GAMSAT Section 3: Why You Must Relearn Physics

The Science Monster

Section 3 of the GAMSAT (Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences) is 150 minutes of pure cognitive exhaustion.

It is composed of roughly:

40% Biology (1st year university level)

40% Chemistry (1st year university level)

20% Physics (Year 12 level)

The Memorization Trap

Pre-med students make a fatal mistake: They treat Section 3 like a university exam. They spend 300 hours memorizing the Krebs cycle, organic chemistry nomenclature, and every physics equation in the textbook.

They sit the exam and panic. ACER (the test creator) does not ask: "What is the formula for kinetic energy?"

Instead, ACER provides a full page explaining a completely novel, bizarre biological mechanism you have never seen before (e.g., the mating cycle of a rare deep-sea squid). They provide the formulas, the graphs, and the data in the prompt. Your job is to read it, understand the rules of this new system instantly, and apply basic scientific principles to deduce the answer.

Why Physics is the Differentiator

Biology and Chemistry make up 80% of the section. But it is the 20% Physics that separates the average scores (55) from the elite scores (75+).

Most medical applicants hate mathematics. They guess the physics questions to save time. If you spend the time to master foundational physics (Kinematics, Fluids, Electromagnetism) and rapid mental math (scientific notation, estimating logs without a calculator), you will harvest points that 90% of the cohort abandons.

The Double Weighting

For traditional GEMSAS universities, Section 3 is weighted double. If you score 60 in S1, 60 in S2, and 80 in S3, your overall score is a massive 70.

If you hate science, you must specifically target universities that use the "Unweighted" formula (1:1:1), which neutralizes the dominance of Section 3.

Use our GAMSAT Score Calculator to play with the weighting algorithm and see exactly how many points you need in Section 3 to offset a weak essay score.