Ep 18: March Results Are Out – What to Do Now?

Tom Forfa (00:02)
Hello everybody. Welcome—or welcome back—to the Nurses Doing GAMSAT podcast. I am Dr Tom Forfa and I am joined by the amazing, the incredible, the—dressed in red today—Mare Jordan Forfa. Welcome, Mare!

Mare Forfa (00:22)
Thank you! So excited to be here. It is an absolute welcome change from the chaos that has been this week because we’ve been moving. We’re kind of in between two places, and I’m just happy that I don’t have to think about boxes for the next hour or so—or however long we’re here.

Tom Forfa (00:38)
Yeah, I—it makes me think about all the bootcampers we’ve helped who were moving while preparing for the GAMSAT. I can’t imagine trying to juggle that and working full-time. It’s been a headache just to move at a relatively quiet time of GAMSAT prep. This is kind of a quiet time. I’ve literally got a green screen behind me—and there are boxes behind that green screen. It’s an artificial background hiding the chaos.

Mare Forfa (01:10)
I’m not even in the office. I’m in a totally different place because it’s just chaos.

Tom Forfa (01:17)
All right—sorry to cut you off there. What were we saying? Actually, I’ll cut you off again—what are we talking about today?

Mare Forfa (01:21)
That’s all right—it makes it more interesting! We’re not in the same office anymore, so it’s a bit tricky. Anyway, what are we talking about today, Tom?

Tom Forfa (01:34)
We’re talking about what to do once GAMSAT results are released. Because by the time you’re listening to this, chances are the results have finally—after some delay this year—been released. And the question becomes: what does it mean? What do you do? What if you’re happy with your score and you got a great one? What do you do to make sure you get an interview? What if you’re unhappy, you got a low score, or didn’t get what you wanted? What do you do then? Or what if you’re not sure—you’re borderline? Maybe it’s enough, maybe not. What do you do?

We’re going to cover all of that today. So it’s a really important podcast for you guys to listen to. Also, we’re giving you some incredible resources in the show notes—one of which compares all the requirements for each medical school side by side, so you can view them in one place. You can find that through the link in the description of this podcast, wherever you’re watching or listening to it.

But Mare, how about we jump in and start by talking about what the actual GAMSAT score is and what it means?

Mare Forfa (02:41)
No, I don’t want to jump into that yet! I want to say congratulations to our amazing Bootcamp members first. This time of year, I love getting the phone calls, the texts, the DMs, the messages—the calls just saying, “Oh my God, I did it!”

(Sorry, I’m babysitting a dog here and she’s got her squeaky toy!)

Tom Forfa (03:00)
Yeah, squeaky toy—that’s the dog biting the squeaky toy.

Mare Forfa (03:13)
Yeah, sorry! I’m just going to roll with it—that’s life, isn’t it?

Tom Forfa (03:16)
And I’ve got the cat back here—so if you see a furry tail going through the screen, that’s probably the cat.

Mare Forfa (03:23)
So congratulations to our Bootcamp members! I know a ton of them are super happy with their results and are now thinking about next steps. But I guess we have to start by helping everyone figure out where they are—whether they’re happy, unsure, or unhappy. And then, what the next best steps are—because every single person who has a result now has a next step.

Tom, why don’t you tell us a little bit about how to interpret the scores—total scores, each section, weighted, unweighted—all of that, so people can really understand what it all means?

Tom Forfa (04:09)
Yeah. So when you got your result, you logged into the ACER system and saw four marks: section one, section two, section three, and the overall score.

Let’s start with the individual section scores. That’s not your raw score. If you got a 61, that doesn’t mean you got 61 out of 100 correct, or 61%. It’s been scaled and adjusted using a bell curve. We’ve all heard of the bell curve before—right?

Mare Forfa (04:48)
Can I just say—not everybody’s heard of the bell curve. So I’m just going to explain it quickly. Basically, imagine a graph shaped like a bell. The top of the bell is the 50th percentile—it has the greatest number of students, and it’s around that 50 mark.

So even if your raw score in, say, the essays was 90 out of 100, if the average score was 90, you’d still be at the 50th percentile. And then as you move towards lower or higher scores—like 30s or 80s—you see fewer and fewer people in those areas.

Tom Forfa (05:21)
Yeah. So if you imagine the bell curve—underneath the curve is where the people are. It’s highest in the middle because that’s where the most people are. Down the sides, there’s less area, so fewer people. That means a few people get really low scores in the 30s or lower, and only a few get really high scores in the 70s, 80s or 90s.

