Being in the midst of CAT preparation, many of us have felt how overwhelming it can be to look at the vast syllabus and manage it along with our Undergraduation/full-time employment. We all are familiar with the amount of Quant topics we have to do; the kind of practice we might need on different set types of Logical Reasoning and the daily reading habits required for the Verbal Ability section. However, many aspirants often forget to address an equally critical section hidden in plain sight I.e. Test-taking strategy/ mock tests. So, we will discuss CAT mock test strategies and tips for analyzing mock tests.
The problem arises because of our previous learning patterns which normalized completing the syllabus as a pre-requisite for attempting an exam. However, this strategy is not optimal in the case of CAT exam. The reason is that a large portion of the questions being taught in various coaching institutes are too easy/different than the ones that we encounter in an actual CAT exam. Thus, a new aspirant feels comfortable solving these practice questions and plans to start attempting mocks once his/her syllabus is complete. This strategy has several downsides such as:-
- The amount of study material provided by coaching institutes is so vast and most often aspirants will not be able to complete the entire syllabus.
- A large portion of syllabus is considerably easier/different than what comes in the actual exam.
- By the time aspirants understand that they won’t be able to complete the syllabus and need to start taking mocks, it is already too late and they then realize how different the questions in the actual exam are.
Thus, the optimum strategy to be followed should be not to wait for the completion of syllabus but to solve mocks during the preparation and syllabus phase itself. The aspirant should not think of giving mocks as a final step but as the fourth section of the exam. And just like one should not give up VA for the sake of QA, one should also give the deserved weightage to this fourth section of the exam.
The optimum strategy will be to start the preparation with a mock itself. This helps you understand your weak and strong points. Later too, one should consistently take mocks during the preparatory phase. Initially, the frequency can be as low as one mock per two weeks which can later become one mock per week. Two months before the exam, one can also give mocks at a gap of 3 days as well. It is perfectly alright to experiment with this frequency as long as you are taking mocks. This can feel overwhelming at first but is worth it due to several reasons such as:-
- Mocks help you understand your weak areas to work on them.
- Mocks can help you develop you test-taking strategy for the D-Day
- They can help you work on your time management skills during the exam.
- You learn the difficulty level and type of questions you might encounter in the exam and form better strategies for solving routine questions.
- A consistent mock-taking regime allows some time to work on your preparation deficiency instead of putting all the burden at once.
- Mocks can also help you know what type of questions in your preparatory modules are not relevant for the actual exam and hence you can focus on more relevant questions.
Some things to keep in mind while taking and analyzing mocks are:-
- It is equally important to analyze mocks as it is to take them. Analyze each mock within 24- 48 hours after taking it.
- DO NOT PANIC. Your mock score during the preparatory phase is not an indicator of your actual exam score. This is just another section, remember! My highest mock score was around the 88 percentile in November and I ended up scoring more than the 97 percentile in the actual exam.
- Also analyze the questions you got right, the solution provided might be less time-consuming.
- It is ok to start with very low mock scores too. The scores will improve gradually.
- Do not expect your next mock score to increase by large margins. Consistency and gradual improvement is the key.
In conclusion, remember “Consistency is the Key”. Best of luck with your
CAT Exam preparation.