Tips from someone who scored 81 in S1.
EDIT: I'm not saying this will work for everyone, I'm just passing on what worked for me.
Hi all,
A few people have asked me for tips on how to do well in S1. It's hard for me to answer since I did a whole Arts degree, which really helped. My degree pretty much meant I was focussing on analysing text and language and learning the techniques how to analyse literature and poetry. We also did a lot of essay writing obviously. I managed to score an 81 and 73 respectively, and I think it's thanks to everything I learned in my Arts degree.
I thought I would share some free online courses that might be helpful for people preparing for the GAMSAT. They are similar to classes that I took in my Arts degree that I think really helped me do well on the GAMSAT. I also want to highlight that you don't need to pay for expensive courses, I used only free materials and library books for my S3 prep last year.
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- Poetry. I took a poetry class as an elective and it REALLY helped me learn how to analyse poetry in S1. I think it will also help with your literature analysis skills.
- https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/how-to-read-a-poem-york
- https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/what-is-poetry
- Politics/ethics. This will help with your S2 writing.
- https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/global-ethics
- Philosophy. This will help you learn how to interpret the philosophy texts as well as give you some ideas for S2.
- https://www.coursera.org/learn/philosophy
- General essay writing/philosophy/literature/logic/critical thinking courses
- https://www.coursera.org/learn/understanding-arguments?specialization=logic-critical-thinking-duke
- https://www.coursera.org/learn/logical-fallacies?specialization=logic-critical-thinking-duke
These are all just examples, there's lots of courses out there that will help you improve on S1 and S2. I currently work as a tutor and my students have found some of these courses really helpful.
I also recommend making sure you read books and are exposed to new ideas. I have a habit of reading the news every morning, this has really helped give me ideas for S2.
Also, for people who are looking to improve their S3, these are the two courses I did that helped me improve my S3 by 15 points:
I also used the book 3000 Solved problems in Chemistry to practice my biochemistry and organic chem.
Last thing I want to say is DON'T GIVE UP. You can do it! It might not happen straight away, but you will get there one day.
3 years ago I had a 5.8 GPA and a 61 GAMSAT. I now have a 6.8 GPA and a 75 GAMSAT. I just got an offer from USyd. It doesn't matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop <3 Don't give up!!
(PS I really hope this doesn't come off as bragging, that's not my intention, I just want to show you that with hard work and dedication you can eventually succeed).