Today, starting this day, you stand less than 30 days\nfrom the Prelims Exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This moment is as difficult, momentous or as easy going as\nyou would want it to be. I am writing this, because I often write for friends,\nand last year, @mango_dolly , @proust, @greymatterrules @matrixreloaded did\nthank me personally for\nthis last moment article<\/a>, so I believe this one should help you too for the\nPrelims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ( Oh, and all of the above did manage to get IRS and\nIAS (AIR 40s, 86 and 87 ) respectively with stellar ranks.\n @mango_dolly and @greymatterrules were already in service and worked to\nimprove ranks<\/em> )<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the next thirty days, what your strategy should be\ndepends a lot on where you stand with your preparation. While everyone is\njittery when it comes to Prelims, we can still classify ourselves into the\nbelow<\/p>\n\n\n\n You have done basic revision, had signed up for a Test\nSeries in December or Feb, diligently written Tests on time and are somewhere\nin top 200-300 out of 1000+ people who appear for that Test Series<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are one of those who have done basic revision, have\nbeen writing Tests and doing decent ( like 80-90+ marks) in Test Series where\nthe toppers get generally 100-110, (or you are one of the toppers) you are good\nto go. What you need to do now, is practise questions. You can write up to one\ntest paper daily or on alternate days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The purpose of doing Test papers is twin fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly<\/em>, what you study should be aligned to the examination process. How do you know this? \u00a0When you write tests and solve questions on the basis of what you have read, you know you are reading the right things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most people read stuff that has very little relevance to the\nexamination, and do not realise this because they do not write any mock Tests.\nSome people are so smart, they write the first test in Examination Hall itself.\nThats not how things should be done, even if it has worked for some people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Writing mocks helps you align your preparation in the right\ndirection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And when you are scoring 30-40 marks where everyone\nelse is scoring 80-90 marks. This largely means two things – a) You have not\nbeen reading the right things b) You are not revising the right\nthings<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly<\/em>, Small Mocks in the last one month (should) help you in two more ways. If every morning you begin with a mini mock of 1 hour or so, you are setting the agenda of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you score good, this should keep you motivated and on\ntrack. It provides a good encouragement to drive you through the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In case you do not score well, a little bit of fear is good.\nThat should again help you study at a faster pace. The next 30 days are meant\nto be spent in a mission<\/em> mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By right things I mean the parts of the syllabus most\nrelevant to the examination. For example, most enthusiastic people who lack\nguidance begin preparing History in the following manner, at least in the first\nattempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In preparing History, they begin with ancient India and move\non to medieval India. They learn and memorise every key detail including the\nDelhi Sultanate and reach upto the Mysore War and Anglo Maratha War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time exam comes near, they have reached maybe uptil\n1905 – Moderates, Partition of Bengal etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, If you analyse last 5 years question paper, you can\ninfer for yourself that the part of History that has Modern Indian History is the\nmost important for Prelims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in Modern Indian History, the part between 1905-1947 is\nmost significant. It is also the most scoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But by the time the exam has come, you now lack two things –\ntime<\/em> and enthusiasm\/energy<\/em> to cover the more significant\npart of the syllabus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t do that mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Try reading History backwards sometimes for best results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You have not been able to complete the syllabus and have\ndone 1 full reading of the syllabus, you joined a Test Series but did not write\nany Tests and are shaky OR are getting 30-60 marks in the Tests you have\njoined.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n To be honest, if you are in this category, there is good\nnews and bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bad news is – you do not have the adequate knowledge\nbase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is – 30 days is a good enough time to work\non your knowledge base and dramatically improve your KB\/ Score and Success\nchances<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But If you fall in this category, these are two things that\nyou would be doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are doing 2, it is the right approach for the next\nthirty days. Write Tests, but in moderation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you doing 1, you are in for a disappointment. In my\nexperience, I have not come across people who have not read text and cracked\nthe Prelims by only practising MCQs and reading solutions. In fact, students in\nthis category don’t even try solving MCQs – they largely read solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theoretically, it is correct to assume that questions will\nbe coming on topics<\/strong> from which you have seen questions in your\nTest Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in actuality, if you have not read the basic text, it\nmay be difficult for you to solve<\/em> those questions because one or two of\nthe options asked in UPSC may not be the same as that asked in the Mock Test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UPSC, unlike State Services Examination or other government\nexamination, does not merely state a question which you know or do not know.\nYou have to logically infer the answer by elimination of choices. This applies\nto at least 30% of the questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those 30% of the questions are crucial<\/em> to your\nselection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Always remember, that solving questions correctly you need\nto have two three things<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now a Prelims Test Paper is designed for the last two\npurposes . But if you are deciding to build more than 60% of your KB through\nquestions, this does not work for Prelims at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which is why 10,000 MCQs books are not on the recommended\nlist of any Toppers. But NCERTs, Spectrum, Shankar IAS books are.