Essay Writing Advice

The following was written by former Paging Dr member, tjmarr.

Hello to all of the aspiring essayists,

My S. II in GAMSAT was my strongest section and significantly boosted my marks with a score of 87. To my mind, I think that section II is a real bonus in disguise; it is the easiest section to prepare for and arguably the most enjoyable. When I first started to prepare for GAMSAT, I recall sitting down to write my first essay (which I still have!). It was shockingly bad, but I persisted. I aimed to write two essays back to back three to four times a week in the two months leading up to the exam and I found that by the time I had to walk into that intimidating hall, you could have put any random quote/phrase etc.. in front of me and I would have been able to belt out two excellent essays.

My success lay in the following key points:

1. By writing consistently each week and to time I got used to improving my speed and opening my creative skill.
2. Voluminous writing has the positive effect of building up stock standard sentences, word combinations etc... that you can apply to most if not all situations.
3. By racking your brain so much for ideas you get in touch with that inner self and are able to personalise most topics.
4. With plenty of practice over a range of topics, you will no doubt be able to adapt something that you have recently written in practice for the exam.

Some more tips:

1. Make sure you self-critique your essays.
2. Keep your essays no matter how bad, and re-read them all from time to time.
3. Learn some simple literary skills and how to incorporate them into your writing - nothing drastic, keep it simple, yet effective.
4. I would rate a punchy start just as important as a majestic finish (if not more so as you set the tone for the poor marker who is reading 300+ essays a day).
5. Keep it clean: make sure your points are well made.
6. Breathe!!!! There is nothing worse than a bit of panic to crush any semblance of written skill that you may possess.
7. Relax and enjoy this section of the exam, you will do better if you do and you will set yourself up for section III in a far more positive light.

Good luck

Source: Section II Essay Practice.