Civil Services Exam – Simplified and Demystified - IV

Studying Current Affairs

Current Affairs form a large chunk of syllabus and questions at Prelims as well as Mains.  People suggest reading a number of newspapers and magazines. Some of their list contain newspaper – Hindu, Indian Express, Economic Times and magazines – Yojana, Frontline, World Focus, Economic and Political Weekly, Economist, Kurukshetra , Chronicle, Civil Services Times and Civil Services Mentor and many more. A normal aspirant like me will leave the preparation just hearing the names of these. Is reading all these required? No. If you are a normal human being, you cannot digest what all you learn in them.

I personally, never read any newspaper – not even Hindu. But, I followed quite a few things.

1. My Facebook page, serves as daily newspaper for me. I am lucky to have a network of well informed friends and colleagues who keep sharing good articles, important news on the facebook feed. The best part was that it was filtered material. Best articles on different topics were shared by them – so I got to read news from variety of sources – right from Times of India to Guardian to Wall Street Journal 
2.   I never read any newspaper, especially Hindu as I found it wastage of time.  Instead, I used to refer upscportal.com where they have Today’s Important News. They select some 10-12 important news from Hindu daily and publish it. I used to just read these 10-12 news articles, sometimes even 5-6 items as per what I perceive to be useful. 
3.    Read – Monthly Policy Review (a must do – it is a Goldmine) and Bill Summary from Prsindia.org. It will consume 15 hours per month of your time. 
4.    I found Current Affairs booklet of VisionIas published at the end of every month very useful. You can finish it in maximum 15-20 hours per month. 
5.   While you are eating or relaxing, you can watch some episodes of Rajya Sabha TV panel discussion. Avoid watch CNN IBN or Times Now, they create only noise and are of little use in terms of content.
6. You may choose to read some magazine , but I do not see any need, if you have followed above mentioned things quite well.

Newspaper Debate

I never read Hindu, dint like it. But surely, it cannot be avoided. As mentioned in point 2, I did selective newspaper reading. But is it effective? My calculation shows a normal aspirant spending at least 2.5-3 hours daily – which is around 90 hours per month on Hindu itself. Using Point 2, you spend 30 minutes daily, so effectively 15 hours per month. PRS Monthly Policy Review and Vision IAS document you spend another 30 hours. So, things can be done in a better manner covering more number of topics in just 45 hours rather than just wasting your 90 hours reading just Hindu.

Civil Services Exam – Simplified and Demystified - III

Selecting optional subject

There are many factors that play in selecting your optional paper and this can have a huge impact on your performance in the examination.  The pros and cons of the subject vis-a-vis your strengths and weakness must be evaluated, that too in the changing scenario. Given the huge magnitude of the role an optional can play,

 I took Management as my optional paper. Given huge unpopularity of Management, even MBA graduates don’t risk taking this subject. Aspirants tend to refrain from taking it because –

• Vast syllabus – Management syllabus covers HR, OB, Finance, Marketing, IT, Operations, Statistics, Strategy, International Business, Government Business Interface. Finance, Marketing, Operations, HR – all are full fledged subject in themselves
•  No coaching available
•   No specific books
•   Senior guidance not available
•  No overlap with GS syllabus
• Track record in UPSC – rare species in top 100 rank

Why I took Management?

•  A large part of syllabus was already covered during my MBA
•  Most important – Remember if you are an MBA, you have not only studied Management, but have lived it for two years – some consciously, some unconsciously. But all of us have. Reading is not just restricted to books and classrooms, you have discussions with your friends, and you participated in case study competitions, prepared for placements, made assignments, attended various gyaan sessions and so many guest lectures. All these have enriched you knowledge of this subject far beyond, what you can read in 3 months. I guess you are better positioned to answer any outliers or tough questions in exam from this subject than any other subject
• Assuming I have scored fairly decent in my MBA course, I have a decent command and preliminary knowledge of most of topics
•  I consider Management to be a safe optional – it should not face the kind of onslaught PubAd had in 2012 – because,
• of low number of people – yet to become populated, leave aside over populated
• no coaching available – reason UPSC will show some mercy and kindness
• Importance of management and its knowledge as future administrator
• Risk Mitigation - The knowledge and better grasp of subject will help me in future career in corporate sector, if I fail to make into Civil Services. 

·         Analysing past year papers, I realised UPSC is still asking very surface level questions rather than getting much deeper into it. In one line – Testing the breadth of your knowledge rather than depth.

#8:  People are qualifying from all optional papers. Yes, there are uncertainties involved in it. But, I am a firm believer in choosing an optional which you are strong in and feel comfortable with. Rest all things can be tackled in due course of time. 

According to me, you are best placed to choose your graduation / post graduation paper as your optional. Yes, engineers will tend to disagree with me and I fully support their view point.  Whatever optional you take do make sure you are able to take advantage of your background knowledge. Analyze the syllabus and previous question papers; look around for materials and guidance available. Make extensive use of internet. 

