PAT Iceberg Ahead!!!

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It couldn't be said much that all sincere DAT would-be takers need to be well directed in the PAT section. Look at the post by cl24uw06 today. Presuming that he's been truthful with all scores posted, a 20 in PAT will greatly position you in a percentile of 95.5 (that’s a statistic of having less than 5 candidates out of a hundred achieving this result!!!). Do you guys know what’s the main cause behind this? The answer is majority of the test takers are not heeding the right warning/signal.

I don’t intend to be rude here but I’m getting disturbed with so many untrue/deceiving and distracting posts from skeptic employees of test prep companies, piling unreasonably and excessively on those supposed bonus sections like angle ranking and hole punch just because they do not have anything constructive (3-D tool especially) to boast on the killer parts, namely, Aperture Passing, Top-Front-End, Form Development.

The SDN website is meant primarily to assist viewers in pursuing their professional healthcare program. All info given should be truthful & beneficial to the community.
 
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ohhh go on.. say it... here i'll say it for you

Go buy DAT Achiever everyone!

just gimme .10 of ur commission.
 
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rescuer said:
20 in PAT will greatly position you in a percentile of 95.5 (that’s a statistic of having less than 5 candidates out of a hundred achieving this result!!!).
.
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20 doesn't put you at 95.5% @SDN. It seems to me 23-24 is the 50% percentile @SDN. (just an observation). Everybody is pretty smart here.
 
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Hello, dentwannabe & dat_student, there's no virtue in abruptly coming here without first identifying what this thread is looking for. What's DAT Achiever by the way? Is it a new software you're condemning or just jealous about? Can you elaborate more on that?

I believe rescuer is talking about true percentile given by ADA (NOT SDN). An 18 in PAT will already put you @ ~ 83 percentile. Just do your maths and project this into one belonging to any other better score like 19 or 20 (= ??.?). Be good at figures and statistics. It correlates closely to the descending QRT standard in the US today. 🙂
 
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dentwannabe said:
ohhh go on.. say it... here i'll say it for you

Go buy DAT Achiever everyone!

just gimme .10 of ur commission.
Click to expand...

Ho... ho, dentwannabe... 😳 You just flung your PAT today with a score of 16 and still not aware how the prevailing guides like Topscore and Kaplan are fooling you on that!? Good thing I got DAT Achiever recently. Otherwise I would have been joining you gnashing my teeth at the Prometric Center. 😀

BTW, just to verify whether you have been posting true scores @ the SDN, can I request you associating them with your percentiles? 😱
 
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peace2c said:
Ho... ho, dentwannabe... 😳 You just flung your PAT today with a score of 16 and still not aware how the prevailing guides like Topscore and Kaplan are fooling you on that!? Good thing I got DAT Achiever recently. Otherwise I would have been joining you gnashing my teeth at the Prometric Center. 😀

BTW, just to verify whether you have been posting true scores @ the SDN, can I request you associating them with your percentiles? 😱
Click to expand...

You don't believe pre-dent on his DAT scores, were did the trust, love, and harmony go?

I made the same mistake a long time ago, I was too concerned about other peoples business, and never had my own back.

I suggest you ALL quit these kinds of damaging, no good posts, and do what a man's gotta do.

GOOD LUCK :luck:
 
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peace2c said:
Ho... ho, dentwannabe... 😳 You just flung your PAT today with a score of 16 and still not aware how the prevailing guides like Topscore and Kaplan are fooling you on that!? Good thing I got DAT Achiever recently.
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Thanks anyway Santa, but DAT Achiever blows at everything else. No one doubts that Ace the DAT and DAT Achiever have the upper hand in the PAT, but it costs roughly the same as Topscore and the Kaplan Bluebook. Considering the PAT comprises less than 1/3 of the DAT, its not a good value. If you were "good at figures and statistics" you would know that.
 
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HITMAN said:
Thanks anyway Santa, but DAT Achiever blows at everything else. No one doubts that Ace the DAT and DAT Achiever have the upper hand in the PAT, but it costs roughly the same as Topscore and the Kaplan Bluebook. Considering the PAT comprises less than 1/3 of the DAT, its not a good value. If you were "good at figures and statistics" you would know that.
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Hey, HITMAN, don't attack others without even having a single thing on hand to prove your statement. I just took the first SNS Test and found nothing to complain on. The solutions given especially those related to GChem and OChem are exceptionally good (straight to the point and nothing long-winded). If you truly need to be good at figures, you better flock with it. :idea:
 
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DICK said:
You don't believe pre-dent on his DAT scores, were did the trust, love, and harmony go?

