is freedom.’ Body paragraphs: Each of the following paragraphs expresses a different idea of freedom bringing upon happiness. 1. Freedom from oppression – Scottish citizens could only be truly happy after they defeated the English and were free from oppression and enslavement. 2. Freedom from the monotonous 9-5 job – Tim Ferris (author of the 4-hour work week) says that true happiness is working from his laptop whilst having the freedom of traveling the world and spending more time with his loved ones. 3. Freedom of speech for the GLTB community or animal rights protestors – By having the freedom to speak out and express certain views, one can feel satisfied and a deeprooted happiness.

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Important As part of your preparation for Section II, we recommend that you write an essay for each of the following quotes for your essay preparation for Task A and Task B. Remember, practice is extremely important for the GAMSAT and the fastest way to improve your essay ability is by practising as many essays as possible and then receiving professional feedback. Completed essays can be submitted to our essay marking service. Our professional markers will provide extensive feedback and an estimated GAMSAT score. Essay Marking Service – Submit Your Essays For Marking Students should attempt to write an essay for each of the following quotes for Task A and Task B before sitting the GAMSAT exam.

Task A Practice Quotes • War settles nothing. - Dwight D. Eisenhower • You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him. - Booker T. Washington • Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it. - Thomas Jefferson • I have to follow them, I am their leader. - Alexandre-Auguste Ledru-Rollin • I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it. - Thomas Jefferson • The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression. - W. E. B. Du Bois • Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. - Martin Luther King, Jr. • Ability is a poor man’s wealth. - John Wooden • The mother of revolution and crime is poverty. - Aristotle • Let us never negotiate out of fear. But never fear to negotiate. - John F. Kennedy • All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means. - Chou En-Lai • That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. - Henry David Thoreau • The technologies that have had the most profound effects on human life are usually simple. - Freeman Dyson • There are as many versions of history as there are historians. - Anonymous

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Task B Practice Quotes • Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt • Music has the power to entertain, but seldom to educate • Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. - Victor Borge • They can’t hurt you unless you let them. - John C Maxwell • There are three things extremely hard: Steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self. Benjamin Franklin • You can’t get rid of poverty by giving people money. - P.J. O’Rourke • Youth is the best time to be rich, and the best time to be poor. - Euripides • Some people say they haven’t yet found themselves. But the self is not something one finds; it is something one creates. - Thomas Szasz • I can assure you, pleasure is quite different from happiness – Dorian Gray • Hatred is the coward’s revenge for being intimidated. - George Bernard Shaw • Conform and be dull. - James Frank Dobie • It is amazing how complete the delusion that beauty is goodness. - Leo Tolstoy • Whether you think you can or you can’t – you are right. - Henry Ford

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Suggested Readings For Section II The Meaning of Things by AC Grayling is a great book for generating ideas. It consists of short essays that cover common themes in the GAMSAT. I would suggest reading through 1-2 different topics per day and making sure you really understand what it is talking about. You could even write a couple of sentences about each topic. AC Grayling’s Essay Collection can be found at: http://www.skeptic.ca/grayling_essays.htm 50 Big Ideas You Really Need to Know by Ben Dupre is a great guide to the most important ideas in history. It covers some of the most influential ideas ever conceived in politics, philosophy, religion, economics, science, and the arts. Reading the newspaper is also important in keeping up to date with socio-cultural issues. It is recommended that students read the comment section of the Sydney Morning Herald or The Economist. A good recommendation is to read 3 articles per day (less than 15 minutes). For UK students, read articles at www.telegraph.co.uk, and Irish students can read The Irish Times. It is highly recommended that students research current events in the world – Ukraine/Russia, Islamic State, Palestine/Israel, Boko Haram, corruption in Bolivia, and conflict in Syria. Don’t forget WW1 and WW2. These events can provide examples for a range of different quotes. A simple YouTube or Google search can be a good starting point. TED Talks also provide many great ideas - http://www.ted.com The ACER booklets contain Section II questions. Only attempt the quotes from the two shortened ACER papers. Leave the other two papers for a mock test in the last 1-2 weeks before the GAMSAT.

