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Should You Solve LOD 2 Questions of Arun Sharma's Book on CAT Preparation?
Recently, a lot of aspirants reached out to ask this question. And probably so because of the time left for the CAT 2020 exam - it definitely calls for a reevaluation of your preparation timeline. In this post, I will share my take on whether or not you should solve the LOD 2 questions and in case you should, then for which chapters.
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Are LOD 2 Questions Must?
They are not a must of course and especially so if you're using some other preparation material as well. I was using the TIME material and Arun Sharma book, so for most of the chapters, I skipped LOD 2. To give you a proof, here's a recent video I shared on How to use the Arun Sharma Book?
In this video, I have shared a glimpse of the Geometry chapter where the LOD 2 questions have been left unmarked. And in my case, it was primarily because I was also using the TIME material.
Now, for those of you who began their preparation after July, it will be best to skip LOD 2 altogether for now. Those of you who are still in the middle of solving LOD 2 questions, I would recommend to focus your energies on taking and analyzing the mocks instead.
When to Do LOD 2 Questions?
It doesn't mean you shouldn't solve LOD 2 at all. What you need to do is use the mock analysis to evaluate which topics are you weaker in within Quantitative Aptitude. For all those topics, use the time in between any two mocks to solve the LOD 2 questions.
This will ensure that you're putting your effort where it is required the most. Most likely, you will come across all types of questions in the coming mocks. As long as you are taking a note of all the formulas and tricks, you will not need to worry about the practice of those questions from the book.
Let me share an example. When I was taking the mocks, I used to refer back to the formula book to update it with the new tricks I found through mock analysis. Before the next mock, I just revised the tricks which helped me solve the questions during the next mock.
You might feel a bit apprehensive of relying on revision, in which case you can always go back to the topic for which you found a new trick, open the LOD 2 exercise and look for similar questions. Then, solve that type. This will ensure that you're able to grasp that particular concept effectively.
Remaining Motivated
This might be less relevant to the post but I can sense its need in the messages I receive daily. Guys, from what I've read in the messages, some of you feel demotivated when you're unable to attempt the questions - be it during a mock or even practice from a particular book.
I just want to say something - a sort of rule that I followed during my preparation: "You're solving to learn and learning to solve." You should never be so hard on yourself that you end up feeling frustrated after not being able to solve 10 questions in a row.
I don't care if I'm not able to solve 10 questions. What I care about is whether I know 10 new formulas or tricks that I didn't earlier. I know that the exam is approaching but as long as you're committing fresh mistakes, it's okay! You're unable to solve because you are yet to learn how to!
That's about it. Don't overthink it. Don't take it to the level of telling yourself how will you solve questions during the final CAT 2020 when you're unable to solve them during the practice?
You will be able to solve them then because you would have learnt the tricks by then. With every question you are unable to solve, ask yourself, "what can this question teach me today?"
Take a note of all those teachings because I'm going to request you after you make it to your dream college to share them the next year on this blog :)
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Hope that cheers you up :) Feel free to message me on Instagram or Facebook, I'm trying to remain more active. Can sense the feeling I had just before CAT 2017 :)
No recommended posts for you today. Chill thoda. And if you want to smile, watch this, even if you already have. I watch it a couple of times a day to cheer myself up :P