Over the last few days, I have been traveling around the country, interacting with a lot of CAT 2015 aspirants. While there have been quite a few direct content and macro-level strategy queries, a lot of aspirants worry about maintaining high level of concentration and lack of any sort of tiredness throughout the 3-hour window. In this article, I will try to clear a few doubts and suggest a few techniques that might be useful to improve concentration while taking the test. Read more
A time comes in an aspirant’s preparation when one begins to wonder if what one has done is actually enough to crack the entrance test or is there something missing. What if there IS a final opportunity to iron out the flaws and get an intense workout before the test to know exactly what to expect from CAT 2015?
With mocks taking precedence and almost all of you having a pet strategy to attempt and crack CAT, it becomes increasingly difficult to go back that one step and start with the basics again especially if you are not doing well in the mocks. While replicating months of preparation is not possible during these last few days, a booster session certainly is.
To give that final push to your prep and keep you in good stead for not just CAT but for the other exams as well, Learningroots presents to you, a series of topic-based workshops to further enhance your readiness for the entrance season.
What exactly is going to happen? Read more
In the last week of August, we launched our Mock CAT series for CAT 2015. Hundreds of students grabbed this opportunity and took the first mock.
Learningroots offers:
• An interface that will give you a real time experience of what CAT 2015 would be like
• A window which is suited to your convenience (no 4 day windows, no booking slots, no losing out on time in case you cannot take it in a particular slot, no ‘free-for-first-x-takers’, no nonsense)
• The brains behind the mocks are not only previous year CAT toppers but also able mentors and habitual test-takers who, more than anything else, understand the student perspective and so, know a thing or two about developing individual performance through test-taking
• No heart-wrenching tests aimed at demotivating you under the pretext of ‘preparing you for a difficult paper’ while forgetting to focus on the basic concepts that are stressed upon heavily in CAT; pick up a previous year CAT paper and you would understand what we are talking about. We believe that the subtle traps make the biggest difference and our mocks will provide adequate exposure to that bit of your preparation
• It won’t cost you anything to try out a few mocks of a different style. But you might regret not solving that one question that could have probably changed the way your life pans out
So what are you waiting for? Take the test now!
When it comes to CAT, the preparation is not standard. Someone who has taken CAT before will prepare quite differently for his/her next attempt than someone who is taking it for the first time. Someone who is strong in quant will focus more on VA or someone might think of maximizing his/her score only in the strong section by putting more efforts in that section alone. With different objectives in mind and different natural inclinations and strengths, people prepare in different ways for the same exam.
A lot of students prepare for CAT full time. They leave their jobs either six months or a year before the exam and study as much as they can. From here, there are two possibilities. One, they get the B-school that they desire. Two, they don’t get where they want to land up. The first case is the ideal scenario. But if that doesn’t happen, you don’t know what you are going to do. Let’s take a case of a candidate who has decided to leave his job to prepare for CAT.
January/March 2015: Starts preparing for CAT, joins a coaching institute, attends regular sessions.
May 2015: Still not serious about CAT, doesn’t get time to study because of work.
September 2015: CAT pressure has finally hit the high point, wants to give 100% but not getting enough time due to work. Decides to leave his job.
October 2015: Has quit his job and is now studying full time. How many hours per day? Starts with 10 hours. In a week’s time, it falls to 9 hours, after two weeks, just studying 7 hours a day.
November 2015: Has prepared enough now. Doesn’t know what to do.
IIFT, CAT
December 2015: Mostly, will not take up a job. Will start working after SNAP, NMAT
January 2016: Oh wait! Still wants to take XAT. Will look for jobs after XAT.
February 2016: Might as well take CET and CMAT.
March 2016: GD PI WAT. Definitely can’t work now.
So all of us have this tendency of waiting for the best case scenario to happen and we probably wait hoping that the things will turn in our favor, we need to understand that we all submit ourselves to errors unknowingly. After March, if this person gets into a good business school, he will be rejoiced and will tell everyone that it was the best decision that he ever took in his life, completely ignoring the fact that it could have been random and he could have got the same result even while working the whole time.
The Yerkes–Dodson law is an empirical relationship between arousal and performance, originally developed by psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson in 1908. The law dictates that performance increases with physiological or mental arousal, but only up to a point. When levels of arousal become too high, performance decreases.