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Section III: Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences Outline This section includes biology, general chemistry, and organic chemistry all at university level, and physics at year 12 level. Overall, the exam consists of 40% biology, 20% organic chemistry, 20% general chemistry, and 20% physics. Candidates are required to use their knowledge and the understanding of concepts to answer questions. This section involves the analysis of tables, graphs, charts, and scientific information. Practicing Section III under timed conditions is crucial. The ACER booklets provide GAMSAT-like questions. A few questions from the ACER practice booklet were used in the 2015 March GAMSAT, so it is important to work through these and make sure you fully understand every question. The AceGAMSAT ‘Full-Length GAMSAT Practice Test’ contains 110 questions that are just like the real exam so this is definitely a valuable resource. Our entire Home Study Course contains 1000+ Section III questions. Once again, practice is the key. The best way to learn all the sciences is by utilising the AceGAMSAT science study guides for chemistry, biology, and physics. Students should also watch all the video material that is provided in each book of the GAMSAT Study Package. Learn and then practise. This is the key to success in Section III!

Topic List for GAMSAT When studying the units in the following list, aim to grasp and understand the main concepts rather than just relying on memorisation. The following are the syllabus topic lists for the GAMSAT. These topic points are covered to the required depth for the GAMSAT in our GAMSAT Preparation Courses. Our home study courses contain thousands of the highest quality practice questions to allow you to apply your knowledge to actual GAMSAT questions.

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Biology Syllabus Macromolecules Carbohydrates Nucleic acids Proteins Lipids The Cell Cell theory Cell size Visualisation of cells Cell structure Prokaryotes Eukaryotes Endomembrane system Mitochondria and chloroplasts Meiosis VS mitosis Genetics Overview Mendel’s first law: The Law of Segregation Incomplete dominance Codominance Punnett Squares Mendel’s second law: The Law of Independent Assortment Male VS female chromosomes The Nervous System Resting potential Action potential The synapse Types of neurons Divisions of the nervous system

Cytoskeleton Cell movement Fungi Virus The Cell Membrane Structure Phospholipids Passive transport Active transport Endocytosis and exocytosis Energy, Metabolism and Respiration Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) Cellular metabolism The eye The ear The nose and mouth The Endocrine System Chemistry of hormones Hormones in detail Reproduction Male reproductive system Female reproductive system The Digestive and Excretory System Mouth and esophagus The stomach The small intestine The pancreas The liver and gall bladder The large intestine Absorption The kidney

Glycolysis Aerobic respiration Kreb’s Cycle Electron transport chain Enzymes Mitosis and the Cell Cycle Binary fission Eukaryotic cell cycle Interphase M Phase Sexual Reproduction and Meiosis Stages of meiosis

The Cardiovascular System Anatomy of the cardiovascular system Blood vessels The blood The Respiratory System The Lymphatic System The Immune System Muscle Skeletal muscle Cardiac muscle Smooth muscle Bone Cartilage Joints Skin Homeostasis

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Organic Chemistry Syllabus Basic and Common Functional Groups Organic Chemistry Basics

Preparation of Alkenes Nomenclature of alkenes Stereoisomerism in alkenes Elimination reactions E2 reactions E1 reactions

Molecular Representations 3D bond-line structures Identifying lone pairs of electrons resonance Hybrid orbitals

Addition Reactions Hydrohalogenation Hydration Hydrogenation Halogenation

Alkanes Naming alkanes Naming substituents Constitutional Isomers of alkanes Newman projections Cyclohexane and chair conformations

Radical Reactions

Stereochemistry Isomerism Important concepts in stereoisomerism Designating R and S Relationships between enantiomers and diastereomers Meso compounds Fischer projections Substitution Reactions Alkyl halides The SN2 mechanism The SN1 mechanism Elimination Reactions: Structure and