I made the same mistake a long time ago, I was too concerned about other peoples business, and never had my own back.

I suggest you ALL quit these kinds of damaging, no good posts, and do what a man's gotta do.

GOOD LUCK :luck:
Click to expand...

The curse causeless never comes, DICK. Look at his impudent act -- just doesn't ryhme with his other posts. I'm just doing this for the sake of others and have no other intention of creating damages, grievances???, ... Just as you're concerned with, let's continue to uphold what a man's gotta do, allright? 🙂
 
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All right, guys, stop all arguings/pin-pointings & come in here only when you have good advice/questions on PAT. The iceberg is truly right in front of everybody. Whether you sanction Topscore, Kaplan, Barron, DAT Achiever, Acethedat, ..., your honest and justified comments will assuredly make this thread valuable to the SDN viewers.
 
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In my opinion, all related practice tests need to be treated seriously. Attempted tests should serve as lessons learnt while great effort should be made in identifying where and what you need to improve further. Review them as much as you could but it would be of no use if you were to retake them.
 
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Hey guys I am not a salesman for DAT achiever but I really do recommend this product. It is well made and I believe it is closely representative to the real thing. That’s just me though.
 
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If PAT is something that you feel scary about even after doing so many practice tests, you may want to work smart by skipping the first 2 killer sections (Aperture and Top/Front/End) and begin answering from Angle Ranking onwards.

This is crucially needed if you do not have good time control under stressful condition.
 
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dlink said:
If PAT is something that you feel scary about even after doing so many practice tests, you may want to work smart by skipping the first 2 killer sections (Aperture and Top/Front/End) and begin answering from Angle Ranking onwards.

This is crucially needed if you do not have good time control under stressful condition.
Click to expand...

Yup, this method has helped me answer all PAT questions in 60 minutes. Before that, I used to be running out of time when attempting the practice tests and could barely come to the beginning of Form Development, which was a great waste. There'll usually be great disparity between the easy and the tough questions in Aperture, Orthographic, and Form, and you could easily be spending a lot longer than you are supposed to in Q1-30 if you don't skip from the very beginning. 👍
 
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heyy, relax i didnt mean offense.

Its true, an alternate source for PAT is needed. I can tell you that from experience.

I never tried DAT achiever so i cant say.. but i heard its good.

And no i didnt lie about my scores, I have no reason to.
 
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dentwannabe said:
ohhh go on.. say it... here i'll say it for you

Go buy DAT Achiever everyone!

just gimme .10 of ur commission.
Click to expand...


dentwannabe totally hit it with rescuer. He has noting better to say than buy his product. Remember when his product was called "Top" something. hummmm, wonder why it all of sudden changed. Your posts rescuer are so skewed it's a joke!
 
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joy2dmd said:
dentwannabe totally hit it with rescuer. He has noting better to say than buy his product. Remember when his product was called "Top" something. hummmm, wonder why it all of sudden changed. Your posts rescuer are so skewed it's a joke!
Click to expand...

I think this uneducated and illiterate "joy2dmd" needs to sit in longer for good lectures. Please read instructions of this thread before putting your head at the chopping board. Anyway, since nothing can be done to undo the damages incurred, let's make use of this opportunity to remain focussed on what the viewers have been looking for:

As pointed out by Seoul, retaking the same practice tests is indeed marginally helpful in preparing you for the PAT. An illiterate person, having persistently been taking a driver's written test 6-7 times will eventually pass it with no questions asked simply because he/she keeps seeing the same/similar ones. The 3rd set of Topscore PAT is one of the main factors causing many candidates toppled on the big day. If you notice it well, you will realize that they are mostly using the same set of models from the second test for the 3rd one with only minor changes to the answer choices asking you to look for different views probably. Any Tom, Dick , or Jerry will usually end up getting a handsome score beyond 20 by then and they all feel ready to do the same in their coming DAT. That's self-deceiving. No wonder the performances on the actual PAT continue to stay low/poor. Everybody knows it's going to be tougher, but shouldn't something be done to help aleviate this fated fact? 😡

P.S.: From now on, only qualified and compassionate SDN users shall come in here besides posting of helps/questions on related topic.
 
