Important Tips to Crack UPSC Exam in the First Attempt
I hope you all might be familiar with this exam, as this exam has gained popularity among today’s youth. Also, it has become the first choice of the students aiming for government jobs and who wants to serve the country.
Every year more than ten lakh students appear for this exam but, only one thousand candidates are able to make it to the final merit list after the refined selection process. Only top 350 candidates get IAS as their choice and rest followed by IPS, IRS and other 20 central services. The selection process is very exhaustive and tiresome as a candidate is expected to give a series of paper continuously without any break. This is how our future leaders are chosen. Every year many aspiring youths appear for this exam with a hope to clear this exam with a good rank in the merit. Unlike other exams, here UPSC has fixed the number of attempts a candidate can give which makes this exam unique and the toughest in the country.
It becomes mandatory for the candidate to appear in this exam with foolproof strategy and preparation. A candidate cannot bear to leave any topic from the syllabus but at the same time, an aspirant has to do the selective study. UPSC exam syllabus is vast and diverse. It contains almost every topic from every subject that we studied during our school times.
Here are a few important points that need to be followed religiously as you can not leave any stone unturned in your preparation:
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Understand the UPSC syllabus
Can you imagine a troop going for a war without knowing the map of the area? For first time appearing candidates, it’s very important to know the syllabus and to understand what UPSC demands from a candidate. Visit the official website of UPSC and download the notification of this exam. Go through the syllabus and read it thoroughly. Here I will advise you to take a print out of the same and paste it down at your study table. This will help you to memorise the syllabus and you will not deviate from your path.
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Make a timetable and adhere to it
I want to start hereby quoting wonderful lines of a great poet:
Time flies but you are the pilotFrom the day you decide to become an IAS officer, from that time onwards you need to become disciplined and focused b life You are the driver of your bus, you better know how to drive it than others.
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Revision is the mother of learning
Learning makes you knowledgeable but revision makes you both knowledgeable and confident. You better know what is required to crack any competitive exam especially UPSC exams. Don’t wait for the last minute to revise whatever you have learned. If you do this then be ready to taste failure. Make a plan and remember that revision should be its integral part. As much as you revise any subject the possibility of gaining marks in that subject increases.
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Writing skills and Reading skills
Having these two skills is the most important for a UPSC aspirant. Almost 70% of the paper is subjective and if you don’t have good writing skills than it is a serious concern for you. It’s better for you to start writing good essays beforehand to avoid any suffering later in the exam. Don’t panic after writing your first essay. As it will be the worst of all the essays you will write further in your life. “Rome was not built in a day”. If you practice daily than I can assure you that you can have great writing skills as that of Chetan Bhagat, Rabindranath Tagore, Robin Sharma. If they can do it, then you too. This problem is generally faced by engineers who have never written a page as they totally rely upon formulas.
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Grab the Weapons
Ever thought what would be the result of the war when the opponent is not loaded with combat weapons. Yeah, you thought it right. The opponent has to surrender or will be badly defeated. Same is the case here. First, collect all the study material before you start your preparations. As all say, that NCERT books are the bible for the UPSC exam. It’s very right in the context of this exam. Apart from this, there is a standard book for every subject. You can search for the book list in the google itself and you will find a plethora of books.
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Do take care of your health
As the UPSC journey is exhaustive and a very long process which may take approximately one year. So, it becomes very necessary to take care of your health at every moment of time. Till the time you don’t have the energy, your mind wont work. As per a research carried out, it was found that the human brain uses almost 15% of the total energy of the body. Keep yourself fit and active. You can go to an evening walk along with your friends and can discuss the burning topics which might help you in knowing other’s opinion.
So, friends, these were the tips to crack UPSC exam in the very first attempt. Wish you all the best for your future endeavours and I hope you will achieve your dreams with your hard work and perseverance.