Alkynes

Alcohols and Phenols Physical properties of alcohols Acidity of alcohols and phenols Preparation of alcohols using Grignard reagents Spectroscopy Infrared spectroscopy Nuclear Magnetic resonance spectroscopy Aromatic Rings Nomenclature of aromatic rings Aromatic Substitution Reactions Electrophilic aromatic substitution Sulfonation Nitration Activating groups Deactivating groups

Aldehydes and Ketones Introduction Nomenclature of aldehydes Nomenclature of Ketones Preparation of aldehydes and ketones Important reactions of aldehydes and ketones Carboxylic Acids Nomenclature Structure of carboxylic acids Acidity of carboxylic acids Preparation of carboxylic acids Reactions of carboxylic acids Amines Classification Nomenclature Properties of amines Preparation of amines Important reactions of amines Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins Introduction Structure and properties of amino acids Acid-Base properties Peptide synthesis Protein structure Protein function

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GAMSAT General Chemistry Syllabus Atoms and Molecules Atoms Elements The periodic table Ions Molecules Naming inorganic compounds Chemical reactions and equations Types of Chemical Reactions Oxidation numbers and redox reactions Oxidising VS reducing agents Gases Kinetic molecular theory Kinetics and chemical equilibrium The collision theory Equations for reaction rates Determining the rate law by experiment Reaction orders Rates of reversible reactions Catalysis Equilibrium The reaction quotient Le Chatelier’s principle

The second law of thermodynamics Thermodynamic functions Internal energy Temperature Pressure Enthalpy Entropy Gibbs free energy Solutions Units of concentration Vapour pressure Solubility Phase Diagrams Acids and Bases Definitions Equilibrium constants for acid-base reactions Logarithms Titrations Buffers Electrochemistry Oxidation-reduction Potentials Galvanic cells Electrolytic cell

Thermodynamics The first law of thermodynamics

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GAMSAT Physics Syllabus

Work Energy conservation Power

Potential energy Equipotential lines and electric dipoles

Translational Motion Scalars and vectors Adding and subtracting vectors Resolution of vectors and trigonometric functions Distance and displacement Speed and velocity Acceleration Uniform accelerated motion

Fluids and Solids Density Specific gravity Pressure Buoyancy and Archimedes’ principle Fluids in motion Fluid viscosity and determination of flow Surface tension Solids

Electromagnetism Electromagnetism Electromagnetic spectrum

Force, Motion, and Gravitation Mass, weight, center of mass Newton’s first law Newton’s second law Newton’s third law Gravitation Special right triangles Free fall motion Projectile motion Friction Inclined planes Circular motion and centripetal force Tension Pulley systems Equilibrium Translational and rotational motion Momentum and Collisions Energy and Work Energy

Wave Characteristics and Periodic Motion Transverse and longitudinal mechanical waves Mathematical representation of a wave Superposition of waves, phase, interface Resonance Standing waves Harmonics Periodic motion Sound Production of sound Intensity and pitch Beats Doppler effect Electrostatistics Charge, conductors, insulators Coulomb’s law, electric force Electric field, electric field lines

Electricity: Electric Circuits Current Ohm’s law Resistance and resistivity Resistance in circuits Batteries and electromotive force Kirchoff’s laws Capacitors and dielectrics Power Light and Optics Visual spectrum and polarisation Images Mirrors Refraction, dispersion, Snell’s law Lenses Atomic and Nuclear Structure Protons, neutrons, electrons Isotopes, atomic number, atomic weight Fission and fusion Radioactivity Nuclear reactions and radioactive decay Half-life

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What Level of Mathematics Is Recommended? Students should be proficient in the following mathematics topics upon sitting the GAMSAT: •

