PAT pattern folding cubes

[as1698]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey everyone,

I've been doing the PAT sections on Crack DAT PAT and I'm really struggling with the pattern folding questions that involve cubes. Can anyone give any strategies for those or tell me how often these kind of questions come up on the actual DAT? I've heard that CDP is for the most part along the same level or harder than the actual DAT so any advice would be helpful. Thanks so much!

 

[discensdentibus]

Lol, this is may or may not help on the real DAT, but I remember assigning stereochemistry for the dice problems. Also, try to imagine each side that is connected by a corner operating as a swivel.

 

[as1698]

how did you do it the stereochemistry way? I wouldn't mind trying out that kind of method

 

[discensdentibus]

I think it just exploits CDP sofware, but I would basically assign priorities based on increasing numerical value on 3 faces of a dice that share a common corner; then, if I counted increasingly clockwise, I would call it R and vice versa. I would look at the answer choices, and it helped me eliminate answer choices more easily. It's a lot harder, imo, to try to find that everything matches compared to just finding one thing wrong with all but one of your answer choices.

 

[as1698]

interesting, who knew orgo would come in handy on the PAT section. pretty time consuming as opposed to just going based on relationships of one face to the others, right?

 

[Dental786]

I think it just exploits CDP sofware, but I would basically assign priorities based on increasing numerical value on 3 faces of a dice that share a common corner; then, if I counted increasingly clockwise, I would call it R and vice versa. I would look at the answer choices, and it helped me eliminate answer choices more easily. It's a lot harder, imo, to try to find that everything matches compared to just finding one thing wrong with all but one of your answer choices.

Would you mind posting a practice question that shows how you counted? that would be really helpful 🙂

 

[discensdentibus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9nY_w4ak8o
So I hope this makes sense. I would only suggest it if you are good at stereochemistry. I think bootcamp had an explanation for one of their pattern folding questions that made things click for me on cube problems that weren't dice problems. The best advice I received for this section is to treat things that share a corner as if it can rotate 90 degrees at a time.

Disclaimers: It doesn't work on any dice problem you will come across. It may only work on CDP software.