Not improving on PAT

[BMEEngineer]

Hey Everyone,

I've been really studying hard for this PAT. I feel like it should come easily to me, but I am just doing so consistently poor. I started the process by taking the 2007 practice exam (got a 17), which made me realize how badly I needed to work on it. Then, I used Cliffs DAT book (not great I know) to get a genera idea of how to attack problems. I read and applied concepts like line counting, and lines of symmetry that I learned from the wicked sick PAT tutorial, and now, even after 3 Crack the PAT tests, my scores have been 19,17,18 respectively. I really struggle to finish in time, and it seems like I don't have a constant section that I really do well on every time. Cube counting is sadly, one of my worst sections.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

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[IsaacYankem]

I feel your pain.

Hole punching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ud0ZX0eEFA

Practice this method meticulously, scoring 14/15 15/15 on all practice tests for that.

Cube counting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej6ROAYRM3A

Use the grid method and practice it so you can get quick

 

[BMEEngineer]

Thanks Issac. I've watched that line of symmetry video before. I guess I just need some more practice. I think one of my biggest problems is that I have the right grid written on my "paper" but then I get in a tizzy with the time crunch and accidentally pick the wrong answer that looks really close. I'll check out that cube counting one. Thanks!

 

[Ari Rezaei]

You'll be fine, stick with it. I didn't get higher than a 20 until my 9th crack PAT test. Then all of a sudden the day before my test something clicked, I finally broke 20 and got a 23 on the real thing.

My best advice, take a practice exam once a week (on your break day, like sunday for me). Then don't review your exam immediately since you'll be mentally exhausted. Review it the next day when you're fresh and you'll start seeing your mistakes and learn much better. You got this, keep going!

 

[BMEEngineer]

Thanks so much for your advice! I will give that a try, and it is very encouraging!

 

[Dgeorg6]

I would go through the 1st 3 or 4 CDP tests without a time limit just to get a hang of them and understand why you got some wrong and etc.. THEN go back and take the same 4 tests timed and then go from there. It's what I did and I went from 18-19 on first couple to averaging 23 on all 10 (re did the 1st 4 and did the last 6 once)

 

[BMEEngineer]

I would go through the 1st 3 or 4 CDP tests without a time limit just to get a hang of them and understand why you got some wrong and etc.. THEN go back and take the same 4 tests timed and then go from there. It's what I did and I went from 18-19 on first couple to averaging 23 on all 10 (re did the 1st 4 and did the last 6 once)

That seems very helpful. I will give it a try! Thanks!

 

[RicketyCricket]

I just counted on my fingers for the cube counting. I tried the tally method but i made mistakes and the mistakes would carry over. Cube counting and angle ranking were my worst pat sections until i counted on my hand. I never got angle ranking. I got a 23 PAT on the real thing

 

[BMEEngineer]

I just counted on my fingers for the cube counting. I tried the tally method but i made mistakes and the mistakes would carry over. Cube counting and angle ranking were my worst pat sections until i counted on my hand. I never got angle ranking. I got a 23 PAT on the real thing

It always seems like the angle ranking never ends too! Always a gamble between the last two choices, and I'll all out of luck!

 

[DancingBull]

Your best bet is to just master all of the sections other than angle ranking. I practiced angle ranking for months and still barely improved. The other sections have much higher yield for your time.

 

[acoburn73]

Your best bet is to just master all of the sections other than angle ranking. I practiced angle ranking for months and still barely improved. The other sections have much higher yield for your time.

^^This. I'm finally only having problems with cube counting, but it's mainly because Crack PAT has so many illusion-type questions with hidden cubes that I end up miscounting by one or two. I have 3 months left and I'm already scoring 12/15 to 15/15 (with the occasional drop off because I'm tired or disinterested) on practice tests, but I think with practice, the illusions will go away.

Keyhole sometimes still gets me because of the minute size differences in sections on the part - Crack likes to put two of what appear to be the same keyholes as answers, and then force you to determine what little piece is skinnier than the other to allow the part to fit. Annoying as hell, but it's definitely forcing me to look much harder at every section of the part and keyhole selections, which has to be a good thing, right?

And then there's the TFE. I'm a practicing engineer now for 12+ years, so using SolidWorks and having to interact with solid models on my computer definitely helps. However, once in a while I'll be flying through the sample TFE questions and just lose my ability to see correctly - it's like the pieces get confusing and the images start to appear illusionary. I'm sure this will pass with practice, too. At least I hope so!

Practice is how you do it. And of course using the explanations on the practice tests help, too! I took the DAT a long time ago (1998), and scored a 19 on the PAT with very minimal practice due to not having the tools available to practice like we do today (my DAT was on paper back then - and the only practice we had were what you get in older DAT sample tests). So imagine how one can do with the resources available today for practicing!

Tip (if you aren't already doing this): Mix in a practice test of one type of PAT section every 3 hours of study time. I only have about 3 hours per night after work to study for the DAT (and 5+ hours on Sunday, off Fri and Sat), so I finish all of my sessions with at least one 15-question sample test on PAT. If you add this up, that's a LOT of practice over a 2-3 month period!

Good luck!

 

[BMEEngineer]

^^This. I'm finally only having problems with cube counting, but it's mainly because Crack PAT has so many illusion-type questions with hidden cubes that I end up miscounting by one or two. I have 3 months left and I'm already scoring 12/15 to 15/15 (with the occasional drop off because I'm tired or disinterested) on practice tests, but I think with practice, the illusions will go away.

Keyhole sometimes still gets me because of the minute size differences in sections on the part - Crack likes to put two of what appear to be the same keyholes as answers, and then force you to determine what little piece is skinnier than the other to allow the part to fit. Annoying as hell, but it's definitely forcing me to look much harder at every section of the part and keyhole selections, which has to be a good thing, right?

