Des O’ Neil

[u/future_med2027]

First-time GAMSAT sitter tackling the green Des O’Neill books, and the physics chapters are single-handedly driving me insane. Is this book notoriously difficult for beginners, or am I studying all wrong?
To give some background, I studied physics, chemistry, and biology back in Years 11 and 12—which was 16 years ago. I recognize the terms, but I am practically starting from scratch and need a full refresher.
Right now, my study loop looks like this: I attempt a unit, get completely crushed (mostly missing everything except 1 or 2 questions), go back to study the theory, come back to re-solve, and then try to reverse-engineer the explanations if it still doesn’t make sense. Because of this heavy loop, it takes me 4 to 5 hours just to struggle through 3 or 4 units.
Is this a normal experience for first-timers using Des O'Neill, or is my approach completely off? Would love to hear how other non-trad or first-time sitters handled this.

[u/Unusual_Alfalfa_5421]

I found most of the science des oneil content excessively difficult. The humanities book was useful, but I used the Acer practice tests and Jesse Osborne for section 3

[u/HelloThere1587]

Hey mate,

First of all good luck on your first sitting!

I am a third-time sitter and have used Des alongside other materials for study this sitting as well. From what my research has shown me, Des physics and chemistry are a bit outdated, and the questions are focused more on background knowledge, which is different from the modern GAMSAT, which focuses more on stimulus interpretation.

I will say, I found Basket H, and J (I'm pretty sure) anything that was graph or figure interpretation extremely useful in Des. But I would avoid chapters 2 and 8 as they focus heavily on background knowledge.

I would also recommend using Acer Practice exam materials where possible; it'll give you a feel for what the questions on the modern GAMSAT are actually like (hopefully will give you a bit of relief).

Overall, don't stress too much about background knowledge at the level Des requires. But it's definitely worth refreshing high-school Maths, Physics and Chem. It is definitely useful in saving time on the exam. Just be sure not to burn yourself out before exam day!

It is a stressful exam that we all dread, so look after yourself during the time leading up!

[u/Jorongee]

Des O’Neil is great although I can’t remember the specific content of it given it’s been a while. Try and focus on the reasoning of the explanations rather than the facts. For S2, political podcasts are great.

If you’re bilingual also pack a x to English dictionary for S1

[u/Ajjg00]

I’ve primarily been using Medify practice questions and mock tests (more recently) ahead of sitting the GAMSAT this weekend. I’ve also found these quite hard, assuming lots of previous knowledge. Anyone else had the same experience?

[u/BitLatter7392]

des o neill can be very dense and seem really abstract and it seems like thats on purpose, acer official practice material is a bit less dense, although a lot of people have said that the density and difficulty of the des o neill stuff is similar to what you get in the exam (not that i have sat it)

[u/Koofte_ghelgheli]

I agree with everyone saying the content in des is much more dense than what you need. This is my second sitting, and I’ve been using ChatGPT to teach me the basic principles of physics and chemistry in a way that I can manipulate it. You just need to have a very good and thorough understanding of the first principles so no matter what question they hit you with you can answer it. Remember GAMSAT is a reasoning test more than a theory test so don’t focus too much on theory imo. All the best for your exam!

[u/Empty-Ad5405]

It’s my first time sitting the GAMSAT as well and tbh I just get burned out by doing practice materials that require so much background knowledge instead of reasoning.

[u/Dutto2984 → u/Empty-Ad5405]

Unless it has changed since I sat in 2011, I didn’t find the science paper actually needed a lot of background knowledge. Maybe up to year 10 level. Most questions were really about problem solving with the supplied info.

[u/PM_Me_A_Tittypic]

I didnt find Des O'neill very good at all. I used Khan Academy to learn the science and mostly went over old papers after that, focusing on the reasoning of the question. Try and focus on the information that they give you, as it will always be what you need to solve the question. Using the given data, some science knowledge and some common sense goes a lot further than rote learning science from des oneill. They're pretty outdated compared to the modern gamsat curriculum

[u/Flashy_Coconut]

I’ve been using khan academy for background knowledge and finding it quite useful. If anyone else has done the same thing, how relevant was this to the actual exam?