4 To-dos to take your Mock CAT Analysis one notch higher

Mock analysis, mocks, review mocks, retake mocks. Yeah, I know. We have already discussed how to review a mock CAT, an exhaustive catalog of sorts on mock CATs, the tips and tricks to be followed while taking mock CATs, AND a preamble, so to speak, to help understand the Do’s and Don’ts during and after mock CATs. Notwithstanding, we are yet to delve deeper into some of the bigger ideas and inferences each and every CAT aspirant should start to obviate further trouble.

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Sounds vague-ish. What exactly are we discussing here?

Right, let’s get started. You are taking mocks (start taking a mock TODAY, if you haven’t already done that; it is that little step for a human, but a giant leap for the (hu)mankind – just kidding! The message is: START TODAY), analyzing them to bits and pieces, sieving them to get to the intricate details akin to a film critic observing the “metaphors” in a seemingly lull movie. All that is fine. This is the fourth week of July, and you, probably, are at least four mocks down. What we are about to discuss is not your teeny-weeny aspects of which question you got wrong, how you can score those five extra marks through XYZ strategy, etc.

First up, what exactly are you looking at during mock CAT analysis?

Take a deep breath. Ruminate for a bit on what kinds of inferences you have made from your mock CAT analysis. The following are most likely your observations:

I have not practiced enough on Geometry, hence I lose the whole chunk in Quant almost every single time (if you are smiling and vehemently nodding your head at this stage, you are not alone; I am nodding as I type this away, too).
I read a lot but have not practiced solving actual CAT RC passages, so my scores are tanking.
I have solved n puzzles in X type, but zilch in Y. Should have to focus more on that.

If you are doing these during/after mock CAT analysis, good for you. (On that note, if you are looking at your mock CAT percentiles, head over here to gain some enlightenment on the same). You are at Step 1 (remember, when you are not off the mark yet with CAT preparation in general, and CAT mocks in particular, you are at Step 0, and not at Step 1), and you deserve a fist-pump. Step 1, though, is not enough. If you are to reach the high-hanging fruit a.k.a that goddamn 99.xx percentile, you need to go to Step 2, Step 3 and progress in an obviously infinite series of arithmetic progression.

Okay, where is this leading to, ahem?

Glad that you are inquisitive. The premise has been set, and now is the right time to unveil the grand idea with a red carpet, drum roll and an euphoric round of applause.

Unveiling the idea of PATTERNS in mock CAT analysis

Let’s face it. Sometimes, we are too focused on marks, negatives, attempts and accuracy that we go neck deep into the micro-level aspects of mock CAT analysis, while forgetting some of the bigger ideas.

Put simply, a pattern is a set/sequence of events that happen (or do not happen) in regular frequencies (If this were my school board exam, I would have scored 2 out of 2 marks for this definition). Patterns can be observed everywhere right from the most complicated biological mechanisms innate to humans, to seemingly trivial things (at least during this season of the pandemic outbreak) like a mock CAT analysis.

There are a few fundamental patterns you should have noticed or should start to notice hereon, when it comes to mock CAT analysis.

1) Timing – the ‘when’

Your mock CAT analysis should take into account this most important factor. When you take a mock decides how much you score in a mock. You cannot watch Rajesh harping at a 9.30 pm YouTube Live and take a mock that same a day at 11 pm. Straightaway, you know that you are doomed.

More seriously, you might be scoring more in mocks that you took pre-lunch than post-lunch. The scores might have skyrocketed in a mock CAT that you took at 5 am, and plummeted in the mock you took at 6 pm. This is very easy to arrive at, especially if you are >5 mocks down.

The idea is to see how you can manage your work and prep better while ensuring you attempt mock CATs at the time that is most favourable to you. This is very crucial during your initial phases; you do not want to see lower scores despite the best efforts, primarily and solely because you chose the wrong time for the test.

Stay as close to the actual CAT slot timings

The first reaction, especially from working professionals preparing for CAT 2020, is going to be, “C’mon man. I am working blood and sweat day in and day out; how is it possible for me to take mock CAT between 2 pm and 5 pm?” My immediate trigger response would be six adequately-spaced upper-case alphabets. S. U. N. D. A. Y.

Though this might not seem as important at least this early, it is important to follow this as much as possible. Your mind gets acquainted to solving problems even when you are in the semi-hallucinating phase of your day post-lunch.

On that note, you might want to get your Circadian Rhythms right. This does not mean I am going to rant on the ill-effects of sleeping late or staying awake. Make sure you have a regular sleep pattern; whether it is between 2 am and 9 am, or 10 pm to 6.30 am is upto you. But, maintaining this schedule sets you up not just for the mock CAT day, but for anything else in general as well.

2) Question sets – the ‘where’

Oftentimes, we go as much to understand that we are almost always wrong while choosing between two options, or that LR is something that seems to elude every single time. These are good observations, but not good enough. For starters, these give an idea on where you are weak; but that’s just about it. You can go one level further.

This ‘going one level further’ process involves three steps, which I will explain from my personal reflections. I will be quoting examples from my VARC sectional inferences, but needless to say, they can be applied across sections.

The identification
The inference
The solution

The identification

I am five mocks down, and my perennial saviour – VARC, has let me down in at least four of them. In order to identify patterns during mock CAT analysis, I skimmed across all 5 mocks recently, and found that in all of them, I have consistently got higher negatives in the first two RC passages.

The inference

Voila, what does my finding tell me? The immediate inference I am drawing from this is that my concentration levels are lower when I start my mock. It picks steam only after the first two or three passages.

The solution

This part is the easiest to put forth, but the most difficult to work around with. I am telling myself, “How much ever easy the first couple of passages seem, you are just going to read the passages as usual, but NOT ANSWER any questions in your first attempt. You are going to use them to focus your concentration and converge it towards the mock. You will answer questions that come later; as you revisit, answer the ones you left. Go through the first two passages once more; answer only the questions you are certain about. Leave the ones where you have eliminated only two options.”

3) Time spent – the ‘how much’

It is not enough to just say, “I have spent too much time in questions on Functions and Inequalities.” That is a baby step in mock CAT analysis.

It is important to go one step further and ask yourself, “Despite the time spent on them, how many did I get right, and how many fetched me negatives?” This is probably a slow walk.

“What went wrong in the questions I got wrong?” This is akin to sprinting. Asking this question is of paramount significance. But remember, sprints are not enough in CAT. You need to fly. Which brings us to the next aspect.

4) Sharpening the knife – the ‘how better’

The most crucial question that should beg an answer is, “I got this right, but took so much time here. What’s the shorter method?”

This step is overlooked just like that; however, why this is important is that you got the question right, after all. If you had spent lesser time to get it right, you could have got more time to work with questions you got wrong. And, a few of them – if not all – could have been right, given enough time.

This reduces your stress and panic, and all other paranoia-inducing emotions; you spot blots which could be capitalized on.

In essence

It is crucial to be good enough. But, being good enough is just not enough. You need to be slightly more than that. That one extra notch – essentially in terms of your mock CAT analysis – is what distinguishes you and every other CAT aspirant when the final lap begins.