Tips To Know: How to Crack UPSC Civil Exam this Year
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Wednesday, 23 March 2016
Civil Service is one such thing that offers opportunities for the youth to serve their country and its people. Country needs efficient, trustworthy, dynamic and honest officers who are ready to serve their country and are familiar with the culture of the land. In today’s time every second person wants to be a civil servant. It is the most dignified post and every year lakhs of candidates appear for the UPSC exam.
Pessimist may contend that the pass percentage is extremely low, making the hard work of most candidates unproductive. In 2014 9.5 lakh candidates appeared for the exam. With such competition it’s very difficult and frustrating for the candidates. It is true UPSC cannot be cleared without hard work, but if you plan your study and follow certain tips and tricks mentioned here you will definitely excel. One who devotes him/herself for 15 months in improving language skills, widening general knowledge, mastering strategies for facing objective as well as descriptive questions.
Eligibility:
Anyone with a university degree or equivalent can apply for this examination. Age limit is 21 to 32 years on August 1 of the year of notification. A candidate can appear in the examination six times. OBC and physically challenged candidates are allowed nine attempts. SC/ST candidates can appear any number of times, subject to other conditions of eligibility.
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Pattern:
This examination is divided into three stages i.e. preliminary, main and interview. The first stage consists of two papers and each paper carries 200 marks and contains only multiple choice questions. There is negative marking for wrong answers. Paper 1 focuses on knowledge and Paper 2 on logic. The main exam consists of nine papers of conventional (essay) type questions.
Strategy:
One should start studying for the exam with sufficient time in hand. This is the most important thing because if you fail to do so then you might not be able to clear even the preliminary round. The best time to start is May and June when you are done with your college exams. This preparation must be for next year’s exam that is conducted in the month of August. So, almost 14 months of preparation before the prelims. This is a sufficient time frame to be successful in your first attempt.
The next step is time utilization. Utilization must be an effective one. Firstly you must prepare a study plan in which you must distribute the syllabus in a day wise or weekly schedule. It should be prepared in such a way that the whole syllabus is covered and each topic is allotted ample time. The most important part of the strategy is to remain focused with high spirit to crack the exam in first attempt. Generally students prepare for other exams also for a back up. But this might land you in trouble. UPSC requires full time dedication without pursuing any other studies and examination, because if you try several things at a time you might end up with failure on all the fronts.
Preliminary examination does not require an in depth study of each subject so you can concentrate on NCERT high school text. Along with this UPSC wants candidates to be well aware of the current and past events, for which through newspaper reading is a must. On should make notes of all the current happenings and events around the world. Magazines are also very important, as well as a good general knowledge book.
Many a time’s it happens that students study from materials which are not specifically meant for the examinations they are going to appear for. It is advisable to purchase books of known authors and also check whether they cover all sections or not. Understand the syllabus first and then only purchase books which are specifically meant for this examination.
Guidelines for attempting the paper:
It is very important to manage time during such examinations as mostly candidates are unable to attempt the entire paper. We recommend you to go through all the questions at least once, and if you have not been able to do so till now then start working upon it for better results. You should not waste time on questions of which you have no clue, rather first go for the ones you are confident about. Keep in mind that it is not necessary to answer questions in the order in which they appear. Start with the section which consumes least time and then move to those you are confident about. Also make it a point to try and finish the test five ten minutes in advance in order to try and answer the questions marked for review.
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Mostly candidates make guesses in the end in order to attempt all the questions overlooking the fact that each wrong answer will cost them 0.25 marks. This makes a lot of difference and due to your negligence on your part you might end up with reduced scores. Make it a point to answer questions you are sure about and try and skip the doubtful ones. So, try to minimize the possibility of negative marking in order to maximize your marks per question.
Practice:
Online mock tests are quite helpful for UPSC exam. Take up mock tests on a regular basis to get used to the types of questions and analyze the area in which you need to work the most. This will even boost your confidence and in the end you will find that you are able to manage your time in a better way. You can find the study material for this exam at our site of EducationForever. Even mock test papers are also available here.
In the end, focus on mock test papers and thorough revision. Avoid any kind of stress. Keep calm and believe in yourself. Ultimately, that’s the key to success. All the best!