A word of warning for people that use Bootcamp for the PAT (Cube counting)

[Shiny Teeth]

Hey guys, I just wanted to provide some information that might help others. In bootcamp, if you look how the cube counting section is organized there are 3 questions per figure in order. For example Figure A has questions 1-3 . Figure B had questions 4-6 etc... However on the actual DAT (took it last month) it threw me off a little bit. The questions WERE NOT in order. For example figure A had only 2 questions, figure B had only 1 question. They might have even reused the same figure later on in the questions (not sure about this one i cant remember lol). So please dont make the same mistake as I did and automatically assume bootcamp has the same format as the actual DAT (at least for cube counting).

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[AppalachianDentalBoy]

On my DAT they didn’t re use the figures out of order but they did have lots with either two or only one question. Would have been nice knowing that would happen going into the test as it threw me off a bit. Fortunately it wasn’t too big of a deal for me.

Hope you did well on your DAT.

 

[NquadBux]

Wait so it's not 3 questions per figure like bootcamp? I thought bootcamps PAT was representative of the DAT? Okay so how do i practice for the cubecounting section then...?

 

[Faefly]

My Cubes were a shock. Kaplan had already prepared me to one question or 2 per cube, but not like my test.
I had maybe 7 Cubes or 8. I mean wth!

 

[princeafrica]

You guys are making such a big deal from small details. Bootcamp teaches you how to count the cubes. Just like you aren't sitting there memorizing their biology questions, don't memorize "there was 3 questions per figure". Just make your table, answer the question, and move on.

Wait so it's not 3 questions per figure like bootcamp? I thought bootcamps PAT was representative of the DAT? Okay so how do i practice for the cubecounting section then...?

Use bootcamp to learn how to count figures. That is the primary purpose and their figures are representative of the figures you will see.

 

[islanddrive]

You guys are making such a big deal from small details. Bootcamp teaches you how to count the cubes. Just like you aren't sitting there memorizing their biology questions, don't memorize "there was 3 questions per figure". Just make your table, answer the question, and move on.



Use bootcamp to learn how to count figures. That is the primary purpose and their figures are representative of the figures you will see.

I disagree this can easily hurt someones PAT score if they assume there are only going to be 3 questions per figure. Not sure why you are defending bootcamp but I understand why everyone is upset. Luckily I saw this thread before my DAT

But Im still confused why everyone keeps boasting bootcamps PAT is the most representative when they totally messed up a section. Can someone confirm if any other resource has it right?

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

@islanddrive I wouldn't say they messed it up as they did teach you how to do it. I would say that they weren't 100% spot on with this section though. The rest of the PAT was very similar for me except the keyholes but that was because my testing center's screens stretched the width more than the height. Another poster mentioned this a while ago. Again not bootcamps fault and I still got a 21 pat so I wasn't about to complain and retake my whole test.

PATBooster is the newest/promising pat section. It is a separate subscription though and there aren't a lot of reviews for it yet.

 

[princeafrica]

I disagree this can easily hurt someones PAT score if they assume there are only going to be 3 questions per figure. Not sure why you are defending bootcamp but I understand why everyone is upset. Luckily I saw this thread before my DAT

But Im still confused why everyone keeps boasting bootcamps PAT is the most representative when they totally messed up a section. Can someone confirm if any other resource has it right?

I’m not defending anyone. If you are spending time during the exam counting how many questions you are getting you are wasting time. Bootcamp is there to teach you how to cube count.

During my test I answered what the DAT was asking me to answer. Not how many questions Bootcamp told me to answer.

 

[NquadBux]

So is the real DAT like Bootcamp's PAT practice tests or not? Most people on the bootcamp facebook group are saying the 2019 DAT isn't like Bootcamps but their moderators keep deleting their post ... can someone confirm this?

 

[princeafrica]

So is the real DAT like Bootcamp's PAT practice tests or not? Most people on the bootcamp facebook group are saying the 2019 DAT isn't like Bootcamps but their moderators keep deleting their post ... can someone confirm this?

In what way is it not like Bootcamp? It has only been 27 days into 2019 and there’s already a “2019 DAT” just from a handful of opinions.

 

[Shahed B]

Hey guys,

Unfortunately, its extremely difficult to create content that is absolutely on par with the real exam. At the end of the day, any resource you use will have attempted to be as representative as they can of the real DAT but 100% identical content is rather impossible. Each resource has its own set of pros and cons, but for the most part, they will all achieve their goal of preparing you for the exam. No matter what you use to prepare, make sure to put in the required effort and practice on a daily basis.