And then there's the TFE. I'm a practicing engineer now for 12+ years, so using SolidWorks and having to interact with solid models on my computer definitely helps. However, once in a while I'll be flying through the sample TFE questions and just lose my ability to see correctly - it's like the pieces get confusing and the images start to appear illusionary. I'm sure this will pass with practice, too. At least I hope so!

Practice is how you do it. And of course using the explanations on the practice tests help, too! I took the DAT a long time ago (1998), and scored a 19 on the PAT with very minimal practice due to not having the tools available to practice like we do today (my DAT was on paper back then - and the only practice we had were what you get in older DAT sample tests). So imagine how one can do with the resources available today for practicing!

Tip (if you aren't already doing this): Mix in a practice test of one type of PAT section every 3 hours of study time. I only have about 3 hours per night after work to study for the DAT (and 5+ hours on Sunday, off Fri and Sat), so I finish all of my sessions with at least one 15-question sample test on PAT. If you add this up, that's a LOT of practice over a 2-3 month period!

Good luck!

Thanks for your comments! I am in the same boat as you...working full time and only having about that much time to study. I've been much more focused on the Chem sections because I really needed to brush up on them from taking those classes about 5 years ago. That's a very good idea, though, to do just 1 subsection PAT every 3 hours. I was really disappointed that TFE wasn't better for me also having Solidworks experience.

Good luck to you as well!

 

[acoburn73]

Thanks for your comments! I am in the same boat as you...working full time and only having about that much time to study. I've been much more focused on the Chem sections because I really needed to brush up on them from taking those classes about 5 years ago. That's a very good idea, though, to do just 1 subsection PAT every 3 hours. I was really disappointed that TFE wasn't better for me also having Solidworks experience.

Good luck to you as well!

Thanks!

I see you're either a Biomedical or Biomechanical engineer? I'm a Bioengineer (BS 2002 from Univ. of Illinois at Chicago) myself. Have been in the industry since - working full time. Just got promoted to Principal Engineer, so I've hit my ceiling after only 12 years out of school and at the age of 40, so I thought I'd give dentistry a shot (there's more to my desire to be a dentist than just "give it a shot", but don't want to hijack the thread).

I'm doing the same as you - focus on Chemistry, as the last Chem class I took was back in 1998-1999, so it's going to take a bunch of refreshing. I started last Monday with Chad's GC and have been grinding it out - just finished the 2nd section with note-taking and quizzes, and am doing a "fastplay" skimming with my notes. It's going to be tough with a full working schedule, but I am even hoping to spend my lunch hours skimming material while at work (made the mistake of putting Crack DAT on my home PC instead of work PC, but oh well) to get extra practice and study time.

When's your test date? I'll go under the knife on July 11th at 1:30 pm.

 

[KittySquared]

Count cubes and make a list. 3 or 4 questions are dedicated to every figure. It's worth it to count them all out.

Example:

See the figure, list all cubes surfaces with the following sides exposed:

0 I
1 III
2 I
3 IIII
4 IIIII
5 II

Apply this method as fast and accurately as you can. You won't miss a single question on cube counting.

 

[BMEEngineer]

Thanks!

I see you're either a Biomedical or Biomechanical engineer? I'm a Bioengineer (BS 2002 from Univ. of Illinois at Chicago) myself. Have been in the industry since - working full time. Just got promoted to Principal Engineer, so I've hit my ceiling after only 12 years out of school and at the age of 40, so I thought I'd give dentistry a shot (there's more to my desire to be a dentist than just "give it a shot", but don't want to hijack the thread).

I'm doing the same as you - focus on Chemistry, as the last Chem class I took was back in 1998-1999, so it's going to take a bunch of refreshing. I started last Monday with Chad's GC and have been grinding it out - just finished the 2nd section with note-taking and quizzes, and am doing a "fastplay" skimming with my notes. It's going to be tough with a full working schedule, but I am even hoping to spend my lunch hours skimming material while at work (made the mistake of putting Crack DAT on my home PC instead of work PC, but oh well) to get extra practice and study time.

When's your test date? I'll go under the knife on July 11th at 1:30 pm.

Yes, a Biomedical Engineer. Congrats on your promotion! I think that Engineering definitely gives one a different perspective while entering dental school and I hope the problem solving skills I have developed will apply to that field. I spend my lunch hours going through flashcards that I have made. I really recommend Anki because you can make the notes on your desktop, but then view the notes on the internet or on your android/iphone. The algorithm is designed to help you learn and retain the material and it gives you an approximate timeline when you should expect to have the material in your "mature" part of your memory. May 4th DAT for me, morning for sure!

 

[acoburn73]

Yes, a Biomedical Engineer. Congrats on your promotion! I think that Engineering definitely gives one a different perspective while entering dental school and I hope the problem solving skills I have developed will apply to that field. I spend my lunch hours going through flashcards that I have made. I really recommend Anki because you can make the notes on your desktop, but then view the notes on the internet or on your android/iphone. The algorithm is designed to help you learn and retain the material and it gives you an approximate timeline when you should expect to have the material in your "mature" part of your memory. May 4th DAT for me, morning for sure!

I downloaded the Anki app at work, but have yet to put it to use. Tips would be great! Thanks, and let us know how you are doing up to and after May 4!

 

[BMEEngineer]

Check out this site if you need any tips on Anki (http://drwillbe.blogspot.com/2011/08/anki-guide-for-medical-students.html). PM me if you have any other questions! Back to studying! 🙂

 

[segura11]

Just keep practicing. I found that the actual DAT PAT was easier than crack the DAT.

 

[BMEEngineer]

That's encouraging news! Thanks!