CA exams are unpredictable and tough - just like playing a cricket match against an all-powered Australian team with the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner and Mitchell Starc in full swing. Such a big game calls for some special preparation - Mock Tests. But which Mock Test Series should you enroll for? Read this post to know which Mock Test Series is the best for your preparation...
Importance of Mock Tests
The importance of net practice before a big game against Australia cannot be overemphasized. Legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli had themselves admitted to practicing intensely and putting in the hard long hours of sweat on the field in the lead-up to any match against Australia. While those who follow cricket might have already got what I want to communicate here, I still feel it is part of my responsibility to make you all understand the importance of mock tests. So here it is - in the language of cricket!
Helps to develop a habit of writing
CA students normally sit at home for long periods of time and prepare for their exams. But the exams require good writing speed and muscle strength. So intermittent writing habit is important. Mock tests are a great way to get your hand muscles working and the writing speed to be developed.
Helps to warm up the grey matter
It is important for Virat Kohli to have all his safety guards and pads in proper place and shape before facing any delivery from Mitchell Starc. Also, he needs to pick the swinging deliveries of Starc and react in the split seconds. This is exactly what the Mock Tests do for CA students. Mocks help to warm up the brain and stir up the thinking process.
Helps to develop the right strategy
Virat Kohli needs to have 100% clarity before going out to bat as to how he wants to tackle the inswing, outswing, bouncers, yorkers, top spinners and googlies of the Aussie bowlers. This mental clarity is what he aims to have during his net sessions. And this is exactly the aim of the mock tests for CA students also. Learning concepts and formulae do not yield results until and unless you strategize on how to use them. Mock tests provide the perfect opportunity to test your preparedness and identify your weak areas.
Helps to adapt yourself to the exam mode
While in the nets, most batsmen like to try out a variety of shots - the pull, the block, the upper cut, the cover drive - almost every shot in the book. Have you ever wondered why? Because you never know what delivery he would get to face in the main match. Mocks also help your mind to settle into an exam mode - capable of absorbing any shocks or surprises in the main exam.
Helps to understand time management
Why is Virat Kohli known as a "Chasemaster"? Because he can really assess the situation well and accelerate the scoring in a tricky chase whenever required. This is what CA exams are all about. Those 3 hours are the most precious hours of your life. And whatever the end result would be, is dependent on those 3 hours. That is why time management is so crucial in CA exams. And mocks are a great place to experiment with your time management strategies - order of attempting the questions, style of writing, length of answers, writing speed, even the pen with which you want to write the exams or the calculator which you want to use for the exams.
Helps to identify yourself
You must have seen batsman practice shots in the main match after a dropped catch or a half chance. You would have also seen players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma getting angry on themselves after a silly misfielding, or a dropped catch or a false shot. Why so? Because they know their strengths and weaknesses. Rohit Sharma knows his weakness against the inswinging deliveries from a left-arm pacer. So he stays alert when facing Mitchell Starc or Trent Boult. This is just what you also need in this hour - for someone to act as a mirror in which you can know yourself better - your strengths and weakness. Every mock test needs to be analyzed in-depth for your mistakes, any trend visible in the nature of your mistakes and how you can overcome those mistakes.
Helps to overcome fear
Mock tests help to overcome the fear of exams, the fear of mistakes, and above all the fear of failure. I have already written at length about this fear of failure in my earlier post What is the biggest fear of a CA student? You may pause here to read this post first, which would also tell you how to become a Baahubali when it comes to facing CA exams.
How to select the best Mock Test Series?
There are a lot of players in the market now - PrepCA, CA Test Series, GM Test Series, etc. What 99% of the students do is to ask their friends and enroll themselves for that Test Series which their friends have suggested to them. Tell me one thing here... Why can't YOU yourself take this decision? What did you say - it does not matter so much to you? So do you mean to say that Virat Kohli can practice with the tennis ball and hope to score a century playing with the Kookaburra ball? Just think for yourself what you are doing - this is YOUR career - something which should be invaluable to you.
Remember that a Mock Test Series of any Tom, Dick and Harry will not get you on the path of success. You need to be very particular on the effectiveness of the Mock Test Series - is it really worth investing your time, or is it just a waste of time and money? So here is the complete guide on the checkpoints of how to select the best Mock Test Series:
Copy-pasted questions
Do you really want to pay for questions which have just been copy-pasted from the ICAI publications? No, right? Do you know that 2 of the leading mock test series conductors have actually been proven to just do this copy-paste business and mint money? Ideally what you should be looking at in the Mock Tests is new questions. You would want to test yourself against question types you have never encountered so far in your preparation for the exams, because that is what you might face in the exams also.
