This is my take on what can be done in the next few days.
Considering you have 3-4 days now (depending on your slot), you can start treating mocks as the final test. If possible, try to take the mock in the same slot. An hour before your mock, just sit at one place and don’t do anything. Train your body to sit for about 3 hours at one place without any breaks. In the remaining time, take 3-4 mocks. Anything more than that might not really add any value.
You must have realized by now that you are ‘stuck’ at some level. You can’t go beyond that level +/- 5 and that is probably bugging you. There are two main reasons why you can’t reach a certain level.
- Speed: You can’t attempt questions because you take more time per question
- Accuracy: Your accuracy doesn’t go beyond x%
Don’t let the mock scores affect your performance. As Philip Tetlock once said, “success can lead to acclaim that can undermine the habits of mind that produced the success.” If you have been doing really well in mocks, don’t take things lightly. If you haven’t done well so far, this is the time to take it up a notch higher.
In the remaining days, spend time on understanding your Low Speed Low Accuracy, Low Speed High Accuracy, High Speed Low Accuracy, and High Speed High Accuracy question types. For example, Visual reasoning is my high speed high accuracy area. I can easily attempt 5 questions in under 5 minutes and almost always get 4/5 right. Pie chart DI sets are my low speed low accuracy area as no matter how much time I spend, I get only 1/2 correct. The idea is to have a clear plan in terms of your accuracy-speed matrix. And then it boils down to staying away from temptations, tricky questions, unseen question types, and speed-breakers. If you have never seen a certain puzzle type, it is best to stay away from it. A really long LR set with 10 questions might be tempting but in 5-10 seconds decide if you want to attempt it or not.
Your focus should be to do as many questions as you can from the 4/5 or 5/5 areas. Needless to say, these areas will differ from candidate to candidate. The time that you invest in 1/5 or 2/5 questions should be invested in 3/5 questions to convert them into 4/5 or 5/5. This will help you improve your accuracy. You can also keep 3-4 minutes at the end to mark the remaining questions. If you are lucky, you might get a few more marks.
A day before CET, focus on revising concepts, formulas, tips/tricks that you may have noted somewhere. A mock 10-12 hours prior to CET is not really recommended.
CET day
Be on time. Carry all the required documents (hall ticket, identity proof, etc.) and make sure you are in a good frame of mind. A lot of people visualize their test performance and it helps if you are tensed. There is nothing to get tensed about. Just keep your calm and make sure you execute your strategy flawlessly and do justice to the test. Manage your energy. If you are in the first day first slot, don’t start discussing the test right after you are done with those who are in the second slot. Slot 2 aspirants should walk in without any assumption about the test. For day 2 aspirants, you will get to read the analysis of day 1 somewhere. Take what’s relevant and ignore the rest. Analysis is subjective and generally candidates underestimate or overestimate difficulty levels based on what they hear or read. Take everything with a pinch of salt and do what you must.
Some of you might be scared at this point of time. That’s fine. You see others getting 140 and 150 marks and you are not even reaching 100. In the next three days, you may not go from 100 to 150 but you can go to 120 or 125. It is better to have achievable realistic targets than unreasonable fantasies. Spend time and understand what will take you to that score. What mistakes you’ve been committing and how to avoid them. How to consciously and strategically approach the paper, not spend more than a minute per question and mark the right answer (using whatever approach) is what you’ll have to keep in mind. Do not give up and stay confident. If you fight till the end to the best of your abilities, the consequence should be irrelevant.
All the best!
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