How to Improve Your GAMSAT Score

The first step to improve your GAMSAT score is an honest approach to self-assessment. It is not as simple as: Non-science background vs science background. That might work for a traditional exam but the GAMSAT is far from traditional. Ideally, this step requires that you roll up your sleeves and attempt some GAMSAT practice questions from the source of this challenging exam: ACER.

ACER publishes 5 ebooks, the first of which is called “GAMSAT Practice Questions” (AKA the “Red Booklet,” a half-length exam). It is the easiest of ACER’s materials, however, since you may not be familiar with ACER’s style of questioning, you may find one or more of the sections very challenging.
Once you have completed the Red Booklet as a timed test, review your answers, and identify your strengths and weaknesses. This process will determine what type of preparation you should pursue and how much time that it may take to reach your goals.

Why did we say “honest” self-assessment? From our experience, hundreds if not thousands of students every year are happy to assess their abilities based on rumours, anonymous forum posts, and sometimes even magical thinking (!!). If you truly get a sense of GAMSAT questions from ACER, even if you “don’t feel ready yet”, not only do you vault over the rumours, etc., but also you will protect yourself from unscrupulous GAMSAT preparation companies who may pump out materials that are so dissimilar from ACER’s style that it may very well impede your attempt to improve your GAMSAT score.

Now onto Step 2: Improve your GAMSAT score by creating a study plan with realistic goals. You can create a study plan on your own, with an online or in-person study group, or with the guidance of a GAMSAT preparation company. We have created a free tool, or GAMSAT Study Schedule, which you can either use as a template for whatever you intend to use for your GAMSAT preparation, or you can use the Schedule to guide yourself in the use of Gold Standard GAMSAT materials and/or courses. You can choose to modify our online study schedule to fit your personal needs.

What about realistic GAMSAT goals? Of course, you must have an understanding of GAMSAT scores in general, as already described on our website (see GAMSAT scores, as well as ACER’s GAMSAT Guide), in order to interpret your practice test scores. Next you should look at the GAMSAT score requirements at various medical schools (or whatever other programme interests you) to assess your options and understand what is required to gain admissions to the programme(s) of your choice. Once you understand the minimum GAMSAT score that is required, you would want to aim for at least that score, or preferably, better.

Set aside a limited amount of GAMSAT preparation material so that you can better assess the time required to go through a finite amount of information and practice. Some students believe that GAMSAT prep requires the creation of a personal GAMSAT library! There are many unfortunate online classifieds' images of 6 to 20 books that students have used for their exam preparation. Pursuing non-GAMSAT specific and/or extensive content often leads to less effective studying.

We have already established that ACER materials are essential to your GAMSAT preparation. We believe that Gold Standard GAMSAT has the best GAMSAT review materials, for both students with science and non-science backgrounds, as well as excellent quality practice materials, second only to ACER (read more about Gold Standard GAMSAT).
Some students with difficulties in Section 1 have found Examkrackers Verbal (an MCAT book, any edition) useful because it is very inexpensive and provides helpful, though non-GAMSAT specific, advice. If you are using any of our comprehensive courses, then you will have sufficient Section 1 and 2 practice (we literally have thousands of GAMSAT-specific practice questions with worked solutions).

The key is to identify the tools which will help you most, and then set realistic goals, both in terms of what GAMSAT scores you are aiming for, and what study schedule you decide to implement in order to achieve your goals.

Details coming soon!

Details coming soon!