Mare Forfa (06:02)
Exactly. I didn’t want to brush over that, because some people, when I speak to them on the phone, haven’t heard of the bell curve.

Tom Forfa (06:04)
Totally. And many universities use this kind of scaling too, but with GAMSAT it’s everything—it’s how they live and die. Your score is not a reflection of your raw performance on the day. You could have done far worse or far better—we’ll never really know, because it’s kind of like the secret recipe, the 11 herbs and spices of how ACER works it all out and spits out your GAMSAT score.

Mare Forfa (06:23)
Yep. And people need to realise this is a competition. You’re in the intellectual Olympics right now. It’s not you versus you—it’s you versus everyone else. It actually matters how the cohort performs, not just your individual raw score. You can’t have two gold medals at the Olympic Games. There’s only one.

Tom Forfa (06:57)
That’s a great way to put it. So your section scores—one, two and three—are all scaled like that. Then you got a fourth result, your overall score.

Now, ACER calculates your overall score by doubling your section three score (so it counts twice as much), adding that to your section one and two scores, and dividing the total by four. That’s called the weighted GAMSAT score.

But there’s also the unweighted GAMSAT score, which doesn’t appear on your result sheet, but some medical schools use it. That’s where they simply add section one, two and three, and divide by three—treating all sections equally.

Why is that important? Because some med schools use the weighted score, and others use the unweighted score. So you need to calculate both, especially if you did really well in section one and two but not so much in three. Your unweighted score might actually be higher, and that can influence your med school preferences.

Mare Forfa (07:59)
And this is just the beginning! We’re talking bell curves and formulas and already it’s feeling complicated. But understanding this is the first step in knowing where you stand.

Tom Forfa (08:09)
Exactly. So the big question becomes: is your score high enough? Is it competitive? We’ll do a separate podcast next week going into more depth on that and another one about the non-GEMSAS schools.

But right now, we’ve got a resource for you in the show notes—it’s our Med Schools Summary Page. It has a table comparing all the medical schools side by side: competitive scores, minimums, application requirements. It’s the best way to get the full picture.

What you’ve got to understand is, there’s a minimum score to apply, and then there’s a competitive score that actually gets you an interview.

So, for example, the minimum might be 50 in each section and 50 overall. That lets you apply, sure—but a 51 isn’t going to cut it for most schools. You need to be competitive.

And then it gets even more complex—weighted versus unweighted GAMSAT, GPA calculations, bonus points for work experience or rural background… It’s a lot.

That’s why we’ve got a whole info page and a whole bootcamp program that helps walk you through it step by step.

Mare Forfa (09:32)
And it’s so important to understand all of this early. Because now is a really critical time—you can’t just sit on your results and think “I’ll deal with it later.” You’ve got to act fast.

The GEMSAS applications for most medical schools close on the 30th of May.

Tom Forfa (09:46)
Unless they make an adjustment—because ACER released the results late this year.

Mare Forfa (09:50)
They’ve done that before, yeah. If they do adjust it, it’ll be for a reason—maybe a technical issue or some other problem at one of the test sites. But still, they’re usually pretty on time. When they say mid-May, they generally mean it.

Honestly though, I wish ACER would just give us a firm date and stick to it. That “any day now” limbo really stresses people out. I’ve had students have full-blown anxiety attacks waiting for results—not even because they expect a bad score, but just the waiting. So ACER, if you’re listening—just pick a date and make it official.

Tom Forfa (10:33)
Yeah, and now that everything’s digital—not paper-based like it used to be—it should be faster. No more feeding multiple-choice answers into a machine. And even the essays are done earlier—like two or three weeks before the rest of the test. So they’ve got time.

Mare Forfa (10:46)
Exactly. Who knows what’s happening behind the scenes? But there’s a lot to manage—thousands of candidates, different testing centres.

Tom Forfa (10:52)
Yeah. As much as we make fun of ACER, I reckon they’ve got a tough job. For every one of our students reaching out to us stressed, there are probably 10 or 20 emailing ACER directly. So credit where it’s due—they’re juggling a lot.

Mare Forfa (11:05)
Totally. So back to the important part: the 30th of May. That’s the deadline for GEMSAS applications.

