MOTIVATION: Myths and Mistakes to Avoid, by Kumar Ashirwad, Rank - 3. Insights Offline Student. Hello friends,I am sorry for the huge delay in posting this article. Had to visit my village where electricity is a luxury and internet connection a futuristic notion. Let me introduce myself. I am Kumar Ashirwad.

I have done my schooling from Darjeeling and Jamshedpur. I did my graduation from IIT Kharagpur in Civil Engineering. I passed out in 2. Mukherjee Nagar on 1. June 2. 01. 1 to start my civil service preparation. It took me four attempts and five years to clear the exam. If on that day someone had told me that success would elude me for 5 years, I am not sure whether I would have continued my preparation.

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Thank God for our inability to know the future. During these 5 years I have committed every MISTAKE that a candidate can make in their Civil services preparation. And hence I humbly put forth that I have a lot of suggestions that I genuinely feel will help you to avoid the same mistakes that I made. This will be the first in a series of articles I will be posting on insightsonindia, that I personally feel will be helpful in your preparation. Let’s begin. I will first list the MYTHS of UPSC exam.

These myths wasted a lot of my time and effort, and it is imperative you avoid these : 1). You have to study a lot for this exam.

WRONG! ABSOLUTELY WRONG! NOT ONLY USELESS, BUT HARMFUL. This approach wasted a lot of my time.

You need a broad COMMON SENSE understanding of a wide variety of issues. Not a deep understanding of any issue (here I am talking of GS, not Optionals). I have seen candidates study much less than me and crack the exam in 2 attempts.

BECAUSE THEY FOCUSSED ON DEVELOPING A BROAD UNDERSTANDING RATHER A DEEP UNDERSTANDING. Let me demonstrate. Take the XAXA report on tribals for example. Person A reads the entire report (takes 5- 6 days) and feels immensely satisfied (Between, person A is me). Person B types “salient points of XAXA report” on the net and reads only that and bookmarks it for revision.

This has 3 advantages. First, the time saved. More importantly but less obviously, there is a second advantage.

An average answer is of around 1. YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME OR SPACE ON THE ANSWER SHEET TO WRITE ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU HAVE READ IN THE REPORT.

Only two or three points of the report that are relevant to the question asked and that you REMEMBER, which is the third advantage. REMEMBERING STUFF IN THE EXAM HALL. Person A has read too much –  too many reports, too many “bahut zyaada achha articles” in The Hindu, too many books. But because of this he/she cannot REMEMBER 9. Person B has read important points of XAXA report, uses those few points in the answer because he/she  REMEMBERS them as he/she has read COMPARATIVELY LESS. Choosing an OPTIONAL.

The parameters for choosing an optional  are sometimes not rooted in reality. For instance do not make “interest in the optional” the only criteria. Yes, you should not hate the optional subject. But the interest holds only the first time you read the subject. Revisions are never interesting. So while choosing an optional please also take into consideration the recent performance of the subject (many deserving candidates with Geography could not make it to the list, because of UPSC’s  genocidal policy towards Geography), the length of the syllabus, the objectivity/subjectivity of the optional etc. While studying an optional for the first time go through the previous years question papers frequently and see whether you can answer the questions.

You will, for instance, find that while Anthropology questions can be answered as soon as you read the topic, Public Administration questions cannot. So choose an optional that in your opinion will fetch you THE HIGHEST MARKS PER HOUR SPENT STUDYING THAT OPTIONAL. Read THE HINDU/INDIAN EXPRESS  etc daily. This is another VERY HARMFUL MYTH. You should read newspapers for a maximum of one and a half years since you began preparation.

The aim is to develop a broad understanding of important issues. The Hindu is not published as a GS material for UPSC candidates. So after 1 to 1. 5 years, STOP READING NEWSPAPERS IN DETAIL. SIMPLY GOING THROUGH THE HEADLINES WILL DO. YOU CAN ALSO COMPLETELY STOP READING IT (I have not read it since 2 years, it’s my personal opinion and was my option!). Isn’t The Hindu, The Bible of UPSC?

