GAMSAT 2018 - It's never too early to start preparing

by Dan W, 16 June, 2016
Read 4027 times

Last Updated 24th September 2017

Whether you’ve recently sat the GAMSAT® Exam and been disappointed with your results or if you’re a bright-eyed and eager first-timer, it’s never too early to start your GAMSAT® Exam practice.

GAMSAT® Exam 2018 might seem in the far distance, particularly in the midst of your other commitments; school, work, family, friends, extra-curricular activities and hobbies. But trust me, that exam date will come around a lot faster than you think! So it’s time to start getting your mind in the right space and creating healthy studying habits for your GAMSAT® Exam practice.

In this article, I’d like to address some of the most effective strategies used by previous candidates of the GAMSAT® Exam. The strategies focus on

Time management
Methods of study
Content to study.

Without further ado, let’s begin.

1. Time Management

Here are a few tips on how to structure your commitments in order to obtain the best results in the GAMSAT® Exam 2018.

Pencil it in.

Whether you’re the (slightly) obsessive person who plans not only their day but the next ten years, or that person that just makes it on time; it’s time to take things seriously. Take GAMSAT® Exam 2018 seriously and allocate time each week to revise content. Here’s what I might suggest for your GAMSAT® Exam practice when you are >6 months away from the exam date.

To start, evenly allocate time to both humanities and science sections. This way you know you’ll be able to focus on a rounded approach.
How much? For humanities, at this stage, critically reading or analysing a piece of literature is enough, every couple of days. That might seem a lot, but all I’m recommending is 15 minutes of your day (even before bed), of reading a classical novel or an excerpt from the news. For sciences, you’ll need to allocate a little more time in blocks to wrap your head around some of the larger concepts; reserve 30-60 minutes once or twice a week at this early stage.
As time progresses, you’ll figure which sections you’re weakest, and then you allocate more time to that.
Commit.

So you actually need to do it! Find a way to ensure you do not procrastinate these small chunks of study. If you’ve ever learnt a second language, or even a new skill, you’ll know that practising small blocks every day ensures proficiency and eventually expertise. The same applies to understanding knowledge in your GAMSAT® Exam practice!

But how will you hold yourself to it? Use either positive or negative reinforcement. Personally, I don’t respond well to treats, but am fearful of the consequences. My approach? I placed a wager with my friends and housemates that if I did not complete the allocated GAMSAT® Exam practice by the end of the week, I would owe them a fiver ($5), and this would increase for each time I delayed my study. If this is your motivation, your wallet will soon tell you that you need to study!

2. Methods of Study

Everyone learns differently, and for GAMSAT® Exam practice, you should do what ensures you’ll remember the most! Many previous candidates have found a mix of the following methods are the best:

Individual Study: Self-explanatory. But you’ve really got to keep focused on one topic at a time, test yourself on the concepts afterwards, and revise a tiny amount the next session too!
Group Learning: Dreaded and feared by many. Find yourself a set of other candidates that you know you will work with (probably not a good ideas to study with your best mates unless the dynamic is excellent).
Teaching: Once you have learnt a concept, teach someone else! This really consolidates the information.

3. What to Study (Content)

But how will I know what I’m revising is useful? That’s actually a common, and good, question. As such, I’d like to address this.

From personal experience, and those experiences of peers, there’s no set approach or content that is specifically ‘the best’ to use in your GAMSAT® Exam practice. GAMSAT® Exam questions are oriented in such a way that all the information is provided and your role is to deconstruct this information (or concepts) and apply them to solve the answer. With this in mind, your study should not be heavily content-focused but rather you should try to understand concepts, for both humanities and sciences.

What do I mean by this? For example, in the biological sciences, there is no need to understand the haemoglobin dissociation curve, nor is there a reason to understand glomerular filtration of the kidneys. Rather, you should practice, practice and practice interpreting graphs and tables from past papers, and applying that to the question. I must, however, concede, that a solid foundational knowledge of organic chemistry really comes in helpful for the GAMSAT® Exam!

With all this in mind; here’s to a productive year of GAMSAT® Exam practice, in preparation for GAMSAT® Exam 2018!
- Dan W