How to Develop a Habit of Reading for VARC?

INTRODUCTION  

The most widely accepted MBA entrance exam of India, CAT consists of three sections, namely, Quantitative Aptitude (QA), Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI), and Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC). The VARC section can pose a challenge for candidates who haven't inculcated a habit of reading yet, but with a little effort, consistency and a few effective strategies each one of you can ace the VARC section with confidence. In this article we have accumulated the best methods for you that would accompany you throughout your VARC preparation journey.

GET ACQUAINTED WITH THE VARC SECTION  

When you plan a trip, the first things that you need to figure out are the distance, the time duration to reach there, and which mode of transport would suit you best to experience a comfortable journey. Likewise, when you plan to excel in a subject, you first need to understand the requirements and demands that it poses towards you so that you can reach the destination quickly through a smooth journey of preparation. The foundational requirements of the VARC are:

➤ Strong & focused reading skills

➤ Great hold of vocabulary

➤ Excel in verbal ability

➤ Logical approach to questions

➤ Time management

Now that we know the demands of the VARC section for CAT, let's explore how we can fulfill these to achieve our dream score.

SET DAILY GOALS TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS  

Expecting to understand everything in the VARC syllabus for CAT in a day is like expecting to reach your weight loss goals in the first day of joining a gym. When we talk about scoring great in the VARC section, proper planning and consistency plays a major role. Setting daily goals for VARC involves identifying various activities that would help in fulfilling the above discussed requirements and then setting up a daily schedule to implement them. Inculcating the following habits in your daily routine can work wonders in your VARC preparation:

➤ Reading newspapers for half an hour

➤ Reading fictions and non-fictions before bed for about an hour

➤ Explore different genres of reading material (Philosophy, Science, Psychology, History, Economics, Politics, and Literature)

➤ Identify and build reading comprehension strategies

➤ Practice RC questions within a specified time

➤ Stay motivated by participating in book clubs and online discussion forums

PICK THE BEST READING MATERIALS  

Filling yourself up with a large quantity of content won't help you much for VARC as long as you don't focus on the type and quality of content that you're reading. Selecting your reading material randomly without any thought can do you more harm than good. It is important to make sure that the newspapers or books that you're referring to have popular acceptance and contain good quality content with minimal to no grammatical errors and outstanding vocabulary to enhance your reading skills for VARC. If you find it difficult to decide upon which content to follow, then just go with the classics or the most accepted newspapers like The Times of India and books of authors like Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murthy and so on.

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION  

Reading comprehension is a much more complex skill than what it seems like, but once you crack the code, VARC is as smooth as butter. In order to score well in VARC, you need to identify and inculcate certain strategies that make it easier for you to answer the CAT. A few such strategies include:

➤ Engage with the text by guessing questions, marking answers, and summarizing paragraphs mentally

➤ Practice skimming and scanning techniques wherein you give a quick glance to the passage to get the idea without reading each word and identify certain keywords to answer the questions

➤ Prepare notes while learning, especially when you come across a new word or concept

➤ Practice time bound reading comprehensions to increase speed while appearing for CAT

➤ Analyze and review your mistakes after every assessment

➤ Maintain consistency in practice

TEST YOUR LEARNING SIMULTANIOUSLY  

Just filling up yourself with information continuously without assessing your knowledge can never fetch you the desired results in VARC CAT. It is important to assess and test your learning at specified stages of VARC preparation. A few ways in which you might consider testing your knowledge in VARC are mentioned below:

➤ Use online applications and websites for taking sectional or topic-wise tests

➤ Discuss with peers and study groups

➤ Reading comprehension practice

➤ Assess your answers through professional guidance

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS AND MAKE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS  

The last but one of the most important points to keep in mind while preparing for VARC is to track your progress through various ways throughout your preparation. This is important because preparing without setting any achievable standards can slow down your growth and also keep you confused about your progress. Hence, follow the below-mentioned methods to track your progress and make necessary improvements wherever required:

➤ Review every test that you take and contemplate on your correct and incorrect answers to identify your weaknesses and strengths in VARC syllabus for CAT

➤ Devote time to understand the mistakes and keep a note of those concepts to revise on them later

➤ Look out for any patterns in incorrect answers and understand the reason behind it to avoid those mistakes in the future

➤ Keep a track of your reading speed as well as the time taken by you to search for the answers from the passage after every assessment

STOP THINKING AND ACT NOW!! 

Now that you're acquainted with the methods and steps to follow for VARC preparation, don't waste your time in thinking much and begin your CAT prep now! If you are still unsure of which source of study to select or you're in search of the best study material available online then look no further, as Maxxcell can be the ultimate stop to your search. Our mission is to make top-notch education accessible to everyone. So, even if you're unsure about the right preparation source, give Maxxcell a try—it just might be the last stop on your journey to CAT success!