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(Getting Started) UPSC Prelims Strategy by IAS Shrestha Anupam AIR-19



(Getting Started) UPSC Prelims Strategy by IAS Shrestha Anupam AIR-19



Shreshtha Anupam of Bhagalpur, Bihar, ranked 19 in UPSC Civil Services 2019. He is a Chemical Engineer with a B.Tech degree from Delhi University. He had previously attempted the upsc exam as a college student but did not get far. This was his second attempt and he reached the very top.

Bhagalpur's Shrestha Anupam bags AIR 19 in UPSC exam, studied 10-15 hours  daily | Hindustan Times

Shreshtha Anupam, AIR-19, UPSC CSE 2019

6 Pillars Of UPSC Success

According to Shreshtha, there are 6 subjects that are the pillars of success in UPSC prelims. They are –

  1. Modern History
  2. Polity
  3. Economy
  4. Geography
  5. Environment
  6. Current Affairs & NCERT Notes PDF

Conceptual clarity and in-depth knowledge in these subjects will ensure you can answer the prelims questions to the best of your abilities

UPSC Prelims Strategy

Solving Mock Tests

The key to success in prelims is practice. The recent trends in UPSC make it impossible for one to know all answers for sure. In the exam hall, at least 40-60 marks can be acquired by simply eliminating options to reach the correct answer. Solving test papers allow you to have enough practice of eliminating options that you can use in the exam hall. Shreshtha solved at least 50 papers for his prelims attempt.

Graduate Aptitude Psychometric Tests | Types of Testing

OMRs are non-replaceable. Practice helps.

Current Affairs

Reading newspapers is a must according to Shreshtha. Monthly magazines, daily blogs, and YouTube videos help you. However, there is no alternative to the perspective developed by reading newspapers on your own and forming your opinions. It helps you immensely with conceptual clarity which carries you through the prelims, mains, and even the interview stage. 

Static Subjects 

Some key points to note here –

  • Your aim is to score a 100% in Polity and Economy. If you have studied Laxmikanth for polity and Mrunal (online source) for Economics with multiple revisions, this is easily achievable because the questions asked on these subjects in UPSC prelims are conceptual and within the bound of these two sources.
  • Even though UPSC asks some very deep questions in Modern History from time to time, if you have covered your sources well, you should be able to score at least 70-80% on this portion. The more the merrier.
  • For Art and Culture, which is intrinsically tied to Ancient and Medieval History, refer to RS Sharma and Satish Chandra Old NCERTs. For Art and Culture, refer to the Fine Arts NCERT and read selectively from Nitin Singhania. The syllabus is huge for this portion, but the questions asked are few. So, use your better judgment when preparing.
  • For geography, maps are key. For the last 2 months before the prelims, please ensure you dedicate 10-15 minutes to map practice daily. The sources suggested by Shreshtha for this section is the NCERT books of classes 11 and 12.

How to practice maps for UPSC CSE - Quora

Map Practice Is Important

  • For the environment, refer to Shankar IAS. It is enough and supplements it with previous years' questions. Each year, at least 20-22 questions are asked from this section and you can easily answer them with a little effort.

Message To Aspirants

The preliminary exam is a deciding factor. Out of 7/8 lakh aspirants, only 10 thousand get selected. You want to ensure you are on the right side of this 1:10 ratio. Know your accuracy and attempt accordingly. 

Keep working hard; hard-workers never fail in their quests.

All the best!

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(Getting Started) Self Study Strategy by IAS Sanjita Mohapatra AIR-10



(Getting Started) Self Study Strategy by IAS Sanjita Mohapatra AIR-10



Sanjita Mohapatra is the 10th all-India rank holder in UPSC Civil Services Examination 2019. She is a native of Rourkela, Odisha. A mechanical engineer who has served as an assistant manager for Rourkela Steel Plant, she quit her job in 2018. In 2019 she has finally bagged her dream job of being an IAS officer. She attributes her success in this exam to self-studying, as well as to her choice of optional Sociology. This was Sanjita's 5th attempt. She has previously secured a state rank of 2 in Odisha Public Services Commission.

Sanjita's Booklist

To begin with, Sanjita shares the books she had picked up on her journey.

Mistakes She Learned From

Sanjita had qualified upsc prelims once before and was able to identify the problems in the first 3 times that she did not qualify. The key is multiple revisions and mock test practice. Without it, nobody can qualify for prelims.

Similarly, for upsc mains, crisp and short notes making is key. Too long notes are difficult to revise and hence useless. Sanjita learned from her mistakes and for the first time, she did not qualify mains, but ranked 10 among lakhs of aspirants.

UPSC Prelims

Sanjita insists revision is key to cracking prelims. For 2 months before the prelims exam, she quit answer writing and focused full-time on mocks. She reread the NCERT Books and other basic books repeatedly and took to writing online quizzes twice a week.

UPSC Mains

Sanjita made short notes from current affairs. She maintained separate notebooks for each GS paper and maintained bookmarks and clips from online sources as well. Her goal was to ensure that whenever she did sit to revise her notes, she should not have to struggle with resources.

She also took a 3 months crash course and last-minute current affairs revision classes before her mains. Study Notes from those classes greatly aided her preparation.

Answer Writing

She answered in bullet points and used two separate inks for headings and text. This helped her make her answers more readable. And the practice helped her with presentation skills.

Attempting All Answers

Out of the 80 odd questions asked in UPSC Mains General Studies papers, Sanjita had answered 78 which is big deal. She timed her practice so that even in the exam hall, she could finish the 10 10 markers in an hour and take the rest hour and a half to complete the remaining 15 markers. Then focus the next half an hour on ensuring you did it all write.

