Ep 32: Inside the Bootcamp – How We Help You Smash the GAMSAT

Hello and welcome back to the Nurses Doing GAMSAT podcast. Super excited to be here. My name’s Mare, I’m one of the founders of ThankFlip Gamsat, and I’m excited to talk about the Bootcamp today. I’ve had so many questions from new students starting – from nurses, physios, ambos, people from all allied health walks of life – about how the Bootcamp actually works and how we get such amazing results. Because there is a little bit of secret sauce that we put in there, and I want to explain that to everybody. So if you’ve ever been curious about what the Bootcamp is and whether it’s right for you, this is the episode to listen to today.

I’m going to start with how every student of mine always begins in the Bootcamp, and then I’m going to explain how the whole thing works. Step number one is always doing what we call a strategic analysis. This is like a diagnostic exam that helps you understand where your core strengths and weaknesses are. We then use that data to create a personalised preparation plan called a direction planner.

Your direction planner is like a table with three columns, and you’re going to map out every single week of your life between now and when you’re sitting the Gamsat. I don’t care if you’re sitting in March, September, the following March – whatever it is – you’re going to know every week. The table looks like this. The first column is your “what” column. This is basically what’s wrong – the skills you need to fix. The second column is how you’re going to fix it. These are the exact modules, lessons, tools, worked examples, practice questions – everything – mapped out. And the third column is when you’re actually going to do each task. So it’s what, how, and when.

We give all of our Bootcamp members videos on how to do this, and you’ll pull your plan together using the resources in the Bootcamp, which I’ll explain in a moment. Then you’ll send your plan to your specific study mentor. Every person who joins gets a study mentor. This is the one person who looks at your plan and says either, “Great, this is amazing, it’s going to get you where you want to go,” or “There’s too much here. Not enough there. You’re missing this chunk. What about this thing you haven’t thought of?” Basically, we’ll rip it to shreds if needed. But you want it ripped to shreds in the beginning so that you know that what you’re doing over the next however-many months will actually work. The worst thing you can do is create a plan, think it’s solid, dedicate months of your life to it, and then discover it was never going to work. It’s like having a roadmap that takes you to the wrong destination. No thanks. Not interested.

So the first step is always getting that direction planner started and having your study mentor review it.

Now, in the “how” column, there are three ways we study together. The first is our education library – our online platform with all the tools. The second is our live classes, which are important because I know you’re going to study harder when I’m there than when I’m not. And the third is one-on-one support, because sometimes you just need a human. You need someone to ask a question, even if it’s not something huge. You might not need tutoring every week for hours on end, but there will definitely be times when you get stuck and think, “Okay, I need my human now please.”

Let me go through each of these so you can understand how they work. They all work together; if you pull one element out, the system won’t work properly. You really need all three.

The education library is available online 24/7. It’s a portal with each of the sections. In Section 1, we go through each type of text that comes up in the exam and teach you how to analyse, interpret, and work through them step by step. If we start with the one no one really likes – symbolic poetry, for example – or narrative poetry, statements, long journal articles, cartoons, art interpretation, all those text types, we teach you exactly how to analyse and interpret them.

We then give you what we call “answers on steroids”, which are really worked examples. We go through the ACER paper and show you why the correct answer is correct, why the other answers aren’t, and if you’re not getting it right, which modules you need to look at to relearn the strategies.

Next, you get hundreds and hundreds of practice questions. But I don’t want you to just smash them out. I want you to go through each text type, understand the worked examples, and then do the practice questions. If you’re not getting them right, you’ll know exactly what you need to go back and review.

That’s the basic premise of how we teach Section 1, but there’s a ton of other skills. There’s the vocabulary multiplier, where you can learn one word and pick up the meaning of three to five more. There’s how to read 200% quicker, because let’s face it, you’ve got to move bloody fast in the Gamsat. We also have 19 novels and texts that have come up in the Gamsat before. We don’t expect you to read them cover to cover, but we teach you a technique to practise interpretation and analysis using texts that have previously appeared. That helps build your skills too. There are heaps more skills, but that’s the summary.

