My journey
This was my 4th attempt and I couldn’t clear my first prelims in 2016. The mistake I realized was I had got those questions wrong which other people with my level of preparation got right. That’s a Himalayan blunder. I had also taken class room course from Vajiram & Ravi. But that’s not a necessity.
The best thing about this exam is everyone’s journey has been different; everyone would have a different story to tell. And no one way of study is best or would ensure other one’s success. I strongly believe that one has to find their own path but in their journey one could take advices. So I would give a warning that whatever I have written or told anywhere one should take it with a pinch of salt.
Preparation
Most of the people ask me how to separate the preparation of prelims and mains. Although the demand of both types are different, since almost everything for prelims is also there for mains, one must not compartmentalise it. Only during the stages of revision for prelims one should focus on stuff which is more important for prelims. Eg. – For Modern History during prelims one must focus on factual information like author of the book, name of the people in the movement, features of several reforms like GoI Acts, Indian Council Acts etc.
Like it is mentioned above everyone has a different journey and everyone would have followed different material source. But I believe most selected people would have repeated one source multiple times rather than new source most of the times. So a strong advice would be to minimize the source. I would mention my book list. This is neither exhaustive nor foolproof. It also doesn’t mean that I have not referred to other source during my preparation. The list I will be referring would contain those resource which I think would be sufficient. One might add and subtract resources based on their own needs based on objective evaluation.
Booklist & Resource
· Modern History – Spectrum (Rajiv Ahir). I filled the gaps in my knowledge through sectional test of VisionIAS. I also did solve 60 day plan of IASBaba.com and InsightsonIndia.com. And whatever new knowledge I got I wrote in my spectrum book.
· Ancient & Medieval – It is advised that one should read old NCERT. But this part was weak for me. So I used to read Tamil Nadu Board Book and Lucent book of general knowledge. I also filled gaps in my knowledge through the tests mentioned above.
· Art & Culture – I followed Nitin Singhania book on Art & Culture. That’s a very good book in my opinion. But people tend to find it long. So as a substitute my friends used to read GKToday Notes which they found to be exhaustive. Apart from this VisionIAS Monthly magazine or PT-365 used to cover aspects from Current Affairs. Also test series mentioned above.
· Geography – I studied from Vajiram Notes, Yellow Book, NCERT (11th & 12th), GC Leong & Mrunal videos and made short notes from it and always used to refer it. (I will try to upload it soon). One can also refer to Pmfias.com. Test series mentioned above can also supplement it. For map – watch a video or two of places in news. Also frequently spend time watching atlas and identifying important places. I will share my map notes also soon.
· Polity – Laxmikant & Current Affairs (Legislation & Policy) & tests. There are important committees (apart from polity also) one must learn them also. This can be used in mains answer writing also. VisionIAS material for schemes.
· Environment & Ecology – Old and New biology NCERT. Initially I read the Shankar book and found it too lengthy. I replaced it with VisionIAS’s value added material. The prelims paper has extra focus on this part. For E&E current affairs is most important. So one has to read about all national parks, biosphere reserves, sanctuaries, species (especially in India & in News), and several organization and bodies (IAS Parliament material). One should also take test to fill the gap and practice the art of elimination.
· Economy – ShreramIAS notes and Mrunal Videos. Newspaper & current Affairs and test. Economic Survey - if not complete then only summary.
· IR – Newspaper & Current Affairs material & Test. Also one may read from prelims book by IAS Parliament on organization. Also its material for indices.
· S&T - Newspaper & Current Affairs material & Test & general awareness.
· Social Issues - Newspaper & Current Affairs material & Test.
Current Affairs
I used to read two newspaper, The Hindu & The Indian Express almost throughout from journey. Delhi edition should be preferred. I also used to read the daily current affairs analysis of IASbaba.com & InsightsonIAS.com. During prelims, I used to follow VISIONIAS PT – 365.
Revision & Evaluation
I believe one should start exclusive preparation for prelims atleast 2-3 months before. The focus should be in through revision and evaluation. The objective evaluation can be achieved through solving mock test under testing conditions. Focus should be on analysing mistakes and taking corrective action.
Also focus should be on how to answer questions unheard of through smart guess (‘tukka’) and use of limited knowledge. This is an important skill one has to acquire. This can be achieved by solving more & more and test.
So the mantra is test, test, test (like mantra to defeat Covid-19).
CSAT
I personally never worried much about CSAT. But if someone have their concern, they can evaluate themselves by solving previous year paper and accessing them. Based on the assessment practice mock test and solve question.
Attempting the paper in the Exam
Everyone has a different style of attempting the paper. I would share my style. I would first mark all the question whose answer I am sure with likelihood of 80-100%. This would generally include 40 questions and would take half the time. Rest I would mark for review. In the next round, I would mark questions 35-40 questions most of which I would be sure of 50-80% and would take around 30-40 minutes. In the next 20 minutes or so I would identify questions where I could make a smart guess, taking hint from the questions. By this way I would end up attempting about 85-95 questions.
People also ask the number of question one should attempt. It’s a personal choice. If the person has a high accuracy one doesn’t need to attempt 90 questions. I was always not sure about my accuracy so would attempt so many questions.
One advice I would give is one should remain calm and always have confidence they will clear the paper. One should always hydrate themselves as generally prelims happens during peak summer.
Sources of material
Many people often ask me this questions of where to find the resource. These are available on telegram channels & website. Also there are several shops in Delhi who would ship the hard copy anywhere in India. One such is Imagerunner (https://t.me/imagerunners).
Rest of the books are available on amazon or flipkart or may be your nearest store.
Comments