Let me demonstrate. A question is asked on The Whistleblower Protection Act or the ease of doing business. Person A has read 5- 6 “bahut zyaada achha ” articles in The Hindu but scattered over a period of 3- 4 months.

Hence he does not have a coherent “in- one place” memory of all that he/she has read about the Act. So against he cannot remember the points related to the question asked. Person B has stopped reading The Hindu. But he/she has read the monthly news compilation of Vision Ias or insightsonindia. He/she remembers more points in a more systematic manner because he/she has read them in one place as opposed to reading them in a scattered manner in The Hindu. And obviously Person B also saves much more time and effort.

This point is also in agreement with my 1st point of not studying too much. Simply joining a test series takes care of the Answer Writing.

WRONG AND FALSELY REASSURING. First the objective of the test series should be to improve the quantity and quality of your answers. Test series in Delhi can take care of the first (to some extent), but not the second. Because they enroll too many students and hence the quality of checking suffers. Personal guidance is obviously impossible. They do not have enough time to write meaningful comments that will actually help in improving your answers. In this matter, I was extremely lucky to have the guidance of Vinay Sir in insightsonindia offline test series in Bengaluru.

However this will not be possible for the vast majority of the students. You will have to ANALYZE the answers yourself. Read your own answers yourself after a few days of the test. Get it checked by your friends.

Find someone who has gotten good marks in UPSC and mail them a few answers. Follow answers posted on insightsonindia website that you feel are better than yours. Read them for at least half an hour before the next test.

Resolve in your mind that you will not repeat the mistakes this time around. Take up 2- 3 random questions and imagine how you will write the answer so as not to repeat your mistakes. Do these things immediately before each and every test.

Approaching any test series in a perfunctory, non analytical manner is a waste of time. In a nutshell, EXTRACT AS MUCH IMPROVEMENT AS YOU CAN FROM EVERY TEST.

RESOLVE TO IMPROVE. VISUALIZE THE DESIRED IMPROVEMENT. WRITE THE NEXT TEST INCORPORATING THE DESIRED IMPROVEMENTS.

REPEAT THE CYCLE. AND DO NOT GET DISHEARTENED IF RESULTS DO NOT FOLLOW IMMEDIATELY. The flaws in your answer writing are akin to an ingrained bad habit and like any bad habit will take time to be weeded out. UPSC requires 1. 4- 1.

WRONG AGAIN. You must have read many interviews of toppers who say they studied for so many hours daily. Most probably they are exaggerating or followed a tougher than necessary route to success. But most importantly BE CONSISTENT. Give up the habit of studying for 1. Because firstly, this approach will result in lesser number of hours studied on an average per day. But more importantly, you will forget a lot of what you have studied in those four days.

You will have to study it again leading to an entirely avoidable duplication of effort and wastage of time. Take a day off every 9- 1. But the rest of the days stick to your routine of 9- 1. BE CONSISTENT. A steady beam of energy results in light. Rapid, short- lived bursts of energy lead to shock.

Pardon the scientific inaccuracy of the above statement, if any. The unending quest for TIPS and more tips. We all love to gather all the tips, all the current wisdom available with successful candidates, coaching classes and other UPSC war veterans. I have, in the past, been guilty of this myself.

Civil Service Prelims: 6 Month Strategy. To crack IAS in the first shot, you need the right strategy. Candidates often find Civil Services Exam a hard nut to crack not due to lack of hard- work or potential, but due to lack of right strategy.

In this post, Clear. IAS. com comes up with a few points you need to keep in mind before developing an ideal strategy to clear IAS prelims exam within the last 6 months. Strategy for Clearing Civil Services Prelims Exam in the First Attempt. Understand the Civil Service Exam Cycle and Competition. What types of questions are asked by UPSC in IAS exam? Analysis of 2. 01.

