Cube Counting Strategy

[PearlExplorer]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here and my exam is in two weeks. Thanks to everyone who's been posting breakdowns and advice on the test.

I would like to make a quick poll. For the cube counting section on the PAT, I know there are a few strategies out there and one should really go for what is best. But I just wanted to check with the people who are currently practicing or recently took the test: did you make the table for tally marks or just count the cubes asked in each question as you went along?

I am asking because I first started out with the tally table and it was really good practice in the beginning. However I find that going back and forth between the screen and the table gets takes up a little more time....and I also score better with just counting the cubes in each question. Please help, I am too scared to do this on the real test because I think I might mess up and no one here seems to recommend it... even though I am doing pretty well in Bootcamp with the latter strategy, even on the more difficult problems.

Anyone else whose brain works like this?

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[kangsuj92]

I personally prefer counting cubes for every question. Because they use couple of questions for one cube set, if you tally it and turns out that it didn't add up, you would have to tally it again and again and again... I recently took my DAT and just counted the cubes for every single question and I didn't run out of time.

 

[Garett24]

I personally prefer counting cubes for every question. Because they use couple of questions for one cube set, if you tally it and turns out that it didn't add up, you would have to tally it again and again and again... I recently took my DAT and just counted the cubes for every single question and I didn't run out of time.

I found the same strategy to be useful. The tally method was nerve wracking and after using the tally method for so long I tried just speed counting the number of faces rather than tallying them up. The results were shocking in that my answers were incredibly accurate. After so many times of practicing you will realize the patterns that can help you speed through. For example, the only 5 sides will be on the top of a tower. The only four sides will be a "naked" and un-surrounded tower. Three sides and two sides are a little more tricky but long story short keep practicing and try both methods to see what works for you.

 

[PearlExplorer]

Thanks it helps to know that it can really work. I feel like I have reached that point of recognizing the patterns and I think I will just go without tally marking. 🙂

Thanks so much for your answers!

 

[Alectrify]

I use the tally method because it only requires me to count once for each figure. I'm sure people have used their scores to attest to several methods, so stay with your method. 🙂

As for having to look at the monitor, then at the table, then back at the monitor, that's something that just comes with practice. I started out tallying 1 cube at a time (I was learning to recognize cube faces quickly); on the actual DAT, I tallied 5 at a time. Since there's 15-20 cubes per figure, that's just a few trips for the eye.