The latest trends of exam and the changing pattern is becoming tough for candidates to handle the syllabus. Learn latest tricks from the experts and student community.
What aspirants study differently for their second attempt in UPSC CSE which helped them to crack it?
You can do so in the first attempt itself. However for second attempt the major change come is the approach that is the way of making notes and perceiving whatever you read.
Do the following
Be consistent
Make a time table
Get good and honest feedback regularly
Ask relevant questions
Look for material on the internet.
You don’t necessarily needs to go to coaching in todays world. Gone are those times.
It offers you opportunity to learn different world languages and cultures.
You meet people all across the world and know the politics, news, challenges of other countries in depth.
You meet top politicians and ministers from foreign nations almost daily.
It’s bit of luxurious and even everyone is not able to cope up with that because after a time it bacomes headache to look perfect 24/7 because you’re representing your country outside so you have to be vigilant all the time.
I believe nowadays there is nothing like elimination for UPSC Prelims. As the exam setters have understood this technique much better than students of UPSC and they are doing everything to prevent the elimination technique.
Take the papers of last 3 years and you will realize that you can’t clear the exam with it and only go for 2–3 question with the elimination technique max.
The way the options are put have completely changed.
Invest more time in topics which are scoring. 80% of your marks will come from 20% of your study. I am not joking. Rest all what you study is just noise. Invest your time in high scoring topics- Ethics, Society and Social Justice (GS1&2), Agriculture, DM, Security (GS3). Instead what happens- people read World History for 5 days in the most crucial Prelims-Mains time period of 100 days (for a single 10 marker question in which everyone will score minimum 3 marks).
Time management matters a lot. If you have a Science optional; your 70% time should be devoted to the optional subject instead of focusing on GS where marks variation is not too high.
Essay writing is a collection of all your GS1,2,3,4 knowledge - many people forget this simple thing.
You will never ever ever remember the random news article / book you have read on June the 15th, when you are writing your Mains exam answer paper on October the 4th; unless you have noted it down.
So whenever you read something relevant; make sure you make notes. But again, some people’s notes might resemble more of a research thesis. Your notes should be short; crisp and relevant. For example; the recent Rajasthan case has once again put the spotlight on Anti Defection Law (part of GS2 paper). So this is how your one page crisp note should look like:
Anything less/more than this one page is not required on this issue.
Smart studying revolves around 3Rs - read, revise, replicate. You won’t be having a lot of time to devise points when 10.8 minutes is what you have got for a 15 marker (250 words). And hence, preparation comes in handy during those 3 hours. Revise multiple times.
The only thing I want to convey is:We all study to gain knowledge. And yes, that should be the real purpose. But we should also study the way exam demands it. Not just as per our whims and fancies.Hardwork is definitely required, but unless supplemented by smart work…you might not get that edge.All the best!
Understanding: UPSC Mains questions can get really tricky and sometimes really difficult to understand. Before you start writing any answer to any paper, read the question very carefully. Understanding the questions and the requirements mentioned in the question are the main thing. You should be able to have a clear grip over the matter.
Psychological framework: Portraying the structure or sketching the answer in your mind is very crucial. The very moment you read and understand the question, set your mind about the procedure in which you going to answer. In this way, it will get a lot easier to answer with the course of practice. If possible, write down the points when you remember it with a pencil so that you can erase it.
Utilize time: Don’t fabricate answers to remember any answer. It will just waste your time in both the practice period and exam Hall. Rather try to remember the facts and important information related to this topic which will help you to remember the answer and also it will save you time more than usual.
Wordcount: Another basic thing that is usually to tricky .l sometimes the word count. If any question mentions the word limit or word count, you should finish up your answer around the limit. It shows your control over the power of language and choice of wo
What aspirants study differently for their second attempt in UPSC CSE which helped them to crack it?
You can do so in the first attempt itself. However for second attempt the major change come is the approach that is the way of making notes and perceiving whatever you read.
