GAMSAT for Mature Aged Students

1. GAMSAT for Mature Aged Students

2. GAMSAT for Mature Aged Students • The eternal question, ‘am I too old to sit the GAMSAT’, is still highly topical and stress-inducing as ever before! • First, we must go through some of the formalities from ACER, and ensure that we can agree on the technical eligibility requirements for sitting the GAMSAT exam, which may have an impact on studying for the GAMSAT for mature age students. • Second, another important introductory remark, is to define what exactly does ‘mature’ mean!

3. GAMSAT for Mature Aged Students • GAMSAT is available to any person who has completed a Bachelor or an undergraduate honours degree, or who will be in the penultimate (second-last) or final year of study, at the time of sitting the test. • From my own anecdotal experience of going through medical school and having a very close working knowledge of experience of colleagues from other schools, it is perhaps best to consider a ‘mature age medical student’ being anyone over the age of 25. • This is because these students would have had a reasonable chance to complete a Bachelor’s degree if they went straight to university following high school, and would have also typically had the opportunity, or necessity, to work and form relationships in some formal capacity.

4. GAMSAT for Mature Aged Students • The GAMSAT relies more on pattern-recognition, logic, and conceptual understanding, not technical and academic knowledge in these subjects. There is thus no reason on the aspects of the test as to why anyone could be considered ‘too old’ to sit the GAMSAT! • Even if you had done chemistry or physics in high school 20 years ago, and had not thought about it since, it will not seriously disadvantage you at all! • It might require some refreshment of key concepts, but otherwise, the test is about pattern-recognition, logic, and comprehension, rather than mastery of high school content!

5. GAMSAT for Mature Aged Students • If the technical, eligibility requirements, or background knowledge needed are not main detriments for the mature aged student to sit GAMSAT… then what is? • Of course, the main barriers and problematics are the various responsibilities that sit outside the GAMSAT, and very much determine how one can successfully engage in the preparation of this mammoth exam. • The mature-aged candidate has significant risks in sitting the GAMSAT, such as the substantial cost, which may not be suitable in conjunction with the other unfortunate expenses associated with living, studying while being in committed or long-term familial relations that may also feature small children, and all the other extra responsibilities that living longer unfortunately seems to bring in this world, inclusive of jobs, bills, and debt.

6. GAMSAT for Mature Aged Students • However, ‘older’ medical students can typically be far more capable and successful than their younger peers, supported by empirical research – as our mature comrades have a host of other skills and coping mechanisms that they can employ with full effect in medical school to stave off starvation, deal exquisitely with stress, and effectively time-manage. They are quite often far more empathetic and able to communicate effectively with others. • So, mature-aged students, believe in yourself, as your input in medical school and beyond is absolutely invaluable – the best doctors I know were all ‘mature age medical students’, entering medical school the ‘wrong side’ of 30!

7. Further Materials • How to Prepare for the GAMSAT • Free GAMSAT Preparation Materials • GAMSAT Biology: How to prepare • GAMSAT Chemistry: How to Prepare • GAMSAT Physics: How to Prepare • Don’t forget to sign up for our GAMSAT Free Trial, which includes 50 MCQs from our Intelligent MCQ Bank, access to our week-by-week study guide for each section, and a wealth of our GAMSAT resources: https://gradready.com.au/gamsat-preparation-courses/free-gamsat-trial