Properties of Integers

•

Orders of Operations

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Algebra

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Factorisation

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Surds

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Logarithms and Exponents

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Scientific Notation

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Basic Geometry

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Graphs

•

Probability

•

Mathematical Estimation Techniques

These topics are all covered in-depth with fully worked examples in The Mathematics Bible. Manipulating and solving linear equations is extremely important and arise in many different parts of Section III. Students should make sure that manipulating simple equations becomes second nature. Exponentials and logarithms are found in almost every GAMSAT exam. It is important for radioactive decay and acid/base-related questions. Trigonometry also arises in almost every GAMSAT exam and students need to know the basics: sin, cos, tan, and converting between radians and degrees. Manipulating equations is the most important skill in Section III of the GAMSAT. Students should know how the power laws work when multiplying or dividing quantities. Example: xy/y4 = xy-3 Probability-related questions arise frequently in Section III. The skill of calculating probabilities is crucial in Punnett square calculations.

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Introduction to Section III tips and tricks Success in the GAMSAT is all about SPEED. There is a magical sweet spot in the GAMSAT between quality and quantity, and you’ll find that it’s a little bit skewed towards quantity. Much more favorable scores will be found where a little bit of accuracy is sacrificed for a shot at actually finishing the exam! This is something that is generally not appreciated by the average student in their first time sitting the GAMSAT: unless you are actively studying to improve your speed, or are innately fast, it is very easy to be caught out by how time consuming the actual GAMSAT questions are! On the day, the average person will completely guess between 10-30 Section 3 questions as that final buzzer rings. Now, unfortunately if nearly one-quarter of the exam is left unfinished, your score will be very average. However, the first step to overcoming a problem is by being aware of it. The next step is to actively combat it, and in the next few paragraphs I’ll be sharing the GAMSAT specific techniques that WILL help you increase your speed.

The Basics – Studying for Speed Always aim to increase your speed - do not get complacent! A mistake that some students may make is that they may complete the ACER practice exams under time early on and conclude that they will be fine for the actual exam. Do not make this mistake. The actual GAMSAT is much harder to complete under time pressure. The biology questions have much larger stem paragraphs in the actual exam, and this is unfortunately something that will slow you down on the day, it can’t be avoided! So, you will find time management harder with the actual exam. Now, there are two ways in which you can improve your speed: 1. Do more questions. The more questions you do, the faster your brain can recognise patterns/access formulas/quickly calculate simple maths and the faster you will be. 2. Ramp up your study, as you get closer to the exam, so you can peak in potential on the day of the exam. The theory behind ramping up is simple: if doing more questions makes you faster, and you want to be as fast as possible, then doing the most questions just before the exam will ensure that you are as fast as possible on the day. This means practising thousands of GAMSAT style questions. a. Note: This does not mean that you should be frantically filling out questions as you wait in line to enter the examination room! Do give yourself a few days before the exam to relax. But your last week of study should be the week in which you do the most work. Ramping up, by the way is NOT the same as cramming. By steadily increasing the amount of study you do as you get closer to the exam, you are giving your brain time to acclimatise to the subjects and truly understand the material. The issue with cramming for the GAMSAT is that you don’t give yourself time to develop this mastery, and instead you will only be able to use the formulas in very linear ways. As soon as you encounter a www.AceGAMSAT.com

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scenario outside of the one in your textbook (i.e. most of the GAMSAT), you will likely become lost. Instead if you gradually build up your foundation, you will peak in both familiarity and speed as you get to the day of the GAMSAT, and be much more flexible on the day.