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Guess it's time for me to say something but please like "cowsgomoo", I'm not a salesman for DAT Achiever just because I've contributed another in-depth post for this software at the other thread.

I've lately been seeing quite a handful of SDN members getting great scores for their PAT like 20 - 23, which is highly laundable. You see, PAT is actually one type of aptitude test where you don't pick this up from the schools directly. Only a small group of people (consistently < 5 % of the yearly pool of candidates) will coast along this test without much needed help from test guides, either because it's already in their blood or acquired from past related experiences as a civil engineer, architect, graphic designer, sculptor, ....

It's of no doubt that the academic DAT score competency is on the rise over the years (thanks goodness to improved accessibilty of needed guides), but certainly not so for the PAT. The associate dean for admission of a prestigious dental school may proudly proclaim their looking for average candidates in the 20. But when asked upon the entering statistics for PAT, guess what? (Ans: 17 or 18). These are hard facts and you can't argue with that, as it's being governed by the pooled performances of candidates year after year.

Nevertheless, as future dentist, you really need to find some form of niche enjoying working with 3D stuffs. It's a profession inculcating both arts and sciences. And the good news is, there're always rooms and opprtunities ahead for improvements and development, if and only if you have been heeding the right signals/warnings in this section of the test, as mentioned by "rescuer". Continue to pay close attention to this thread as I believe there're more good-hearted people to come in here to share on tips/strategies, and more importantly a complete, unbias, and naked truth behind this test with the hope that every sincere/serious viewer will truly benefit from and confidently stay ahead of the national mean. 👍 👍
 
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mitshi said:
Yup, this method has helped me answer all PAT questions in 60 minutes. Before that, I used to be running out of time when attempting the practice tests and could barely come to the beginning of Form Development, which was a great waste. There'll usually be great disparity between the easy and the tough questions in Aperture, Orthographic, and Form, and you could easily be spending a lot longer than you are supposed to in Q1-30 if you don't skip from the very beginning. 👍
Click to expand...

Note: If you're practicing Topscore PAT, make sure you don't use its menu feature that allows you to skip directly to Q31 just to save time on that... cuz this feature will not be available on the day you're going to sit for your DAT. I've tried clicking continuosly on the NEXT button 30+ times & it should take less than 7 seconds to accomplish the same intended task.
 
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mutual said:
I think this uneducated and illiterate "joy2dmd" needs to sit in longer for good lectures. Please read instructions of this thread before putting your head at the chopping board. Anyway, since nothing can be done to undo the damages incurred, let's make use of this opportunity to remain focussed on what the viewers have been looking for:

As pointed out by Seoul, retaking the same practice tests is indeed marginally helpful in preparing you for the PAT. An illiterate person, having persistently been taking a driver's written test 6-7 times will eventually pass it with no questions asked simply because he/she keeps seeing the same/similar ones. The 3rd set of Topscore PAT is one of the main factors causing many candidates toppled on the big day. If you notice it well, you will realize that they are mostly using the same set of models from the second test for the 3rd one with only minor changes to the answer choices asking you to look for different views probably. Any Tom, Dick , or Jerry will usually end up getting a handsome score beyond 20 by then and they all feel ready to do the same in their coming DAT. That's self-deceiving. No wonder the performances on the actual PAT continue to stay low/poor. Everybody knows it's going to be tougher, but shouldn't something be done to help aleviate this fated fact? 😡

P.S.: From now on, only qualified and compassionate SDN users shall come in here besides posting of helps/questions on related topic.
Click to expand...


[From another post and quit with the insults, it just shows ignorance on your part.]