#9: I believe in syllabus based preparation rather than book-based preparation. More important to cover all topics mentioned in the syllabus first, rather focussing on finishing recommended books, where you may end of reading many topics which are not of use in UPSC, especially for management optional.

Next post : What to focus and what to leave for Prelims.   

Civil Services Exam – Simplified and Demystified - II

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Season 2013

Preparation for Prelims started from 29^th April, I had 27 days with me – with 7 priceless weekends.  With office on weekdays with at least 3 hours travel – I was left with 4 hours on weekdays and at max, 10 hours on weekends. This gave me 150 hours to prepare for prelims.  I prepared a list of topics to be studied and did time allocation to each topic. Be strict in not stretching beyond it. Whatever was covered in that time period was covered and was never allowed to spill beyond the desired limit. The benefit – you are more disciplined in your study and you tend to sideline unnecessary stuffs. 

 #3: Coaching is it required? I have not taken any coaching, not joined any test series. Joined Vajiram for Mock Interview only. Personally, I feel it is matter of analyzing ones own potential, syllabus of Civil Services is fairly simple and can be easily done with self study and a committed group of friends to discuss and share.  

 #4: Is it ever possible to study for 15-16 hours daily? I do not agree. Just sitting in front of book is not studying.  You can genuinely study for a maximum of 7-8 hours a day, which can stretch to 10-12 hours a day in the last leg of preparation. 

 #5:  Law of Diminishing Returns: Focus on things which have higher Return on Investment. Do not waste time on trivial things, which are anyway not going to be asked in examination. 

 #6:  Pareto’s Rule extension 20% of total effort is required to cover 80% of total syllabus. For rest 20% syllabus, you need 80% effort. First put 20% effort to cover 80% and move to next subject, instead of putting in extra effort to study things which may not come. Covering the syllabus broadly at least at surface level, helps you pluck low hanging fruits. 

 Cracking Prelims

First, do an analysis of previous years question papers. Go through them and if possible, try to solve CSAT one in exam like environment.  I was pretty sure of cracking at least 160 in CSAT. Assuming 250 to be a safe bet, 90 -100 was my target in Paper 1.  With a score around 60 in last year’s Prelims, I was sure to raise it, but how much, it was uncertain.  My strength was History, Geography, Economy and to some extent, Science and Tech.  Again as I say, Civil Services Exam is an exam where each and everything that you have studied in your life can be useful. If you have been thorough with your studies during your school time, you should have a good grasp on a number of subjects; you just need a revision to rub off the dust that has settled on them. 

 Analyzing the previous year papers, you will know the distribution of paper roughly. And, prepare your strategy accordingly 

Area	No of Questions (based on 2011 and 2012)	Return on Investment	My proficiency	Strategy for me	Time Allocation (total time 150 hrs)
History & Culture	20	High – Modern India Average – Other Topics	Above Average	Focus on Modern history; quick revision of other topics	30 hours ( 20 hours – Modern and rest 10 – others)
Geography	10-12	High – Logically connected topics; less effort	Average	Get the concepts and brief outline of geography ; discussion with friends	20 hours for basic concepts and 10 hours for Indian geography
Economics	10	Average	High	Not going to study, normal discussion with friends	15 hours ( just basic revision)
Polity	15-20	Above average	Below Average	Study and complete syllabus, as to do not miss low hanging fruits	35 hours ( given my Achilles heel)
Environment & Ecology	20-25	High; small syallbus	Above Average	Study and put effort to cover in depth	30 hrs
Science & Tech	9	Below Average	Average	Not much can be done in such a small time; rely on science concepts learnt in school	10 hours ( just to refresh latest developments)
Current Affairs	10	Low	Low	Not going to study at home; utilise office and travel time	Studied during time outside this quota

Note: This was my assessment card, 2013 altered the paper pattern. Economics weight age went up drastically. 

Based on above data and my understanding, I prepared a matrix – with RoI (return on investment) on one side and My proficiency on other side. Assigned roadmap as to where I am going to spend my 150 hours. 

One mistake I did was to take CSAT for granted and dint practice even a single paper. This costed me 15 marks in Prelims – making silly mistakes in around 6 questions, due to lack of practice. Don’t repeat it. 

#7: Analyze your own strengths and weaknesses. Play on your strengths and put in your minimum effort required to bring weakness to at least neutral level, so that you are not missing sitters. 

For first time takers: Once you know your level in CSAT, by solving previous year question paper. I can divide it into two categories, above 150 and below 150. Prepare your strategy accordingly

•  Category 1 – Above 150: You have potential to score 170+ in CSAT. A fair practice like solving mock test papers – one paper per week for 10 weeks in more than sufficient. This is to just get you into the groove before the exam and you must not get overconfident and make silly mistakes in exam. Do not give more effort than this on CSAT
•  Category 2- Below 150. You seriously need to brush up the basics. There are some shaky foundations in your preparation. You need to put in some extra effort for CSAT, may be 2 hours daily.