What Do You Mean The GAMSAT’s Gone Online?
Everything you need to know about the Online GAMSAT format from a May Guinea Pig.
In case you haven’t heard yet (in which case I suspect you live under a rock), the GAMSAT has gone online!
To best respond to the global health crisis we are currently facing, ACER really shook things up for all prospective medical students this year by moving the GAMSAT, a traditional 5.5 hour pen and paper test, completely online.
One of our students sat the first ever online GAMSAT in May and it has been confirmed this will be the same format for September students. Whilst the September exam can seem but a skip and a hop away, it is entirely possible to do really well so long as you prepare in the right way starting from now! Hear their thoughts about the online format below…
My General Feelings of the Online GAMSAT
Contrary to popular belief, the online GAMSAT was not as terrible nor problem-ridden as one would be led to believe. I was fortunate enough to have had a reasonably smooth and enjoyable experience and whilst I acknowledge that this may not have been the case for everyone, feedback from others would suggest that ACER were mostly accommodating of any issues that did arise. If anything, our May/June GAMSAT (aka. The Test Run) should hopefully be a learning experience for ACER and an opportunity to highlight areas where relevant and necessary measures are needed to address technical difficulties as we move into the September testing period.
As someone who has previously sat the offline GAMSAT, I did find it difficult to adapt to the online format. I believe this was because I had certain strategies in place that were tailored to the paper format which I initially believed that I had to completely ‘unlearn’ for the online test (not the case at all, it turns out!) For example, speed reading and chunking information. The underlying concept stayed the same — I just had to optimise it for going online!
On the actual test day, I sat the GAMSAT from the comfort of my own home. It’s definitely a polarising and strange feeling sitting a high-stakes exam completely alone with a computer screen and an unseen proctor but once I got over this mental roadblock, I was feeling ready to go. I found the online interface quite easy to navigate. There were clear instructions and it was very user friendly. There was a reduced number of questions but an increased amount of time allocated to each question.
The Main Differences and New Challenges
For any normal sitting, the offline GAMSAT is typically a full-day extravaganza. The whole exam-shebang encompasses 5.5 hours of actual testing but with registrations and waiting times, you end up being there for approximately 7–8 hours!
One of the main differences in the May/June GAMSAT was the fact that it was structured into two separate 2-hour testing sessions across 2 weeks. This made it seem much more manageable and a lot less daunting, especially for first-time sitters. In addition to this, the amount of questions was roughly half the normal amount. Make of this what you will. Some people will thrive in shorter tests; others will flourish in longer ones.
The biggest challenge for me was losing the ability to annotate. In a typical GAMSAT exam, the test booklet is all yours. No one else looks at it and you are free to scribble all over the text and into the margins. It was definitely challenging not being able to underline, circle, bracket and draw arrows on the text, especially for Section 1.
Another challenge was reading text on a screen for prolonged periods of time. I quickly realised that this was really draining on the eyes. It’s also a lot easier to lose focus and zone out when staring at a screen vs paper. I had to really push myself to change my mentality and approach to viewing the texts on a screen. Lucky for us though, GAMSAT texts and passages are usually pretty interesting! No matter if its online or offline, they’re often very complex and thought-provoking.
An aspect I enjoyed was having an in-built timer that you could always glance towards. Rather than being a standard analogue clock, this was a countdown so you could always see that you had X amount of minutes left. Additionally, Section 2 was now typed instead of hand-written, which I personally found much faster.
All in all, I felt that ACER gave some and took some. I found Section 2 a lot easier being able to type essays, but Section 1 and 3 were a greater challenge without the ability to annotate. It was difficult to initially adjust to this but after some practice getting used to the online system, I found myself enjoying the entire process.
Changing Your Tactics and Strategies
Once it was confirmed that the GAMSAT was proceeding as an online exam, I tried to process this change by thinking about what this would mean for my strategies. I couldn’t physically annotate or write things down directly on the text, BUT I could still use the similar thought processes that I had cultivated and developed throughout my preparation. I quickly realised that the core of my strategies did not change — they simply needed some tweaks.
Make sure to establish what works for you early on. Then stick to this. Everyone has a different way of taking notes and synthesizing information. FIRST, I let myself get comfortable with the online testing format and THEN, I worked on improving my speed. I practiced my strategies early so that they became second nature.
Keep moving. This is a really hard mentality to give up. But, the time goes very fast. There’s a countdown on the screen so it’s much more easier to keep yourself accountable.
Practice with the online interface as soon as possible. Replicate the testing conditions during your preparation. For the May/June GAMSAT, you were allowed two blank double-sided pieces of paper per session. I stopped using printouts and started only reading PDF copies of the questions and stems.
I found that Section 2 was relatively easier to make the switch to an online interface. In Section 2, reading and writing time was combined. I used my ‘reading time’ to plan but also flesh out the structure of my essay. My plan involved creating a topic sentence for each paragraph. I did this for both essays within the first 5 minutes. Seeing it on the screen really gave me a sense of reassurance as I knew I already had the idea, I now just had to fill in the rest!
Top 5 Tips for the Online GAMSAT
1.Practice skimming and mentally compartmentalising information — you won’t actually need a lot of what they give you!
2.Stick to time. If it’s not working, move on. The time you save here could be better spent elsewhere.
3. Practice touch typing to increase your speed and build confidence. Whilst Section 2 is without a doubt QUALITY > QUANTITY, by not being worried about my typing ability and speed I was able to fully focus on the quality of my writing.
4. Practice with PDFs and the online demo so that you are accustomed to reading passages off a screen and typing in a text box.
5. Keep your working out paper neat (!!) — use it wisely!
If you’d like to chat more about the online GAMSAT or preparing for September, always feel free to reach out to either myself or any of our GAMSAT team.
Written by one of our May GAMSAT students.
Please feel free to reach out to Karlene Ta, our Operations Manager at karlene@haladtohealth.org
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