“A good way to attempt the VARC section would be to start with two RCs and then move to questions without negative marking and then two more RCs. This can help Build your reading speed and concentration. Personally speaking, I used to do three RCs on one go and leave one to be done after para jumbles.” – says CAT VA-RC 100 percentiler Vishakha about what strategy might work for you while attempting VARC questions.
The tips mentioned here are directly from the horse’s mouth following which many aspirants’ percentiles improved drastically next year in VARC. Students could find their way through the clutter of advice available there considering practical time constraints since it’s not possible to do everything.
So here you go!
- Read two chapters from Kaplan's guide for GMAT- Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. After reading just the theory, Vishakha started getting City Rank 2 in VARC. You may solve some problems too which are really good for foundation building. It can be done easily in a week or two.
- Start reading epw.in and artsandlettersdaily - It would be sufficient if you just read one article per day but you need to be consistent. This helped her get accustomed to any level of difficulty in RCs and improved her concentration and speed while reading easier passages. If you have one year of preparation, start this after two to three months of reading newspapers and practising some RCs. If you have less time, do just one article per day.
- If you don't know the meaning of a word, remove it from context and see what sense it makes to you and then compare with options given in the question.
- When you have more time, reading novels is what she would recommend. Again, if you are not in the habit of reading, don't try in the last few months. Jump to newspapers and artsandlettersdaily and EPW (Economic and Political Weekly).
- Trick of solving questions in VARC is by elimination. While analysing, don't focus on why is the right answer right, but figure out why is the wrong answer wrong. That makes all the difference.
- VARC is a game of concentration. Sitting in front of a screen and reading boring passages with speed requires concentration. Vishakha used to meditate and practise deep breathing regularly for several months before the exam. On the D-day, she was in a superior state of absolute concentration. So, it is important to work on it even if it sounds unnecessary. Don't set huge goals for yourself. Just ten minutes of deep breathing or meditation a day can do wonders when it matters. Key is being regular even for a short duration. Figure out what helps your concentration and what disturbs it. For some people, it might be playing sports and staying away from the cell phone. Engage in activities, you feel help your concentration.
- Never leave out questions without negative marking such as para jumbles.
If you follow all these tips along with practising your coaching institute materials, it will definitely reflect in your mock scores over time. The habit of reading did play a crucial role in getting her the much-coveted percentile but hard work can do all the wonders. Practise, clear doubts and analyse mistakes no matter what. And finally, always remember,
elimination is the key.
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About The Author
Vishakha Sharma, currently a second-year student at MDI Gurgaon scored a 100 percentile in VARC and who can be a better person to talk about cracking this nut? Vishakha has been an avid reader all throughout her life. Before you start thinking that she might be from arts background, let me tell you that she is an engineer in Information Technology post which she worked with Infosys for 2.5 years.