100 Days to UPSC Prelims Examination:
Strategy, Approach, and Execution
Janu: "I could only score 70 marks in 3rd January’s Full Mock Test.”
Ram: “Oh. How many questions you attempted?”
Janu: “98!”
Ram: “Ok. Not bad. You might not know but the topper of this test who has scored 115 has also attempted 98 questions only.”
Janu: “Oh I Think I have hit so many Questions with Guesswork and I Could not Eliminate two Options”
Ram: “Yes, you have to. But, you have to keep revising your basic material again and again. It is not only your guesswork, elimination techniques, but your knowledge base too, which needs to be Improved by Revising Regularly. ”
Janu: “Yes. But isn’t logical guesswork, elimination techniques more important these days?”
Ram: “They are important. But the knowledge base is the supreme requirement. Building on that further you can develop your logical guesswork, elimination techniques later on.”
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As it’s just next 100 days to UPSC Prelims of 2nd June 2019, conversations like these are quite frequent.
Working people who wants to become IAS officer will start their preparation in short period of time. Mostly two to three months are available for these students and therefore they have to prepare 100 days strategy for IAS Prelims to go through it. Here are some unique and special tips for the UPSC civil services aspirants to clear the exam in 100 days.
The time is ripe to get into the mood of intensive, focused prelims preparation. Some might feel that 100 days are still plenty enough. But every year we see aspirants saying that Feb, March, April went like the blink of an eye. So here we are just trying to make you realize the importance of the last 100 days. Some of you might be first-timers. Some of you might be veterans of 2nd, 3rd attempt. Regardless of that, you know for sure, everyone is at square zero at this juncture. So, let’s see how you can go about it.
1.One-line strategy: READ, TAKE NOTES, Revise and Repeat. Read carefully between the Question lines since some Prelims questions are tricky.
2.Keep your booklist at optimum For Revision. ( Don’t Showcase your Buying Capacity while purchasing books for Prelims )Even if it is not perfect. Best way to have a realistic plan, is to have your plan divided into Monthly, Weekly, Daily plans. If you are having some issues doing it, don’t hesitate to Contact US.
3.Don’t ever forget ‘History’ and ‘syllabus’ of UPSC. Here, history is ‘Previous Year Questions’ of UPSC which gives you the areas to focus on.
Yes, we all know that UPSC is, after all, Unpredictable Public Service Commission! But, still, it’s better to start with something to focus on. And it has been proven time and again that about 10-12 questions are repeated from previous years papers directly or from the same topics from which questions have been asked before. So, better start analyzing them. Last One Week Before You should Dedicate yourself for Solving Old Question Papers of UPSC.
Never stay away from the newspapers and analyse them as per the given syllabus for exam.
Keep a track of the syllabus in your mind while reading any topic for IAS.
Do not leave the important topics which overlap again and again in the syllabus.
Always be careful about what you are reading especially the resources they must be authentic.
Avoid reading useless material just to cover single question which is having poor chances to be asked in the exam.
Don't wait for test series always !! Try solving numerous short tests/quizzes wherever possible mostly topic wise for better hold on test writing skills !!
Reading each questions carefully before answering that in prelims is an art. Start devising your own method to ensure you note down all micro details in that question before you start working out its answer !!
4.Additionally, make some micro notes of such important topics on which questions have been asked repetitively over the years. You can check an example of such micro-notes at Various Study Websites online. we would try to provide you One month Before Prelims 2019 Mostly by May-end.
5.For veterans, “Remember failure is a great teacher. But if you don’t learn the lesson, life will repeat the lesson for you.” So even if you are a warrior of 2-3 prelims, don’t hesitate to read new good quality material, don’t hesitate to join a new but good quality test series, don’t hesitate to change your strategy if it is not working, and most importantly, don’t hesitate to try once again because you never know, the year 2019 could finally turn out to be yours. ( Note To Self )
6. For first-timers, first of all, have a firm belief that I can clear the Civil Services Prelims in one shot. Once, you are determined to do it and have read primary sources, then start solving MCQs tests as early as possible. You can solve it either from Mock Question Sets or from a quality Test Series. It is important so as to get into that mode of solving MCQs with the limited knowledge that you might have.
Whether you are a newcomer or a senior aspirant, you should practice at least 10,000 questions between the time of notification being published and the day of actual UPSC Examination. You can Ask one of Vihara’s Mentor Who has given 4 Mains Consecutively From 2015. "Practice Makes a man perfect"
On Exam Day Approach
On top of all these things, the most important thing is how you perform on THE D - DAY (June 02, 2019) which matters the most. We would write about how to put your best foot forward on THE D - DAY some time afterwards.
UPSC Doesn’t Set Question Paper very Tough. It makes you feel the paper Tougher Because of Psychometric Paper Setting Method Being Followed by Question Setters.
It is all how you handle the Stress during that 2 hours of Prelims. Take your Offline Test series Very seriously and Utilize your 2 hours of Test time Completely. Never take any Tests/Quiz very lightly during this 100 days. ( We will write Article for CSAT later )
Try to avoid Group Studies or Group Discussions during this last 100 days, As It affects Decision making while attempting questions during prelims Exam on June 2nd.
"Ex. During Exam pressure you can't Recollect correct answer While attempting Questions on D-Day. you will get Reminded of Lot of answers from your friends while preparing with your Group of friends. It's our personal opinion. It's upto You to take it or not."
Let’s take a small example of the Last three years Question pattern 2016, 2017, 2018.
1.2016 heavily Loaded with Current Affairs ( Banker’s/ Scheme's Prelims :-P )
2.2017 and 2018 prelims have just broken many so-called institutes' Myths and Tricks-Dams. Because We personally Felt the pressure of Eliminating Techniques in 2017 & 2018 prelims. So Never Fall to the Trap of Standard mechanism to solve Prelims Questions. There is no Standard Procedure to Solve Prelims Questions.
3.For A B C D type questions Always take great care to attempt them. If you have never heard about that Question and options, It’s better to leave that Question. -2.66 marks play a major role in your Selection process.
4.There are no Ideal Attempts (Max No of questions to be Attempted ) in prelims. It’s Depends on your Accuracy and your Instinct. Always Try to Follow your instinct in Crucial Periods of marking the answer.
5.While solving the test series, try answering the questions and then check if your answers are right. If not, check for the logic of your answering and rectify your thinking process. If you are not understanding how to do it. Please Feel Free to Reach to us, We will sort it Out. It would help you develop your own elimination skills and logical guesswork.
Till then, start revising all static, dynamic parts of the syllabus, solve as many quality MCQ’s as possible, gain a solid momentum and confidence in your preparation, stay calm, stay fit, stay healthy.
All the best wishes, Happy Reading at Vihara.
With Warm Love and Best Wishes,
Vihara Study Hall
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Very much needed Post For Freshers!!