By leaving one’s job, one actually increases one’s stress (arousal), because there is a constant thought of ‘what if this doesn’t work out’ and that may hamper the performance. Also, there is a high chance that your preparation will follow Parkinson’s law even if you leave your job (Work expands to fill the time available for its completion) and the ‘incremental’ effort or preparation will not be ‘significantly different’ from the current effort or preparation.
On the other hand, there are aspirants who ‘definitely’ know that by putting in x hours over the next three months, they ‘for sure’ will get a good score. This is completely different from someone who leaves his/her job for the sake of it, just because someone in a similar situation did it, or because they ‘think’ that it will solve all their problems.
Over the years, I have seen aspirants leaving their jobs and getting their dream institutes. It requires a strong faith in one’s ability and one must do everything right to make it work. I have seen aspirants leaving their jobs and not knowing what to do after March of the next year or ‘settling’ on something. You have to decide for yourself what is right and what is not. In your case, things might be completely different. Whatever I have written may be completely irrelevant in your case. And it’s okay. I just want you to make a choice after considering all the factors.
Ask yourself:
1. What is my current preparation level?
2. To increase my score, what ‘exactly’ is required?
3. In the current set of factors, can I squeeze in 2-3 hours on weekdays, 6 hours on weekends, and 2-3 mocks in a week with analysis?
4. How confident do I feel about my preparation?
5. Is leaving my job the only alternative?
6. How ‘differently’ will I use my time if I quit?
7. Am I doing this because X person in my office did that and was successful?
8. What will I do if this fails?
In any case, work hard and make sure you achieve the goal that you have in your mind. For any feedback and queries, feel free to get in touch!
The idea behind this post came from a Quora question
Common Admission Test is not something for which one can define a preparation time-frame. There are three components when it comes to any entrance exam.
Followers of our blog must have noticed an increase in the recent activity on the website. With the classroom course steaming along at full throttle, we have been trying to positively impact the performance of the aspirants in whatever capacity we can. While almost everybody jumped on to the new interface bandwagon instantly and was marred either in terms of content of the test or the interface or other technical glitches, we figured out that a thoroughly tested product is significantly better than simply ensuring promptness at the cost of quality. Having gone through the drill ourselves and having seen all kind of characters one might come across at this stage, we attempt to cut through the useless bit and deliver a quality product every single time (be it a sectional test, a 2 hour classroom session or an article).
This time though, we have taken on something that would allow us to impact a larger number of people especially in the current scenario wherein, aspirant-friendliness seems to have conveniently taken a backseat. Enough of the playing around though. Let us present to you the real deal: A Free Mock CAT series for CAT 2015!
Few reasons that might excite you:
• An interface that will give you a real time experience of what CAT 2015 would be like
• A window which is suited to your convenience (no 4 day windows, no booking slots, no losing out on time in case you cannot take it in a particular slot, no ‘free-for-first-x-takers’, no nonsense)
• The brains behind the mocks are not only previous year CAT toppers but also able mentors and habitual test-takers who, more than anything else, understand the student perspective and so, know a thing or two about developing individual performance through test-taking
• No heart-wrenching tests aimed at demotivating you under the pretext of ‘preparing you for a difficult paper’ while forgetting to focus on the basic concepts that are stressed upon heavily in CAT; pick up a previous year CAT paper and you would understand what we are talking about. We believe that the subtle traps make the biggest difference and our mocks will provide adequate exposure to that bit of your preparation
• It won’t cost you anything to try out a few mocks of a different style. But you might regret not solving that one question that could have probably changed the way your life pans out
We believe in the maxim of teaching one good thing to a 100 students that would impact their lives positively instead of teaching ten useless things to 10000 students that would have no impact on their prep whatsoever. This is one of the many good things that we have come up with. Hope you like it!
We are extremely receptive to feedback and so, if you have any suggestions regarding the free mock CAT series, that you would like to make that could impact you, we are all ears.
Now that preparations for CAT 2015 are in full swing, few of the questions one would have in mind would be the number of attempts one should make or the probable score that one can get in the test or the cut-offs of institutes. So how many should one attempt in CAT 2015. Although there is no quick-fix answer to these questions, on analyzing a bit, we can figure out at least a few indicators that could help us being more organized while attempting CAT 2015 and get to that 99%ile. Read more
With the new pattern announced and quite a few changes, mostly superficial, being made to change the test taking experience, there is a concern among the aspirants regarding the amount of time one requires to prepare for CAT and the ‘sacrifices’ one needs to make to be in the best shape come CAT 2015. Lets try to dispel some of the myths surrounding the generic advice that many aspirants are subjected to.
