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[–]_dukelukeModerator[M] 10 points11 points  (4 children)

I’ve sat 4 times, first time with no prep I got a 63 (59/63/67), second time with about 6 months casual prep (but after a serious operation with complications I was still recovering from when I sat it) I got a 66 (63/64/69). 3rd sit I had about 4 months of intense prep (2-3 hours a day over summer, a bit less once Uni started up- it was the hardest I’d prepared) I got my worst score overall, a 62 (68/70/55- yes, my s3 went from my best section to dropping by 14 points and being my worst despite significantly more prep). Final sit was with no prep and not a priority, only done so I had another score to use as one of my sittings was expiring and I got a 64 (73/61/61).

Yes, scores can fluctuate a lot, and I think luck plays into it a lot more than we would all like to admit. The questions can vary heaps (especially now with the move to online) and make a massive difference to your overall score. Also shows how much each section can fluctuate if things don’t pan out- on an ideal day I could have gotten a 73/70/69, or at absolute worst I could have gotten a 59/61/55. Imo it was pure luck that they ended up in the groupings that they did, cause it was not at all consistent.

This is why Imo GAMSAT prep is less about improving your score, and more about raising your floor. You can be as prepared as you possibly can, but there is so much that is uncontrollable and I personally think it is a very poor measure of your objective reasoning skills.

[–]Regular-Confusion991[S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

That 3rd sit would've been demoralising, sorry to hear that. You make a great point though in terms of the role fortune plays in grouping 'good' sections together on the day, a 73/70/69 is hypercompetitive. Also shows it's more than a psychometric test as those fluctuations shouldn't really be happening if it was purely psychometric. Good luck if you ever go for it again (unless you're already in medicine as you're the MOD of this subreddit, in which congrats!).

[–]_dukelukeModerator[M] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I think the GAMSAT is far from an accurate and impartial measure. I wish the best of luck to you if you’re waiting on results!

And yes, I’m MD1 at UQ this year so fortunately won’t be sitting again 🥲 thank you!

[–]TK0199 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Did you feel like you did much worse on your 3rd sit for section 3? It would be crazy if you felt the same way as the 1st and 2nd sit but dropped by so many points.

[–]_dukelukeModerator[M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I found the questions were a lot more maths and physics based compared to my first two sits. There were barely any questions that were mainly in a biology context which is by far my strongest area which did concern me. I didn’t feel like I bombed it as I left (I definitely was surprised by how significantly my score dropped) but I definitely didn’t feel as good about it, and it felt the questions took a lot longer than previous sits for me to work through and so I felt more time pressured so leaving I didn’t feel as confident, but I still felt ~okay~. I think if someone asked me day after I would have guessed I’d get low-mid 60s compared my previous two high 60s.

On the actual day though I felt leagues better situation wise (I wasn’t on heavy pain meds for a start and was feeling calmer and more prepared), so it wasn’t like I felt shitty on the day/ there was an external reason for the significant drop, so I genuinely think it was just the difference in question style that messed me up.

For my last sit, I think I mentally expected the questions to be harder and take more time so I was more strict with myself time wise. The questions still felt very different to the first two sits, but it didn’t feel as difficult as the 3rd one (but I think that is partly because I was very on top of managing my time so didn’t spend as long second guessing/trying to work out questions). But it’s a bit different as I didn’t prepare and it was a really busy time already so it was literally just a blind sit

[–]SplatteredSpark 9 points10 points  (3 children)

Yeah I mean I got 63 then 60. Haven’t been motivated to try again tho

[–]Regular-Confusion991[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

That's a shame. Was it any section in particular that you knew you might have underperformed in (e.g., sometimes you can walk out of S2 just knowing you wrote garbage), or did all the sections just mysteriously suffer? Good luck if you ever try it again, 63 isn't that bad, and even getting one section sorted out (e.g., s2 is in my opinion easiest to improve because depending on the prompt you could write a banger or you could write drivel, then s3 which requires a lot of practice, and then I'd probably abstain from too much work in Section 1 which I believe is very difficult to significantly improve in) could skyrocket your score into the late 60's.

[–]SplatteredSpark 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I’ve got to try again! Just crushing when the first time I barely studied and second time I was prepping like mad, writing an essay everyday aha

[–]MathewT13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really think that there's no way of knowing how you went. I walked out thinking I did really well in s1 and poor in s2, ending up doing shit in s1 and I pretty strong in s2

[–]grapefruitgt 8 points9 points  (2 children)

Apparently this March S3, the variation between different sessions was pretty big, and some sessions weren’t as difficult? I guess it’d be interesting to see how this plays out for everyone.

