Strategies To Crack UPSC

STRATEGIES TO CRACK UPSC How to Crack UPSC Exam?

Having a proper study plan and a well-articulated strategy becomes quintessential for an IAS aspirant to get through the Civil Services Exam. Here we put across some success strategies which have been utilized by our previous year Toppers. You may ingrain a few from amongst the following to excel in the IAS exam. The contents include a strategy for UPSC Prelims as well as a strategy for UPSC Mains.

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Prelims

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Main Exam

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Optionals

Following a right strategy, which works for you, is of great significance to crack the Preliminary stage of this examination.

Gateway to Main Exam You can write the Main exam (2nd stage of the process) only upon clearing the Preliminary exam (1st stage). Underestimating the significance of UPSC Prelims would end the journey even before it has started. Less than 3% of the candidates who sit for prelims actually make it to the Main Exam by getting over the cut-off line. In the recent years, the ‘Prelims Hurdle’ needs more effort to get through than Main Exam.

Many serious candidates lose out in the Prelims stage itself as they will have focused too much on planning for beyond Prelims.

Focus on Prelims: Go with the UPSC cycle In the months that fall between January and May, devote at least 70% of your time on Prelims Topics and solving the questions from previous Years and analysing them.

Also make sure that you are able to complete the paper in 1 hour and 40 mins.

Such an emphasis on Prelims during the above prescribed months will be clearly in sync with the UPSC civil services Exam cycle.

Need of a strategy To clear this exam, the candidate has to have a cogent and a coherent i.e, a right strategy. Often, candidates who put in the hard-work as well as the candidates who are academically strong, find this first stage of Preliminary Exam as difficult encounter.

The sole reason behind this inability to realise their potential is the lack of or adoption of a strategy that doesn’t suit the person in question.

Here are some of the strategies whose adoption might come in handy. You may call them Success/Winning strategies. You may ingrain one of them as a strategy or make a combination that really works for you. But always keep in mind that others’ strategies, including topper’s strategies, do not completely work for you. A simple logic behind this is that there exist Individual differences—be it intellectually, emotionally, socially or otherwise.

Success Strategy 1 – Gain insights from Previous Year Papers To get an idea about the Exam, it essential for you to go about all the Previous year papers, especially post 2011. This gives you some understanding about the trends in questioning.

Further analysis of each question is suggested because such an exercise will guide your study habits towards those concepts and points on the lines of which UPSC has prepared the questions and the statements that ensue.

Success Strategy 2 – Run with the Test Series You can just follow Legacy IAS test Series. This approach is more of an integrated approach and that is why it qualifies as the best strategy.

The approach is not about taking frequent tests and evaluating oneself on a periodic basis. The Test Series has a schedule which clearly mentions the topics that would be covered in each test. The Test Series is planned in such a way that all relevant portions and reference books, alongside previous year Question papers are covered too.

The best part is the discussion on the tests and clarification of the doubts in the classroom, in a dedicated session. Further, explanations to the options will be provided comprehensively to help the student to have a holistic understanding of the underlying concepts.

Advantages of Legacy IAS test series in a nutshell:      

Coverage of all the relevant textbooks and online study material within a timeframe.

Every month Current Affairs test will be separate Get an idea about the exam setting. Analysis of performance, which serves as a feedback, even as one gets to know the strengths and weaknesses across subjects.

A simple way to course-correct your preparation Serves as revision of crucial topics that you have studied from the textbooks/Material High chances of getting the same/similar questions in the actual UPSC Prelims exam

Success Strategy 3 – NCERT Texts’ coverage and beyond NCERT textbooks from Class 6-12 are quintessential in UPSC exam Preparation.

These are the basic books upon which information other sources can be utilised. These “other sources” are aplenty, offline as well as online.

Given that NCERTs alone cannot get you over the line, you must see to it that NCERTs are covered as early as possible. It is preferable too complete them in the initial days of preparation, say 3 months. To revise them later, handy notes are to be made or use the Explanations of Legacy Daily Static Quiz, which encompasses over 1200 MCQs based on NCERTs

Success Strategy 4 – Bringing Current Affairs into focus This is a strategy which is to be supplemented with other strategy/ies which you embrace. Legacy IAS publishes Current Affairs under various sections and compilations: 

Daily Current Affairs which includes

    

Analyses of important Editorials from various Newspapers (Monthly Compilation available too) PIB summaries on a daily basis (Monthly Compilation available too) “Prelims Booster” with topics only relevant to Prelims but not for Main Exam (Monthly Compilation available too) Daily Quiz—both Static and Current Affairs based (Monthly Compilation available too) Infographics for bolstering retention of current events

Success Strategy 5 – Don’t let Paper-2 (CSAT) play the Spoilsport In the years starting from 2015, the difficulty level of Paper-2 of Prelims Exam has been gradually increasing. Many students’ dreams are dashed just because of the lack of time in attempting the requisite number questions to cross the Minimum cut-off of 33%. Side-lining this paper by assuming that you are good at Mathematics and English is like inviting a disaster.

Though one needs to score just 66 marks out of 200, you have to work for it. The right way ahead to be comfortable with this paper is to solve the previous years’ papers and Legacy IAS CSAT papers. Those students who lag in solving Aptitude questions can attend the sessions at Legacy IAS Academy, where certain tricks and shortcuts will be taught to get over the line.

Success Strategy 6 – Study based on ROI The investments made during the preparation are Time, Efforts and Study Material.

Returns on each front must be in accordance with the investments made. The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, is a management theory which states that 80 percent of the output from a given situation is determined by 20 percent of the input.

Always first put effort in those areas, which yield maximum results. Keep the less Return on Investment (ROI) areas to be handled later.