Extremely worried about PAT

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parvazi

26AA, 23 TS
7+ Year Member
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Hey everyone,

I just started studying for DAT and I actually watched a few PAT youtube tutorials and I took a test on CDP but I have a really low score (14) and I even couldn't finish my last 20 questions in time. Is that normal to get such a low score on the first PAT test? I'm getting really nervous right here. Any suggestions?

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Yes, it's normal to have a low score on your first try. Keep on doing CDP and reviewing why you're getting stuff wrong. You'll get the hang of it and you'll be able to do it faster too.
 
I was in the same boat. I thought that I would never become a dentist because I sucked at the PAT initially. Practice is the only way to beat this and every other section of the DAT!
 
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Absolutely normal for your first practice section! Don't worry - just keep practicing, watching YouTube videos to help you develop strategies (I also found that mmglasco's YouTube videos were pretty helpful: ). Make sure to go through each of the ones you got wrong and understand why you got them wrong. Good luck!
 
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I think THF is the hardest section. But thats true. It all comes with practice. Thanks everyone :)
 
You gotta practice as much as you can. Watch videos and do the generators. Bootcamp is nice because for the generators you can see what you got wrong. Try to work on the timing. For example with cube counting as you practice you can easily begin to see which cubes are 5 sided, 4 sided, and 3 sided. With practice you'll be able to do that in 5 minutes or less. For angle ranking don't spend more than 5 minutes on there. Use the answer choices to see which ones would be correct. Don't go off of your own perception without looking at the choices because with the answer choices you can do elimination. For pattern folding you can do better by looking at a unique side or shape in the pattern. For instance if the answer choice has a certain shape that the opened pattern has, then that is a good indication that its the answer. Again you gotta practice this to get it down. Hole punching gets better with practice too. Pretty much, cube counting, hole punching, and angle ranking should be done in 15-20 minutes because those shouldn't take much time. I know angle ranking may be very confusing between 2 choices, but you have to pick your gut choice and go with it and move on to the next question(s). Top Front End you will get better with practice. I guarantee to you that. I had recently stopped doing TFE for 2 weeks and I totally sucked at it. However, when I was consistent in doing the TFE, reviewing the wrong answers, watching videos, etc. I was getting 12-13/15 correct correct. It takes time and practice so you'll be good if you practice. Another suggestion is to check Ari's bootcamp PAT videos on YouTube. I think keyholes is my weakest because I spend so much time on that section and I need like 20 minutes to do all 15 problems. Hopefully with more practice it'll get better.
 
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You gotta practice as much as you can. Watch videos and do the generators. Bootcamp is nice because for the generators you can see what you got wrong. Try to work on the timing. For example with cube counting as you practice you can easily begin to see which cubes are 5 sided, 4 sided, and 3 sided. With practice you'll be able to do that in 5 minutes or less. For angle ranking don't spend more than 5 minutes on there. Use the answer choices to see which ones would be correct. Don't go off of your own perception without looking at the choices because with the answer choices you can do elimination. For pattern folding you can do better by looking at a unique side or shape in the pattern. For instance if the answer choice has a certain shape that the opened pattern has, then that is a good indication that its the answer. Again you gotta practice this to get it down. Hole punching gets better with practice too. Pretty much, cube counting, hole punching, and angle ranking should be done in 15-20 minutes because those shouldn't take much time. I know angle ranking may be very confusing between 2 choices, but you have to pick your gut choice and go with it and move on to the next question(s). Top Front End you will get better with practice. I guarantee to you that. I had recently stopped doing TFE for 2 weeks and I totally sucked at it. However, when I was consistent in doing the TFE, reviewing the wrong answers, watching videos, etc. I was getting 12-13/15 correct correct. It takes time and practice so you'll be good if you practice. Another suggestion is to check Ari's bootcamp PAT videos on YouTube. I think keyholes is my weakest because I spend so much time on that section and I need like 20 minutes to do all 15 problems. Hopefully with more practice it'll get better.
Thank you, I really appreciate it
 
The highest PAT score I got on qvault or bootcamp was a 21 and I scored 24 on the real thing. I used bootcamp angle generator, along with the generators for the other sections after finishing all my practice tests. Good luck!
 
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Hey everyone,

I just started studying for DAT and I actually watched a few PAT youtube tutorials and I took a test on CDP but I have a really low score (14) and I even couldn't finish my last 20 questions in time. Is that normal to get such a low score on the first PAT test? I'm getting really nervous right here. Any suggestions?

TOTALLY normal. I'd say, first few times trying out PAT, do it untimed. I would suggest isolating each section afterwards and getting them solid first. By the end of your studies, you should be able to do Hole punch and cubes within 15 minutes, Pattern Folding and TFE within 20-25 min and then the remaining time for Keyhole and angles...at least that was how I stragetized my attack plan with PAT.
 
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I started out at a 16. The biggest tip for the PAT is you have to work at it at least every other day for a few weeks. You can't cram it. Also, know what you're good at and what you're bad at. I think it's very important to skip the hard problems on the PAT since you could use that time to score on an easy question which is worth the same.
 
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