The Basics - First Principles “It is important to view knowledge as sort of semantic tree. Make sure you understand the fundamental principles, i.e. the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to.” - Elon Musk First principles are extraordinarily important for the GAMSAT – it’s a concept that helped Elon launch rockets into space, and it’s something that will tremendously improve your GAMSAT score! The idea is that you attempt to boil everything down into it’s simplest details, asking yourself why it’s like that along the way. For example, ask yourself what each of the individual values in a formula actually represent. If we use the pH formula you can ask yourself: What actually is pH? What actually is acidity? Why is there a log in the formula? How does this relate to basicity? What this gives you is a framework to answer difficult GAMSAT questions, because if you understand the fundamental principles you can find multiple routes to the answer. This isn’t just confined to chemistry/physics. If you can start boiling biology graphs and diagrams down to their simplest components and ignore all the jargon, your GAMSAT score WILL improve! First principles give you flexibility and lateral thinking, which is important in an exam as varied as the GAMSAT. The one thing that you should not be doing is plugging numbers blindly into a formula, because it will not work for this exam. First principles will also enable you to actually see the question for what it is. I can almost be certain that there will be terms and ideas that you aren’t familiar with on the GAMSAT. The trick is to ask yourself: what is the question actually asking? Do I need to know this jargon? You will find that much of the stimulus material ends up being a distraction, and that the actual question may be asking for something very simple! Many people will feel uncomfortable answering a question in which you don’t know many terms/ideas, but unfortunately there is not enough time in the GAMSAT to thoroughly understand everything. If you get stuck, often it is a better strategy to go back to the stem and look for something that you missed/misinterpreted, rather than getting distracted by those unfamiliar terms.

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Maximising your score It’s a pretty common scenario – you’re doing Section 3, 20 questions in, well under time, feeling like the questions are all very understandable. “Great work”, you tell yourself “the preparation has paid off!” Then you hit a series of questions that are just so foreign. You have to read through the stem three times just to understand it, your working out isn’t getting you the answers you need and the graph doesn’t make sense. But you’re stubborn, so you overcommit your time to this set of questions. This happens a few times throughout the exam, each overcommitment compounding your time deficit, and by the time the final buzzer rings you haven’t even seen the last three pages of the question booklet. No matter how fast you are, or how well prepared, it is likely that there will be a question in the GAMSAT that stumps you. How you react to this question will have a great impact on your ability to complete the exam and in turn your overall score. The key to approaching a question in which you have no idea how to answer is to be realistic. You need to decide in that moment whether you just need a little bit of time to answer the question, or whether it is unlikely to come to you under time. Realistically, if that question is going to take you much longer than the one minute thirty seconds you have, you need to leave it. I think leaving a question for later is a very psychologically difficult choice to make. You’ve likely by this stage put months into preparing for the GAMSAT and sacrificed large chunks of your holidays or weekends. The scenario everyone wants is to walk out of that exam, knowing all that hard work paid off, having answered every single question confidently and calmly, and feeling like you wouldn’t even be surprised with a high eighties score come results day. So, by overcommitting you preserve that dream GAMSAT run for a little longer. You tell yourself: “Maybe I can make up lost time later on in the exam - at least I’ve still confidently answered every question so far”. But realistically there will be questions that you can’t answer under time on the day…and that’s okay. High scores can still be obtained if you leave the odd hard question here and there, but give yourself the allocated amount of time for the ‘easy' questions. This is the tactic I used, and it got me much better results than the people who tried to answer every single question to an equal standard. The key is to have a really good crack at the 80% of the exam that is not super difficult, that just needs time to read through the stem and do the working out. The reality is that even for ‘easy’ questions, once you factor in time to read the stimulus (it might take up half of your 1 minute and 30 seconds), you really aren’t operating with a lot of time. And as a result, it’s close to impossible to actually catch up once you’re behind from stubbornly answering that really difficult question. I find it helps to mark these difficult questions with an asterisk and to answer to the best www.AceGAMSAT.com

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of your ability within the time limit. Then, if you manage to breeze through the easy questions in the exam, you can start going back to the marked questions with your remaining time bank. But do not overcommit to these questions, or your score will suffer.