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n At best they suppliment your preparation via standard books,\nand do not replace it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Knowledge Base should invariably be built by reading the\nbasic books again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ( For the Mains, yes that is a good approach because for\nMains, you anyway prepare issues and topics, and should not be reading text end\nto end. For Mains, a Q & A approach is suitable, but not for Prelims )<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Those of you in category 2 would , because of lack of time,\nare very likely to resort to doing Tests and reading solutions for preparation\npurpose. But your problem is not developing the aptitude for solving questions\ncorrectly. Your problem is KB. Work on it, starting now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, I-am-going-to-write-as-many-Tests as possible\nis not the best approach.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When someone advises you to solve as many Tests as possible,\nhe or she is assuming that you have completed majority of the syllabus and\nrevised a couple of times. You have done the static part at least. If this\nassumption is right for you, by all means practise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if you have not done so, writing infinite tests will not\nhelp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What you between the Tests is important. Are you going back\nand revising the text from the book? Or are you just reading the answer key or\nthe solutions and moving on to next test and getting the same percentile again\nand again. Ideally, if you are getting a question wrong in the Test, you should\ngo back and refer the book, or the Internet and read briefly about it and allied\ntopics. <\/em>For example, if you just did a question on coral reefs wrong, you\nshould accumulate knowledge of coral bleaching too.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Depends on what your problem area is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Category 1 Students, who are already scoring well in\nTests, you can safely keep doing what you are doing – revise daily and write\nTests. You have developed decent Knowledge Base and should move further from\nhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Category 2 Students, the primary focus should be on\nfirst covering the syllabus, and then revision of the syllabus, and then\npractising questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So while you should still solve questions on a daily\nbasis<\/em><\/strong>, do not make it the primary way of enhancing your KB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Books are still<\/em> a man’s best friends. And\nwomens’ too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have largely read the books, but in Test\nSeries half my questions are wrong.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are in the top 10% percentile of the Test Series and\nmaking mistakes, probably you have joined a Vajiram kind of Test Series where\neveryone scores low and that may okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if you are getting 50% errors in a test where 20% of top\nscores are above 90, you are not doing it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is what you may have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like college days, you have read the text and assumed that\nyou have “completed<\/strong>” the topic and its the papers fault that\nyou are getting so many wrongs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If others are scoring well, then the likely explanation is\nthat you have revised things less than three times.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And as far as UPSC Paper is concerned, if anything is under\nrevised, the paper is such that you will end up making mistakes rather than\nsolving it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second reason why people get questions wrong is that\nthey do not read – the books carefully and then they even do not read questions\ncarefully. Some people go as far as not even reading the explanations carefully\n\ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do’t do that. Develop the habit of reading things carefully.\nFor Prelims, details are important compared to the Mains examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And revise as many times as you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have left something, try to cover it. Try to cover\nthings quickly. Make short rough notes, tables etc. Put information in easily\ngraspable form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The last 30 days are game changer. No matter what you have\ndone before, it is these days that count in the end. What you read now on wards\nwill be in your memory and this greatly helps for subjects like History, Polity\nand even Current Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if you ever get a feeling that you have missed the bus\nand time is less, remember that most people will be covering their Current\nAffairs in the coming days. Even the best prepared guy, including those in the\nAllied Services will be spending 8-10 hours studying in the last days. So you\nare at an equal footing in these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be prepared to work very very hard, friends, Anyone who has\ncleared Prelims has worked very hard at least in one attempt. Be willing\nto give it your best. 24 Hours are usually enough to change the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 30 days is still a decent enough time to finish the race\nlike a winner. Leave no stone unturned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end , for the next thirty days – no matter how the\npaper goes or how the result goes, you should have the contentment that you did\nyour best. You worked your hardest. You did everything possible that could be\ndone. You sleep tired with the effort you’ve put. \u0907\u0902\u0938\u093e\u0928 \u0916\u0941\u0926\n\u0915\u0940 \u0928\u091c\u093c\u0930 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0938\u0939\u0940 \u0939\u094b\u0928\u093e \u091a\u093e\u0939\u093f\u090f, \u0926\u0941\u0928\u093f\u092f\u093e \u0924\u094b\u0939 \u092d\u0917\u0935\u0928 \u0938\u0947 \u092d\u0940 \u0926\u0941\u0916\u0940\n\u0939\u0948 |<\/p>\n\n\n\n So do whatever it takes. People are rewarded in public\nfor the hard work they put in private. So keep to yourself, work as hard as you\ncan and meet your daily study goals. And success will be yours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of thirty days, write a good paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until next time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neyawn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today, starting this day, you stand less than 30 days from the Prelims Exam. This moment is as difficult, momentous or as easy going as you would want it to be. I am writing this, because I often write for friends, and last year, @mango_dolly , @proust, @greymatterrules @matrixreloaded did thank me personally for this last… Continue reading The 30 Day Guide to Prelims Preparation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prelims","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Neyawn-featured-Image-with-filters.jpg?fit=960%2C435&ssl=1","views":{"total":1175,"cached_at":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Preparation Status 1<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The purpose of solving Test Papers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Get into the Mission Mode<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
But what do you mean by right things?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Preparation Status 2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
But what is the problem with this approach?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What to do in the next 30 days<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The 7 point formula for the next 30 days<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n