Spoiler Alert: This article focuses on generic guidelines and analysis of certain myths that are prevalent among the aspirants. We will be coming up with specific scenarios and preparation strategies soon to tackle the common problems aspirants face during preparation. If you have such specific queries, comment on the post below or drop us a mail and we will cover it in the coming few days.
Myth 1: More hours of preparation per day = more success
A common query by many CAT aspirants is the number of hours they would need to put in to ensure success. A casual chat with your faculty or any of the ‘experts’ would tell you that there is no specific answer that can guarantee success when it comes to CAT. Because CAT does not have a syllabus, you need not have a rigid time table as such. The emphasis is on quality more than on quantity. So, what should be your plan to crack CAT?
Even the most fluent and consistent of the aspirants cannot tell you for sure that s/he is completely prepared to face the test. Simply put, the preparation never stops. The important thing here is to maximize the type and depth of concepts that you can cover before CAT. To start with, you need to sensitize yourself to the type of questions that appear in CAT. For that, solving all the CAT papers from 1990 till 2008 (when it used to be conducted in a paper-based format), should more than suffice. You can drop in a comment or a mail ([email protected]) and we will forward you the same if you do not have it already.
Once you are done identifying the various question types, you would need to figure out a way which works the best for you. Shortcuts and reverse engineering methods, however exciting they might sound, are not really useful in the tense exam environment. Plus, with the announcement that some questions might not have options, it becomes all the more important to get better at the technical process of arriving at an answer.
Our suggestion(s): A couple of mocks per week plus dedicated quality prep 2-3 hours a day is more than enough to get better. Quality is the key word here. Solve all previous year CAT papers on a priority basis and make a note of the various question types (section-wise, topic-wise and sub-topic-wise) and then prepare the topics which you feel you are lacking in. 4 months of dedicated prep would definitely add value to your invested time.
Have an objective before sitting down to study. Randomly reading articles and taking sectionals/mocks without any objective would add precious little to your preparation status. It might create an illusion that you are working hard but in reality, you would be going nowhere.
Myth 2: Leaving my job would mean a better chance of success
Even if you feel that your current job is holding you back and you cannot give time to CAT preparation, take a step back and think twice before quitting. As we saw earlier, you would require 2-3 hours of prep everyday plus a couple of mocks a week. If you can eke out time for that, it should be enough. If you are thinking that quitting would allow you to study for 24 hours a day, it is far from reality.
We have interacted with quite a few aspirants over the last many years now and most of them who have quit their jobs end up studying for a maximum of 5-6 hours a day. Anything beyond that fatigues your mind and lowers your concentration levels thus adding little marginal value for every extra hour put.
So, in short, pros of leaving your current job:
The flip sides of leaving your job are:
A couple of examples of people who balanced prep with their jobs without quitting (and got into IIM Ahmedabad) can be read here (part 1), here (part 2) and here.
Our suggestion: Don’t quit unless it is absolutely necessary.
Myth 3: I need to gather as much material as I can and finish it off before <insert month here>
The material that you solve is usually redundant and there quite a bit of overlap. This is not your usual Kung-Fu movie that advises you to practice one move a thousand times. The more exposure you have to quality problems, the better off you would be. The key to solving material is to understand when to let go of it. Solving 10 consecutive similar questions involving a known funda from LCM and HCF would add little value in that 1 hour. With 4 months to go, the more ground you cover, the better it will be for you. Solve the material, but do it smartly.
Our suggestion: Take a mock or a previous year CAT paper and figure out the topics in which you need help. Then go through the material till you have identified all the probable types of questions and then start working on a fresh topic.
Myth 4: To crack CAT, I should not have a life and prepare like a zombie
You might have to make some compromises but rest assured, you need not do anything radically insane to convince yourself (and your family, and your friends) that you are preparing for CAT. With a bit of planning, it is very easy to balance your CAT prep, work/college life and your personal life. The latter will keep you from burning out and so, it is very important that prep does not become a liability; it should become a part of your life which you enjoy doing. Remember that peaking at the right time is very important and so, you need to be in the best mental shape when you would be appearing for the test.
