How to Prepare for the UPSC CSE

Anonymous 7:04 pm 0

The civil services exam also referred to as the CSE conducted every year by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is easily the most prestigious competitive exam conducted in India. Year on year, just over 0.1% of the applicants qualify for the thousand odd roles offered across the 24 job profiles available. If you think the ruthless competition is what makes the UPSC CSE difficult to crack then you are wrong. The UPSC Prelims syllabus is so voluminous and literally anything under the sun can be asked. We can sense that you are panicking by now but don’t worry we have you covered.

How to Prepare for the UPSC CSE

In this article, we will go over the most effective and time tested preparation strategies that will help you crack the UPSC CSE effortlessly.

1. Familiarize yourself with the exam:

This doesn’t stop at knowing the dates of the exam, stages involved in the selection process, exam pattern and the UPSC Mains syllabus. You need to know the cutoffs (overall cutoff, sectional cutoffs and the category specific cutoff), sectional time limits, commonly asked question types and important concepts/topics. Spend time researching and analyzing previous question papers even before you dive into preparation.

2. Build a Strong Base 

You aren’t preparing for the CAT or GRE, the aptitude questions that will be asked inCSE prelims will check your basics, logical thinking and high school maths. Questions may not necessarily test your depth of understanding in each topic. One common mistake that a lot of aspirants seem to do is cram pages and pages of formulae all in the hope that they will be able to substitute values and variables directly and solve questions. This is likely to backfire big time. Try to understand the concepts, go through solved examples and practice till you master each and every topic or at least the important ones.

3. Capitalize on your strengths 

You will have to take two compulsory papers in the prelims stage of the UPSC CSE. The 1st paper will check your knowledge in subjects such as polity, economics, history, geography and science while the second one will test your mathematical skills and analytical thinking. Not everyone is great at both the papers but the good thing is that the prelims exam is just qualifying in nature and it matters that you clear the cutoff but not by how much.

Your individual performance in paper 1 and paper 2 don’t really matter as long as you clear the overall cutoff. Also, there is negative marking. It is advisable to attempt the questions you are sure off and skip the questions that are difficult or time consuming. The syllabus is vast and anything under the sun can be asked in the general studies paper so, spend time going through the question papers from the last 5-10 years. You’ll soon notice that patterns start to emerge, question types repeat, certain concepts/similar questions are asked year after year. It’s obviously impossible to cover every topic within a few weeks before the exam so prioritize these areas first.

4. The Mock Test Approach

This preparation strategy is especially useful for people who are preparing for the exam at the last minute or trying their hand at the UPSC CSE while working full time. Before starting your prep, you’ll have to attempt a few mock tests. It is advisable to attempt at least three to four mocks from reliable and credible resources to ensure that the difficulty level, exam pattern and questions are as identical to the original exam as possible and that your results are an accurate indicator of your skills. Do a SWOT analysis of the results and log all the errors. Cross reference your scores in each section and topic against the weightage that topic/area carried over the last 5 years. Chart out a practical study plan where you focus more on the areas that carry a high weightage but you are struggling with. Reinforce your strengths by solving topic specific questions from previous year papers. It’s okay to skip the topics you are struggling with if they carry very little weightage and if you are confident of clearing the cutoff with ease.

5. Make the newspaper your best friend

Don’t put off preparing for the current affairs questions till the very end. You will be tested on the major events that took place over the last 3-6 months. Taking notes is a crucial part of preparing for the questions on current affairs. If you find reading newspapers to be a boring task then start off with just the headlines from the main segment along with a section that you may enjoy reading like the sports section. Slowly increase the number of pages you read.

The strategies won’t help if you don’t implement them and practise enough. Good luck!