Don’t wait until that day to submit. Seriously. In the past, their system has had issues—too many people applying at once, errors going through. You don’t want to leave it to the last minute and risk losing a whole year because of a technical glitch.

Tom Forfa (11:24)
Yeah, that’s a disaster. So what is GEMSAS?

Well, GEMSAS—or GEMSAS, depending on how you say it—is essentially a centralised system used by most medical schools. Think of it like a uni consortium. They’ve outsourced their admissions process to this organisation.

And here’s how it works: you apply through them, and you rank your top five preferences in order. You don’t apply to all of them individually. Your preferences determine where you’re most likely to get an interview.

Mare Forfa (11:58)
And you can’t get multiple interview offers from GEMSAS unis. You get one.

Tom Forfa (12:03)
Right. You could get an interview from your first preference and an offer from your third. But more commonly, people put, say, Melbourne first and Notre Dame second. If their score isn’t competitive for Melbourne, they don’t get Melbourne—and they might also miss Notre Dame because all the first preference spots have been filled.

Mare Forfa (12:22)
Exactly. And you might have had a higher score than someone who got into Notre Dame—but because they put it as their first preference and you didn’t, they got it. You didn’t.

Tom Forfa (12:42)
It’s brutal. So the order of your preferences is just as important as your GPA or your GAMSAT. That’s why we’ve built this whole preference strategy system. We teach people how to optimise their preferences—because if you don’t do this strategically, you could miss out even with a good score.

Mare Forfa (13:03)
It’s like an art. I always say this: the application process is an art, not a science. There’s no formula like GPA plus GAMSAT equals guaranteed interview. There are bonuses, there’s your background, your preference order—it all matters.

Tom Forfa (13:20)
Yeah. And remember, GEMSAS only gives you one interview offer, even if you qualify for several. But the non-GEMSAS schools—like Flinders, Monash, USYD, and UTAS—they do their own thing. You apply to them separately, directly through their websites.

Mare Forfa (13:41)
Which means you can potentially get multiple interviews—one from GEMSAS and another from a non-GEMSAS school. They don’t talk to each other, so you can end up in a great position.

Tom Forfa (13:54)
We had bootcampers last year with two or three interviews—and multiple offers. They got to choose between med schools. Not a bad problem to have.

Mare Forfa (14:05)
It’s the best problem. I remember laughing and crying with some of them. Like that moment where you go, “Girl!” and they go, “Girl!” and we just scream it back and forth. That’s what we live for.

Tom Forfa (14:14)
It’s such an emotional time. And every milestone—result release, applications, interviews, offers—it’s a rollercoaster.

Mare Forfa (14:35)
And the closer you get to those dates, the more doubt creeps in. “Maybe I didn’t go as well as I thought.” “Maybe I stuffed that section.” It’s normal. Let’s normalise that. Everyone goes through it—even the ones who end up with amazing results.

Tom Forfa (14:50)
Honestly, we feel it too—for our bootcampers. Like, I was nervous waiting for the GAMSAT results to come out. I wasn’t sleeping well because I was just so excited for everyone and hoping they’d done well.

Mare Forfa (15:03)
And it doesn’t end there. After the interviews, you’ve got offer dates. So let’s run through the timeline again really clearly:

• 30th May: GEMSAS applications close.
  
  

• End of August: Interview offers released for GEMSAS schools.
  
  

• Mid-September: GEMSAS interviews take place.
  
  

• November: Med school offers released. This is around the same time September GAMSAT results come out.
  
  

Tom Forfa (15:27)
And then classes start in late January or early February—usually just after Australia Day.

Mare Forfa (15:32)
So now let’s break down the three groups of people. What if you:

1. Got a great score
   
   

2. Got a low score
   
   

3. Are in the grey zone
   
   

Let’s start with the first one.

Tom Forfa (15:41)
Yep. So if you got a great score—we’re talking 70 and above—you’re in a strong position for most medical schools, except maybe Flinders if you’re not a Flinders student. That’s great news. But don’t celebrate too soon—you’ve still got to submit a strategic application.

Mare Forfa (16:00)
Yes! And don’t count your chickens before they hatch. I remember someone coming up to us at a uni info session—he had a 75 or 76, and he was like, “I didn’t get in.” We were like, “Mate, you must’ve messed up the application.” That happens more than people think. A high score doesn’t mean a guaranteed place.

Tom Forfa (16:17)
That’s right. Another example—I remember a guy who used to tutor with us about 10 years ago. He had a great GAMSAT score, around 75. And he just… forgot to apply. He literally missed the application deadline.

