To ace any competitive exam, it is important to know the pattern. This is possible if aspirants attempt mock tests, says Sumit Singh Gandhi
Lakhs of people appear for competitive exams but only a few can clear it. One thing that makes these people stand out among the other candidates is mocks’. A mock means solving a test for practice following all the rules of the actual examinations. This helps a lot while appearing for the actual examination.
A candidate can analyze his/her performance in the mock and make the necessary changes to avoid the same mistakes in the actual examination. Solving the mocks will help you to get to know how the actual test will be. It will give you an idea about various things like the paper pattern, what kind of questions can be asked, the difficulty level of the questions, and how much time it takes to complete the test.
Without taking the mocks you will not know how good/bad your preparation is. You can take the mocks and make strategies, plan your study schedule and make your preparation to the mark.
Practice makes man perfect and for competitive exams, mocks are what make a difference between any candidate and the topper. Here are seven reasons why the mock test is extremely important for every competitive exam:
Get an idea of what to expect on D Day: Mocks are exams similar to the actual exam. Solving mocks will give you an idea of the kind of questions that can be expected on the exam day. Mocks will familiarise you with the kind of syllabus, pattern, and difficulty level of the actual exam.
Analyse your preparation and performance: Mocks will give you a reality check on how effective your preparation is. Mocks will help you remember the concepts and not forget things that you have learned and mastered. It will also help you to keep revising the syllabus again every time after you solve a mock.
Helps you try and test different strategies: You can plan and implement different strategies in each of your mocks and implement the best one during the actual exam. This will give you a chance to experiment and strategise well for the exam day.
Helps you to know how to use time efficiently: Solving mocks will give you an idea of how fast or slow you are. When you solve mocks you might realise that you need more time for a particular section and less for another. Once you know this, you can plan on how much time to spend on each section in such a way that you can complete the paper and have time to revise.
Know your mastery and areas where you fall short: Once you solve a couple of mocks you will know which section is your strength and which is your weakness or even which topics in a particular section are easier and which are difficult.
Once you get an idea of this, you will know which topics to focus more on. The mocks analysis report at the end of each mock will help you understand the topic-wise as well as section-wise analysis to weigh your accuracy and time spent. These two are essentional parameters for proper planning.
Reduces your pre-exam nervousness: Mocks are like an actual exam. So when you solve enough mocks you will know what it is like in the actual exam. When you know how it would feel on D-day you will be more at ease. When you score well enough in marks you would also have confidence that you can do well in the actual exam too.
Helps you keep a track of your progress: You can keep an eye on how your scores have been as time passed and as you solved more mocks. You can know how much your score has increased or if you have fallen short on a certain occasion. You can know your mistakes immediately and start rectifying and working on them.
The writer is CEO, CATKing Educare