scored 63/90 (70%) on my first attempt of PAT. Good?

[Smooth Operater]

Hey guys!

I just completed a PAT mock exam for the first time and scored 70% on it after finish reading the kaplan and barron's materials. I understand that score will be standarized on the real exams, but is 63/90 considered a pretty good mark for someone who did the PAT for the first time ? or is it just average? horrible?

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[Utes]

What book was it from?
If the Kaplan Blue book, then you scored ~18. On page 738 they give the estimated scaled score conversion chart.

63 is an 18, 65 would have put you at a 19 and 70 would have put you at a 20.

Although it is widely said on this board that you should expect your PAT to drop on the actual DAT if you used TopScore or Kaplan.

 

[ucizotzot]

What book was it from?
If the Kaplan Blue book, then you scored ~18. On page 738 they give the estimated scaled score conversion chart.

63 is an 18, 65 would have put you at a 19 and 70 would have put you at a 20.

Although it is widely said on this board that you should expect your PAT to drop on the actual DAT if you used TopScore or Kaplan.

i agree. if you get an 18 on the kaplan blue, you will probably end up 2-4 points lower on the reat thing. i got a 19,20, 20 on my kaplan/topscore tests and got a 16 on the real thing. yea 16 is a bummer. but i'm living with it. good luck 👍

 

[cameltoe]

i agree. if you get an 18 on the kaplan blue, you will probably end up 2-4 points lower on the reat thing. i got a 19,20, 20 on my kaplan/topscore tests and got a 16 on the real thing. yea 16 is a bummer. but i'm living with it. good luck 👍

ouch

 

[ackbar]

70% right?? that's terrible! I did all the kaplan prep tests for the PATs on paper, would get all right except for maybe 3-5...

come real DAT, I only got an 18 PAT. First time got a 15! 😱

 

[Garry11]

70% right?? that's terrible! I did all the kaplan prep tests for the PATs on paper, would get all right except for maybe 3-5...

come real DAT, I only got an 18 PAT. First time got a 15! 😱

I guess it depends on how well you get a grasp of the object and the test. My highest scores before I took the real PAT were: Kaplan 20: Barrons 19: and TopScore 21....On the real test I got a 19. Usually, you'll get 2 points below top score. I hope this helps. Don't try to understand the material, try to understand what each part on the pat is asking. I think the PAT is really easy and overrated

 

[ItsGavinC]

I also think a 70% is probably a bit low, especially for a mock exam, but I don't recall what the scale equates to.

 

[Smooth Operater]

oh I forget to mention that I used the Mock exam given by a friend. It's published by IQ Inc. The questions seem to be hard than the kalpan and barron excercises. I have alot of troubles on aperture and orthographic questions.

 

[dexadental]

Its hard to determine how good that score is unless you take another, and another, and another. The average of three should sum up where you stand, and how hard you need to work.

 

[Sprgrover]

The PAT is a tough section. Don't get lulled into a false sense of security concerning your abilities on that part of the test. As dexadental pointed out, a good strategy is to take an average of your performance over 3+ tests, and if you are using Kaplan and Topscore, subtract 3 from that to arrive at your likely performance come test day. That rule is not set in stone by any means but so far it seems to aptly describe the performance of many guests here on SDN between their practice exams and the real deal. I was scoring 20-22 on practice exams and I wound up with an 18. If you would like to improve your score, which you can do, then practice and develop strategies to quickly and efficiently solve the many visual problems within the PAT.

 

[MSZ]

I agree with dexadental, but just for encouragement, when I practiced with Kaplan, I was getting a 21 average for the Pat and with Topscore, a 22 average (I think I had a 23 once), and I got a 20 on the real thing. Everyone is different.

 

[Smooth Operater]

I just completed another practice exam published by IQ (a Canadian company) and got 24. Thanks for the warning, so I won't be over confident of myself. 👍 I basically aced every parts except the key-hole and orthographics. All my mistakes are in those two parts. Any tips to improve key-hole and orthographic q's? Thanks!

 

[...]