Do the following
Be consistent
Make a time table
Get good and honest feedback regularly
Ask relevant questions
Look for material on the internet.
You don’t necessarily needs to go to coaching in todays world. Gone are those times.
Have positive people around you.
Be self motivated a lot is going to come to you.
Be patient through out the journey.
All the Best.
why to choose IFS?
It offers you opportunity to learn different world languages and cultures.
You meet people all across the world and know the politics, news, challenges of other countries in depth.
You meet top politicians and ministers from foreign nations almost daily.
It’s bit of luxurious and even everyone is not able to cope up with that because after a time it bacomes headache to look perfect 24/7 because you’re representing your country outside so you have to be vigilant all the time.
Questions asked in interview are:
Where are you from?
What are your hobbies/ interests?
Why those interests?
Some famous work/ achievement / icon in that hobby/ interest?
Basic question/ details of that hobby.
Your college and education, the reason to choose that domain for education.
You service choice and the reason.
These are some basic question which generally is asked.
I believe nowadays there is nothing like elimination for UPSC Prelims. As the exam setters have understood this technique much better than students of UPSC and they are doing everything to prevent the elimination technique.
Take the papers of last 3 years and you will realize that you can’t clear the exam with it and only go for 2–3 question with the elimination technique max.
The way the options are put have completely changed.
What exactly is smart studying ?
Invest more time in topics which are scoring. 80% of your marks will come from 20% of your study. I am not joking. Rest all what you study is just noise. Invest your time in high scoring topics- Ethics, Society and Social Justice (GS1&2), Agriculture, DM, Security (GS3). Instead what happens- people read World History for 5 days in the most crucial Prelims-Mains time period of 100 days (for a single 10 marker question in which everyone will score minimum 3 marks).
Time management matters a lot. If you have a Science optional; your 70% time should be devoted to the optional subject instead of focusing on GS where marks variation is not too high.
Essay writing is a collection of all your GS1,2,3,4 knowledge - many people forget this simple thing.
You will never ever ever remember the random news article / book you have read on June the 15th, when you are writing your Mains exam answer paper on October the 4th; unless you have noted it down.
So whenever you read something relevant; make sure you make notes. But again, some people’s notes might resemble more of a research thesis. Your notes should be short; crisp and relevant. For example; the recent Rajasthan case has once again put the spotlight on Anti Defection Law (part of GS2 paper). So this is how your one page crisp note should look like:
Anything less/more than this one page is not required on this issue.
Smart studying revolves around 3Rs - read, revise, replicate. You won’t be having a lot of time to devise points when 10.8 minutes is what you have got for a 15 marker (250 words). And hence, preparation comes in handy during those 3 hours. Revise multiple times.
The only thing I want to convey is: We all study to gain knowledge. And yes, that should be the real purpose. But we should also study the way exam demands it. Not just as per our whims and fancies. Hardwork is definitely required, but unless supplemented by smart work…you might not get that edge. All the best!
By- Archit Chandak (IPS 2018)
Usual tricks
Understanding: UPSC Mains questions can get really tricky and sometimes really difficult to understand. Before you start writing any answer to any paper, read the question very carefully. Understanding the questions and the requirements mentioned in the question are the main thing. You should be able to have a clear grip over the matter.
Psychological framework: Portraying the structure or sketching the answer in your mind is very crucial. The very moment you read and understand the question, set your mind about the procedure in which you going to answer. In this way, it will get a lot easier to answer with the course of practice. If possible, write down the points when you remember it with a pencil so that you can erase it.
Utilize time: Don’t fabricate answers to remember any answer. It will just waste your time in both the practice period and exam Hall. Rather try to remember the facts and important information related to this topic which will help you to remember the answer and also it will save you time more than usual.
Wordcount: Another basic thing that is usually to tricky .l sometimes the word count. If any question mentions the word limit or word count, you should finish up your answer around the limit. It shows your control over the power of language and choice of wo