Is it just me or is TFE the hardest section on PAT?

[jmcunnin]

I don't know why, but TFE just doesn't seem to click for me. I've watched YouTube videos, practiced on Bootcamp, looked at advice on the forums, etc. Anyone else find this section to be extremely difficult?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[artist2022]

For me, keyholes are the hardest. Angles comes to a close second, and then pattern folding right after. 🙁 TFE is not that bad, I know on BC they made a whole post about how line-counting doesn't work anymore as the ADA has found it out etc, but on the practice tests I still use it and do pretty well 🙂 so I guess just practice, visualize, and count. And if you know an answer choice is wrong, cross it out immediately. Don't you dare look at it again lol

 

[FeralisExtremum]

I thought keyholes were by far the worst on the real thing.

I know on BC they made a whole post about how line-counting doesn't work anymore as the ADA has found it out etc, but on the practice tests I still use it and do pretty well 🙂

This is a really bad habit to hold onto, honestly. People that have taken the test and tried this method within the past few years will tell you that it doesn't work.

 

[tyjacobs]

I don't know why, but TFE just doesn't seem to click for me. I've watched YouTube videos, practiced on Bootcamp, looked at advice on the forums, etc. Anyone else find this section to be extremely difficult?

I thought TFE was very hard but I did the bootcamp generator over and over and over and over and over and eventually figured it out.

TBH I found keyholes and angle ranking the hardest

 

[Jyggaswoop]

TFE is easy once you figure it out. Keyholes/Pattern Folding is hardest, while angle ranking requires constant practice and some luck (and therefore isn't the hardest, just the most 'RNG'). Do generators, and figure out what the lines mean.
Look at the 3D models in bootcamp and rotate it and figure out what the lines correspond to etc. Took me a few days, but after that it's really not bad.

 

[Hnl7]

Angle ranking was the most difficult for me. I scored a 22 on the pat and in bootcamp would consistently get 1 or 2 wrong for tfe.

For top front end I started looking at everything throughout day and broke it down to tfe. This way I could practice during down time and as a game.

For example - wake up and look at your computer monitor, car, pencil holder, chair, table, bowl, mug, house, office building, cell phone, any sculptures or pottery, etc.

It doesn't have to be perfect but seeing the shapes in reality and putting it into the tfe view point helped me practice because I could visualize the entire object.

I guess the takeaway is practice as much as you can any way you can!

Good luck!

 

[Kingfish23]

Pattern folding was the hardest imo. TFE came with practice. Keyholes were insane in the real test.

 

[jmcunnin]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I woke up this morning to watch tutorials on Bootcamp again, and ended up getting 5 in a row correct on the TFE generator. I think God heard my prayers and desperate pleas for help last night because something clicked today haha thanks again for the help!

 

[jmcunnin]

Make that 10 in a row correct. Wow I really have no idea what made it "click" today, but I'm definitely not complaining!

 

[CherryBlossom1412]

Just FYI - the PAT on the ADA released practice tests were way easier for me than the actual exam. I took the DAT a couple years ago, and they started introducing weird rock shapes into the keyhole section, so that was the worst by far. I can only imagine the PAT becoming more challenging since then. Don't take the released exams for granted to be the real deal. Practice with other resources.

what do you mean by weird rock shapes??

 

[CherryBlossom1412]

for me angles are the hardest then keyholes and pattern folding

i think keyholes and pattern folding just take a while until i see why each option is wrong/right but i just cant handle the angle ranking section 🙁(((

 

[FeralisExtremum]

what do you mean by weird rock shapes??

Like literally a rock, with all its random roughed edges and indentations and chipped away spots, as the object and even crazier keyhole variations. I don't want to say it's impossible, but...it felt impossible.

Here's an example that's easier than what I had on the DAT:

All those small edges and surface variations? They all mattered and had to be taken into account for the keyhole.

 

[CherryBlossom1412]

Like literally a rock, with all its random roughed edges and indentations and chipped away spots, as the object and even crazier keyhole variations. I don't want to say it's impossible, but...it felt impossible.

Here's an example that's easier than what I had on the DAT:

wow i never seen that on BC. I'll definitely find more practice on it. thank you so much!