Reading Comprehension and PAT advice, and softwares for it

[underdog99]

Hey guys,

So my DAT is in about a month and a half or so and I'm not really happy with how my PAT and RC are going with Bootcamp. I've gotten 19 and 18 for PAT on Bootcamp's PAT practice tests 6 and 7, and flat 20s on RC practice 6 and 7.

I was just wondering if Crack the DAT would be a worthwhile purchase to improve on both of these sections?

If anyone has any insight on this and also how to improve on my scores, I would welcome any and all suggestions!

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[FeralisExtremum]

Outside of taking practice tests, how are you practicing for these sections? Have you tried PAT Academy + the generators before jumping in to the PAT practice tests?

CrackDAT will give you additional practice tests in both sections, but I'm of the opinion that taking practice tests alone doesn't really lead to improvement - it's about the specifics of what you're doing to improve your technique and learn from your mistakes.

 

[underdog99]

Outside of taking practice tests, how are you practicing for these sections? Have you tried PAT Academy + the generators before jumping in to the PAT practice tests?

CrackDAT will give you additional practice tests in both sections, but I'm of the opinion that taking practice tests alone doesn't really lead to improvement - it's about the specifics of what you're doing to improve your technique and learn from your mistakes.

Everyday for PAT I do 3-5 Keyholes from the Extra Keyhole practice, 5 from TFE visualizer, 10-15 from the Angle Generator (Now starting Bootcamp's new angle problem sets), 10 Patterns, 5 Hole punching problems and 3 different cube structures; all from generators.

And yeah I did the PAT Academy before jumping in following the schedule to a tee lol

For RC, all I've done is read the science articles everyday that are suggested and take a practice test every Saturday. I usually do well on the first 2 passages and then get destroyed on the last one

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Everyday for PAT I do 3-5 Keyholes from the Extra Keyhole practice, 5 from TFE visualizer, 10-15 from the Angle Generator (Now starting Bootcamp's new angle problem sets), 10 Patterns, 5 Hole punching problems and 3 different cube structures; all from generators.

And yeah I did the PAT Academy before jumping in following the schedule to a tee lol

For RC, all I've done is read the science articles everyday that are suggested and take a practice test every Saturday. I usually do well on the first 2 passages and then get destroyed on the last one

The generators are great practice so you should keep that up regularly. Are you going over the answer explanations on the practice tests when you get them wrong? They're usually pretty thorough in explaining how the problem should have been approached.

For both PAT and RC - are there certain question types giving you an issue or is it a speed problem where you run out of time?

 

[underdog99]

The generators are great practice so you should keep that up regularly. Are you going over the answer explanations on the practice tests when you get them wrong? They're usually pretty thorough in explaining how the problem should have been approached.

For both PAT and RC - are there certain question types giving you an issue or is it a speed problem where you run out of time?

I usually go over the practice tests the day after I do them so that my eyes are fresher and I can attempt the PAT again while checking over my answers.

For PAT, I'm usually having trouble with Keyholes, Angles and Pattern folding. I've found a couple strategies for Angles and Patterns in the last couple days that have helped me on the generators so I'll see how they work out. (Laptop method for angles and just finding a point of reference for patterns- particularly dies). Although I do seem to run out of time by the time I hit pattern.

For reading, I feel like I'm getting overwhelmed by how long the passages are and that throws me off when doing the questions because I tend to finish on time. The one type of questions I do have trouble with are the "The first is true but the second is not" kind of question. And the Exception questions.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Hey guys,

So my DAT is in about a month and a half or so and I'm not really happy with how my PAT and RC are going with Bootcamp. I've gotten 19 and 18 for PAT on Bootcamp's PAT practice tests 6 and 7, and flat 20s on RC practice 6 and 7.

I was just wondering if Crack the DAT would be a worthwhile purchase to improve on both of these sections?

If anyone has any insight on this and also how to improve on my scores, I would welcome any and all suggestions!

You have enough time to improve on both of the areas. For reading I would avoid timed tests at this point. You need to focus on your reading speed and comprehension. Most students will not read scientific articles every day, they are way too boring for most. So what I suggest is to just read what you enjoy, it can be a book. newspapers, magazine, the goal is to just read. You can do this at the end of your day before bed for at least 30 minutes, you will be surprised how your reading skills will improve.

For PAT we like Crack PAT and so do our students, it may be worth the investment now to avoid a possible retake later.

Wishing you the best..Nancy

 

[FeralisExtremum]

I usually go over the practice tests the day after I do them so that my eyes are fresher and I can attempt the PAT again while checking over my answers.

For PAT, I'm usually having trouble with Keyholes, Angles and Pattern folding. I've found a couple strategies for Angles and Patterns in the last couple days that have helped me on the generators so I'll see how they work out. (Laptop method for angles and just finding a point of reference for patterns- particularly dies). Although I do seem to run out of time by the time I hit pattern.

For reading, I feel like I'm getting overwhelmed by how long the passages are and that throws me off when doing the questions because I tend to finish on time. The one type of questions I do have trouble with are the "The first is true but the second is not" kind of question. And the Exception questions.

I would personally go over the practice tests right after taking them, so it's fresh in your mind exactly where you were struggling and what the right approach was. You might want to try that method and see if it helps with improving a bit.

I struggled a lot with keyholes as well, but angles and pattern folding can definitely be improved on with continued practice. I think you'll find the real DAT is less brutal with angles than most practice resources. If you keep working on your speed (you're practicing regularly so you can expect to be getting faster over time) angles, cube counting, and hole punching can be knocked out pretty quickly leaving you with some extra time to handle the more difficult and time consuming sections.

The long passages take getting used to, that's why I personally advocate reading the Scientific American articles every day - DAT passages can be pretty long and boring and you want something with similar scientific density and style to build up your tolerance and speed through it. First true/second not are all about isolating the facts they're asking and verifying them separately in the passage.

 

[underdog99]

I would personally go over the practice tests right after taking them, so it's fresh in your mind exactly where you were struggling and what the right approach was. You might want to try that method and see if it helps with improving a bit.

I struggled a lot with keyholes as well, but angles and pattern folding can definitely be improved on with continued practice. I think you'll find the real DAT is less brutal with angles than most practice resources. If you keep working on your speed (you're practicing regularly so you can expect to be getting faster over time) angles, cube counting, and hole punching can be knocked out pretty quickly leaving you with some extra time to handle the more difficult and time consuming sections.

The long passages take getting used to, that's why I personally advocate reading the Scientific American articles every day - DAT passages can be pretty long and boring and you want something with similar scientific density and style to build up your tolerance and speed through it. First true/second not are all about isolating the facts they're asking and verifying them separately in the passage.

Ok I will definitely try that from now on! I feel like the speed is the part that's giving me issues on PAT because I only really get to the patterns with 7 or 8 minutes left and right now that's not enough, but hopefully practice will make me quicker.

Yeah, Scientific American articles are the ones I'm currently using. Thank you for the advice!

You have enough time to improve on both of the areas. For reading I would avoid timed tests at this point. You need to focus on your reading speed and comprehension. Most students will not read scientific articles every day, they are way too boring for most. So what I suggest is to just read what you enjoy, it can be a book. newspapers, magazine, the goal is to just read. You can do this at the end of your day before bed for at least 30 minutes, you will be surprised how your reading skills will improve.

For PAT we like Crack PAT and so do our students, it may be worth the investment now to avoid a possible retake later.

Wishing you the best..Nancy

When would you suggest starting the timed tests? And I will definitely do the 30 minutes of reading at the end of the day, that's a new one that I haven't heard of and I think that's a great way to work and cap off the day.