Cracking the Civil Services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission is a dream of many aspirants. It can take one attempt or several attempts to crack the exam. The last attempt for any candidate is slightly tricky as it brings a lot of anxiety and raises many questions in the minds of candidates. Here is a strategy for candidates who are going to give their final attempt this year.
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Strategy for UPSC Prelims and Main Examination
Keep Anxiety at Bay
- If it is your last attempt the foremost thing that you need to do is don’t let anxiety affect you. Anxiety during the preparation or on the day of the exam may take a toll on you. Getting worried during the exam will obscure your thinking process. You may not be able to give your best if you are worried.
- There is no quick remedy to rein in anxiety. You can do breathing exercise, practise yoga and meditation to calm yourself down. Moreover, by revising multiple times, writing mock tests and scoring well in tests will automatically boost your confidence levels and help in reducing anxiety. Learn to handle a situation calmly. Take things one at a time, do not brood over the past and do not have self-doubts.
Go through the Syllabus:
The UPSC prelims and main exam syllabus is provided in the notification. Before starting your CSE preparation, go through the UPSC Syllabus and previous years’ question papers. Take a copy of the syllabus and cover all the topics given in it.
Revise Multiple Times:
There is no substitute to revision and practice. Consistency is very important when it comes to cracking the UPSC prelims and main examinations. Revising multiple times is a necessity and not a choice. Use ‘active recall’ techniques to revise for exams.
Give Mock Tests and Evaluate them:
How many mock tests should you attempt before the exam is a relevant question? The number of mock tests that you can attempt may vary based on the time left with you before the exam.
- If you start early and you have ample time you can give one mock test every week or on alternate weeks initially. Once you complete studying all the topics, you can write full-length tests every alternate day or what suits you best at that time.
- If you give mock tests, it will improve your analytical skills and help you in making educated guesses during the exam. Many times, prelims question papers are tricky. Candidates may know only 50% of the paper but that may not be enough to clear the cut-off. In such cases, you need to make educated guesses and this is only possible when you do more mock tests.
Solve Previous Years’ Question Papers:
Previous years’ question papers will give you direction. By solving past papers you will be able to find out important topics and streamline your preparation. Civil service exam syllabus is vast and comprises both static and dynamic areas. Therefore, previous year question papers can help a candidate in studying what is necessary for the exam.
Choose Standard Textbooks:
Choosing the right set of books is essential to crack the exam. There are many books for different subjects available in the market, but you may not have the time to refer to so many books. Therefore, refer to standard textbooks and NCERTs. Start off with NCERTs and build your foundation. After going through the NCERTs, you can use standard books prescribed for UPSC preparation. You can also refer to the article on UPSC Books – Best IAS Books For UPSC Civil Services Exam 2023.
Cut Down on the Number of Resources:
Your aim should be to read one book multiple times rather than reading multiple books. If you read multiple books, then you may not be able to revise all the topics effectively. Without effective revision, you may not be able to recall the required information during the exam. Your main goal should be to revise at least 3-5 times to retain the information. You can also make very short notes that may come handy during revision.
Evaluate and Analyse:
You should learn from your mistakes and change your strategy if you think it is not yielding the required results. After writing mock tests, you should evaluate them and understand why you lost marks.
Strategy for Personality Test
Mock Interview
When it comes to preparing for the personality test, you should attend mock interviews to understand how you react in a new situation, if you are able to answer the questions, and think on your feet, if you are able to handle your anxiety levels etc.
Go through your DAF
You are asked to fill the ‘Detailed Application Form’ after the preliminary exam. You should be very careful while filling out the DAF as some or many questions in the interview may be based on your DAF. Therefore, before your interview, go through the DAF and prepare accordingly. You should know what could be the probable questions that can be asked by the Board from the DAF.
Points to Remember: UPSC Civil Services Preparation
- Work very hard
- Be consistent
- Don’t get distracted by external factors. You should stay focused.
- Do not doubt yourself
- Learn from your mistakes
- Do not compare yourself with others
- Remind yourself again and again why you actually started this journey
- Reach out to your friends, teachers and family if you feel you cannot manage the stress all alone.
Always remember that if you really want to clear the Civil Services exam in your last attempt, you can! Just give your best and put up a good fight!
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