GAMSAT specific techniques One of the most useful GAMSAT mental maths technique is to avoid multiplying numbers with decimals by first treating them as whole numbers and then adding the decimal places afterwards. For example, instead of trying to multiply 0.9 and 0.32, it’s usually much quicker multiplying 9 and 32 and then adding three decimal places afterwards. The reason for this is that naturally we are much better at multiplying whole numbers quickly as it’s what we’re most used to and practice more often in day-to-day life. You can also apply this to working with fractions. If you are asked to find 0.9 divided by 0.32, instead you can treat it as 90 divided by 32 (by adding powers of 10 to the numerator and denominator). This makes it vastly easier for me to see that the answer should be just under 3. The major advantage is that by being able to approximate the answer (should be just under 3), you can have a quick look at the multiple-choice answers and see if anything stands out. A good number of times you will find that you won’t even need to perform the full working out (actually divide 90 by 32 by hand), and that there is a very obvious multiple choice answer, based on your approximations. Try it for yourself! So, we’ve sort of dealt with multiplying small numbers (decimals), but how do we multiply extremely large numbers (numbers in the millions) without a calculator? Yes, it is possible to do it by hand. You can probably multiply 10,000 by 18,000,000 if you have a pen and paper and lots of time. But time is a luxury as you very well know, so instead the quick way is to convert the large numbers into scientific notation. 10,000 becomes 104 and 18,000,000 becomes 1.8 x 107, meaning the answer is found by simply multiplying the two indices together to get 1.8 x 1011. By doing this you avoid writing out long numbers over multiple lines, reducing mistakes (this way you only have to count the number of zeroes once) and time taken. This will dramatically cut down on your Maths again, and hopefully get you the speed that you require. Another way to cut down on math working is to utilise guesstimations. If you can round one number down and one number up then the answer will likely balance out, and save you from multiplying hard decimal numbers. For example, 0.82 times 0.37 can be rounded to 0.8 times 0.4. The difference between the rounded (0.32) and exact (0.30) is not super significant, and will be small enough to still pick the right answer in the GAMSAT exam (i’d personally say over 80% of the time). If you find that guesstimating results in an answer that is too inexact then you can finish it off by multiplying the exact decimals to get the right answer, but the overall time that you can save is very large if you can pull off guesstimations in the right places.

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A great way to learn the formulae is to learn the units of the various parameters. For example, speed has the units metres/second. What this means is that to find speed you need to divide the distance (meters) by the time (seconds). It’s simple, but ties back in to first principles, where by learning the very basics you will find that you enjoy much more flexibility in your solutions. For example, if you see that the multiple choice options are all in Joules, you might hopefully also know that 1 Joule = 1 Newton metre. This sort of gives you a hint that maybe by multiplying the overall force (Newtons) with the distance (metres) a solution for that specific question might be found.

GAMSAT traps An exam trap is a mistake in waiting. It is something that the exam writer has inserted that goes against your usual expectations of a question, in order to catch out people who aren’t paying attention to the finer details. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, these are often very hard to pick out. When you’re working against the clock, and the whole situation is stressing you out, it’s easy to miss an unusual unit, or that atypical graph. Luckily, by doing many questions you can get a feel for typical types of traps and hopefully learn to spot them as you go. The most common recurring trap in the GAMSAT is the tricky axis. A real staple of the GAMSAT, the tricky axis is where the examiner somehow makes the axis of the given graph a little bit atypical, such as making the y or x-axis in log scale (instead of linear) or including a gap in the axis (so that a graph that starts with a large number can be included on a graph with small scale divisions). Often the stimulus material will not otherwise mention this variation, so it’s up to you to be very observant of the graph axis in the paper. Always make sure that you are looking at the units of the graph axis too. Often the paper will give you the axis in a certain unit (mm for example) and ask for the answer in another (meters). To make it convincing, the paper will include multiple-choice options that would work if you both didn’t and did pick up that small detail, making this a mark that is very easy to lose. Just make sure that you try to make a mental note of anything out of the ordinary as you read through the stimulus material, particularly the axis of the graphs.

