Cracking the civil services examination is the dream of every student. Many candidates are in a dilemma about civil services preparation like how to start the preparation and how to crack the exam without any coaching and many more questions. As UPSC Civil Services Exam is being so difficult, but it can be cleared in the first attempt even by not getting any coaching.
The students who have planned for this prestigious exam can prepare for UPSC Civil Services Examination without any coaching in a very first attempt by the following strategy
Understand the pattern of exam
Firstly, aspirants must visit the UPSC official website to understand the exam pattern and other things related to this exam.
Analyse yourself
If aspirants don’t want to join any coaching then analyse yourself. Take a few days to experiment and identify which method is suitable for you. It includes questions like Choosing an optional; Individual study vs. Group study; what is my motivation? Why do I want to join civil services? Reading from books vs. watching videos and learning; which book to follow for a particular subject? Which subjects to concentrate more on? And so on.
How to start the preparation without taking any help of coaching?
Well-planned strategy is a difficult part for the aspirants who are preparing without any coaching. Aspirants can take the help of strategy of UPSC toppers or from the other aspirants and those who had cleared the exam earlier to get a better sense of how they divided the topics and subtopics of each subject and complete it in an allotted time.
The biggest challenge of UPSC exam is its vast syllabus especially for those aspirants who prepare without any coaching. Aspirants must study the syllabus and analyse previous question papers before starting their preparation. It will help you in understanding the trending topics, also about the marks distribution.
Start your preparation with something as basic as reading NCERT books (class 6 to 12th) of History, Polity, Economy, Geography, and General Science. You can buy the book or you can easily find the pdf online on various sites.
Aspirants who are preparing with self study they don’t have any idea how to study for prelims and mains: separately or in an integrated manner. Many aspirants study for prelims and mains separately, not following a comprehensive study for both the levels. However both are considered as one examination, students must make a plan in that manner they cover the entire syllabus before appearing in the preliminary examination. Make monthly, weekly and daily targets to efficiently cover the entire UPSC syllabus. Make small targets that are achievable. It’s better to keep the weekends for revision so that you don’t forget what you’ve read. Stick to that plan because consistency plays a very important role in the preparation of the civil services exam. Doing so will help you in concept building and concept retention.
Take the help of online sources
Online sources are very helpful for those aspirants who are doing preparation without any coaching but the condition is identify a good, relevant and trusted online source and stick to it. Aspirants can refer the toppers blog in which they suggested many relevant online sources such as many websites like BestCurrentAffairs.com. It helps in keeping updated with whatever is happening around. It is an effective means to stay updated. Most important thing is stick to one ‘trusted’ source. Instead of referring to 10 different sources at a time, it’s better to refer to one 10 times.
How to prepare optional?
Candidates should take up such an optional in which they have more than a passing interest, and which has the maximum syllabus overlap with that of General Studies, or in which they have some previous background (graduation/post graduation) subjects. So, they can easily prepare without any coaching. For answer writing they can prefer toppers answer copies and newspaper.
Role of newspapers
Newspapers play a very important role in the UPSC preparation of those aspirants who are preparing without any coaching. Do not read the newspaper from first page to last page. Concentrate on the main issues or you can follow any UPSC related telegram channel in which they post important news and editorials. For better understanding aspirants can follow any one You Tube channel for the Daily editorial analysis and daily news analysis.
A newspaper is very efficient in yielding high results because it has a bundle of knowledge in it.
From an exam viewpoint, there many segments in a newspaper
- Events (that gives facts and figures)
- Issues (provides views and reviews that help in developing an individual’s understanding and opinion on contemporary subject)
Aspirants can also enrich their main answer writing with the help of newspapers.
How to do mock tests without joining any test series for prelims and mains?
UPSC Prelims 2023: For mock tests, students can buy the test series of various coaching. Test series by BestCurrentAffairs.com is the Best and Comprehensive. They cover full syllabus of GS, CSAT and Current Affairs in their 100 Tests. They are easily available in the market or you can download via online. In these test series explanation of answers are also given so it helps the aspirants to analyse their performance. Aspirants must buy the OMR sheets and solve the mock tests on them in a time bound manner.
Mains answer writing practice: If aspirants don’t want to join any coaching for answer writing then they must form a small peer group for mutual assistance. Two to three dedicated aspirants are enough. That is the only way you can improve as you would have some others to learn from and better yourself both ways. In the beginning aspirants can write summary of editorials of newspaper The Hindu or The Indian Express in your own language. There are many books available on writing proper answers and some with solved previous year papers. You can write your answers and refer to those books for comparison.
Aspirants can also prefer toppers answer writing copies which are available online. With the help of toppers answer copies you will get the idea of how to use the flow charts, diagrams in the answer. Aspirants can take the help of newspaper for the enrichment of answer or they can refer the various government data such as BestCurrentAffairs.com, pib, NitiAayog@75, magazines like Yojana and kurukshetra.
Students who are preparing without any coaching remember self discipline and determination is very important for this examination.
During the preparation of the civil services exam the first step is to prepare your mind to face the toughest exam psychologically. Aspirants should try to develop the attitude of self-control, self-discipline and self-determination. This will make the aspirant strong and confident and helps to crack the exam in a first attempt.
Revision
Revision is very important if aspirants want to crack UPSC exam without any coaching and in a very first attempt. No matter how easy the topic is, one must revise once a day. Aspirants must go through the books and read in a thorough manner and cover each book at least thrice. This method has to be followed for each and every course book from NCERT books to standard books. This process is tiresome but this way of reading books is always fruitful.
Final stage: How to prepare for the interview without join any mock interviews?
The interview only depends on the attitude of aspirants and the way of answering. UPSC interview doesn’t go for “test of knowledge” they go for “test of personality”. So candidates don’t need to join any mock interviews.
Develop a habit of thinking. It’s very important for the aspirants who don’t want to join any mock interviews. It helps the aspirants in terms of forming linkages of a given subject or topic with other issues. During an interview, a lot of cross questioning happens and this method helps the aspirants with being thoroughly prepared on any given topic.
For example: if you read any article related to Fundamental Rights it must remind you of Fundamental Rights and its related aspects already covered in the textbooks.
Talk to your parents, friends, room-mates or whosoever is nearby. In the worst case, you can talk to yourself. Ask questions related to issues that come across and talk on how they can be resolved. This will help adding innovation to your thinking capabilities, while also helping tighten grip on the topic. Believe it this activity works to qualify the exam in first attempt without joining any mock interview.
At last don’t indulge in unnecessary information gathering. Have an exam orientation and do smart work. Study smartly and selectively. Remember, “No one is 100% perfect, nor do you need to be a perfectionist”. If you are thorough with your studies and revision, have faith in yourself and go ahead crack the exam in a very first attempt.
“Soldiers on a battlefield, they don’t have many “attempts” to survive and that is what makes them push their limits & emerge victorious…”
Wish you all the best for your preparation.
