How to do a mock test ?

 

Choosing a question paper?

Most of the aspirants join a test series and follow only that. But the problem with that is you will get used to the pattern of that particular institute and you will be scoring good marks. But that won't help you on exam day. You will not be able to cope with the unpredictable nature of UPSC prelims and it will throw you off guard.

So, it is better to do multiple mocks of different institutes rather than multiple mocks of any particular one. if you are following the above cycle you will be doing a minimum of 100 mocks. Choose a question paper from a random institute and you won't be having that strange feeling of a different pattern.

Doing a Question Paper

Every aspirant has their own strategy for doing different rounds. If you do not have one, you can follow this.

First round: This is the quickest round. Only mark an option if you are 200% sure. Even if you have a 10% doubt, skip it for the next round. You should not think in this round. If you have to think about options, skip it, we will do that in the next round. You may attempt very few questions but do not worry, trust the process. Even if you attempt less than 20 or less than 15, it is absolutely fine. I usually take 20-25 mins for the first round. I do not even read all the statements. If I am unfamiliar with the first statement or the beginning of the question I usually skip it and move to the next one.

Second round: This is the lengthiest round. In this round, it is important that you read all the questions. Again, if you are not sure about an option and you are spending too much time on the question, then skip it.

Third round: By this, you will have an idea about how many questions you have attempted. So be wise while doing the remaining questions. You have to take risks in this round.

If you have time, try to think about the remaining questions and mark only if you arrive at an answer logically.

Mark each round with different colours and note down the time taken for each round. And check your accuracy for each round and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Each aspirant will have a different time range for these rounds. You will have an optimum range after 20-30 mocks. Stick with it.

If you are taking 120 minutes initially it is fine . But try to reduce it gradually. Because you need some buffer time to accommodate the UPSC exam pressure. You will need some extra time on that day. So I would suggest you to do it within 100 minutes. 

Why do we do it in rounds?

UPSC Prelims is a mind game. You will have to manage your stress on that D-Day. Suppose you are reading the first question, and you do not know it, you may get tensed. You will go to the next question, and you may get tensed if you can not solve it. Now you are reading the third question with this added pressure. you will carry this pressure throughout the exam and will affect your performance.

So the solution is: Trust the process. if you do not know one question, skip it. Do not worry about it. Easy questions will come just wait for them. Go to the next question and skip it if you are not sure, you can continue to skip until you complete the round.

Imagine a question and you do not have any idea about it. Trust me, you will get some clues when you read it again in the next round with a fresh mind. But if you try to solve it in the first round with that tense mind you may not solve it correctly.

We are filtering the questions through these rounds. (First round: Most Accurate, Second Round: half knowledge+ little risk, Third round: Riskiest ). Otherwise, we may take risks at the wrong time. By doing this way we are reducing the risk as well.

Post Mortem of the test 

Read it from here: Click here