How did I prepare for GAMSAT as an NESB candidate?
I am an NESB candidate, which means a non-English speaking candidate. And for me, GAMSAT was hard, it was demoralising, and it crushed me at times. And after heaps of thoughts and reflection, I didn’t quit GAMSAT, I quit my job to prepare for GAMSAT.
I was working full time and preparing for GAMSAT at the same time until Nov 20. And I didn’t score as high as I expected. I had to admit I could not achieve the score I wanted if I keep working full time, especially for those that didn’t do high school in an English speaking country like me.
So, I quit my full-time job. And I scored 67 in May 21 and made it to medical school. So I think I might share with you how I did it, and so you can do even better.
Firstly, I focused on my weaknesses in each section to effectively prepare for GAMSAT!
For sections 1 and 2, I really struggled with vocabulary. I often failed to understand the key words of S1’s questions and S2’s quotes. So I not only read more but also sought help from others. Yes, I did a crash course of 2 full days to grasp the idea of how I should improve my vocabulary and prepare for GAMSAT more effectively.
What I valued most from the course was the list of vocabulary that I put straight into my Anki (1) and studied every day. Those words did help me. The second most valuable point I learned from the course was putting more analysis into my writing. As a scientist, my essays were mostly descriptive but I didn’t realise it. It took me some essays with discussions from my tutor to actually learn how to fix it. I don’t think I could do it without the help of my tutor. And the last thing I learned was how to make my essays cohesive and coherent. I thought I made it so, but I didn’t. And, I had to admit that there were errors I would never realise without the help of others.
For section 3, or Science section, Physics was the pain. I knew it. And whenever I stumbled over Physics questions, I would note down all the concepts and formulas that were unfamiliar to me. Then I would check them all out on Khan Academy (2). Oh, and have I mentioned Anki? Yes, I would put them all in my Anki to revise all those concepts and formulas every day!
Secondly, I revised and practiced consistently!
Consistently doing questions and flash cards was the key as it truly helped me form my GAMSAT thinking and retain important concepts.
I studied everyday. While I was still working, I spent at least 1-2 hours every night after work to study. After I quit my job, I spent up to 3-4 hours every day for it until the last couple of week before the test date. So, it was not about how much more knowledge I should learn everyday, it was how many times I revised my knowledge and practiced thinking through those GAMSAT-style questions.
Why was it so important? As it was spaced repetition and active learning/testing. Now even in medical school, spaced repetition and active learning/testing cannot be stressed enough, as they are the methods that will help students learn best. And not only I can vouch for them but also the medical school back them up with evidence. My school even goes a bit further with Team-based learning, which I will write about in another post.
Moreover, I also kept my study sessions similar. In each study session, I firstly through all Anki flash cards (1). Then, I practiced with Des and Acer questions. Then, I reflected on how I did wrong and even how I did right. And finally, I made new flash cards for new concepts to prepare for the next session.
Thirdly, I used Google Calendar to prepare for GAMSAT too!
By using Google Calendar (3). I not only tracked with how many hours I put in studying but planned ahead for my schedule.
For me, tracking my time kept myself from being distracted. Whenever I got distracted, I would put a block on my calendar and checked the time. And after that, I would usually feel guilty, which helped me break my cycle of distraction. Additionally, I could also reflect on how effective I was with my time and improved my schedule for the next day. For example, when I felt I needed more time to do section 3 questions, I would cut down my time for section 1 and 2.
I tried to make sure that my time put into each section was appropriate. So, beside using the Calendar, I had my own spreadsheet, in which I put in all my hours for each section and even for other activities, such as studying for my English test or for my Graduate Certificate at that time. With the spreadsheet, I can balance the time for each section in the ratio of 1:1:1. This ratio is just my own one, and if you feel like you need to focus more on section 2, you can do it as 1:2:1.
Finally, I did practice tests in similar exam conditions to prepare for GAMSAT and believed in myself!
It was crucial for me to get used to the exam, so I tried to imitate what it was like.
As you might be aware, GAMSAT was paper-based before 2020. And at that time, I always practiced doing the test with pencil, 2 scrap papers, and the test paper. But for 2020, I practiced looking at the screen! In the fortnight leading to the exam, I did all the practice tests on screen with 2 scrap papers. And I did it with new time limits.
It was hard at first changing from paper to screen, but I got used to it, and it did help me in the real test.
Having mentioned about the real test, it was initially terrifying for me in the first few minutes with all the technical bumpy glitches. But, I reminded myself to believe in effort that I put in, to be calm and to keep on moving.
I also reminded myself that the score I would get would not be my raw score as it depended on the cohort taking the test, which I will explain in another post. Additionally, when I got stuck with a difficult question, I took a deep breath, picked a random answer, noted the question number down and moved on. I knew I had no time to waste. And I told myself that if I found it hard, others might find it hard too.
So, I hope my experience will help you start preparing early in an effective way for your GAMSAT. If you’d like to know more about med school application, feel free to read my other posts in ‘medschool app’ category.
And for now, I am very glad that you read all the way down here and that you have chosen this hard but rewarding path. I wish you all the best for your GAMSAT and your med school application.
(1) Anki is a very powerful flash-card app that will not only help you with GAMSAT but also med school. I highly recommend it!
(2) Khan Academy is an education website where you can learn basic Physics/Chemistry/Biology to preparing for GAMSAT and MCAT if you’d like. There are many other sites and YouTube channels, but I prefer Khan Academy for myself.
(3) If you haven’t already known, you can put blocks of time on Google Calendar and move them around, scale them up or down, totally up to you. I find Google Calendar super helpful not just for preparing Gamsat but for medical school.