The CAT exam is conducted by the IIMs every year on a rotational basis for admission in various post management courses. This year, IIM Lucknow is responsible for the conduction of the exam. The CAT exam date is scheduled to be on November 26, 2017 with TCS as the testing partner.
With over numerous candidates taking the exam every year, the competition has become extremely high. It should be noted that the CAT score is a prerequisite for admissions in IIMs and various other B-Schools across India. So, the candidates are required to be very well prepared for the exam and secure a score good enough for admissions in their preferred B-School.
During preparation, one of the most important tools is the Mock Tests. Self-analyzing the weaker areas is one of the several benefits of taking the mock. So, many successful CAT exam takers regard them as the most important preparation strategy. Here, the candidates will be acquainted with the benefits of mock tests on their CAT preparation.
What is a Mock Test?
Mocks can simply be defined as a near replica of something. Similarly, Cat Mock Tests can be defined as the near simulation of the original CAT exam with the same CAT Exam Pattern, timing, and difficulty level of the questions. Mocks are generally taken to know the preparation level by analyzing the overall and topic-wise scores. Mock tests can be of many types like overall mocks, sectional mocks and even topic-wise mocks which are discussed in detail later.
Importance of CAT Mock Tests
The CAT Mock tests have several benefits for the overall CAT preparation, some of which are mentioned below:
- Self-Evaluation
The mock tests help to evaluate the candidates based on their preparation and performance on the test. This self-evaluation helps the candidates to strategize their preparation accordingly.
- Develops Accuracy and Speed
By taking numerous mock tests, the candidates become well accustomed to the different question types and the difficulty level. This helps the candidates to slowly improve their speed and accuracy by making them well acquainted with the actual CAT exam type questions.
- Prevents Repeated Mistakes
The mocks can help the candidates to prevent the common mistakes, provided they analyze their mistakes properly. So, when candidates make mistakes in the mock tests, they get well aware of their common mistakes which they can easily avoid during the exam.
- Improves Time Management
As the mock tests have similar timing as that of the CAT exam, the candidates can easily get accustomed to the real timing and tweak their approach accordingly. So, after taking numerous mock tests, the candidates can easily improve their time management by adopting approaches that best suits them.
Types of CAT Mock Tests
The candidates have the opportunity to choose the different mock tests according to their preparation needs. In general, the mock tests are of three types:
- Overall Mock Tests
The overall mock tests are the exact replica of the original CAT with similar timing, difficulty level and pattern of the exam. This mock test can be taken by the candidates who have completed their entire preparation and want to analyze their scoring capabilities.
- Topic-wise Mock Tests
This type of mock tests is taken by the candidates who want to analyze their conceptual knowledge about a particular topic. This helps the candidates to know their preparation level of some difficult and confusing topics that might cause difficulty during the actual exam.
- Sectional Mock Tests
The sectional mocks involve tests on individual sections of the VA-RC, QA and LI-DR respectively. This helps the candidates to know their sectional strengths and get acquainted with the sectional timings.
It should be noted that taking the mock tests without analyzing, helps in nothing. So, the mock tests should always be followed by the following steps:
- Immediate Analysis
Without analyzing the mock tests, candidates can never improve their preparation. So, the mock paper must be immediately analyzed and the weaker areas should be attended properly. This helps to improve the overall preparation and the candidates can strategize their preparation accordingly.
- Proper Revision
As the mock tests highlight the weaker topics and/or sections, the candidates can easily attend them and revise the respective topics properly. This revision is crucial since the candidates can improve their concepts and take successive mocks to analyze their improvement.
The candidates should also note that the quality of mock tests is very crucial. The CAT Mock tests should also provide proper personalized result analysis by highlighting the weaker and stronger sections individually. The more quality CAT mock tests the candidates take, the better they get with their preparation and become more confident with time. This confidence surely helps the test-takers to ace the CAT exam with ease and grab a seat in their preferred management school.
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