PAT trend

[SloppyJoe]

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What's going on!?? My friends and study buddies have recently taken the DAT and while their AA was good, most of got 17s and even a 15 on the real PAT, even though they were avearging 21s on the practice test? Is is happening to anyone else recently?

 

[Comet208]

i never scored anything below 21 on practice tests and still got an 18 on the actual test. here is the main reason:

the resolution sucks, especially for the angle ranking section

Comet

 

[SloppyJoe]

the resolution is bad, but it shouldn't affect anything else. I mean cube counting is cube counting, and everything else is just about visuallizing the whole picture. I really hope it's not as bad as everyone says.

 

[rsweeney]

The bottom line---the angles are so easy on all the practice tests and just SOOOOOOOOOO DAMNNNNNNNNNNN hard on the real thing, which psychologically stresses you out, thus mentally you get sloppy trying aimlessly to figure them out, so time is finally a factor now. You then realize that time is running out (which on the practice tests has never been a problem b/c angles and hole punches are likely peoples' strong points on Kaplan and Top Score). Then, by the time you get to cube counting, you have to count faster, thus mental entropy increases. AND THEN, by the time you get to pattern development you are forced to guess even more than you did before on the practice tests. Those damn angles---it's all their fault. POSITIVE FEEDBACK BABY!!! 🙁 😡

 

[Sleepless]

Hello everyone...

I just joined this forum a day or two ago, and I love reading everyone's views regarding the DAT!!!

I COMPLETELY agree about the PAT trend...I took it back in June and did fine EXCEPT the PAT....I was scoring between 19-21 on all practice tests, and then didn't do so well on the actual one....the angles were the hardest....plus I got a really bad eye infection (red as a cherry!) the week I was preparing to take it.......🙁 and so i had a bad eye + bad resolution = bad PAT....

So I am thinking about taking it again...any advice about which book to use to get better at the angles section?? I took Kaplan and their angles practice is super super easy, so now I am looking for another resource=)


Thanks!

 

[mathnerd]

I'm going to back everybody up with the poor resolution of the angle part of the PAT. I nailed a 22 on the PAT, but I'm sure the majority of questions I missed were in that part. Each of the angles were badly pixelated on the screen and entirely indistinguishable. There is nothing like looking at 3 different 20 degree angles and guessing. Gives me warm fuzzies. I did well on everything else, so what does that tell you about the test's format? Needs improvement.

 

[SloppyJoe]

I think topscore is the closes to the real thing, and if you change the resolution to 800X600, it'll be good practice. The kaplans ones are just way easy.

 

[Adam Ostby]

I definately agree with you guys. I was consistently scoring 24-25 on the practice tests, and ended up with an 18 on the actual test. The angle ranking was extremely difficult and really screwed me because I spent too much time on that section, leaving me rushed for the last too sections.

 

[SloppyJoe]

Well, i fulfiled my own prophesy....... I just took the DAT and got a 21 AA, and a 17PAT......so pissed off.

 

[vishal_k32801]

I think if people know PAT is looked at so heavily by Dental
Schools, they should audit an engineering drawing class if they can.

 

[ElCid]

Something that I did on the DAT and on Top Score was use a process of elimination. This sounds pretty obvious, but start with the choices they give you. In many instances choices A-D will all start with only two numbers (eg Angle 1 or Angle 3). Then you only have to decide which is the smaller between the two - instead of which is the smallest of four. Then do the same for the next next smallest angle. Let them do the work for you.

Once you get used to it youll actually be able to whiz right through them. It saves a lot of time.

 

[SloppyJoe]

well, i've been doing the elimination thing but i guess i didn't help.

 

[NewNameForGoogleBot]

Originally posted by rsweeney
The bottom line---the angles are so easy on all the practice tests and just SOOOOOOOOOO DAMNNNNNNNNNNN hard on the real thing, which psychologically stresses you out, thus mentally you get sloppy trying aimlessly to figure them out, so time is finally a factor now. You then realize that time is running out (which on the practice tests has never been a problem b/c angles and hole punches are likely peoples' strong points on Kaplan and Top Score). Then, by the time you get to cube counting, you have to count faster, thus mental entropy increases. AND THEN, by the time you get to pattern development you are forced to guess even more than you did before on the practice tests. Those damn angles---it's all their fault. POSITIVE FEEDBACK BABY!!! 🙁 😡

For everyone that has yet to take the DAT, Richard points out an major trap to sidestep: focusing on the angles too much. Yes, they suck, but there is nothing you can do about it. So, don't worry. Work hard on the other PAT sections when studying and do a minimal amount of angles. Then on the test, do your best on all of the other sections and when it comes to angles, just pick the best answer you can come up with in 20-30 seconds and move on. Who cares if you miss alot? Just do well on the other sections. Also - the angles should be the fastest part of the PAT. Spend no more than 5 minutes, any more and you'll be hurting on the harder sections.