The Mocks, the Material and the myth

Hello, If you are reading this- Thank you!!!

The Mocks:

You might have heard that mocks is the most fundamental aspect of  CET preparation. But, is it necessary that you have the same mocks that a topper used during his prep? The answer is NO. Mock is the simulation that would help you practice more, handle pressure better and gauge your progress. If you ask me, more or less, all the mocks available in the market are similar, however we cant deny the fact that each mock provider has a different style.

My approach to mock selection has been to have a good mix of various difficulty levels. I had an easy , medium and difficult set of mocks at my disposal. Now, you may ask what exactly do I mean by an easy set of mocks?

Historically MBACET has been an exam that has a surprise element to it. This surprise element varies across years, across slots. To me, an easy mock is one which does not have this surprise element. If I can sail through the mock without a hiccup then its an easy mock for me.

On similar lines, if I find that Puzzles in a certain mock are more in number and/or are lengthy, then that is a challenge and this makes the mock more on the moderate/difficult side. A good value adding mock should be one which leaves you unguarded and makes you think again before you call yourself invincible.So what should be a good mix? 

 Answer: Three different mock providers, three different difficulties and so three different range of scores.

In the peak of my preparation, I would take one mock each day. I would start with the easiest one scoring 135+, followed by the moderate one scoring 125-130 and lastly the heartbreaking difficult set of mocks wherein I scored 115-120. This helps in two ways: one) Its never all dark and two). You are prepared for everything 

The Material:

Friends often ask me about the material to use for CET preparation. I ask them a question as my response to this.

Have you taken CAT? If the answer is yes- Cool, you have good arithmetic, calculation skills and verbal section is sorted for you. You will just have to get accustomed with the reasoning part. Do that and you are ready to run.

If the answer is no(which is more often than not) - I ask them to first understand the exam. They should know what are the sections, what would be asked etc. This can be done through the material of a coaching institute which has "king" in its name(iykwim). Apart from this if Arithmetic is your major problem then Fast track arithmetic by arihant is a good book. I don't want you to do the entire thing, just understand each topic,question type and jump onto mocks.

"Mocks are your material"     

If you have ever interacted with me on a phone call or on whatsapp, you might by now know that, this is my favorite statement. Each mock that you take is an addition to your material. Revisit solved mocks over and over again. You will not need any other material. 

On an average a serious aspirant takes 35 mocks, which is 35*200 = 7000 questions. Just be friends with these 7000 questions and you will be just fine.

And now, for my friends who are repeaters: You know the rules of the game, just get going with the net practice (read mocks). If by any chance you are not very clear with certain topics you may refer to mocks or some material just specifically to master that topic. 

The myth: 

"Let me first complete the material and then I will start with mocks"

If you have heard someone say this or you yourself believe in this then I am sorry but this is a matter of concern. People are sometimes so scared of mocks that they delay taking them. They fear that their scores would be very less compared to their peers. To be honest, we all start from the bottom. I have seen friends who started with a 60 in their first mock and ended up scoring 130-135 in the exam. Do not shy away from mocks, the right time to start taking mocks is NOW. The more you delay, less would be the chances of improvement, lower would you score in the exam. To sum it up, if you have seen the movie- the dark knight rises, here's a reference


Until next time...

To get notified whenever I post, please follow this blog

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The kickstart

 Hello friends, Strange time, isn't it? As I recall, last year around this time I was waiting for my MBA-CET results. We wrote emails, conducted mass tweet campaigns just to get a confirmation about the result dates. Another activity that  I indulged in, was watching Ramayan on TV and recollecting how badly I did in my CET attempt and as I sit on my desk writing the first post of this blog, today marks the 11th month to 23rd May, which was the result day.  Sorry to say but in your case, matters are different. The way I see it is that conditions are the same for everyone. This is a level playing field even now, so why bother? The key is to keep going. I sometimes wonder what, I could have done if I were in your shoes. One of my childhood friends and a CET aspirant, messaged me today morning: "Hey, why don't you start a blog on how to crack CET?"   That is when I realized that this was indeed a good idea, since November last year, I have been getting calls, messages, Dm
Read more

To Each his Own

Image
While there is no prescribed way to solve a MBA CET question paper. The way I see it is that, there are 200 apples on a tree and you are required to collect as many as you can. Each individual can devise his or her own style of section sequence and time allotment. This decision should be in accordance with an individual's liking and should bring out the best performance out of that mock, that is all that is needed. In my case, the sequence and time allotted was as follows: This sequence and time allotment was decided after many experiments in the initial days of mock taking. This practice is very important because, finding what best suits you is the crux of the entire mock taking exercise. However, this was not exactly the sequence that I followed on the D-day . Yes, I took 35 mocks and followed the aforementioned pattern however after getting reviews about the first day from my friends I got convinced to play the gamble of jumbling the sequence a little (not the wisest thing to do
Read more

Solving MBACET Verbal like a Pro !!!

Note: Had a tough day? Like some humor?: Read the entire post.                                                                                                        No time? Want me to get to the point?: Read the stuff between lines It started in the month of July, The year was 2018. The witch called CAT verbal ability section, marched towards the army of my mental capabilities, in order to defeat me, in an area which I felt was my forte in school. The early encounters were exhausting and frustrating for ME. I was trying to know her. The weapons she held, her ability to keep me always on my feets, and those beautiful but deceptive eyes...enough to captivate a man into the cage of frustration. Ok, this is a blog about CET prep, enough show of my writing skills...let's get to the point. Right away: Background: I was good at English, as a subject in school. I read a good amount of material in my formative years. Quora is a platform that I visited a lot, but that just enhanced my read
Read more