The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is probably one of the most difficult exam to crack. Many students give it their best shot, but only a handful manage to crack it. And that’s not because they lack the intelligence or the will to succeed, but because they don’t have access to the right kind of resources and support. And you know what? That’s something we can change! If you are reading this article now, it means that you have what it takes to crack the UPSC, as long as you have the correct guidance. So here are some useful tips and tricks on how you can ace your next UPSC exam.
Know your syllabus like the back of your hand
This is the most basic thing that you must do if you want to score well in any exam, whether it is the UPSC or something else. This doesn’t mean that you should know the whole syllabus word-for-word. It means that you should have a general, but precise, understanding of everything in your syllabus. For example, if your syllabus is Indian History, you should know the following things about Indian History – – The starting and ending dates of the period that the syllabus covers – The key people, events, movements, and developments that shaped this period – The underlying themes and ideas that are specific to this period – The underlying social, political, economic, and cultural issues, problems, and concerns that are specific to this period – The key developments and advancements that happened in this period that had a decisive impact on the subsequent period – The places and specific sites where the events and developments mentioned above took place – The underlying tensions, issues, and problems that are specific-to this period – The most important works and texts that were written and published in this period – And so on.
Get a Crash Course in Current Affairs for UPSC Prelims
You must be well-versed with the current affairs section of the UPSC. This will come in useful if you are required to write on current affairs in your mains examination, or if you are asked a topical question on current affairs in your prelims exam. To get up-to-date with current affairs, you can check out a few reputed newspapers and magazines, or you can go online. You can also download and read the best books available on current affairs and UPSC preparation for prelims 2023.
Memorise Key Concepts from Textbooks
Many of the concepts that you will come across in your UPSC prelims exam 2023 are based on or are used in scientific fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. You must therefore be well-versed with these concepts. You can use your textbooks to do this. You can use highlighters and post-it notes to mark the most important parts, and then later on, you can revisit these parts and try to understand them in more detail. You can also make use of a technique called the “spreading activation” technique where you try to associate a certain concept with another concept by trying to link them together in some way. For example, if you are trying to associate the concept of “pressure” with the concept of “volume”, you could say that the volume of a thing is directly proportional to the pressure applied on it.
Create your own flashcards and question bank
If you want to score well in the UPSC exam 2023, you should be constantly preparing for it in some way or the other. One of the best ways to prepare for an exam is to make your own flashcards and question bank. You can make your own flashcards of important concepts from textbooks, and you can also make your own question bank by trying to make your own set of questions and answers based on the concepts in your textbooks or relevant topics from current affairs. This way, you will be constantly reviewing the information and concepts that you have learnt, and you will be able to cement them in your mind better. This will come in really handy when you have to write your UPSC exam. The more prepared you are, the better your chances of scoring well in the exam.
Summary
These are the most basic things that you must do if you are preparing for the UPSC exam. If you follow these tips and tricks, you will definitely score well in the exam. However, there are some other things that you should also keep in mind while preparing for the exam. Hence, let’s move on to the next point. And if you are looking for the best UPSC coaching notes for prelims 2023, then you’re at the right place. We can help you with that. Just keep reading!