Myth 5: Taking as many mocks as one can is definitely advantageous
Almost all the success stories are based on how important mocks are and how it helped the toppers prepare for the big day (even I had taken more than 80 odd mocks during my serious attempts). But it is not necessary to model your prep on that of the past toppers. Everyone has a style of learning unique to oneself. Some like to study a topic thoroughly before appearing for the test, some like to hit the ground running and some will put in effort only when the situation demands it the most. Get to know your style and prepare accordingly. The purpose of mock taking can be either to strategize or to build content. Those who take many mocks, almost always, solely rely on them for building content as well. If you are one of those, it would be good to take as many mocks as possible, sometimes, up to 3-4 a week. If building content through material and solving practice questions and sectionals is your thing, even 1-2 mocks a week would do.
Myth 6: If I don’t get into an IIM, all is over
Many aspirants make it a do-or-die thing. If pressure brings out the best in you, it is actually productive to think on those lines. But then, there is a thin line between pressure and stress. Once it starts becoming stressful, it would hurt you more, by the day. So, it is always better to have a strong backup (in terms of another institute, a job, alternate career plans, another attempt, etc.).
Also, many aspirants overestimate their abilities and get disheartened by minor setbacks. Few others underestimate their abilities and are happy with insignificant victories. It won’t do you any good if you are stuck at either of these two ends. Once you have a definite goal in mind (one which is neither too easy nor too difficult to achieve), you can work towards it effectively. Getting into a b-school is only the first step of your journey and there are quite a few aspects that are not in your control. So, considering your ability, your current state and desired state, your expectations, best and least probable outcomes in case you decide to ‘compromise’ are key while making this decision.
Our suggestion: Appear for all those tests and apply to the institutes in which you have even a slight bit of interest. You can always decide whether to join or not depending on your status during April/May next year once you convert the institute.
The mental aspect of CAT prep is something that many candidates (and so, institutes) don’t focus on which leads to a lot of unanswerable queries and idiopathic fluctuations. I hope some of these have been addressed. Do drop in a mail/message/comment in case you feel there is something specific that you would like to read about and we will try to accommodate it in the coming few articles.
You can read more about us here and browse through our courses here.
With the big news of the season finally out, there has been quite a bit of shock among aspirants regarding the huge changes that have taken place with regards to CAT as has been seen in the notification. With almost all the biggies done with around 8-10 mocks and with almost every serious aspirant having formalized a strategy to tackle his/her strengths and weaknesses, this change in pattern has come as a surprise to many. So, is it really that big a surprise that will tilt your world upside down or has there been some take away from your preparation so far. Lets analyse.
Option to select cities instead of choosing a center
Aspirants need not worry about this bit at all. There are quite a few cities and centers to accommodate all the takers and I would be surprised if it indeed happens that people have to travel far to take the test. The team conducting CAT would have a fair idea of the representation across cities and so, centers would be abundant. Also, a previous press release said that female candidates would get their preference when it came to venues. The only objective behind this activity seems to be the fact that many aspirants block slots in the first few days itself leading to chaos among the remaining aspirants.
Random assignment of sessions
Again, it should not make much difference to a serious aspirant. Once you get the hall ticket, you can make sure that you adapt to the time slot by taking mocks during that window only. I don’t think it would have made that big a difference even if aspirants were allowed to choose slots themselves.
Increased duration
The entire duration of the test might run close to 4 hours with the biometric analysis, verification at the center plus the waiting time. It means that CAT becomes an endurance test in addition to the quantitative and verbal knowledge it tests. It is highly recommended to take at least a couple of mocks in this manner (sitting idle in front of your screen doing nothing for at least 30 mins and then taking the test for the full 3 hours without any relief breaks, water consumption or movement for that matter). It helps kill the random thoughts that creep into your mind before the test and relieves you of the butterflies in your stomach. Few suggest going through a mental list of formulae but there hasn’t been any evidence of it being particularly helpful so it is entirely up to you as to what/who you think of during those 30 minutes.
Sectional time limits
Probably the biggest change in my opinion. The one that forces a strategy on an aspirant rather than allow him/her to form one. For people who have issues with allocating time to sections and frequently tend to overshoot the same, this would be a matter of relief. For those who had a disproportionate allocation, it would require a change of strategy. From my personal experience of taking CAT 2011, when the sections were to be attempted in 70 mins each, a routine approach to the section would suffice. Just that, in every test, there comes a brief zone wherein, you are a bit lax and end up solving fewer questions per unit time than in the rest of the test (mostly at the start wherein the amount of time left compels you to give more time per question). You have to get rid of these zones and make sure that you are on your toes throughout. Taking 1 hour sectionals would be of immense help in tackling this.