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General Tips for the GAMSAT The AceGAMSAT Elimination Strategy Over the years our team has developed a range of strategies that can help you think critically about the question and answer choices in the GAMSAT. These strategies should be used when all else fails so you can eliminate some answer choices and make your best educated guess. These strategies are obviously used for Section I and Section III of the GAMSAT. The first step is to make sure you fully understand what the question is asking. It may sometimes be easier to rephrase the question into a statement, or a simpler question. Once you fully understand what the question is asking then you can start eliminating any answer choices that could not possibly be correct. Then begin by re-reading the remaining answers and ask yourself the following questions. • Does the answer choice respond to the question being asked? If not, eliminate it! Even if it may be a true statement it may not be the answer to the question that is being asked. This is where many students go wrong. They pick an answer because it is true, however it does not answer the question! If it does, however, respond to the question being asked, keep it as an option as it may be correct. • Do the answer choices contain words like none, all, absolutely, always, or never? The majority of answer choices that contain these words are incorrect. This is because the ideas in the answer choices are usually open to interpretation, and cannot be expressed in such absolute terms as never or always. Instead look for options that use conditional words such as usually, often, rarely, some, or most. This technique alone has helped many of our students dramatically improve their scores. • Does the answer choice express an extreme view of the information from the passage? This extreme view can either be positive or negative. If so, re-read it carefully to see if it is actually answering the question or if it is just an extreme summary of the information from the passage. • Does the answer choice use the exact same language as the author in the stimulus/passage, but change the meaning of what is being said? If this is the case, this answer choice is a misleading option and has most likely been put there to trick you into choosing the wrong answer. This answer choice can then be eliminated. If not, keep it as an option as it may still be the correct answer.

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The AceGAMSAT Guessing Strategy If you run out of time or you cannot even use the process of elimination technique to answer the question then guess! When guessing an answer choice always stick to the same letter! For example, if time is running out and you have 10 questions left then you should mark the multiple-choice answers all ‘C’. It doesn’t matter what choice you choose (could have chosen B instead) as long as you are consistent with your ‘guess’ letter.

The AceGAMSAT Mindset Technique Studying for the GAMSAT requires long hours of study on a consistent basis for several months. It is so easy to procrastinate and avoid studying until ‘tomorrow’. When you think to yourself, “When should I start studying and preparing for the GAMSAT?” the answer is NOW! We have chosen 4 techniques that will help students focus and succeed in the GAMSAT. These are: 1. Early Study 2. Meditation 3. Affirmations 4. Visualisation 1. Early study Students should start studying and practising GAMSAT-related material at least 3 months before the GAMSAT exam. Students should aim to study as early in the day as possible. Five great things to try upon waking up include the following: 1. Wash face with cold water 2. Drink a glass of water 3. Eat a light breakfast – Low GI 4. Brush teeth 5. Stretch to loosen up muscles and increase blood flow 2. Meditation (5-10 minutes) Meditation will reduce your stress levels, so you can begin each day with a kind of calm, clarity, and peace of mind that will allow you to stay focused on what is most important in www.AceGAMSAT.com

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your life. Starting your day off with meditation will allow you to focus on your goals and priorities. Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit. Sit upright on the ground with legs crossed. You can close your eyes, or you can look down at the ground. Start by focusing on your breath, taking slow, deep breaths. Remember to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Breathe the surrounding air into your belly, not just your chest. Pace your breath. Breathe in for 3 seconds and out for 3 seconds. During this process, you will feel your thoughts and emotions settling down as you focus on your breath. Be aware that as you attempt to quiet your mind, thoughts will still come in to pay a visit. Acknowledge them, then let them go, always returning your focus to your breath. The aim of meditation is to clear your mind for the following exercises and allow you to have laser-focus on your priorities for the day. Here are two great guided meditations you can listen to: Video: Meditation 1 Video: Meditation 2 3. Affirmations (3 minutes) As Muhammad Ali stated – “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. Once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” When you actively design and write out affirmations to be in alignment with what you want to accomplish, and commit to repeating them daily (out loud) – they will immediately make an impression on your subconscious mind. The affirmations you read out will go to work to transform the way you think and feel so you can overcome your limiting beliefs and behaviours and replace them with those you need to succeed. You should create your own or tweak the following affirmations to suit your own specific goals. The following affirmations are a great example of what your affirmations should be like. “I will put in 110% every day when studying for the GAMSAT. Nothing comes easy in life. I will write essays as frequent as possible and receive feedback so that I can improve my skills to the fullest. My essays will keep on getting better, and better, and I will achieve a 70+ GAMSAT score. I will read all the recommended GAMSAT books for Section I and learn all the required Section III GAMSAT content. I am going to be a GAMSAT machine! I will practise all of the GAMSAT practice questions available until I master them all. I will practise the questions under timed conditions so that I can breeze through the exam on the day. I do not care how www.AceGAMSAT.com