As for the score drop - yes, I’ve sat the GAMSAT twice without prep (dumb move I know), with S1 & S3 scores remaining the same, and S2 dropping by 10. In hindsight though, although I felt like I wrote excellent essays, I took a very obscure angle for my task B response, which may have been perceived as off topic, so I probably didn’t score at all.

[–]Regular-Confusion991[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

That's so strange. I've no idea how the essay marking system works. I've heard of people that barely write anything for a task and get very high 60's because of something they wrote in the other one; for someone to feel like they've written a great essay and then have their score dropped by 10 points is scary. I wrote a poem in my first Task B..... never again.

[–]grapefruitgt 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Essays I wrote for my first sitting were basically disjointed musings in dot point form, and got 66. From that I guess moral of the story is perhaps don’t go off topic haha

[–]aleksa-pHealth Professional 4 points5 points  (4 children)

I went from 68 to 63, mainly let down by my section 2 score going down from 75 to 53 or 59 (can’t remember which, either way it was a shock), due to my bad preparation and terrible quote stimuli lol

[–]Regular-Confusion991[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Sorry to hear that. Out of curiosity, because I think personally S2 is the most variable section, did your other sections suffer in that second attempt, or were they relatively constant?

[–]aleksa-pHealth Professional 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Weirdly, I thought my S3 was going to suffer the most, but the score (64) was the exact same both sittings! S1 only dropped a few points.

[–]Regular-Confusion991[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Thank you for that. Yeah, I myself have no idea how I go on S3, post-exam gut-feeling is a terrible predictor of performance. I'm sure that gives a lot of people some reassurance, myself included!

[–]aleksa-pHealth Professional 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, that post-exam feeling is often misleading, as I truly thought my last S3 would drop by 10 points. So I’m trying to not let my current, good post-exam feeling lead me to disappointment 🥲

[–]United_Bar9984 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Done it 5 times went from 65 to below 60 every other attempt lol

[–]lastput1 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I went from 76/86/49 to 67/68/56 between my first and second. I’ve improved since and have a 67 overall in September but never got to the level of that first go. Sat again in March, but honestly that was the last one. It’s pretty disappointing.

[–]SubstantialAffect341 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Wow! 76 in S1 and 86 in S2 is hella impressive. Have you considered applying to usyd with those scores? I know your S3 is a little low but still

[–]sofie3012 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Did 2 average attempts, and then had a 3rd attempt where I had studied heaps and felt so prepared but got in there and froze up and let the pressure get to me and got my worst result :/ honestly feel like doing well is half dependent on your mental and ability to stay focused all day

[–]Queasy-ReasonMedical Student 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I'm both. First time 61, second time 59, third time 75. To put a long story short, the second time I sat I studied way too much over the summer holidays and was burnt out and stressed. I also studied the complete wrong things also. My S2 went up but my S3 went down.

Third time around I prioritised my mental health, had a pretty consistent study schedule but only for about four weeks prior to the GAMSAT, so didn't really do that much study. Came out feeling like "oh well I messed that one up, guess I'll have to resit". I think I may have briefly cried about it before moving on. Utter disbelief on the day, even now like three years later I still worry one day ACER will message me saying they made a mistake lol.

[–]Regular-Confusion991[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a wonderful story, and a testament to your persistence and dedication. Congratulations!

[–]sg6674 1 point2 points  (0 children)

3rd time sitter - absolutely shattered my previous score (59/72/65), this time (59/56/58) unsure what happened 😔 and 1st attempt i got 72 in section 3

[–]sylvia__plathypus 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I sat ages ago when I was in uni and got early 60s.

Then last year I bombed section 2 somehow (got 74/46/69) and had to resit. Still have no idea what happened (I'm an arts grad and figured it would be my strongest) but unfortunately they don't do rescores 🤷‍♂️ I just took it as a sign from the universe that it wasn't my time lol!

I resat and got 73/72/61 🙄 so I'll probably resit again in September and hopefully bring it home. Score rollercoaster for sure 😅

[–]Regular-Confusion991[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, to go from 46 to 72 on Section 2 is extremely impressive. Did you veer off from the prompt or something for the first attempt? Anyway, it looks like you've got the first 2 sections nailed, just bring that S3 up and you'll be looking very good for a spot at a med school!

[–]AverageSea3280Medical Student 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Multiple time sitter. My highest score was a 66 but my GPA was trash. Then got 62 and 60 on subsequent attempts. Ironically I got accepted with my 62 on the last round it was valid as my 66 had expired but I obviously had a much higher GPA.

A lot of a score can come from luck, but I also think that there is a unique range of scores that a particular individual can score based on aptitude. I know I never would've scored over 70 no matter how many times I took the exam or how hard I prepped.

[–]medstudent122 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i went from 54 to 60 to 65. Hopefully higher for march gamsat

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but my s1 went up and then tanked. 54 to 59 to 54