Another issue with this layout is with regards to the order of attempt. It would not be possible for candidates to switch between sections and so, the order of attempt of sections would be fixed. For those who liked starting with verbal or DI or LR, it might take some time to adapt but at a macro level, it won’t make that big a difference. The only way in which it could impact your performance in the test is in case you have had a bad section upfront. If the quantitative aptitude section has not turned out so well (fewer attempts, a bit more difficult section than usual, realization of a couple of mistakes, etc.) there would be excess mental pressure while dealing with the next section and it could snowball really badly. Even if you have had a perceived below-average performance, it is extremely important to shrug it off and attempt the next section to the best of your ability. It would really hurt to come out of the exam hall and then realize that you had underestimated your performance in a section big time.
In the previous year’s format, the pressure of the timer was on you only once – while finishing the test. Now it would be thrice. If dealing with the last couple of minutes is not really your thing, it is advisable to work consciously towards it as it could make a big difference.
The biggest worry here among aspirants (and probably the most misplaced one) is regarding the difference it would make to those who are strong in a particular section and use that advantage to motor to a big score. How would it impact these aspirants? What do you have to do to tackle this, in case you are one such aspirant?
In one line, it would not impact a serious aspirant at all. It is just another challenge that has been forced on you and you are expected to deal with it if you aspire to become a good manager. The good thing, if you are one of those who feel victimized is that, in a 1 hour shootout, you have the edge over someone who is not very confident. It is not like a test match cricket vs. T20 wherein, the more condensed the format, the worse the technically sound players and purists come off. It would have been bad if there were differential weights assigned to a section (like in CAT 2007). But in this case, attempting 34 questions in an hour will surely benefit the person who carries some confidence into it. So, however worried you might be, if you have a strong suit, you can take this very well in your stride.
What about those who are weak in a particular section? Now with the cushion of DI/LR gone, you have to make sure you cover the gaps accordingly and get better at the core section, be it quantitative aptitude or verbal ability and put in a strong performance across all 3 sections. The good thing here is that, you have a good four months to prepare and a serious aspirant can easily get better in this time if s/he utilizes the resources properly.
Typing answers on screen
It is very difficult to read text strings and account for the variations involved in feeding those answers and so, I don’t think verbal will have any such questions with the exception of parajumbles (which is again improbable considering the possibilities of case-types that could be used). The usage would probably be with regards to questions from quantitative aptitude and data interpretation wherein there will be specific data that needs to be fed (answers till a couple of significant digits, integral answers to prohibit reverse-engineering techniques to arrive at answers and so on). For a candidate who is used to solving questions first and then marking the answer, this should not be much of a surprise. In my opinion, this is just a nice gimmick to make sure people spend more time on these questions and would still be unsure of the answer. Can be avoided by a bit of awareness.
Usage of calculator
As we saw in the case of the type-answer-on-screen questions, calculators would be useful primarily in these type of questions. CAT has historically, not given much weight to calculation based questions and using the calculator seems to be more of a diversion technique to make sure that the inherently nervous aspirants fall into the trap of using the calculators more than it is actually necessary. It is akin to permitting usage of a dictionary while solving the verbal section. Sounds helpful but would not directly influence the score of a good candidate. I would suggest you go through this website and solve a few questions (from easier levels of course, it is used by JEE aspirants) to understand how calculators and no-option questions work.
Engineers vs. non-engineers
In spite of all the hoopla surrounding the whole why-do-they-want-lesser-engineers debate, there is no real indication that the system is biased against engineers. Sectional cutoffs have always been and will always be a part of CAT and it was just a matter of time before the LR cushion was removed. If more than 80% of the test taking junta consists of engineers, the same ratio would show inside a b-school irrespective of whatever changes they may make to the format of the test. Bottom line: The better aspirant will make it irrespective of his/her educational background. If you find that unfair, you are probably making the wrong career choice.
What should be the worrying factors?
To cover it all, in my opinion, the worrying factors would be:
So overall, the basics remain the same with regards to content and preparation. The difficulty level (and this is purely a speculation on my part) should remain the same as it was last year at most and will probably come down a bit with all the gimmicks taking center stage. The interface and timed sections would kick in with the upcoming mocks. With the test being a little later than usual, you can expect a couple more mocks than were promised by the coaching institutes. And for subscribers of LearningRoots, a big surprise awaits (pleasant, of course)!
