DAT PAT Angles

[itsHaji]

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Hi,

I'm doing very well on all the sections in bootcamp except angles! I've been using the rapid eye technique with a good amount of success, but sometimes when that angles are turned different ways and are 3 degrees apart I miss almost all of those questions. Any tips guys? Dat is in a week!

Thanks

 

[I want to go to there]

Hi,

I'm doing very well on all the sections in bootcamp except angles! I've been using the rapid eye technique with a good amount of success, but sometimes when that angles are turned different ways and are 3 degrees apart I miss almost all of those questions. Any tips guys? Dat is in a week!

Thanks

Easy, get better eyes.

 

[itsHaji]

My eyes are just fine, I'm more just asking where should I look for points of different between angles turned different ways. I'm getting 10-11/15 right and just want to get a couple more.

 

[w4nt2baDDS]

This should be in "DAT Discussions" not Pre-Dental

One trick I used with some success was a classification type system. If the overall appearance looked more like a "L" than a "V" I knew it was larger... sounds rudimentary but it helped.

Also, 10-11 is pretty good on bootcamp angles

 

[PlasmaMembrane]

There's nothing you can do over the course of a week that is going to make a significant improvement distinguishing a 3 degree angle difference between rotated angles. Accept it for what it is at this point and spend the time on aspects of the DAT that you can actually improve with limited time.

 

[I want to go to there]

My eyes are just fine, I'm more just asking where should I look for points of different between angles turned different ways. I'm getting 10-11/15 right and just want to get a couple more.

Easy, tilt your head.

 

[itsHaji]

Sorry, my mistake, I don't use these boards often and didn't see that section.
And I have been studying for the last two months, and this is one of the only things that needs improvement. I'm focusing on this and reading comprehension today.

 

[PlasmaMembrane]

Sorry, my mistake, I don't use these boards often and didn't see that section.
And I have been studying for the last two months, and this is one of the only things that needs improvement. I'm focusing on this and reading comprehension today.

Really? You have the entire scope of what's covered on the DAT, all that material...and telling apart angles is one of the only things that needs improvement? I'm skeptical.

 

[itsHaji]

QR is very easy for me as I have taken all the way through differential equations. I only missed 4 questions on the entire Destroyer and average 38/40s.
RC I just have to practice a little more and perfect my technique, but I'm getting 21-22s.
OC I spent the better part of 6 months reviewing (light review during the semester, learning reactions/mechs) and 2 months I put all the knowledge together and miss only a few questions here and there.
I tutor for GC and got A's in both those classes. On bootcamp I miss 1-2 questions here and there.
Biology can be random, but the questions I miss are phyla related and I will review that material tomorrow. I specifically took classes such as biochemistry, vertebrate physiology, graduate genetics and evolution this year to make my study easier.

Trust me, I know what I'm doing

 

[PlasmaMembrane]

Everyone has a plan until the DAT punches them in the face. You have limited time, use it wisely - I'll leave it at that.

 

[itsHaji]

Thanks for your advice. I do plan on using this week to knock out more practice tests and keep my skills sharp and fine tune any missing details. I feel very confident though since I've gone through Crack the DAT, KBB, the destroyer, and 80% of bootcamp.

 

[GBP12]

For me the rapid eye technique doesn't work. I feel like I am staring at them too long and can't really tell the difference between angles then.

Instead what I do is look at the answer choices and let's say it's something like this....

a)1<3<4<2
b)1<3<2<4
c)1<2<3<4
d)3<1<4<2

Now the largest angle has to be 2 or 4, so I quickly look at 2 then 4 and whatever my gut tells me is smallest, I go with it, and it's almost always right. I find that it's easier to distinguish angles when you look at them the first time, other than that they just become too similar.

So let's say 4 is the larger angle, that narrows the answer to b or c and tells us 1 is the smallest. Now I just do the same thing with 3 and 4, quickly glance and decide.

 

[Blake1e]

Get the DAT Achiever, its entire PAT section is much harder than the real deal. Practice getting your butt handed to you by Achiever and when the real test comes along youll be like "damn this is pretty obvious. Thats what I did, I also bought the Crackdatpat for all their exams and the question bank with TFE, cube counting and angles. I did that a lot as well to hone my instinct. The actual PAT angles section seemed much more doable than what I experienced with all my study materials.

 

[predent3591]

laptop method worked well for me. i was having trouble on angles too until i read about this method. good luck!

 

[flossopher]

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of posts regarding angle ranking and the various ways to improve this skill. To all those struggling with this section, I recommend trying a technique I invented. I'm dubbing it the Hill Technique.

Pretend that one side of the angle is the ground.(This may require you to mentally rotate the angle slightly, or just tilt your head, depending on how the angle is rotated on the screen.) Next, imagine that the other side of the angle is a hill. Finally, imagine that you are looking at this hill and trying to decide if it would be safe to ride your bike down it. For all acute angles (less than 90 degrees), the safest hill to ride down would the smallest angle. This is because the slope is not as steep. However, a steep slope (larger angle) would be scarier to ride down. Make sure you are riding down the outside part of acute angles and not on the inside, which would require you to be upside down on your bike!