For PAT, the more practice the better. You'll need a couple guides so you have plenty of practice. Take some of the PAT sections (like Key Hole, Front View End View) and visualize different angles without actually using Kaplans 3D rotation tool or other 3D tools. Although this may help some, since you don't have this 3D ability on the real test, just be careful not to rely too much on this. By mentally going through this exercise, this will help you understand the rules and what dotted or solid lines or round tops vs straight tops, rotating the object before sliding through, etc. Study the objects in 2D and use your mind to draw the other sides. If you know the answer based on the way it is represented, do you know the answer if the object is turn or changed from looking at it at a different angle? This is how you must do it on the real DAT. Since you may be like me without a lot of extra cash, make really good use out of the guides you do end up getting. Practice it this way and when you do the real DAT you will be use to getting the answer quickly without the crutch of Kaplan's or other 3D frills.

You may be slow right now, but you must exercise your mind eventually without crutches. I think this is why some guides choose to show a few PAT questions at different angles so you learn what the different perspectives look like in 2D as an actual question and can compare the two similar questions. I don't see "repeating" a few PAT questions in this way as a weakness in study method or a weakness of a guide. I think it is actually good. It forces you into thinking this way a little or at least should help you practice and realize a helpful technique you use on the real DAT.

Find out what the PAT scores are of the schools you are applying. Some schools emphasize it more than others. I think there is a true debate among some "administrators or powers to be" IF there is a direct relationship or STAT that is "significant" to your PAT score and just how good a dental student or dentist you become.
 
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joy2dmd said:
[From another post and quit with the insults, it just shows ignorance on your part.]

For PAT, the more practice the better. You'll need a couple guides so you have plenty of practice. Take some of the PAT sections (like Key Hole, Front View End View) and visualize different angles without actually using Kaplans 3D rotation tool or other 3D tools. Although this may help some, since you don't have this 3D ability on the real test, just be careful not to rely too much on this. By mentally going through this exercise, this will help you understand the rules and what dotted or solid lines or round tops vs straight tops, rotating the object before sliding through, etc. Study the objects in 2D and use your mind to draw the other sides. If you know the answer based on the way it is represented, do you know the answer if the object is turn or changed from looking at it at a different angle? This is how you must do it on the real DAT. Since you may be like me without a lot of extra cash, make really good use out of the guides you do end up getting. Practice it this way and when you do the real DAT you will be use to getting the answer quickly without the crutch of Kaplan's or other 3D frills.

You may be slow right now, but you must exercise your mind eventually without crutches. I think this is why some guides choose to show a few PAT questions at different angles so you learn what the different perspectives look like in 2D as an actual question and can compare the two similar questions. I don't see "repeating" a few PAT questions in this way as a weakness in study method or a weakness of a guide. I think it is actually good. It forces you into thinking this way a little or at least should help you practice and realize a helpful technique you use on the real DAT.

Find out what the PAT scores are of the schools you are applying. Some schools emphasize it more than others. I think there is a true debate among some "administrators or powers to be" IF there is a direct relationship or STAT that is "significant" to your PAT score and just how good a dental student or dentist you become.
Click to expand...

What "joy2dmd" mentioned in his post may be true but I strongly feel much of what he addresses is greatly inaccurate for strong reasons below:

1) The two fundamental factors in considering a good guide on PAT are: a) the appropriate amount of difficulties and complexities of questions practiced upon, and b) a comprehensive set of solutions to help develop mental perception. If a mock PAT test is going to be easier than the actual test, you'll essentially be not needing any solution to help visualize those models.

2) 3D-features coming along with the guide is of course not there to spoonfeed you. Just as was pointed out by "joy2dmd", you truly need to heavily train your mind to eventually project 2D-3D images/models with great ease and accuracy. The 3-D tool is there to help attest/affirm how well you've mastered these variable skills.

3) I believe Topscore must have run out of questions in the Aperture and Orthorgraphic sections for the 3rd set of PAT test, resulting in their using a numerous set of identical models from the previous test. If you had ever needed to visualize all possible angles (views) for these models, it would have already been done so when reviewing them at the 2nd test. Each completed /ended/attempted question should repeatedly be gone over to avoid similar mistakes made in coming ones, but not be taken under test mode again.

Please throw some questions here if more areas of PAT need further enlightenments.
 
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mutual said:
). An 18 in PAT will already put you @ ~ 83 percentile.
Click to expand...

