Best study material for PAT?

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Dr. Konfetka

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I have read a bunch of these posts on how kaplan sucks for the PAT, and how barrons is supposed to make things clear. I tried barrons and its not really working for me. Is there any better study material for the PAT?
 
Dr. Konfetka said:
I have read a bunch of these posts on how kaplan sucks for the PAT, and how barrons is supposed to make things clear. I tried barrons and its not really working for me. Is there any better study material for the PAT?

There is no reall way of studying for the PAT its just doing a bunch of problems over and over till it just clicks whenever you see a problem like that. Its practice. There's nothing unclear about the PAT.
 
Dr. Konfetka said:
I have read a bunch of these posts on how kaplan sucks for the PAT, and how barrons is supposed to make things clear. I tried barrons and its not really working for me. Is there any better study material for the PAT?

Use DAT Achiever. If you can do well on its PAT, you should have no problem for the real test, as it carries many challenging questions with awesome 2D and 3D explanantions.

While Barron describes the perceptual basics, it'll after all give you a paper form of questions, which may not be very indicative of what you'll perform on the test day.
 
I found that lots of practice (esp with Kaplan Blue Book) was useful..except for angle ranking which was a tuffy with pixels on the computer screen that made the lines look curvy.
 
Dr. Konfetka said:
I have read a bunch of these posts on how kaplan sucks for the PAT, and how barrons is supposed to make things clear. I tried barrons and its not really working for me. Is there any better study material for the PAT?

Barrons gives you the idea of how to begin to look at how to solve the various sections. It's good for strategy. However, I think after looking at Barrons and Kaplan at the beginning, you definitely need to get either DAT Achiever or Ace the DAT. I believe the others can give you a good base to understand but the real test is harder than barrons but a little easier than the two I mentioned above. I seemed to have a few hard sections with a few easier sections on the real deal. I recently bought DAT Achiever and all of its sections are harder than Ace the DAT except the angles. Ace the DAT has sick angles. On the real deal, the angles seemed rather easy but I did not prepare myself well enough the first time. Try not to just guess the right answer but be able to see the whole object. I also got a friend of mine who got a 95% to help explain the PAT and how he sees it. I have no nature ability with it but the more I seem to look at it the better I get. So just keep practicing. I now find Barrons and Topscore rather easy compared to DAT Achiever. Personally, I would buy DAT Achiever over anything because the other sections are also good. Lastly, orthographic and pattern folding are the hardest sections for most. So, try to make yourself 10+ in the other sections. Also with the cubes you should always get 15 and hole punching is another must. Although on the real thing, there are weird folds and sometimes there are three holes punched. But, DAT Achiever has the hardest hole punching I have ever seen. Good luck and dont give up. The PAT can be beat even it you dont have natural ability. You just have to practice and on the real DAT day remember to breath and relax. Close your eyes and clear your head before you start that section because the sciences will not take all the time.
 
Like many SNDers have said, practice is the best way to get higher scores. Some are naturally gifted is special reasoning and can easily see the shapes from different sides and easily see the hole punch paper unfolded.

Regardless, special reasoning is easily trained. By doing as much examples as possible you will train your brain to recognize patters and will get higher PAT scores. That said, you also must spend time reviewing the answers both wrong and right choices.

Kaplan blue book has great example but it is a little easier then the real test so I suggest starting with it to build up your confidence and get familiar with the test. Then move on to Topscore and finally DATachiever (this one is hard, but great practice!)

If you want even more practice for free, start picturing in your head or even drawing how everyday shapes look from different sides and what keyhole they would be able to fit. Look at your TV, Xbox, shampoo bottle, etc and predict their views from different sides. This too help a lot.

Also, the cube counting should be the easiest section and you should be getting 15/15 every time. Kaplan and Barron suggest great strategies. I would make a chart and counted all the cubes before answering the question. After doing all the tabulations I make sure all the #'s add up and easily do the questions.

For hole punching, try taking square pieces if paper and follow the question in terms of folding and then make the appropriate holes then slowly unfold the paper and try predicting as you go along. You will train your brain to quickly see the patters and will be a pro in no time. This method is also great because it's free! (minus the cost of paper).

Good luck and hope this helps!
 
Dr. Konfetka said:
I have read a bunch of these posts on how kaplan sucks for the PAT, and how barrons is supposed to make things clear. I tried barrons and its not really working for me. Is there any better study material for the PAT?

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