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Harpreet

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Please some body advice me how to prepare for this section of DAT. I studied almost two months just for this part and in topscore i was having score 17, but in real test it was really tricky, cube counting part was really hard, very much different from but i was practising and more over i screwed it all by spending more time on part1 and imagine the score i got 13, i donot think any body has ever received that kind of score..please suggest me because in this forum i have seen people having 20 in real test that's awesome...please help !!
 
** CUBE COUNTING **

When you take Kaplan class, they say to make a table and count every cubes.

EXAMPLE of table:

# of side painted # of cubes
0
1
2
3
4
5

Do it! You may think it'll take too long, but it will not. There are usually 3 or 4 questions from one diagram, so if you COUNT the cubes the first time, you breeze thru those questions with NO TIME at all.
 
I agree, it works. It can also check your work...say there are 4 ?'s from one set of cubes. You get to the last one and your answer from the table isn't there...you need to check all those questions and come back cuz you likely missed another too.
 
the thing that helped me out the most was playing 3D tetris on yahoo games. my score jumped from a 16 to a 21 in a matter of months of focusing on the topscore stuff and the kaplan materials. it really helped me visualize the keyhole questions and being able to see the top/front/end ones. for the cube counting, i would say try to increase speed and accuracy by getting used to cubes that have specific # of sides exposed.
 
I forgot were I read a message on this board, it said that their are triangular cubes? what does that mean? I am use to the cube counting from Kaplan and the Barron's book. Is that how the Real DAT is or is it different? Thanx!!! I can't wait till the DAT is over!!!
 
triangular cube...that's a new one!!!

I know what you mean..basically, a line off the back is left off making it look like a triangle.
 
I took the DAT a second time due to a low PAT score. On the first attempt I got a 15, on the second attempt I got a 19. It is something that can be learned. For me it was about time management. I found 3 sections to be easy and 3 sections to be hard. I went through the "easy" sections as fast as I could so I could spend more time on the harder ones. Also, I think practicing every day for a week really helped me.
 
Wait a sec, did anybody really answer the question of whether there are these triangular cube thingys on the real PAT? I haven't seen them in any practice problems. Should we prepare for them? Was it like a joke in the first place? D'OH! Help!
 
Originally posted by trypmo
Wait a sec, did anybody really answer the question of whether there are these triangular cube thingys on the real PAT? I haven't seen them in any practice problems. Should we prepare for them? Was it like a joke in the first place? D'OH! Help!

There are no triangular cubes (isn't that an oxymoron?) on the DAT, although in a few rare instances, it may look like there are, either because a line was left off one of the cubes, or the person has been staring at the cubes for too long. No need to prepare for them.
 
Originally posted by dprice121
There are no triangular cubes (isn't that an oxymoron?) on the DAT, although in a few rare instances, it may look like there are, either because a line was left off one of the cubes, or the person has been staring at the cubes for too long. No need to prepare for them.
Whew! Thanks dprice for your quick reply! 🙂
 
There is an optical illusion that happens on the real DAT. On the real DAT the cubes are not always in one solid block, this leads to what can look like a triangular cube.

a basic example of this would be if you were to be looking down on the cubes they might be arranged like this:

XXX
X X
XXX

I know this might not be the best explanation, but just try to draw this scenario out and you will see what I am talking about.
 
............_______________________
.........../.........../.........../........../l
........./_______/_______/______/..l
......./.........../.l........../........ /.l...l
...../_______/__l____ /______/...l../
.../.........../.........../.........../l...l./
./_______/_______/_______/..l../
l...........l.............l............l...l/
l...........l.............l............l./
l_______l________l_______l/

Sorry about the extra periods, but that is the only way that I could get SDN to format it correctly.

Kinda like this, but with the perspective that is on the PAT the vertical line runs almost corner to corner, giving the appearance of a triangular cube.
 
Harpreet buddy,
where have you been? You are still welcome to study with me for the DAT. Especially PAT. Join me in Jersey on a Saturday morning. I know you are from Delaware ! Just send me a private e-mail to set time and date.
Hey, don't get fustrated and search for PAT hint's in all the threads posted 🙂
 
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