Greyhounds, stinky old pubs & improving Science scores

Ever seen the Greyhound races?

I’ve never been in person but I’ve seen ‘em on TV.

You know when you sneak into an old pub to use their toilets and you walk past the TVs and there’s a couple’a old fellas sitting there watching the dog races…

That’s what I’m talking about!

=> This is for people STILL getting low scores in the Science section

Here’s the story:

The way they work, from my limited understanding is…

There’s a fake rabbit strapped to a railing.

The Greyhounds are loaded into the starting gates, then the motorised rabbit zipps off along the railing, the gates open and the dogs go hell for leather chasing that stinky fluff-ball. They run like mad. Nothing distracts them and they don’t stop. All they’re focusing on is going fast and catching that freakin rabbit, until the race is over.

And they catch nothing.

Kinda reminds me of how many people prepare for the Science section of the GAMSAT.

People have been watching and waiting for that rabbit i.e. waiting for the right time to do practice exams and questions.

They’ve been studying topics and anxiously waiting for the gates to open, or for someone to tell them to start doing practice papers. Then they get the word and run like mad doing heaps and heaps and heaps of practice questions and exams. Non-stop. Nothing distracts them until the exam is over.

Problem is,

When you do practice papers you get questions wrong and discover weaknesses along the way.

And some people are like, “Can’t stop! Need to keep chasing that freakin’ rabbit. Nothing can distract me from doing more practice papers.” But you’re not a Greyhound and you can consciously think about what you’re doing and reassess.

So at this point it’s vital to stop, address the weaknesses, develop or find strategies to prevent that problem from occurring again, and then apply them in the next paper.

This is a more thoughtful, conscious, and purposeful process than the endless chase for more practice questions and exams.

In our regular follow ups with our Bootcampers last week, we asked many of them what they’ve been doing about any areas of weakness they identified in your practice papers. And then we showed them how to fix them.

What about you?

What are you doing to address your weaknesses?

Reading textbooks?

Nothing?

Don’t be the Greyhound.

They run all their lives and catch nothing. Just like so many GAMSAT candidates. It’s very sad.

Instead, watch this. It will help.

Cheers,

Dr “Don’t be the Greyhound” Tom

P.S. Last week I was re-releasing my recent training webinar recordings. But towards the end of the week I was in hospital and couldn’t send out emails.

So I’ve extended the deadline to see my science section training.