The UPSC Civil Services Exam is one of the most prestigious exams in India. It is attempted by lakhs of people across the country every year. However, only a tiny fraction of them are able to fulfil their IAS ambitions. The IAS exam is not only challenging in terms of the length of its syllabus, but it is also daunting because of its highly unpredictable nature.
In this article, you can get all the information you need on how to prepare for the UPSC exam, and change your destiny.
The UPSC exam cannot be cracked by just being a bookworm. The last stage in the UPSC exam process is the personality test round, wherein the UPSC board would interview the candidate for assessing his/her personality and its suitability for a career in the services. This requires an all-round development of the individual apart from academic knowledge. And, even in academics, the focus should not merely be on finishing the syllabus, but on constantly acquiring information and insight into the latest happenings/current affairs within the country and beyond.
How to prepare for IAS exam? UPSC Preparation Tips
This section lists important UPSC preparation tips for beginners. These tips aim at helping aspirant devise a well-planned preparation strategy for the upcoming UPSC 2022 exam.
Making Notes
- It is helpful to make short notes during UPSC preparation.
- Since the UPSC syllabus is very vast, it helps to keep track of the portions covered and also serves as a ready-reckoner for revision.
- You can have separate files or notebooks for separate subjects. Files are preferred by many since they help adding notes to a topic easier. This is especially helpful in the case of adding current affairs-related news to a particular topic.
Answer Writing Practice
- The IAS main exam papers are descriptive in nature.
- It is mainly about testing your analytical, critical, and communicative abilities.
- It demands you to think with conceptual clarity and organize your views, perceptions, and thoughts in a flawless manner.
- Another thing to be kept in mind is the time and space constraints in the answer booklet.
- Therefore, candidates have to answer the questions quickly and effectively and in minimum words.
- This is not possible without adequate answer writing practice.
Solving Previous Years’ UPSC Question Papers
- Previous question papers are the most reliable sources of UPSC pattern, difficulty level and question type.
- You can judge the trends in the UPSC exam paper easily.
- It will also help you understand which areas are the most important in a particular subject.
- Lastly, it is a good source of self-assessment in your IAS preparation.
Make a Time Table
- To become an IAS officer, it is necessary to be like an officer with a well-organized daily routine.
- You should set a comfortable timetable before your preparation and stick to it.
- Making a timetable will ease your preparation and make it more streamlined. With deadlines, you would work better and complete the syllabus faster.
- Analyse the IAS Subjects included in the syllabus and comprehend your strengths and weaknesses
Know the UPSC Syllabus
- The syllabus is the soul of any exam. Knowing the syllabus is the foremost thing to do before you go through the books.
- The UPSC has provided the syllabus for the Civil Services Preliminary and Main examination in an elaborate manner.
- Aspirants should understand and follow the syllabus for UPSC civil service examination. Knowing the syllabus will help you to choose relevant study materials, prioritize the subjects, etc.
Choosing Optional
- The optional subject accounts for 500 marks in the UPSC final tally.
- Hence, you should choose an optional subject wisely and after a thorough think-through of the pros and cons of the subjects, you have in mind.
- Some of the factors to keep in mind before selecting an optional are:
- Interest in the subject
- Prior knowledge in it/academic background
- Overlap with the GS papers
- Availability of coaching
- Availability of study material
NCERTs
- The NCERT textbooks from classes six to twelve play a very significant role in IAS exam preparation.
- Aspirants can get basic concepts and theories from NCERT textbooks.
- These books provide the information very coherently. Moreover, they are reliable too as the source is the government itself.
- In previous years UPSC has asked questions directly from NCERT textbooks.
- So, NCERTs are undoubtedly the best books to begin your IAS preparation with. Get a complete list of NCERTs needed for the UPSC exam here.
- Apart from the NCERTs, you should also follow a few other advanced textbooks.
Making Notes
- It is helpful to make short notes during UPSC preparation.
- Since the UPSC syllabus is very vast, it helps to keep track of the portions covered and also serves as a ready-reckoner for revision.
- You can have separate files or notebooks for separate subjects. Files are preferred by many since they help adding notes to a topic easier. This is especially helpful in the case of adding current affairs-related news to a particular topic.
Answer Writing Practice
- The IAS main exam papers are descriptive in nature.
- It is mainly about testing your analytical, critical, and communicative abilities.
- It demands you to think with conceptual clarity and organize your views, perceptions, and thoughts in a flawless manner.
- Another thing to be kept in mind is the time and space constraints in the answer booklet.
- Therefore, candidates have to answer the questions quickly and effectively and in minimum words.
- This is not possible without adequate answer writing practice.
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