You can read the official advertisement here, the selection process here, the scoring and equating process here and the press release here.
One thing that is common to any aspirant’s preparatory journey is taking mock tests. Many of the serious aspirants end up appearing for anywhere between 25-75 mocks in a season. While there is no particular number of mocks that ensures success, the quality of analysis of a mock can make a significant difference to the outcome of one’s score. As highly as it is rated by CAT toppers and institutes alike, when it comes to analysis of a mock, many aspirants are clueless/resort to insufficient techniques to analyze a mock and end up defeating the purpose of the entire activity.
The commonly known, universally followed quick-fix method is the solve the paper without any time limit -> go through the solutions -> make a note of the key findings -> understand your strengths and weaknesses -> take the next mock
As much as there is merit and simplicity to this process, there could be times when you are not able to figure out how to improve in spite of following all these steps religiously. We will try to explore why and figure out a process that would be a bit more insightful.
Lack of objective/Misplaced objective
The main objective behind enrolling yourself for a mock test series should be to understand the intricacies of the test taking process through real life scenario simulation, understanding your prep status with regards to your strengths and weaknesses and trying out means to get into a better shape with each passing mock. The common misconceptions involved in mock taking are:
My percentile in mocks has a direct bearing on my performance in CAT: Mock percentiles are more of a marketing gimmick than anything else. Yes, you get to know where you stand with regards to the rest of the competition but then again, the conditions are not standardized at all, leading to quite a few variations with regards to place (home vs. in a badly proctored environment), time (leisurely over 170 mins vs. shorter duration owing to commitments/lack of time) and seriousness (there are quite a few casual mock takers who believe in upping their performance come CAT) at the very least. This results in either a false sense of security or a feeling of worthlessness and disappointment thus shifting the focus from getting better at preparation and understanding your strengths to that of competing with the others. Even straight 100%iles across mocks would mean nothing when you go for the real test except maybe, an ounce of confidence.
I am not seeing instant results in the mocks and so, should stop taking mocks for some time: Again, there are no quick-fixes when it comes to conceptual knowledge. It takes some time to get used to a concept and apply it in a real test taking scenario. You cannot force it on your brain to accelerate that process if that is not your learning style. So, it is advisable to stick to your learning process and not worry about the result much (unless of course there is a significant gap between your classroom solving ability and your mock performances in which case, you need to question your faculty or an expert who can advise on the basis of your profile, aptitude, etc.).
Wildly fluctuating scores are just a part of normal prep and these are phases every aspirant goes through: Now this depends on your definition of ‘wildly fluctuating’. For example, a fluctuation between a 95%ile and a 99%ile can be termed as normal as it would be impacted due to either an unbalanced paper, testing conditions, number of takers and so on but a fluctuation between a 90%ile and a 70%ile would point towards a major issue: either you are heavily dependent on being ‘in the zone’ while taking the test and cannot tolerate minor fluctuations (bad scenario to be in and has to be rectified before the actual test) or the fact that you are a bit reliant on the guessing game when it comes to boosting your attempts or that there is a conceptual gap and whenever these questions surface, you tend to lose it a bit. So, as a benchmark, a +3%ile fluctuation is ok and needs no special attention as such but anything consistently greater than that could mean there is something amiss. (Why percentiles, you may ask especially after the first point: absolute percentage is not really an indicator of a change in your performance, because the difficulty levels of mocks keep on fluctuating and so, you would rely a bit on your percentile to understand a trend)
If you have either of the above mentioned issues, you need to straighten your objective first and then go about taking mocks and analyzing them.
The problem with the current process
While preparing a mock, a lot of thought is put into ascertaining the difficulty level of a mock. There cannot be all easy questions and there cannot be all difficult questions. The difficulty level can be increased in two ways: 1. by making a conceptually deep question which is beyond the repertoire of a normal CAT aspirant or 2. by putting too much information in a question, leading to a disproportionate amount of time required to solve the question. In case of the latter, even if you solve it without the time constraint and succeed, it does not necessarily mean that you should solve the same question if it appears in another test. Many aspirants, under the pretext of analyzing a mock, spend hours together on solving the unsolved questions. If you ask yourself the question ‘What have I gained through this exercise?’, there won’t be a concrete answer that you could tell yourself. At most, you can say that you understood that your score could have increased by an x amount without understanding either your mental state during the test or the way forward. If eliminating silly mistakes is your only takeaway post analysis of a mock, it is not really an insight.