These are REAL PAT scores and their percentiles

Date: 8/10/02
PAT: 18
Percentile: 66.8

Date: 8/16/03
PAT: 18
Percentile: 82.7

Date: 8/17/04
PAT: 16
Percentile: 37.6

my point: the percentiles may vary greatly, so dont get cough up in them and shoot for your best.
 
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Comet208 said:
These are REAL PAT scores and their percentiles

Date: 8/10/02
PAT: 18
Percentile: 66.8

Date: 8/16/03
PAT: 18
Percentile: 82.7

Date: 8/17/04
PAT: 16
Percentile: 37.6

my point: the percentiles may vary greatly, so dont get cough up in them and shoot for your best.
Click to expand...

DAT percentiles may vary greatly "over the year(s)" but certainly not so within a week/month/quarter, let alone this summer of 2005. Dental schools will not look at them since each school uses your individual score to judge your AA, PA, TS performances. However, the impact on you is significant, else the percentile figures will not be there for nothing.

How do you interpret percentiles?
If you scored 18 (82.7). It means you've performed better than 82.7 % of other students (who took the test at the same time as well as those from previous test administrations) on that section. In another words, you are the top 17.3 % in this section of the test. Much of what the dental schools preferred candidates in the 20 for PAT, they would still be bogged down with statistical facts, as todate, less than 5 % in the pool has a score of 20 or better.

In statistics, percentile figures tend to vary even lesser as the pool of candidates increases in number, which is exactly representative of the present situation.

For one thing you guys need to take note is that, the standard of deviations associated with the PAT scores of 16 and 17 are comparatively huge, and they are working strongly against all test takers.

If you are contented with a score of 17/18, then don't worry about the statistics. But if you're serious about getting 19 or better, you better do something about it. Under no circumstances should you underestimate the threat/difficulty of PAT especially to those having good GPA and academically good at others, and regardless of the many great achievers in PAT found more and more rampantly in SDN.

Strangely, many who've done satisfactorily well in PAT come from those who scored comparatively low in other sections. What a waste!

Just as "Comet208" mentioned, "dont get cough up in them and shoot for your best" but this will only be possible when you've supposedly been equipped/structured to do so.
 
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I've lately been seeing a lot of posts harboring the idea on how tough the angle ranking has been in the PAT. It's no doubt certain questions from this section entail angle differences < 5 degrees, but they certainly cannot be as little as 1 or 2 degrees of variation. The human eyes, aggravated with jagged lines incurred by pixel limitation used by the test center, can never resolute these on the computer screen even if those angles are superimposed on each other.

Even if you have reason to feel that they are that close (no one can testify on that since all administered questions have not been released), you should still be able to arive at the correct answer by answer elimination and looking closely to the vertex sharpness.

Using folded paper to measure those angles on the screen will not improve your chances of determining the smallest or largest one and could easily take up more time than you're supposed to.

Remember, like Hole Punch and Cubes, you need to spend less than 10 minutes for each of these easier sections without compromising your near to perfect answer markings here. Additional time will then be critically needed for Aperture Passing/Orthographic/Pattern in order to gain your final good score for the real PAT.
 
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seoul said:
I've lately been seeing a lot of posts harboring the idea on how tough the angle ranking has been in the PAT. It's no doubt certain questions from this section entail angle differences < 5 degrees, but they certainly cannot be as little as 1 or 2 degrees of variation. The human eyes, aggravated with jagged lines incurred by pixel limitation used by the test center, can never resolute these on the computer screen even if those angles are superimposed on each other.

Even if you have reason to feel that they are that close (no one can testify on that since all administered questions have not been released), you should still be able to arive at the correct answer by answer elimination and looking closely to the vertex sharpness.

Using folded paper to measure those angles on the screen will not improve your chances of determining the smallest or largest one and could easily take up more time than you're supposed to.

Remember, like Hole Punch and Cubes, you need to spend less than 10 minutes for each of these easier sections without compromising your near to perfect answer markings here. Additional time will then be critically needed for Aperture Passing/Orthographic/Pattern in order to gain your final good score for the real PAT.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought too! 😍
 
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If you have difficulty in mentally unfolding patterns involving multiple 1/4 and or 1/8 folds, use a piece of square paper to simulate the entire processes.

(Note: This should only serve as aid for beginners, as counting on this heavily and/or during the test would end up taking up much more time than you could ever imagine.)
 
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