Greetings, GAMSAT-ers!
With less than two weeks left until the big day, here at
GradReady we want to prepare you as much as possible for this mammoth of a test, including what you should do in the remaining time prior to the GAMSAT® to enhance your success! Many of you have been working very hard for days, weeks and even months to get to this point, and you should first acknowledge the gigantic effort you have put in to be where you are today, which is an achievement in itself!
Now, you are in the last 100m of a marathon – the sprint! And we’ve got a range of recommendations to improve your performance as you blitz through the finish line, by perfecting your study and routine from here on out. I have arranged these recommendations below in point form, so as to allow you to read through these suggestions as quickly and efficiently as possible – we all know that time is of the essence!
- Study: Ideally, you may be approaching the pinnacle of your study schedule in the last two weeks of your GAMSAT preparation, and will be aiming to reach a particular point in your revision; however, if this is not you, don’t fear! You still have a good amount of time to pack quite a bit of study in, but you need to be very smart as to how you do this.
For example, opening page 1 of a mammoth biology textbook now would not be the way to go about this. What students must do is to start practicing GAMSAT®-style questions, and do as many as possible! Try to get your hands on
practice ACER manuals, available online in pdf form through Google searching, or complete questions from the GradReady question bank, and utilize any other GAMSAT®-style questions at your disposal. At this stage of your study, the most important thing is to make sure that you are well versed in performing on test day.
Another strong recommendation at this point, specifically for your
GAMSAT Section 1 Preparation, would be to ensure that you are writing at least one essay a day, in addition to reading either one opinion article in a respected journal/publication, or a chapter in a novel. Specifically for humanities:
- Focus your reading on philosophy, logic, or science ethics. Consider what makes a strong argument. Think back on some points argued in the book(s) that you have read. Were these strong arguments?
- Read the comments on a news website on a recent, controversial issue - perhaps something medically related such as euthanasia or abortion. Can you spot the logical fallacies in their arguments? How does the quality of arguments vary between 'tabloid' websites such as news.com.au (but for your own intelligence, don’t dawdle too long on sites such as these!) and other websites such as abc.net.au? Write a short practice argumentative essay on the topic, checking your logic and your facts.
- Routine: Don't do all-nighters. Make sure you have plenty of rest in the two weeks leading up to the GAMSAT®. Keep a regular sleep-wake cycle. Go to bed the same time every night and wake up the same time every day. This is so important because if you can’t go to sleep on the night prior to the GAMSAT®, you’re going to already be struggling in the exam regardless of how much previous study you’ve done.
- Self-care: Take plenty of breaks! You must be doing some form of regular exercise at this point, in order to revitalize your body – this doesn’t have to be marathon runs or power-lifting, but even a walk around your neighborhood each day would be enough. Keep yourself active! This is especially important the day before the GAMSAT®, try to wear yourself out so you’ll get a good night’s rest. Another equally important point, which you should be doing all the time anyway (as future doctors!) is eating well. Having a balanced diet with fruit and vegetables is key.
- Attitude: Having a positive attitude to the exam is important – and this just involves realizing within yourself that you deserve to be there. You’ve expended a lot in getting to this test, both financially and in terms of your time and effort, and you deserve to not only sit it but do well. Regardless of what you hear from other candidates, think of this as an opportunity, rather than something you dread – you are not forced to take the GAMSAT® as part of a unit of study or similar, but it is an opportunity for you to do something amazing in the future – all you need to do is take it!
We hope this helps you all! And we here at GradReady will be with you every step of the way, and we will continue to provide you with more useful information and advice leading up to the GAMSAT®. Check out some more
GAMSAT stress management strategies in our next article!