Quality of the paper
You would not want to appear for a mock test where you can score 90+ in SFM or Accounts very easily, or finish off the entire paper in 2 hours. Mock tests are not just for writing practice. And that is why quality matters. The questions should be as per the ICAI structure and as per the latest syllabus + amendments.
Level of difficulty
This is just a corollary to the point above regarding quality. You do want to encounter an extremely easy mock test - the simple reason being that the ICAI exam paper will be way tougher than the mock test. What you would want is the level of difficulty to be the same as that of the ICAI paper, at a minimum. Mock tests are a tool to get that confidence going within you that your prep is on the right track. It will definitely do wonders to your confidence if you can crack a mock test which is even tougher than the ICAI exam papers.
Time for evaluation
One of the major factors is the time the test conductor takes to evaluate the paper. While the standard time should be about 2-3 days, most test series conductors do not adhere to this timeline. So there is a risk that you have paid the entire amount of fees upfront but have failed to receive the evaluation on time. This is not why you would want to pay for the test series.
Feedback
One of the major reasons why you would want to opt for a test series is to get feedback from the faculty regarding the level of answers you are writing, and indirectly, the level of your preparation and areas of improvement. But what if I say that most test series conductors in the market are not taking this point as seriously as you are? Do you know that the same test conductors are operating 3 different brands and giving absolutely pathetic feedback - all just to mint money? These are easy traps, and you must stay vigilant not to fall for these money-making traps.
Marketing gimmicks
Most test series conductors promise price discounts, flash sales, coupon codes, etc. Some even promise of being the cheapest available test series in the market. But remember one thing - you are a student of Economics and Commerce. Not everything that glitters is gold. Most of all this is just a market gimmick and not quality. And marketing can be dirty - it can force an Eskimo to buy ice from you - such is the power of marketing. So you need to be aware and alert to any such honeytraps the marketers at the test series conductors place for you.
Every mock test series brand that you come across should be evaluated on these parameters stated above. Ultimately, it all boils down to the seriousness with which you want to approach the concept of mock tests. If you want to do it just to show your parents, or just for the sake of mock tests, you can blindly choose any one brand. But if you are really serious and focused and want some improvement from the mock tests, it is definitely better to invest some time, do some research and pick the right one.
The best Mock Test Series - My Recommendation
Now comes the most important part of this long and comprehensive guide on selecting the best Mock Test Series. Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all feature available here. Most of the mock test series conductors are here to do business and not to help out CA students.
But there is one brand of Mock Test Series, which I have personally experienced and can blindly recommend to you all as well. I can even go on to say that I owe all the 3 Ranks in CA to this Mock Test Series conductor. I took their services for all the 3 levels - Foundation, Intermediate and Final, and I was not disappointed. All in all, I have the following reasons to recommend this Mock Test Series conductor:
Ensures complete coverage of the ICAI syllabus
Level of difficulty of the papers is very comparable to that of the ICAI exams
Keeps you aligned with the pattern of questions normally set by the ICAI itself
Ensures coverage of the study material of the ICAI and the latest amendments
Provides you with some new set of questions not encountered before in the ICAI material
Provides immediate feedback (on the same day) in the form of detailed answers to the mock test question paper
Provides you complete flexibility to choose the subject and time for which you want to appear for the Mock exam
You get the best in the market, at the lowest possible cost - a double bonanza!!
Gives you the self-satisfaction of being well-prepared from your end
Lastly, it has the track record of producing innumerable Rank-holders over the last many years it has been existence
If you have read the above paragraphs and the points closely, you will find that I have gone on to praise the brand so much, but have still not shared the name with you all. That is precisely because the name needs no introduction at all. It is such a popular name!
For those who still haven't been able to guess it correctly, that brand is - ICAI. Yes, our own Institute. I know this answer might have been unexpected for some. But this is the truth. Go on for a search all over India, and you won't find any Test Series provider which can match the credentials of ICAI. Moreover, no one can beat the ICAI on the cost front either. What is the cost you incur for the Mock Tests of the ICAI - ZERO. And what is the model of the other test conductors - it is their revenue center - a means of minting easy money.
Conclusion
Those who think that this is a biased post from me, are wrong. I am not totally against the test series conductors, barring ICAI. I am aware that a couple of them are doing a really good service to the CA students. What I am against is that the entire thing has been given the shape of a money-making business. Something that you can do from the comfort of your home, at your own convenience, absolutely free of cost, has been made into a business.
All I can say is that the choice is all yours. And it depends to a great extent on the seriousness with which you want to approach a mock test. This post has highlighted at many places that it is not just a simple mock test; it is the platform on which your confidence will stand and help to sail you through your main exams.
Hope this post was of some help in setting down the factors which must be kept in mind while selecting a mock test series. Any questions, comments, feedback or suggestion are welcome - either in the comments section of this post, or via a personal message directly to me.
Thanks for reading:)
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