For obtuse angles (greater than 90 degrees), ride down the hill on the inside of the angle. This time, the safest hill to ride down will correlate to the largest angle.This would be the closest to 180 degrees, or the closest to having no slope at all. The scariest hill to ride down would be the one with the steepest slope. For obtuse angles, the steepest hill correlates to the smallest angle. At worst (think of a 91 degree angle), this would be like riding your bike down a near-vertical slope.

Looking at the angles this way, (IMO) it becomes much easier to differentiate between them. This method absolutely worked for me on the DAT. If this still seems abstract, draw out two acute angles and follow my instructions. Repeat for two obtuse angles. You'll get the hang of it very quickly. Feedback and questions are welcome. Good luck!

-Remember to always wear a helmet when riding your bicycle.😉

-Be sure to check out my other method for angle ranking, the Laptop Technique. (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=545924)

I used this method. It really worked for me and I got 23 on my PAT 🙂

 

[BYU4you]

I disagree with many people posting on here.
I felt comfortable with pretty much every section on the DAT except for angles as well. And I made HUGE improvements in the last week practicing before my test. In fact I feel that angles is one section you can fix quickly.

I went from 10 wrong on 2007 ADA to getting 47/50 on bootcamp generator day before my test.

There isn't a magic technique but I used many different ones.

First, if there is a clearly smallest or largest angle and only one answer choice has that, boom one question down. They do give you ones that easy.

It's the five or six three degree ones to choose from.

I really liked the laptop method once I realized the base of the laptop is the smaller side of the angle and not the longer one (makes a big difference)

Angles close to 90 degrees just try to see which is closest (laptop helps greatly on this)

For me small angles were easiest and I would use the technique where you try to see if one angle fits in another.

And for very obtuse angles I would see which is closest to being a straight line and the closer it is the largest.


Other helpful techniques include tether ball method (included image where you imagine ball spinning and how far out it goes)

I also developed my own technique which is dumb but who cares.
Imagine you have a bendy straw and are spinning between hands (like image of random girl on Google ) and imagine where it is spinning.

Just find what helps you!

 

[itsHaji]

Just took 3 only angles sections on CDP and got 13-15 right. Also went 46/50 on the angle generator in bootcamp.
Ive been using a combination of rapid eye technique and then when angles are weirdly placed on the screen, like in opposite corners, the laptop method seems to work very well.

Thanks to everyone who actually showed support and gave useful advice. I really hate the trolls on this forum sometimes lol

 

[tommyngu]

Here's a trick. Since most computer monitors are LCD's, the image you see on the screen changes depending on the angle you look at the screen. If you look at the screen from the side, it will be obvious which angles are larger than others! ok.. totally joking.. I have nothing to provide. I just wanted to say that I find comparing angles is so ridiculously pointless and it should be taken off the DAT! It would be just as effective putting a 'find what's different in the photo' game on the exam.

 

[itsHaji]

Very true, but after spending a solid 7-8 hours in the last 2 days on angles I finally calibrated my eyes to see the subtleties. It's actually helping me with keyhole as well.

 

[Little Elephant]

Does anyone know if the Prometric center would give me any trouble if I put my fingers up against the screen? I like to cover the ends of the angles so that I only see the openings to compare without the distraction of the varying lengths at the ends.

 

[flossopher]

Does anyone know if the Prometric center would give me any trouble if I put my fingers up against the screen? I like to cover the ends of the angles so that I only see the openings to compare without the distraction of the varying lengths at the ends.

When I took my test, they said it's okay to do that as long as you don't touch the screen!

 

[tommyngu]

When I took my test, they said it's okay to do that as long as you don't touch the screen!

In that case, would it still be ok to hold the corners of two pieces of paper up to form an angle as long as you don't touch the screen? lol.
Good to know, but always double check with the testing center before you do anything questionable.

 

[lilyan]

Do you guys find you're actually improving in angles? Is it a skill I can develop? I've been trying to train pretty hard and I honestly feel like it's such a cr*pshoot. I've tried all the strategies but consistently get 5-9/15

 

[Lnguyen7]

Do you guys find you're actually improving in angles? Is it a skill I can develop? I've been trying to train pretty hard and I honestly feel like it's such a cr*pshoot. I've tried all the strategies but consistently get 5-9/15

Yes, it is a skill that you can develop. Angle ranking was the most difficult and time consuming for me when I was exposed to it. It was to the point that I told myself on the DAT, I would just blind pick the choice so I could spend more time on other section. However, as I practiced, learned strategies, developed my own strategies, I became better and faster and consistently got most of the questions right. You just have to find the right strategy for you.

 

[goldcrown17]

I use a combination of three strategies. I look at the smallest part of the angles QUICKLY and try to find the smallest and largest. I go to the answer choices and sometimes that's all I need to do. If finding the smallest and largest doesn't work, I then go on to the following two strategies:
1) What cliff would you rather fall off? Or what cliff would you rather climb? Look at the angles as a cliff and think to yourself, what one would I rather climb up or fall down? My brain's natural instincts to choose the less steep hill are helpful there.
2) which angles fit inside each other. If you can mentally move the angles around and try to put them in each other, the larger angles eat the smaller angles. If you're not amazing at visualization, this could be a hard strategy.

Also, try this game online! It's not really a game... But it will help you with estimating the angles. I've gotten a lot better since I've been "playing" this game a few times a week. http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/index.html

Hope that helps.

 

[lilyan]

Ya, I've played around with the woodgears site before. Really cool! I'm just gonna keep hitting angles and hope I improve