Now Section 2. Essays! Two essays in an hour. It’s quick. Here’s what we do to improve your Gamsat essay writing. We start by teaching you all the skills you need. You’re not writing essays until you actually know how to do it. Obviously structure is important, but what’s more important is being able to come up with ideas. Idea generation varies depending on whether you’re familiar with a topic. If you’ve never even heard of the word before – like one student who got “meritocracy” – there are different strategies. She told me she just used the technique for writing when you don’t know what to write, and she was fine. Fantastic.

So we teach idea generation, thesis statements, articulation, using examples – all the strategies. Then there are 24 sets of prompts. You write two at a time because Task A and Task B are different. You send them to our marking team. A real human marks them. Not AI. In the Gamsat, three humans mark your essays, so we replicate that as closely as possible. You get line-by-line feedback and a summary of your general feedback.

You’re also given three pre-written essays. Don’t look at these before writing your own – you’re only cheating yourself. These include a poor essay, an average essay, and an outstanding essay so you can compare where you sit. Because essays aren’t raw-scored – you’re compared to everyone else.

Now, here’s the secret sauce. You have the pre-written essays and your essays with feedback. I want you to take your marked essays and rewrite them. Same theme, same prompts. I don’t mark the rewrites. You’re doing them for skill-building. Because by the time you get feedback, you know the theme, so you can focus entirely on implementing the skills. So although we give you 24 marked essays, you’re effectively writing 48. That’s exactly how Joey, one of our students, got into the 100th percentile. His essays at the start took him days. After targeted feedback, around essay eight or ten, we began working on timing. When results came out, his mum emailed us: “Joey got in the 100th percentile.” Amazing. He just followed the process.

So think about writing 48 essays, improving every time – what’s possible for you?

Now Section 3. My nurses and allied health peeps – this is the one I hear about constantly. Section 3 is the most nerve-wracking. In the education library, we start with our nurse-inspired bridging course. This is physics, biology, and chemistry. It’s designed not to teach every detail ever known about chemistry or physics – you don’t need that – but to teach the stuff not covered in nursing. Biology is usually okay for most nurses. Physics and organic chemistry need more focus, so that’s where we spend time.

You can start the bridging course from scratch and be fine. About 20% of your time should probably be focused here because it’s more content-heavy. It’s about the fundamentals, not becoming a physics PhD. Once we get fundamentals sorted, we move on to reasoning skills. Reasoning skills get you the marks. That’s where you go from mid-40s and 50s into 60s, 70s, 80s.

We start with the basic reasoning skills course, then advanced, then Masters at Work. Each course teaches a replicable process, gives you worked examples, and then gives you practice questions – or, as I like to call them, feedback questions. We repeat this over and over. Basic skills build into advanced, advanced into mastery. All available 24/7. There are also full practice papers and heaps of practice questions. All of this goes into your direction planner.

Around nine weeks before each Gamsat, we run live classes – acceleration classes – on Zoom. Small groups, maybe 10 to 15 people. Enough to ask questions. Not 300 people. These are skills drills, not lectures, because let’s be honest, I know you’re watching the lectures in the education library at double speed. In the skills drills, we do the work with you. You don’t leave with more homework; we get the job done.

For example, in Section 2, we might focus on introductions. We spend 10–15 minutes teaching the skill, then the rest of the session you write four introductions live. The tutor pulls them apart live so you get immediate feedback. Seeing others’ work is sometimes the biggest breakthrough moment. It’s not a lecture – it’s doing the thing together.

We run four of these classes a week in the nine weeks before the exam – Section 1, 2, 3, and Mindset.

The Mindset classes surprise people, but mindset is a massive issue. In both the acceleration classes and the education library, we cover fear of failure, procrastination, self-sabotage, negative self-talk. Each mindset class includes a closed-eye meditation, visualisation, relaxation – something to reset you for the week. Because as the exam approaches, you don’t get more relaxed; you get more stressed. Even if you’re prepared.

These classes are also a community. Some weeks you’ll come in on a high and motivate everyone else. Other weeks you’ll come in in a ditch, wondering why you’re doing this, and everyone pulls you out. There’s no shame, no blame. It’s practical support. It can be lonely preparing for the Gamsat. People empathise but don’t always understand. This community does.

The last part is one-on-one tutoring. Whenever you’re stuck, you tell us. You fill in a form with your availability and what you’re stuck on. Someone who scored over 70 in that section meets you on Zoom at a time that suits you, helps you get unstuck, and keeps you moving. Complete Bootcamp members get 25 of these sessions. That’s more than most people need, but we want you to reach out. No question is stupid. Tell us early so things don’t snowball.