Civil Services Prelims Paper (as a sample paper)Cut off Marks for Prelims: How Much Do you Need to Score to Clear Civil Service Prelims? The ideal approach for Civil Services Prelims. Understand the Civil Service Exam Cycle and Competition. The best way to clear civil service prelims in the first attempt is to have a positive mindset and a practical strategy.

You don’t need to know everything under the sun to clear IAS prelims, but you need to know the nature of UPSC questions to crack this exam. A blind study mugging up a lot many things will neither help you in Prelims nor Mains. You need to know about the essential books and study materials to crack the exam, and also about the right strategy.

Civil Services Exam Cycle. What types of questions are asked by UPSC in IAS exam? The best way to find the out the nature of the questions is to look at previous year question papers of Civil Services Exam conducted by UPSC.

Links to download UPSC prelims question papers is given in this website. Analysis of 2. 01. Civil Services Prelims Paper as a sample paper. Paper I – General Studies (GS) – 2. Subject Area. Number of Questions.

Indian Politics – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. Indian History – History of India and Indian National Movement. Environment – General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio- diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.

General Science. 12. Economics – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc. Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World. Total. 10. 0 Qns (Marks = 2. Current Events  of national and international importance is counted as part of the mentioned subjects.

Paper II – Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT) – 2. Subject Area. Number of Questions. Comprehension. 35. English Language Comprehension. Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability. General Mental Ability & Basic Numeracy. Decision Making & Interpersonal Skills.

Total. 80 Qns (Marks = 2. Cut off Marks for Prelims: How Much Do you Need to Score to Clear Civil Service Prelims? For 2. 01. 1 prelims the cut- off for general category was 1. For 2. 01. 2 the cut- off score was 2. In 2. 01. 3 it was 2. But since 2. 01. 5, only marks of GS Paper 1 is counted, the other paper being qualifying in nature.

However, the trend shows an increase in cut- off marks due to competition from better- prepared candidates. Cut- offs for Prelims vary depending on the difficulty level of the paper and it may rise or fall. Generally only around 1. Mains – out of more than 1.

Now as Paper- 2 of Prelims has turned qualifying in nature, it is necessary to score high for Paper- 1 to clear prelims. A safe score can be 1. UPSC stick to the same standard. The ideal approach for Civil Services Prelims. The strategy can differ from person to person.

But giving weightage of time and effort to areas of importance will pay you well in the end. Prioritize your time, syllabus and study materials! Never neglect important areas. A focused approach keeping in mind the UPSC Mains syllabus is adopted by candidates with long term strategy. But if you are focused only on the prelims as of now, the analysis given above is surely the first place to look at.

As it can be seen Polity, History and Environment were the important areas ( 6. Paper 1 in 2. 01. Comprehension and Reasoning (7. Paper 2. But the weightage will never remain the same, and UPSC is well known for surprises.

Importance can shift towards Economics or Geography this year, so it is important to build knowledge about the fundamental concepts of all topics as per UPSC syllabus first. The best source for building fundamentals is NCERT books for Standard 6 – 1. Once you are strong with the basics, the turn to previous year question papers to find out the nature of UPSC questions.

You will see that in the last couple of years UPSC has shifted from factual questions to conceptual questions. Goal Setting. Keeping this information in mind, go through the recommended IAS books and online study materials written in UPSC perspective. Enroll for Clear. IAS Mock Test Series. Learning is a continuous process. You should ideally take at- least one mock test in a week and revise your answers multiple times. Our mock tests are prepared in such a way that even beginners would find it easy to learn concepts.

So, it’s time to take tests while you learn. Or, learn while you take tests! Clear. IAS UPSC Prelims Online Mock Test Series integrate learning with test- taking and help you learn faster. More than 5. 0,0. Clear. IAS UPSC Prelims Test Series acknowledging the quality of our tests. Don’t miss: Civil Service Prelims: 6 Month Strategy – Part 2.