Analyse Your Test Well

Imagine that you go to a pathological lab, get all the  tests done- MRI, Ultrasound, Blood test, Urine test-  but do not care to go through the details of the test reports. Wouldn’t that be flushing down the drain the entire cost and effort that went into undergoing the tests? Similarly, taking a mock test is pointless if it is not analysed well. Make sure that whenever you take a test, may it be pathological or academic, you analyse it thoroughly. Even if you spend an entire day in taking and then analysing one CAT-type test, it is a day well spent! However, remember that you should start taking full length mocks only after completing 50% syllabus of each of the 3 subjects i.e. 50% of VARC, 50% QA and 50% LRDI. Till then you can take sectional tests of the subjects whose 50% syllabus you have completed. You may even take topic-wise tests for the topics covered (Number System test, Algebra test, Grammar test etc). For VARC, you can consider that your 50% syllabus is complete once you have covered RC basics and Para-based basics courses with me. 

How to fully analyse a test? I highly recommend the following process-

1. Take the test just as you would take CAT- no breaks, no mobile phone, no 2-minute gap. Make it an absolute dress rehearsal. If you know the actual timing of your CAT slot (which you would by October), then take the test in that exact time slot.

2. Take a break for an hour or two, and then solve the entire paper again without any time limit i.e. take 5-6 hours and solve each and every question, all DI sets, all RC passages, no matter how tough or easy. You may do this in parts while taking breaks in between, say 2 hours for each section.

3. Now begins the real analysis. Look at the solutions of the questions you got wrong during the test or one you were not very sure of. Analyse what you did right and what not. Did you choose the right questions? Did you miss the doable ones? Did you spend too much time on certain areas/questions? Did you attempt the tough nuts that weren’t meant to be attempted? How could you have got more juice out of each of three sections in the given time? How could you have done this test better? Ponder over these questions. Analyse everything from your question-selection to speed to accuracy. Identify the areas and skills to work upon for the next 10 days. 

You will be able to identify some patterns after 3-4 such analyses. You shall realise your problem areas and your strengths. You will know which areas you must focus on in the next 8-10 days before you take the next test and then benchmark your improvements.

Also, you need not take more than 10- 20 (maximum) tests in the run up to CAT from here. Taking tests does not sharpen your skills, it merely tests them. Remember, a battlefield is not where you learn warfare, it is where you display what you learnt during your preparation. Taking too many tests will wear you down, and kill the enthusiasm and adreneline rush that one must feel while taking a test. So do maintain a minimum gap of 7-10 days between 2 successive full-lengths tests. In between those tests, you may daily take one sectional test daily- QA on Monday, VA on Tuesday, LRDI on Wednesday.. The above mentioned approach of test analysis is time-proven, but only a few would be wise and patient to implement it. However, those who do, will see the magic of it. All the best to all of you.

FAQs
Q My mock scores are fluctuating a lot. What to do?
 Ans: Your score/marks DO NOT MATTER. Your PERCENTILE DOES. Understand that the score of 30 in a section could be an excellent score or a pathetic score, depending on the difficulty level of the section. Hence we always look at the percentile in each section and of the overall paper to gauge our performance.

It is perfectly normal for your percentile in an individual section or overall mocks to fluctuate. It is the very nature of the devil. Nobody gets consistent percentiles across mocks. I have interviewed 99 %ilers and you will hear them admit that their percentiles have varied from 70 to 98 in mocks. So know that it is absolutely fine. 

What is important is that you analyse the test well to see what better could have been done here and take the learnings with you. 

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PS- The views expressed above wrt test-taking are based on the writer’s experience and observations. Some other trainers may have differing opinion about the efficacy of the modus operandi of the test analysis discussed. I would suggest that you try this a few times and see if it works for you.