Mare Forfa (16:31)
Yeah! I remember that. Absolute face-palm moment. Like, that’s full-on self-sabotage. The deadlines are the deadlines—they don’t care who you are. You’re 30 seconds late, and you’re out.

Tom Forfa (16:48)
So if you’re in this group, go to our website. Check out the med school requirements. Do the non-GEMSAS applications as well so you can increase your chances. And start low-key interview prep—just in case.

Mare Forfa (17:00)
No, Tom. Not just “low-key”—goddamn, apply for all the med schools. I’m a bit more direct than you are!

Tom Forfa (17:05)
Haha. Yeah, fair. That’s what we do in Bootcamp—we go all-in. But even if you’re not in the Bootcamp, take it seriously. If you’ve got the scores, apply everywhere. Worst case? You have to turn down a couple of offers. Poor you.

Mare Forfa (17:18)
Tough life, hey? Choosing between multiple med schools. That’s the dream.

Now, let’s talk about the second group—people who got a low score.

Tom Forfa (17:30)
Yeah. So if you’re in the 50s—or even low 60s, depending—it’s tough. Unless you’re a rural, international, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) applicant. If that’s you, the application process is different and you’ll want to chat with our team directly. We can’t go into all the specifics here because it’s too case-by-case.

Mare Forfa (17:49)
And just to clarify—if you don’t know what ATSI is, you’re probably not ATSI. But seriously, if you fall into one or more of those categories, reach out and we’ll help.

Tom Forfa (18:00)
Now, if you’re not in any of those categories and you’ve got a score below 50, unfortunately you can’t apply anywhere. It’s a hard cutoff. But it’s not the end. That’s where reflection and regrouping come in. Mare, you want to take this one?

Mare Forfa (18:15)
Absolutely. If you scored under 50, this is not the end of the road. Failure is only failure if you give up. You haven’t failed to get into med school—you’re in the process of getting in. That’s a huge difference.

First, let’s start with some self-compassion. Look in the mirror and say, “I did the best I could with what I had.” And now, it’s time to reassess, make a better plan, and move forward.

We offer free planning strategy sessions for non-Bootcamp members, so if you’re unsure where to go from here, book one. There’ll be a link in the show notes. We’ve been doing this for 18 years. We’ve seen every starting point imaginable.

Tom Forfa (18:52)
Yeah, we’ll link that up. And for those with all three section scores under 50, don’t panic. Mare can still help.

Mare Forfa (19:01)
Totally. It doesn’t define you. You are not a failure because of a number. You did the best you could, and now we regroup. And here’s the thing—success isn’t just getting the result. Success is sticking to the plan, improving, and pushing forward.

I always say, there’s a reason the rearview mirror is smaller than the windscreen. We’re looking forward. You’re becoming a better doctor through this process, even now.

Good doctors aren’t just smart. There are plenty of smart people who are terrible doctors. What makes a good doctor? Compassion. Resilience. Problem-solving. Positive attitude. You don’t magically become resilient the day you start med school. You build it now—when things are hard. That’s how you become a great doctor.

Tom Forfa (20:01)
Thank you for doing the GAMSAT as many times as you had to, right?

Mare Forfa (20:03)
Exactly. Your future patient isn’t going to ask, “What did you get on the GAMSAT?” They’re going to say, “Thank you for saving my life.” That’s it.

So if you’re sitting in sadness or frustration—feel it. I say this all the time: “The healing is in the feeling.” You’ve got to process it. But don’t rent a place in Sadville. Visit, have a cry, then get back up, make a better plan, and keep going.

Tom Forfa (20:33)
We’ll have a link in the show notes if you want to chat with Mare and make that new plan.

Mare Forfa (20:37)
Yes! And please remember—you’re special, but not so special that this is impossible for you. You CAN do it. You’re capable of building the skills and mindset that get you across the line. I believe in you.

Tom Forfa (20:51)
I feel pumped just listening to that. That was amazing, Mare.

And if you need some inspiration, go back in our podcast feed and listen to our interview with Aniki—a single mum working two jobs, scored in the 40s her first time, then got into Flinders Medical School the following year.

Mare Forfa (21:08)
She’s a domestic violence survivor, too. Everything that could have gone wrong did—and she still made it. If Aniki can do it, you can do it. If Ashley can do it, you can too.