I am really confused by the scoring system of PAT
on my first attempt , I got 72% on PAT the score was 17
so I tested again (after three month of coz), I got 54% still 17 😕

so I don't know... but best of luck to you

 

[naithgirw]

I'm a little confused. If there is one thing I have taken from SDN since I joined, it is, do not underestimate the PAT portion of the actual DAT.

I've seen several practice exams (havn't really taken any though), and the problems in each section do not seem that hard. I am trying to figure out how else could these 6 types of questions be asked on the DAT. And more importantly what makes these questions harder than practice test's (except for the obvious fact that they are tougher?)

I know that the angle discrimination section is tough - because they are very hard to distinguish, and some angles look identical, but how do other sections of the test fair?

I know it seems that I am pick-pocketing for tips and tricks for myself and others who havn't yet taken the actual DAT, but I am just really curious as to what makes the PAT questions so much harder than practice tests.

I've read posts that advise to subtract 2-4 points on PAT section from practice tests! That is quite a bit - 4 points! I know this rule is not set in stone, but what is it that make this section of the test so hard?

Thank you 🙂

 

[Sprgrover]

I'm a little confused. If there is one thing I have taken from SDN since I joined, it is, do not underestimate the PAT portion of the actual DAT.

I've seen several practice exams (havn't really taken any though), and the problems in each section do not seem that hard. I am trying to figure out how else could these 6 types of questions be asked on the DAT. And more importantly what makes these questions harder than practice test's (except for the obvious fact that they are tougher?)

I know that the angle discrimination section is tough - because they are very hard to distinguish, and some angles look identical, but how do other sections of the test fair?

I know it seems that I am pick-pocketing for tips and tricks for myself and others who havn't yet taken the actual DAT, but I am just really curious as to what makes the PAT questions so much harder than practice tests.

I've read posts that advise to subtract 2-4 points on PAT section from practice tests! That is quite a bit - 4 points! I know this rule is not set in stone, but what is it that make this section of the test so hard?

Thank you 🙂

The questions are more challenging, often involving intricate folds, complex patterns, and hideously close angles (and as an aside you are not allowed to hold anything up to the screen to help gauge the angles). There is also the time factor to consider as well as the fact that you'll have the added stress of taking the real thing versus a practice exam.

 

[naithgirw]

The questions are more challenging, often involving intricate folds, complex patterns, and hideously close angles (and as an aside you are not allowed to hold anything up to the screen to help gauge the angles). There is also the time factor to consider as well as the fact that you'll have the added stress of taking the real thing versus a practice exam.

Hey Sprgrover, thanks so much for your advice! I've waited patiently for a response from this post, thanks again!

A friend gave me some advice for this section: He said, throughout my day, I can constantly prepare my self for this section, for example, if I'm in a room, I should mentally turn the room upside down in my head, and the left to right - then I should try and figure out where all the furniture should be positioned.

While I'm driving in my car - I should look at the liscence plate infront of me, and do the same, flip/invert/rotate/whatever combination, and try to figure out what the result would be!

I think that's the common theme for this section - the ability to manipulate objects using your head, and the ability of having mental mapping skills!

I'm actually having a great time studying for this part of the test! I study for it a little everyday - last, so it's something to look foward to! I'm sure a lot of you would rather be tackling these kinds of problems, rather than the dreaded natural sciences section, right?

 

[ddsnp]

So, whats so hard about the PAT on the real test. I hear the angle ranking is very tough. Is everything else about the same?

Thanks

 

[Profchaos]

Hey guys!

I just completed a PAT mock exam for the first time and scored 70% on it after finish reading the kaplan and barron's materials. I understand that score will be standarized on the real exams, but is 63/90 considered a pretty good mark for someone who did the PAT for the first time ? or is it just average? horrible?

For the first time 16 is alright. Keep up the work and you will get the reward. Make sure you look at those pictures every other day, so that you form some sorta habit. I got 16 the first time taking PAT without practice, the second time 20, third time 24(got lucky). On the real one I got nervous and got 20.

 

[dental pilot]

My Kaplan and Top-score practice tests were all 20-22, but then on the real one I got 25... so who knows. I'd say the practice test scores aren't very useful, they could go up or down 5 points on the real test, but the practice is very useful. Just keep practicing a lot.