The hidden section in CAT that many people overlook

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.