Tom Forfa (21:19)
There are so many amazing stories in our podcast. Scroll through the feed—you’ll find them. No matter where you are now, it is possible. This isn’t the end.

Tom Forfa (21:30)
So we’ve covered the three big groups: the ones with great scores, those who didn’t get the score they wanted, and the grey zone. Let’s talk a bit more about that grey zone now—because that’s where a lot of people land.

Mare Forfa (21:42)
Yeah, the grey zone. We’re talking scores in the 60s, maybe high 50s depending on your circumstances. This is where things get tricky, and you need to be really smart about your application strategy.

Tom Forfa (21:54)
Exactly. If you’re in the grey zone, you need to go through the application process seriously and with strategy. It could mean the difference between getting one interview—or none. And if you want help with that, reach out to us.

Then, once you’ve submitted your application, you need to forget about it and focus 110% on preparing for the September GAMSAT.

Mare Forfa (22:14)
Yeah, like our student Will. He had a 72—not even in the grey zone—and still decided to go again to push himself even further. That’s who you’re competing with.

So if you’ve got a 62, a 65, a 66—even a 67—and you’re not willing to go just as hard? That’s going to hold you back. Will studied 40 hours a week and still sat the September GAMSAT after getting a 72, and he ended up with a 78!

Tom Forfa (22:41)
Yeah, and the September GAMSAT has nothing to do with the application you submit in May. They’re separate cycles. But improving your score now could mean being way ahead next year if you don’t get an interview this time.

Mare Forfa (22:55)
Exactly. It’s like preparing for a cyclone. We had one forecasted here recently, and we taped up the windows, stocked the fridge, filled the tub with water… In the end, it didn’t hit. But I don’t regret preparing. Because if it had, we would have been ready.

Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best. That’s the mindset you need right now.

Tom Forfa (23:18)
So let’s say you are re-sitting the GAMSAT in September. Where do you begin?

Well, the first thing is to reflect. Think about March—what went well, what didn’t. Hopefully you remember some of it—maybe you’re even getting flashbacks!

Mare Forfa (23:31)
Post-GAMSAT stress disorder. Just curled up in the foetal position.

Tom Forfa (23:34)
Haha, exactly. But seriously—brainstorm the things you struggled with. Then, do a diagnostic test. A good one will help you get really specific on the skills and topics you need to improve.

Too many people prepare for GAMSAT in a vague way: “I’m studying chemistry.” But that’s too broad. You need to break it down into specific skills—and that’s what our diagnostic test does. We’ll link that in the show notes. It’ll give you a breakdown of the exact topics and skills you need to work on.

Mare Forfa (24:03)
Yes! And if “skills versus topics” isn’t clicking for you, go listen to Episode 3 of this podcast. It explains how to prepare for a skill-based exam—which GAMSAT is—as opposed to a knowledge-based exam like your uni degree.

Learning chemistry facts might get you to 50. But if you want a 70, it’s about skill acquisition. And you can’t build a skill if you haven’t identified what it is first. That’s where the diagnostic test comes in.

Tom Forfa (24:30)
Perfect. So that just about wraps us up. If you found this helpful, hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next few episodes—we’re going deep on med school applications, individual school breakdowns, interview strategy, and more GAMSAT prep.

Mare Forfa (24:45)
And I’ve got a podcast recording coming up with a very special guest. I won’t say who it is just yet, but let’s just say—she’s a secret weapon and I cannot wait to share her with you all.

Tom Forfa (24:57)
It’s such an exciting time. Yeah, it’s stressful. It’s emotional. But you’re a step closer. Every step matters.

Mare Forfa (25:05)
Actually—I respectfully disagree. GAMSAT feels like the biggest step, but every step is equally important. If you stuff up the application, you don’t even get to the interview. Every step counts.

Tom Forfa (25:17)
Yeah, I realised that as I said it. The interview’s weighted even more than GAMSAT and GPA in many schools. And then there’s CASPer too…

Mare Forfa (25:25)
Exactly. So don’t drop the ball now. You’ve worked so hard—let’s finish strong. This is absolutely possible. You’re not done yet, but you can do this.

Tom Forfa (25:36)
And if you need some motivation, go back through our podcast feed. Listen to the stories of our students who’ve made it. If they can do it, you can too. No matter what your score is—you’ve got this.

Mare Forfa (25:48)
Enjoy the rest of your day, and we’ll see you next week.