I Am An Undergraduate Student Who Will Be Completing His Engineering Next Year (2018). I Want To Prepare For Civil Services Examination, 2018. As The Prelims Will Be Conducted In June, Do I Have Sufficient Time To Complete The Syllabus In Time For Prelims? I Have Heard That It Is Very Difficult To Clear The Exam In First Attempt But As Months Are Limited, What Should I Study So That I Can Clear Prelims?

Question : I Am An Undergraduate Student Who Will Be Completing His Engineering Next Year (2018). I Want To Prepare For Civil Services Examination, 2018. As The Prelims Will Be Conducted In June, Do I Have Sufficient Time To Complete The Syllabus In Time For Prelims? I Have Heard That It Is Very Difficult To Clear The Exam In First Attempt But As Months Are Limited, What Should I Study So That I Can Clear Prelims?

( Amit Saxena, BE (4th Year), Greater Noida, Via: E-Mail )

Answer :

CSC: Dear Amit, Civil Services Exam is all about a planned effort with the right guidance. Your examination process will be about mind over matter. We truly won’t say that it is impossible but, it is a very difficult goal to achieve. You have to refine your thought process for the exam and get ready to work hard. The number of hours don’t matter, it is always the quality of the reading/understanding acquired from the books and other study material. Keeping this in mind you should have a very clear-cut content plan for the coming 5 months (till Prelims) and then for the next 4 months till Mains exam. UPSC exam has blurred the lines between Mains and Prelims. It will be better if in the first three months you integrate your Prelims and Mains studies. Then, channelize all your efforts with focus on Prelims for the next 3 months and then only on Mains for the next 4 months.

Your, first step should be to read standard books (NCERT books from class VI to class XII). The next step is to enroll yourself for a good quality integrated test series for Prelims and Mains. Commit yourself completely for the content plan and follow the test series schedule religiously. It will go in your favour, for the subject based tests will help you how to study the subject. By the end of March, you will complete all the basic stuff and you will be thorough with all the topics. Also, choose one optional and try to finish it by April, so that after Prelims you can easily revise it. Focus mainly on prelims after April. If you have decided to give the exam then go for it with all the guns blazing.