Well, every CAT aspirant looks for answers to 'How many CAT mocks to give before my
CAT?'
So, In this video let's discuss that.
The answer is…the number should neither be too low that you do not have a strategy
in place nor it shouldn't be too high that you get exhausted and demotivated so much
that you end up hating even the thought of taking a test.
These thresholds differ largely among a set of aspirants.
There are a few who make it by writing as few as 15 mocks and there are a few who made
it only because they've given over a 100 mock tests.
Let us break it down further.
There are two types of aspirants.
1.
One, who give Mocks while parallely preparing.
A lot of students, especially first-timers follow this strategy.
You can work on strengthening your concepts and simultaneously keep giving mocks to test
yourself.
If you are someone who is yet to complete the syllabus, and need more time to build
your concepts, then you can start by taking one mock every week during June-July and then
scale it up to 1.5-2 on an average for every week from August-October end.
So, a total of 35-odd mocks.
2.
Now, the second type are those who do ONLY mocks: This strategy is commonly seen among
those who have extremely strong basics and who hit the ground running.
Many among these would be aspirants who have taken CAT before or have gone through the
exercise of covering the basic concepts.
In these cases, as your prep only depends on learning from the mistakes you make in
the mocks, you tend to give over 3 every week.
And hence, the number of mocks taken easily crosses 50.
So, you have to decide which strategy suits you.
Do not get demotivated or scared after your first mock.
Keep your expectations as low as possible and then slowly try to level up.
Many fall into the trap of targeting a 95+ percentile and when the result shows a 50%ile,
they get disheartened which affects their chances badly.
Also, do not wait to give mocks until you complete your syllabus.
Start ASAP.
There is no such thing as 'I haven't finished my syllabus to start taking mocks'.
Also, there are a few topics like DI and LR caselets that only a mock can simulate well.
If your preparation for these areas is inadequate, you might land up in trouble during the test.
So, learning through mocks for these sections might be more helpful.
Here are a few things you need to keep in mind while taking mocks:
1.
Analysis: While taking mocks is one aspect of prep, analysing it is probably a bigger
aspect.
A lot of students simply look at the questions and answers and make a promise to themselves
to do well in the next mock.
Unless you are brilliant at spotting trends and understanding yourself, this approach
won't help.
So, analyse every mock to DEATH.
2.
Strategy: Mocks provide you with a nice opportunity to practice your strategies and figure out
which one works the best for you.
Remember, at the end of the day, you are the best judge as to which of the strategies would
indeed work for you.
The important part here is to try out each strategy fully and not discard it after a
single trial, ideally you should try it out in around 2-3 mocks for it to show it's true
effect.
3.
Objective: Your objective simply cannot be to score a particular percentile in a mock.
Break it down further.
You need to have more specific objectives such as testing out a strategy, focus on a
particular question type, identifying and implementing trends that you have seen in
your previous mock performances and so on.
Define your objective before you start, and don't forget to measure every objective
in detail.
4.
Simulation: After your hall ticket is out, you will have an idea about your slot details.
It is a good idea to take mocks in these time slots and simulate the entire experience.
5.
Different styles: Ideally, try not sticking to a single mock provider as you might tend
to get used to that style.
Topics, interface, ordering of questions would probably be known to you and if CAT does not
turn out to be like what you have been experiencing in your mocks which invariably happens, you
would be in for a big surprise.
So, try out different mock providers.
In the end, just remember that CAT is not one size fits all.
You necessarily have to figure out what works for you.
So, stop worrying about the ideal number of mocks to give and focus on building and validating
a strategy that will work for you through these mocks.
Hope this helps.
All the best!


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