Future Dentists:

Here are the PAT 1 ReKaps!

Outline of email:
Perceptual Ability 1 ReKaps (find: PATREKAP)
Keyholes ReKaps (find: KEYREKAP)
Top-Front-End ReKaps (find: TFEREKAP)
Angle Ranking ReKaps (find: ANGREKAP)
Hole Punching ReKaps (find: HPREKAP)
Cube Counting ReKaps (find: CCREKAP)
Pattern Folding ReKaps (find: PFREKAP)

Perceptual Ability 1 ReKaps (PATREKAP)

There are six different subsections for the Perceptual Ability test, each with 15 questions. You
have 60 minutes to complete each subsection (90 questions total!), and Kaplan has suggestions
for timing within sections to prevent having to rush. Those times are repeated here (along with
the order of the subsections).
Keyholes:
12.5 minutes
Top-Front-End: 12.5 minutes
Angle Ranking: 5 minutes
Hole Punching: 5 minutes
Cube Counting: 10 minutes
Pattern Folding: 15 minutes
These times are just suggestionsas you study, see which subsections you are best withand
start there! You may find that one section takes a little less time, and you can trade that time for
a section that takes longer. The key here: find the time YOU want to spend on each section, and
build a timing plan out to ensure you feel in control.
Alsodont feel the need to go in order; youre in control of the DATso take the easiest
subsection first. We know which question each subsection will start with, so you can quickly click
to it once you've gotten to the end of the section once:
Keyholes:
Question 1
Top-Front-End: Question 16
Angle Ranking: Question 31
Hole Punching: Question 46
Cube Counting Question 61
Pattern Folding: Question 76
Rememberthe start of each subsection has the rules and a practice exampleDONT let that
page slow you down; by Test Day, youll know the rules, and theres no reason to do a practice
question. Lets spend every minute EARNING points!

Keyholes ReKaps (KEYREKAP)

The goal here: find an exact match of the size and shape of the 2D outline for a 3D shape. Size
matters!
There are six possible orientations for the shape of the object to come from, but our strategy will
ensure we only ever worry about three of those.

When trying to find the correct keyhole, remember to think about projections. There are three
projections we worry about on Test Day, and, when drawing, we want to start with the easiest one
and eliminate.
1. Start with the back projection (as if you are standing in front, holding a candle, and are
drawing the shadow behind it). If it matches, you are done. If not, go to the next
projection.
2. Next, go to the bottom projection (as if you are standing above, holding a candle, and
drawing the shadow below it). Again, if it matches, you are done. If not, go to the final
projection.
3. Finally, go to the right projection (as if you are standing to the left, holding a candle, and
drawing the shadow to the right). This will be the final projection, so it must match if no
other did.
Remember, though, that once you determine the outline, it can rotate to match a correct
answeryou cant rotate the object once it starts through a projection, but you can rotate it to
make it match the correct answer before it starts going through the keyhole.
On test day, you only want to think about as many projections as needed to find the right answer;
in your early practice, however, it can be VERY helpful to draw out each now and compare. You
may find that your projection looks different than the DAT expectsfind out how they are different
to avoid the same mistake on test day.
Sometimes its hard to envision the projectionremember you can get the same answer by
smashing the object into the wall and looking at the same side.
Pay special attention to unique shapesthey tend to give tell tale signs of the correct answer
(e.g. cylinders can be smashed to make circles or rectangles, depending on which side gets
smashed).
And rememberthe top/bottom, the front/back, and the left/right projections will give you the
same figure (albeit rotated), so dont worry about if you drew the front OR the back (etc.). The
right shape is all we need.

Top-Front-End ReKaps (TFEREKAP)

Event theory is the key heresince there is no perspective, events on one face of the object
have to continue to the next side.
Events come in three flavors, and each must be accounted for:
1. Edges (including where two shapes come into contact with each other)
2. Lines
3. Angle changes (like the top of a triangle or a line that changes slope along the way)
To help visualize, get a box and label the front, the top, and the end (rememberthe RIGHT side
is the end!). See which edges those faces sharethatll help you visualize which events to pay
attention to AND which events are visible on that shared edge.

Remember:
Horizontal events on front = horizontal events on the end
Vertical events on the front = vertical events on the top
Horizontal events on the top = vertical events on the end
Always start by counting events; if the answer has the wrong number, then eliminate.
Dotted lines always indicate a hidden event from that view; solid lines always indicate a visible
event. Keeping in mind which events are visible and which are hidden is tremendously helpful
for test day!
As an advanced method, remember that events must be the same distance apart in both faces
that they are sharedso scale matters. If you see two events are particularly close to each
other, look for those same two events to have the same scale on the appropriate face.
Its usually easiest to start with the front, since all events from the front go in the same direction
on the respective missing face.

