At GradReady, we've put together these slides to provide you with an overview of how to prepare for and approach Section 1 of the GAMSAT ® exam. For more information, check out our detailed article on this topic here: https://gradready.com.au/gamsat-section-1

1. © GradReady 2018
GAMSAT Section 1: How to
Prepare

2. © GradReady 2018
What is GAMSAT ® Section 1?
Section 1 of the GAMSAT ® Exam is also known as “Reasoning in Humanities
and Social Sciences”.
Here, you will be asked questions on a wider array of different media which may
include the following (note that this list is not exhaustive)
1. Literature
2. Psychology
3. Anthropology
4. Non-Fiction
5. Graphic Comics

3. © GradReady 2018
How to Prepare for GAMSAT ® Section 1
Your preparation for GAMSAT ® Section 1 should be seen
as two-fold.
● Preparing for the content. This involves becoming
familiar with the principles underlying Humanities and
Social Sciences, or perhaps more accurately, the
principles underlying the main mediums through which
you’ll be assessed
● Developing an MCQ Strategy

4. © GradReady 2018
GAMSAT ® Section 1 Reading List
Type of Media Description Free Resources
Newspapers Newspapers are perhaps one of the more
obvious mediums through which you can
read on a wide range of topics and
issues. The newspapers listed in here
arguably offer some of the least biased
and fairest reporting.
● The Conversation
● The Economist
● The Guardian
● Al Jazeera
● Australian Financial
Review
Books & Short Stories It’s best to aim for short texts. Aim for
excellent writing with a focus on authors
who have mastered the short-story
modality.
● Oscar Wilde
● Ralph Waldo Emerson
● Chekhov
● Noam Chomsky
● George Orwell
Essays Again, take advantage of the shorter
texts allowing you to read one a day.
● Humanities Open Access
Journal
● Arts and Letters Daily
● Australian Humanities
Review
Poetry Poetry is often an area that students tend
to dislike, but it’s still a medium that you
should familiarise yourself with. Poems
are generally a lot shorter so they provide
you with an opportunity to read one daily.
● Poems.org - How to read a
poem
● Poems.org - List of Poems

5. © GradReady 2018
GAMSAT ® Section 1 Tips
Method for approaching each and every MCQ that will further increase your odds of arriving
at the correct option:
● Read the question
Read the question, i.e. the task you need to complete to answer the question correctly. Nothing will
save you from choosing the wrong answer if you misread the question and so this step is essential.
Not only this, but it will prime your mind on what to look for in the stem.
● Read the answer options
Not only will this also prime your mind on what to look for the in the stem, it will also demonstrate the
way in which your mind should be working. It will give you key words and grammatical cues to look
for in the stem such as the difference between “an” and “a.”
● Identify the objective
Through the combination of these two you should be able to identify the objective of the question, i.e.
what knowledge or skill they are testing. For example, even though you may be asked about what a
certain phrase means, what it is actually assessing is your ability to understand the concept of
metaphor.
● Read the stem
As you are reading you should be able to identify elements that make one or more options the more
likely answer and elements that detract from the answers. You can then tally at the end to see which
answer is the most likely. Couple this with your ability to rule out obvious detractors and your
statistical odds alone improve your chances of getting the right option.

6. © GradReady 2018
GAMSAT ® Preparation Materials
For more detail on Graduate Medical School admission requirements:
https://gradready.com.au/medical-school-entry-requirements
Here are some our free resources to learn more about the GAMSAT ® Exams
including dates, locations and preparation notes :
1. GAMSAT ® 2020
2. Free GAMSAT Preparation Materials
3. How to Prepare for the GAMSAT ®
4. How to prepare for GAMSAT ® Section 2
5. How to prepare for GAMSAT ® Section 3