Message To IAS Aspirants

Patience, Perseverance, Consistency, and Hard Work – these are the 4 qualities that set a successful UPSC aspirant apart from the rest. 

Stay focused and do your best. May you be showered with success.

All the best!

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(Success Story) UPSC 2021 TOPPER, AIR-12 Yasharth Shekhar On Cracking UPSC Exams



(Success Story) UPSC 2021 TOPPER, AIR-12 Yasharth Shekhar On Cracking UPSC Exams



Yasharth Shekhar has secured the 12th rank in the UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2021. He is a native of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He appeared in the UPSC Exam thrice. In his first attempt, he couldn't even qualify for the preliminary examination. On the second attempt, he reached the interview stage but couldn't make his name in the final list. Finally he secured All India Rank 12th in his third attempt. During an interview, by sharing his happiness he said,

"Everybody desires a rank but most importantly the name in the list. He also just wanted to see his name in the list and when he found his rank was 12th he was on cloud nine. Further he added, he was very grateful to get that.”

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

He studied at City Montessori School, Lucknow till class 10th. After that he went to La Martiniere College for class 12th. He completed his graduation with Economics (Hons) from St Stephens College, Delhi University. He also took Economics as his optional subject. After his graduation, he started preparing for the  UPSC exam.

YASHARTH  SHEKHAR'S IAS PREPARATION STRATEGY

PRACTICE SOLVED PAPERS

One of the best tools for an aspirant is previous years solved question papers. Yasharth advised the aspirants; include solved paper sets in your study schedule with a detailed explanation. This will help you understand the conceptual aspect which will help to answer many similar questions. This becomes very important for mains examination also.

 

FOCUS ON ANSWER WRITING PRACTICE

Focus on answer writing because writing helps in internalising what you have read. This assumes greater significance when you have to read a huge syllabus. He said that his focus has been more on writing essays. Despite its importance, essay papers often do not get the attention that they deserve from aspirants. Essay papers are equally important as GS papers. Your answers should be relevant, correct, crisp, adhere to the word limit and coherent.

READ NEWSPAPER REGULARLY

Yasharth said he used to read the newspaper regularly. It keeps him updated on the current happenings in and around the world. Newspapers also help in answer writing also such as facts, data etc.

SELF- ASSESSMENT

Self-assessment is an essential part of UPSC preparation. Yasharth said you will get an idea of your level of preparation when you solve previous years question papers. You make mistakes and you learn from them. Analyze the mistake and redefine your strategy. This will definitely help you perform in the actual exam.

At last Yasharth advised the aspirants; remember there is no shortcut for UPSC preparation. Study hard but don't put yourself in the shadow of stress and anxiety. Stay positive. Do meditation and Yoga. For relaxation, Yasharth says he used to watch cricket or movies. For relaxation, Yasharth says he would watch cricket or movies. Being patient with your journey, while consistently working towards goals and learning from mistakes will help you to manage exam anxiety and establish the balanced mental framework needed for success.

Follow the steps Yasharth wishes you good luck with the preparation.

© IASEXAMPORTAL

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(Getting Started) How to Crack UPSC In First Attempt - Mukund Kumar IAS (AIR-54)



(Getting Started) How to Crack UPSC In First Attempt - Mukund Kumar IAS (AIR-54)



Mukund Kumar has secured the coveted all-India rank of 54 in Civil Services Examination 2019 conducted by UPSC. He is a native of the Madhubani district of Bihar. He was a student of Sainik School, Goalpara, Assam, which he got admitted to by clearing an all-India examination. He graduated in English Literature from PGDAV college, Delhi university in 2018. 2019 was Mukund’s very first attempt and he made it to the top of the result sheet with his hard work and determination.

How To Begin IAS Preparation

  • Start with downloading the prelims and mains UPSC syllabus. Keep them in front of you always. Keep reading and rereading the syllabus. It’s the best way to familiarize yourself with UPSC.
  • Start with common parts with prelims and mains – integrated preparation is key. History, Geography, Economics, Polity, Environment – these are the main elements here. Preparing this well will take 12-14 months.
  • Next, start the potions exclusive to mains such as Ethics, World History, Internal Security and Disaster Management, etc. This would take another 3-4 months. 

UPSC Prelims

Devote 3-4 months before the prelims examination completely for the preliminary exam. Qualifying prelims alone can boost your confidence enough to push you through to the final list. Ensure you solve at least 30 mock tests and have a repository of 3000+ MCQ questions at hand. Take your CSAT paper seriously and solve previous years' questions. You do not want to be disqualified over it. Do not underestimate option elimination as that can fetch you up to 60 marks.

UPSC Mains Optionals

Your optional will make or break your result. The main reason is the marks for this paper can be as high as 60-70%. For G.S., your marks tend not to go above 50%. So this will push you to the front of the list with up to 100 more marks than the average aspirant. Mukund recommends taking 5-6 months to prepare your optional well.

Choose your optional based on your interest alone. Do not pick an optional based on toppers’ opinions or what has scored better in the recent past. You have to study your optional in much depth, so your interest must sustain. 

Book List

Mukund suggests the following books –

These are by no measure the best books, choose books as per your aptitude. And remember, it is better to read one book thrice than reading three books once. 

Current Affairs

Current affairs have become very important in recent times. It is integral to prelims, mains, and interviews. Read a newspaper such as Hindu or Indian Express, and read a monthly magazine to revise. Do not go for multiple sources.

Message To IAS Aspirants

Be happy. Stress never helped anyone. Try to focus on one subject at a time and don’t get distracted by the anxiety of studying another subject. 

Keep your head down and keep working hard. You will succeed. 

All the best!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD UPSC TOPPERS NOTES

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