The ideal process
The broad steps indeed remain the same. First of all, you take a mock with some objective in mind (changing order of attempt, splitting sections, leaving certain question types for the end, using the view question paper option to understand the difficulty level of the paper before you start and so on). Taking mocks just for the sake of scoring a high percentile does not make much sense considering the scenarios we saw above. Not to say that you neglect percentiles altogether but then there is a big difference between considering your score and percentile as the principal outcome of a mock and focusing on other, more pertinent issues while keeping an eye on your relative performance as well. Mock-taking is for self-improvement, and not for showing off your competitive edge. A small change in outlook would make a big difference to the end result.
Next step would involve glancing through the missed questions once the results are out. While it is ok not to completely solve all the questions, you can keep a sheet handy and put a reason next to the question as to why didn’t you attempt it in the original test: (a) because you did not know the concept/are not particularly fond of the topic (b) because you thought that it would be too time consuming (c) because even after spending a few minutes on the question, you were not able to figure out the way to proceed (d) because you were not able to go through the question during the test due to mismanagement of time (e) fear of getting negatives. While going through the question during analysis, it is ok if you don’t solve the entire thing. Even if you are confident of having made a headway, you can let go of the question. Once you have done this, you can decide again whether you would stick to your original option behind the reason of leaving the question or would like to change it.
You can check the solution now. The possible cases are:
(Click on the image for an enlarged view)
This is a broad overview of your intent during a mock. If you analyze all the questions using this framework, you can understand your overall level of preparation and the way forward while attempting the next mock.
With regards to the incorrect answers, you will encounter the following scenarios:
(a) Silly mistakes: In spite of cracking the logic and going all the way, you ended up getting entangled in the paper setter’s trap, because of reading the question incorrectly or comprehending it wrongly or because of a calculation mistake. It is a crime to make such mistakes and you should find the reason and fix it as soon as is possible. This is more critical in case you are attempting fewer questions and so, cannot afford to make such errors due to lack of concentration, minor lapses or pure carelessness while taking a mock.
(b) Conceptual errors: You might have read a concept somewhere and have imbibed the same in your system to be plugged in next time you see a question. Paper-setters thrive on this naivety of aspirants and play around oh-so-slightly with words. There is a lot of difference between 4 cards put into 8 boxes, 4 identical cards put into 8 boxes, 4 identical cards put into 8 identical boxes and 4 cards put into 8 identical boxes. If one blindly applies the ‘number of non-negative solutions to an equation’ concept in each of these cases, it would be incorrect. The better thing would be to make sure that you understand a concept fully along with all the relevant wordplay before considering it ready-to-use.
(c) Inappropriate shortcuts: A lot of aspirants get impressed by shortcuts and reverse-engineering techniques propagated by seasoned takers and past/present toppers and try to replicate the same. These techniques are a result of years of hard work and dedicated preparation and crystal clear understanding of concepts. Just because it looks easy doesn’t mean that it is easy. Many aspirants fall into the trap of blindly going for these techniques without understanding the hidden connections and end up getting a lot of incorrect answers (which gives a false security with regards to the number of attempts during a test). If you are unaware of the depth of a concept, shortcuts won’t help. Most of the time, it is better to swallow your ego and do it the conventional way unless you have mastered the art of shortcut.
(d) Guessing: Many aspirants resort to ‘intelligent guessing’ while taking a mock to boost their attempts. If it is actual intelligent guessing, it is a very good idea to do so (generalizing scenarios as equilateral triangles, integers, squares and so on). But many let go of the ‘intelligent’ part of it and mark options that they ‘feel’ are closer to what they have got. If there is no mention of the word ‘approximate’ in the question, it is a sure shot indicator that you have made some blunder while calculating the answer. In these cases, you can either check your calculation and figure out the right answer or again, swallow the humility pill and refrain from marking the ‘closest’ option.
The incorrect answers are a big revelation as to how your understanding of your strength is slightly misplaced and the minor factors that you need to focus on while attempting the test.
Regarding the correct answers, it is sufficient to sit with your rough sheet while analyzing the mock and cross checking your method with that of the given solution. If there is a shorter alternate solution, you can make a note of it and try to understand the underlying concept.
I have tried to touch the major aspects of mock analysis in this post. There could be variations to this and you can customize it according to your needs as well.