Most of our tutoring team came through the Bootcamp. Will, our head tutor, got a 72 his first sitting, wasn’t happy, sat again, got a 78 – after already getting his med offer. Brunda went from the 50s to an 89 in Section 3 in one sitting. Bella scored 82 in Section 2. I love this team because they know what it’s like. They weren’t born with it. They had to learn it. They understand the struggle, the “power calls”, the highs and lows. They’re compassionate, supportive, and incredibly smart.

All of this goes into your direction planner.

Now, the secret sauce – the reason we get such phenomenal results – is accountability. I want you to do the work. Not skip a week because life got stressful. Your study mentor looks at your plan every week. You have an app we set up during the welcome Zoom. Every time you study, you hit start. When you finish, you hit stop. Whether you studied five minutes or five hours, you write a short summary. Our team can see what you’ve done at any time.

Every Friday – Follow-Up Fridays – your study mentor checks what you were meant to do versus what you did. If you hit your goals, they cheer you on. They know exactly how hard you’re working. If you didn’t hit them, we start the conversation. Maybe you’re stuck and need a power call. Maybe you just need help in the chat. Maybe you’re mentally overwhelmed, curled in the foetal position, and you need mindset support. Or sometimes, honestly, you need a kick up the ass. Your study mentor is that person. That’s how we get results.

One person is looking out for you. Their job is to know where you’re at. Your job is to do the work – and if you’re not, they help you move out of that state as quickly as possible.

If you choose the Complete Bootcamp, you get two bonuses. The first is the Applications Bootcamp, where we teach you how to apply, how to preference to get the most interviews, and how to do your CASPA – especially important for Wollongong and Notre Dame. Most people underestimate application strategy, but it can be make-or-break.

The second bonus is the complete Interview Bootcamp. We added this because too many students were scoring over 70 and then fluffing the interview. Tom has been an interviewer. Our other tutors are also incredibly qualified. We don’t give you answers – we teach you how to think. You’re put into small groups, expected to practise each day during the 3-week period between offer and interview. You attend live classes, practise challenging questions with tutors, and do mini mock sessions at least twice a week.

This is the summary of how we work and the magic of the Bootcamp. I’d love your feedback – message us on socials or email us. If you’re interested, book a call – I’ll put the link in the show notes. The team will talk you through what’s best for your situation. Most people do the complete Bootcamp or one specific section. For example, if you’re already scoring in the 70s, 80s, or 90s in Sections 1 or 2, you might only need Section 3.

Investment ranges from $3,000 to $6,900 depending on what you need. Payment plans are available as long as the Bootcamp is paid before your exam. So if you’ve got 10 fortnights until your sitting, and you want the complete package, that could be 10 fortnightly payments of $690. If you have less time, we calculate it accordingly.

Everyone starts with a welcome Zoom, where you meet your study mentor, download the apps, set your first deadline for the direction planner, and look at your calendar so your first deadline is realistic. It’s a small group environment – maybe one, two, three, four others – very personal, very supportive. That relationship is what carries you through. Our study mentors are inspirational. They’re often the differentiating factor, because you can have all the resources in the world, but still not do the work. The Gamsat does not care about your life circumstances. It only cares whether you have the skills. The Bootcamp is designed to build those skills so you can answer the questions on the day. We work on skill set, mindset, and work ethic – the three pillars that get you through.

If you want to know if it’s right for you, book a call. If it’s right, brilliant. If not, we’ll point you in the right direction – no shame, no blame. Your success is what matters. I’ll also link the brochure, where Tom goes through every module in the education library. But honestly, this summary is enough for most people until you know which skills you need to build. Some people love detail – if that’s you, check the brochure.

Our aim is to help 1,000 people become doctors by 2029 – and I mean better doctors. Not just smart ones. Doctors with mindset, empathy, compassion, work ethic, and humanity. Doctors who treat people with dignity and respect. That’s why we love working with allied health – you already have those skills ingrained in you.

I’m excited to help more listeners become doctors. Reach out to the team with questions, and we’ll see you next week on another episode of Nurses Doing Gamsat. Bye for now.