The UPSC exam is considered one of the toughest and most prestigious exams in India. Every year lakhs of aspirants Prepare for UPSC IAS exam and only a few of them get into it. This exam is very challenging because of its vast syllabus, unpredictable nature and low success rate. However, students from every section of society, every year, clear this exam and become Civil Servants who play important role in nation making. This exam requires hard work, dedication, perseverance, courage and patience
UPSC exam is conducted in three phases- Prelims, Mains and Personal Interviews. At the start of the journey lakhs of students Prepare for UPSC IAS exam but in reality, only 1/10th of them are serious candidates who prepare for this exam, with discipline and dedication. So, one needs to be very clear with the preparation journey in the very beginning itself.
In this article, we will discuss How to Prepare for UPSC exam. Further, we will discuss its journey, preparation strategies and what all required to clear this exam.
Journey of preparation of UPSC exam
Following are some important steps that one should follow while preparing for this exam:
- Positive mindset:Start the preparation with a positive attitude. Just by seeing the large crowd, vast syllabus and few clearing the exam finally, one should not get demotivated. If you are a serious candidate who has the positive mindset, then possibilities of clearing this exam increases manifold.
- Why do you want to become an IAS:You do not have to just mug up this answer but you should be very clear in the back of your mind that why do you want to become an IAS officer? What qualities do you have that make you different from others?
- Dedication and Patience:The most important things which this exam wants from you are dedication, hard work and patience. UPSC not only checks your knowledge but it sees whether do you have wisdom, officers like qualities. These things will not build in one day but you need to build these qualities throughout your preparation journey.
Preparation Strategies
To Prepare for UPSC IAS exam one should make her/his strategy and follow that like mantra. Followings are some tips and methods which one should follow while preparing for exam:
- Syllabus:Mug up the upsc syllabus thoroughly for both Prelims and Mains. This is the first and foremost thing while preparation.
- Timetable:Make a detailed time table and follow that every day. You need to be very consistent in your study. You cannot study one day 14 hours and next day 2 hours. For that you need to have a timer table. You can make your own time table which exactly suits you. Make it day wise, week wise or month wise. But make it by your own. Don’t just copy paste others.
- Current Affairs:One should read at least one newspaper No monthly current affairs magazine can replace newspapers. Newspaper reading with full stories, instead of reduced version of it, will enhance writing skills and knowledge of current affairs. Notes prepared by you or some other website can be used for revision
- NCERT: Reading NCERTs is very important in the UPSC exam. It will clear the fundamentals of the students. Only after reading NCERTs thoroughly, you move forward towards advanced books like Geography by Majid Hussainin the UPSC IAS preparation.
- Previous Year Questions:For clearing Prelims, practice of previous year papers and mock test is very For mains, one needs to practice answer writing on a daily basis and practice mock test also.
- Use of internet: Today, internet is very helpful in the preparation of UPSC exam. It helps one to get updated with daily national and international news. With internet one can even Prepare for UPSC IAS exam without taking offline classes. For that one needs to refer important government sites very specifically e.g. Pib. However, you should also avoid the unnecessary activities on internet like social media, YouTube and other mediums of entertainment.
- Making Notes:One should make their own notes instead of referring other’s notes. It helps one to remember and recall the things in exam easily.
- Revision:Revision is the key to clear UPSC exam. One should revise their notes on a daily basis.
- Choosing Optional:Correct choice of optional subject is also very important to clear the UPSC Mains with good marks. It will help you to get into the service with good rank.
- Personal Interview:Last but not least is the UPSC Personal Interview where not your knowledge but your personality is checked. You need to have overall idea about all happenings in the world. This preparation will start on the very same day when you start your prelims preparation. And after mains you only need to brush up the things.
The journey of UPSC IAS exam is long and full of challenges. One need to have clear ideas, goals and understanding about the exam to get the final selection and success.