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The GAMSAT Bible

long it will take, I will continuously put in hard work and will score high enough in the GAMSAT to gain acceptance into my first preference university. If I do not pass the GAMSAT the first time, will I give up? No! I will go back and study twice as hard and twice as long as last time. I will make sacrifices. I will work my hardest to improve on my weakest points and no matter what it takes I will eventually SUCCEED! I will eventually get a high GAMSAT score, no matter how long it takes and I will breeze through the MMI interviews. I am responsible for my own destiny and I will achieve my dream and become a Doctor.” 4. Visualisation (3 minutes) Visualisation refers to the practice of seeking to generate positive results in your outer world by using your imagination to create mental images of specific behaviours and outcomes occurring in your life. It is the process of imagining exactly what you want to achieve, and then mentally rehearsing what you’ll need to do to achieve it. Spend 3 minutes listening to some relaxing music. Close your eyes, sit upright, and take deeps breath in and out (holding each for 3 seconds). Visualise yourself preparing for the GAMSAT for many hours each day. You are laser-focused and your number one priority is to succeed in the exam. Visualise yourself breezing through the questions in Section I and Section III, and writing that perfect, flowing essay the markers are going to love to read. Visualise yourself checking your GAMSAT results and receiving an amazing score. Imagine yourself breezing through the medical school interviews and then imagine yourself as a Doctor many years from now. What will you specialise in? Where would you live? What will your day consist of? Will you have a loving wife… or husband, and many children? Will you be one of the most influential Doctors in the world? How will your parents feel about your success? How will you feel saving the lives of people in need? And most of all, how will you feel when you look back at all the hard work you put in to achieve this dream of becoming a Doctor?

Final thoughts Over the last few pages I’ve included a wide variety of tips and tricks for the GAMSAT, which I hope you’ll find useful. These are just some of the observations and concepts I’ve gathered over the years, and it is by no means comprehensive. I truly hope, however, that everyone finds a little part of it helpful. I do understand that revising for the GAMSAT can be a confusing process for many. The perfectionist in many of you may look at the list of advice I’ve compiled and think “how on earth am I going to remember all of this for the exam?” The trick is that these are just a list www.AceGAMSAT.com

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of common mistakes and tricks that can help you. You don’t need to go out there and eliminate every single bad habit obsessively. Oftentimes just being aware of the potential pitfalls is enough - now that you’ve heard of the dangers of say overcommitting to a difficult question, you’ll be much less likely to actually make that mistake. By incorporating some of these methods into your GAMSAT preparation over time, when the exam finally rolls around, hopefully everything will be second nature, and you’ll be able to show off your true potential. The one thing I do know is that if you want to get into medicine, you will eventually make it. It really is possible to make it through this challenging test regardless of your background, be it science undergrad, post-grad or completely different career. Over the years, I’ve read about and seen all sorts of styles of wildly different pathways that eventually led to GAMSAT success. It might not be when you hoped, but if medicine truly is your passion, it is something you will achieve. There is a lot of work involved in getting into medicine, and a lot more work to be had after. But if it is something that you want to do, I’m sure it will be all worth it, and I wish you all the best for not only the GAMSAT but also the rest of your medical career. - Matthew

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