As you continue with your CAT preparation, the role of mock CATs (AIRCATs at MBAGuru) begins to gain importance at this stage of your CAT prep. As an enthusiastic CAT aspirant, you may have access to multiple test series and therefore, find yourself flooded with a huge number of tests available for practice. A question you may be dwelling upon is just how many mocks is right for you. You may be feeling pressurized to attempt everything you have access to, but also might be feeling overburdened and even dejected (especially if the scores aren’t great) if you actually try and do that.
The same thing does not work for everyone. What then, is the right number of mocks, for you?
While there is no single/perfect answer to this, do keep in mind the following:
- Mocks are practice to prepare for the actual CAT. So, don’t overdo it. Don’t be tired by the time you need to peak. Do only so much as to keep yourself confident and wanting to do more and not the other way around. Just imagine tiring yourself out playing practice matches while preparing for the actual tournament. That wouldn’t be smart, would it?
- Mocks without analysis and follow-up action are of little use. That, in fact, may be counter-productive. And if you are at a level where you don’t need to analyze and improve something, you might as well not be taking any mocks – because in that case, you don’t need to.
- You DON’T have to practice more, just because you have more. What you bought something for is ‘sunk cost’, but the time you spend on using it isn’t yet sunk cost. You don’t read every book that you buy, watch every movie on your Netflix Subscription. So, don’t try everything just because you (can) buy everything!
One AIRCAT per week is usually a good number to keep going with – allowing you enough time to analyze and improve before you write your next and also to keep a balance among various requirements of your CAT preparation. A little variation on either side could be just as good in your specific case – so, suit yourself.
Remember, doing too much could be as harmful as doing too little. Mocks are supposed to be used to enhance your confidence and preparation, and not just pills to be popped.
About the author: Deekshant has sleep-walked through several 100 and 99.9 %iles in practically every section of the CAT. That he is a cricket fan and he writes okay is evident from most of his posts. 1000s of our students swear that he can motivate almost anyone to double his/her percentile through very simple yet powerful inputs. And that’s why every MBAGuru student has direct access to him via mail and Telegram. Oddly, he somehow also finds the time to write songs professionally. And yes … almost missed this … he is an alumnus of IIT Delhi & IIM Cal 