It is tough; no doubt about that. Hope some of the suggestions in this Long-term planning would help the candidates to plan out a strategy of their own who are planning to take a plunge. Instead of trying, gaining awareness by taking 1-2 attempts, prepare meticulously so that you achieve success in your first attempt and that too with high ranks.
Long Term Planning
Those who believe in long-term consideration, as ‘Civil Services Examination’ demands, planned study is the best way to prepare effectively. The first step is to outline the priorities based on: One, availability of time. Two, your requirements related to General Studies and optional subjects. Three, if you are seeking guidance from any coaching institute and show much time goes into it.
As there is an expectation that continuing the reforms in recruitment process, UPSC is contemplating with an idea of changing the Main Examination pattern. So, keep an eye on the related news flow and the moment these get implemented, you should be ready to mould your preparation-plan according to evolving needs.
You have taken a wise decision to plan and prepare well before taking examination. Put in your best as if this is the only opportunity you have. Your aim should be ‘hitting the bulls eye’ not just to have a try. This is what topper like Nitika Pawar (AIR 18, CSE 2011) had done. When you are investing so much of your time and energy in preparing, attain that level that you don’t need more attempts to achieve this. Check out you requirements and decide how to move further.
Looking at the present scenario, adopting an integrated approach is must and you should start preparation with Main Examination in focus. By doing so, the Preliminary Examination Paper 1 gets almost covered and you will be in a position to face Preliminary Examination with confidence.
For Preliminary Examination Paper 2, you need to learn some mathematical/reasoning/linguistic skills which you can always plan along with your regular study-plan as mood changing activity.
Look at the constituents of General Studies and if any one is unfamiliar to you, require immediate attention, you should take these on priority to be familiar with the subjects. It is time to go for relevant, up-to-date study-material, books, magazines, syllabus, past years’ question papers and all that you require to begin preparation.
Be careful; Grab those books which cover static, traditional information on the areas dynamic in nature as many questions are being asked from these topics.
Civil Service Examination is all about making the right choices and you have to opt for particular pair of optional subjects. In recent years, Main Examination has become an optional subject’s play as General Studies is not contributing much to make an impact on overall aggregate.
The best solution is that you should undertake a serious evaluation before you decide your optional subjects and should clearly understand the specific requirements any particular optional subject demands.
Understand the examination requirements and achieve excellence in all directions. Growing knowledge level provides grasp over the subject and after a certain stage, you attain such comfort level that you start applying the accumulated knowledge effectively ensuring a better performance.
Understand the trends and current approach of UPSC and drift towards Application, Contemporary developments and Current Affairs. This requires updated content as well as a strong grip over basics since with solid foundation only you will be in a position to understand and advance with study-plan.
In the beginning itself, don’t go for Current Affairs Year-Books and books related to those areas where current developments change on day-to-day basis as by the time you approach examination, the information would be stale. Daily news updates from Newspapers backed up by Magazines will suffice the purpose in the beginning.
Make a group preferably with same optional subjects aspirants. As you start, you may encounter few problems which stop you from moving further. List out all your apprehensions, queries related to preparation and reach out to people you trust to get these resolved.
Choice relating to self-study or joining coaching institutes is absolutely yours. Not all in the merit-list had gone to coaching institutes. Every year lot many aspirants crack this examination based on self-study.
However, in the changing environment, if you really need to seek help from coaching institutes, you should plan it as early as possible. As they exhaustively cover the examination requirements, maintain a balance between traditional areas and contemporary developments which influence issues related to topics listed in syllabus.
If your decision is in favour of attending coaching institute, it is essential to devote at least 2-3 hours on revision and what you studied in class. It enables you to make note, enrich them with newly acquired knowledge and immediate follow-up gives you opportunity to spot some areas that require clarity or more expansion or additional information.
As examination requires an analytical approach, updated information with flow of original ideas, devote some time to practise presentation techniques which can give a competitive edge to the aspirants.
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