 

[1TrickUnicorn]

Hey guys,

Unfortunately, its extremely difficult to create content that is absolutely on par with the real exam. At the end of the day, any resource you use will have attempted to be as representative as they can of the real DAT but 100% identical content is rather impossible. Each resource has its own set of pros and cons, but for the most part, they will all achieve their goal of preparing you for the exam. No matter what you use to prepare, make sure to put in the required effort and practice on a daily basis.

Well said.

 

[islanddrive]

In what way is it not like Bootcamp? It has only been 27 days into 2019 and there’s already a “2019 DAT” just from a handful of opinions.

Keyholes and TFE are much MUCH more difficult than DATBootcamp's. And Cube Counting has 4-7 figures with anywhere from 1-5 questions per figure. Multiple people on the facebook group have confirmed that it's not like Bootcamp's PAT.

 

[princeafrica]

Keyholes and TFE are much MUCH more difficult than DATBootcamp's. And Cube Counting has 4-7 figures with anywhere from 1-5 questions per figure. Multiple people on the facebook group have confirmed that it's not like Bootcamp's PAT.

Multiple people over the past year that got bad scores have said their DAT was not like Bootcamp. I've seen people go as far as saying DAT Destroyer was more like their DAT. The test is random and so far you will agree that DAT Bootcamp is the closest representation of the real DAT. Unless anyone wants to make a case for Kaplan?

For Cube Counting, like I said above, DAT Bootcamp teaches you how to count cubes and if you are counting how many questions you are getting on each cube you are wasting valuable time. Bootcamp suggests making a chart and tally for each cube and that is the best strategy no matter how many questions you get per questions you get.

 

[WithLove]

Multiple people over the past year that got bad scores have said their DAT was not like Bootcamp. I've seen people go as far as saying DAT Destroyer was more like their DAT. The test is random and so far you will agree that DAT Bootcamp is the closest representation of the real DAT. Unless anyone wants to make a case for Kaplan?

For Cube Counting, like I said above, DAT Bootcamp teaches you how to count cubes and if you are counting how many questions you are getting on each cube you are wasting valuable time. Bootcamp suggests making a chart and tally for each cube and that is the best strategy no matter how many questions you get per questions you get.

I recently took the 2019 DAT and scored 27 on the PAT. The PAT on my DAT was definitely not like DATBootcamps, the TFE on my DAT were significantly tougher. And the cubecounting section was different than DATBootcamps too since the actual DAT has a random amount of figures with some having as little as only 1 question for each figure. I would say PATBooster was the closest representation of how the PAT is like on the real DAT

 

[slewis2288]

For those of you that have taken the 2019 DAT, would you recommend still using the tally method? Or looking only for the number of sides that they are asking for (the direct counting method?)

 

[IcyFox]

For those of you that have taken the 2019 DAT, would you recommend still using the tally method? Or looking only for the number of sides that they are asking for (the direct counting method?)

Everyone is different, try both of those techniques and see which one you prefer.

 

[islanddrive]

I took my DAT recently and I can confirm this is true. I had a few questions with just 1 cube counting question per figure so it's not like DATBootcamp's PAT.

 

[ChipSkylarkxxxshinyteeth]

Damn that was my time saver. Kaplan said that there would be 3 for each figure so tallying was the most effective. :/

 

[DoesThisLookInfected?]

I took my DAT last June, and I also had definitely had one question per figure type questions on cubes. I don't think tallying slowed me down. I had enough time left over when I finished PAT to go back and check handful of questions, so as others have said (for new people reading this thread), just try different techniques and see what works best for you!

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Do you remember how many cube figures did you have in total?

That seems a little too specific and I’d hate for anyone on this forum to get their score invalidated for cheating. There will be a very countable number of them

 

[CJoxi]

That seems a little too specific and I’d hate for anyone on this forum to get their score invalidated for cheating. There will be a very countable number of them

It should be fine as long as you don't disclose any questions.

 

[DoesThisLookInfected?]

Do you remember how many cube figures did you have in total?

Don’t remember!

 

[Vivian L]

That seems a little too specific and I’d hate for anyone on this forum to get their score invalidated for cheating. There will be a very countable number of them

Sorry, I removed my post. Thanks for the warning.

 

[islanddrive]

I had 7 on mine. My exam was definitely not like DATBootcamp

 

[Orka]

So is the real DAT like Bootcamp's PAT practice tests or not? Most people on the bootcamp facebook group are saying the 2019 DAT isn't like Bootcamps but their moderators keep deleting their post ... can someone confirm this?

There are better PAT resources than DATBootcamp's PAT now. Have you checked out PATBooster?

 

[1TrickUnicorn]

I can confirm this is true. I had 6 figures on my exam and the number of questions varied for each figure like the PATBooster practice tests.