Angle Ranking ReKaps (ANGREKAP)

Angle ranking on a computer screen is harder than on a piece of paper, so make sure to do a lot
of on-screen practice.
The hardest part of angle ranking comes when trying to rank all four at once.
Kaplans strategy tells us to start with extremes: look for the smallest, and eliminate, then look at
the largest and eliminate. If you have trouble finding one extreme, go to the other, and then use
remaining answers to help narrow downno reason to consider a choice IF its not a possible
answer.
If finding the extremes doesnt finish off the question, then think about how the two remaining
would stackthe smaller one will fit in the larger one.
Rememberyou CANNOT touch the computer screen with your hand or scratch paper, but you
can hold your finger close to your face and block the angles. The DAT makes angle ranking
harder by extending the sides of the angle; if you can block and focus solely on the vertex of each
angle, itll be much easier to see which is largest.

Hole Punching ReKaps (HPREKAP)

When it comes to hole punching, you can think about the square piece of paper as a four-by-four
grid to help recognize which columns/rows fold over on each other.
The paper can be folded 13 times before a hole is punched. The paper, however, cannot be
rotated, so the folds you see have to come without spinning/flipping the paper. Early on, it may
be hard to visualize those folds. Its helpful now to cut out some squares and follow along with
your books and quizzessometimes doing hands-on folding can really make a difference.
To start our strategy, always go to the FIRST FOLD. Look for symmetry around that first foldif
the answer isnt symmetrical around the first fold, eliminate itit cant be the right answer.
The next step is to look at the remaining answer choices; if you notice that every remaining
choice has a different number of holes, then its time to count layers of paper. The number of
layers under the hole will always equal the number of holes punchedfor instance, if we have 6
layers of paper and punch a hole, then there must be 6 holes total. Eliminate any that dont
match.
If there are two holes, then make sure to count how many layers are under each hole and add
them together to get the appropriate total.
If the choices have the same number of holes, then start thinking about the POSITION of each
hole as you unfold the last foldwhere would the hole have to be. Eliminate those that dont
have the holes matching. Go fold by foldits rare (if ever!) that youll need to unfold EVERY
layermake it as straightforward as possible.
Rememberif a hole punch seems too hard, skip and come back; dont let one question keep
you from all the others.

Cube Counting ReKaps (CCREKAP)

Cube counting is one of the only sections of any test, anywhere that gives you multiple points for
doing the work of one question.
Each figure will have 25 questions associated with it, each asking for the number of cubes that
have a certain number of sides painted. By counting them all up in the beginning, well be able to
answer all the questions without having to go back and forth and count again and again.
Symmetry will cost you points hereif you cant see a block, then it ONLY exists if there is a
block sitting on itdont assume there are blocks if you cant see themthat will lead you to
tallying up the wrong total number of cubes. All blocks must be seen OR integral to the structure
to exist.
Counting ALL the cubes at the beginning also has the advantage of offering us a build in doublecheck system; if you know the total number of cubes, you can add the tallies you take together to
see if you caught them all.
When going to count the cubes, create a table with each type of cube (0-sider, 1-sider, 2-sider, 3sider, 4-sider, and 5-sideralong with the total), and tally each type as you go along. To ensure
that you dont accidentally count the same cube twice or miss a cube on accident, make sure to
be methodical. Start with the same cube on EVERY figure, and go in the same direction each
time.

Pattern Folding ReKaps (PFREKAP)

Think of pattern folding as gift-wrappingyou have purchased the gift-wrap, and you want the
picture to be seen. You must, thus, fold the paper into the screen so the image is seen. You can
then rotate the image once its been folded into the screen.
There are copies of the images in the lesson book that you can cut out to help visualize folding.
When it comes to answering questions, however, use the Kaplan Strategies:
1. Start by looking at the answersif they are all different shapes, then find a unique shape
on the main pattern, and eliminate answers that dont have that shape.
2. If all the answers are the same shape, then go to shading. Thinkwhich sides can
touch; which cant, and eliminate.
3. Once youve eliminated based on shapes and shading, now find a common landmark to
remaining examples and just focus on what it can touchit can make it much easier to
look at once face and compare rather than trying to mentally fold and rotate.
If you have trouble seeing any patterns in your homework, draw them out or cut them out from the
PAT 1 A&E; you won't want to rely on this for all your practice, but the start of your preparation is
a good time to get the fundamentals down before you work on mastering the strategies.