As an earnest aspirant for CAT, you must've been bombared with phrases like "take mocks," "jitne mocks doge utna achhaa hai," "it doesn't matter if your syllabus is incomplete, just give mocks & sectionals," and the countless such statements.
But what is the hype about? How many should I attempt in total, and when should I start taking them? What if I haven't developed a concrete reading habit - is it even worth taking that VARC sectional?
Yes, I've felt this turbulence too, and I'd be happy to clear the air for you.
Free CAT Mocks 2025: Daily Sectionals!
Importance of Mocks
So, at least for a good 60% of CAT aspirants who happen to be engineers/CAs & have exposure to competitive exams before, you all know that it is quite obviously a part of the process. But for those who're facing such insane competition for the first time - first & foremost, it is a humbling experience! Chances are you're giving your first test with an incomplete syllabus & might goof it up - finding yourself in the most unexpected national percentiler range - but that's only a much needed wake-up call in disguise.
With no intention to demotivate you from taking your first test, let me clarify that it is NO indicator of your final performance. In fact, no mock really is an indicator of it. Trust me when I say it, I've come across people who've completely flipped their results in comparison to their last mock before the D-day! Well, I bear testament to the same too when it comes to VARC (in the negative).
Secondly, it is a means to increase your "sitting capacity." Sitting capacity in common coaching lingo would mean the number of hours you can get yourself to sit down, focus & study - which has taken gone for a toss - given our doomscrolling habits. The earlier you acclimatize to an increased sitting capacity, the better - obviously!
Third, it functions as a trigger to force you to think abruptly between different sections. Quite a lot of us prepare in terms of days dedicated to a section viz. 'quant day' or 'verbal day' and find that switching between sections is met with some inertia. Mocks teach you to bounce off to another section & start performing at your best from the very beginning of that section.
Lastly, mocks are harbingers of the fact that any task or attempt towards an achievement, whether or not achieved, is of little value without a proper post-mortem/analysis. Will discuss more about analysis in later parts of the blog...
So what about Sectionals?
Sectionals should ideally serve as precursors to mock tests—especially as tools to test memory and retention. You wouldn't want to use precious mocks as means to testing memory & retention. Mocks are for excellence & nothing short of it!
Sectionals are those 40 min tests per section of the CAT exam where you strategize & plan the best utilization of your time. This is where you teach yourself that CAT is an exam that favors selection, self-awareness & time management - that it is important to shortlist & attempt questions with "intent," know that some questions are meant to be left and you only have 40 minutes to optimize within! A count of 1-2 sectionals/day is what the high rankers would consider good - given that it is properly analyzed!
When to give Mocks & Sectionals? How many? And which one?
These are some of the most frequently asked questions in this space: "it's May already! I should start mocks now or it'll get too late," "let me choose a really tough mock series so that the real exam feels like cakewalk," "if I end up giving 50 mocks, I'll mostly cover-up the entire syllabus so that should be great!"
Which one: So first off, get your hands on any test series that you've heard of which is as close to the real CAT paper in terms of difficulty. The philosophy is you don't want to either take a "feelgoodizer" (the easy mocks) or one that's so hard to solve that you only end up brain-teasing & not strategizing realistically for the actual exam.
Also ensure that the test series you enrol in provides elaborate video solutions to each question.
How many: I would choose a series of at least 20 mocks & 20 sectionals (of each, VARC, DILR & QA). You will optimistically revise the whole syllabus by the time 15 sectionals are done. By the 12th to 15th mock, your strategies might also be locked in (along with great revision & a habit for sitting 120 mins focused). The last bunch of mocks & sectionals are for you to literally emulate the D-day.
When:
Your first mock is good to go when you've covered the following:
In Quant: if you've completed at least 2 out of 5 modules [arithmetic, geometry, algebra, modern math & number systems]
In DILR: After having solved at least 80-100 sets of different varieties [quantitative puzzles, arrangements, graphs & charts, routes & networks, games & tournaments, venn diagrams, etc.]
In VARC: once you have a good reading habit going and have completed around 50 passages & gotten a fair hang of verbal ability questions - at least 30-40 of each type.
These initial sectionals and mocks can ideally be taken in May, June or latest, by July. And the number of mocks & sectionals per week would only increase with time & completion of syllabus.
Hey! But don't rush it... Remember: don't count tests, make them count! It's of no point giving excessive mock tests just to inflate numbers when your core knowledge hasn't fully sprouted. Keep your mocks handy for when you cover up your syllabus further. Let mocks & sectionals be utilized in linear progression to your syllabus completion and make sure to spare at least 5 mocks once your entire syllabus is covered so that you can actually simulate CAT.
Although sectionals may still be used liberally during the start since they can pile up with mocks, later syllabus & revision and go undone, make sure there's at least 6-8 sectionals you spare once you've completed the syllabus.
Make or Break tip
Your mock tests are as good as general question practicing sessions under a timer if there is no post-mortem conducted. You NEED to sit down right after the test (or after a quick 15-minute break) and dive deep into what went wrong or what could've been done better in your mock!
Some key pointers you should consider during mock analysis:
1. Look for those questions that took more than 3 mins of your time and check whether you could solve them later without any time constraint. Realise whether you've developed a pattern for ego-solving questions or if it was a doable question but you were just confused.
2. Solve all the unsolved questions and see if there were any questions you could solve under 1.5-2 min. Why weren't they in your first round of attempting? Did you even come across this question? Is your strategy such that you're not able to even view all questions? Maybe consider reworking your paper attempting strategy?
3. Try to list down all the quant formulae, DILR set types & VARC question types (be it PJs, CRs, paradoxes, etc.) that you couldn't recall or made errors in. Go back & instantly revise those! Later never comes.
4. Go through the solutions provided & see if yours was the most optimal approach to the question, the shortest way to solve the set or were at the same reasoning in that RC. If any difference arises, it's always additional knowledge.
So having read a voluminous bunch on mocks, I hope you are now well equipped with some insights & tactics on secionals & mock-taking. Wishing you all the best & study hard! Make the hustle count :)
Also Read
- Is Scoring 99 Percentile in CAT Enough?
- VARC Strategies that Actually Work
- From Scoring -3 In A Mock Test To 99.30 percentile in DILR CAT 2024
- FMS Summer Placements Report 2025
- TISS Mumbai HRM and LR Final Placements Report
- B School Comparisons:
- CAT 2025 Quant Formula Book
- How to Start Preparing for CAT 2025
- Top 15 Must-Read Books for CAT
- VARC Reading List
