Getting Started: Mistakes You May Avoid

Ashutosh

One needs at least 10-12 months to prepare well for this exam. The first few months of the preparation are the most difficult one. This is more so, when there is no one around to guide and show the way. One is likely to get lost in the vast syllabus and umpteen books prescribed for the exam. I was thoroughly lost, when I started with my preparation. Committed several mistakes in the course of preparation; learnt from them and ensured that they were not repeated next time around.

Tanvi

I totally agree with Ashutosh,a year's preparation is a must especially for students who take up optionals which are completely alien to them.I picked up Sociology and Public Administration despite my graduation in Engineering and believe me it took me soooo loooong to learn what had to be read in what manner and how to express the same in lucid language :).....I kept floundering in the dark till by consistent trial and error I learnt the same...The mistakes committed by you in these initial few months would push you back by a few months to even a year(ask me,I wasted an attempt 'cos of this!)....to avoid a tragedy of such magnitude :).

Try to avoid the mistakes that we committed in the course of our preparation. To help you do so, we have tried answering some of the questions that many of us grapple with in the first few months.

1.Is collecting study material a good idea?

Ashutosh

Do not be in a hurry to collect all possible books available in the market on a particular subject. Reading few standard books well, is likely to fetch more marks than reading several books. Try and speak to some of the successful candidates (or read their interview) and based on your interaction with them, you can make a detailed list of the books to be studied. You must further narrow down this list to include only such books that have been recommended by a majority of the successful candidates. My enthusiasm led me to buy several books, some of which I did not even look at in the course of preparation.

Tanvi

Its true,collecting too many books in the initial stage will be intimidating and might make cracking cse seem like an insurmountable task.A basic booklist should be prepared before you start based on guidance given by seniors who have qualified.Though, I do suggest reading a few books thoroughly in the initial stage and then to expand your reading to cover a few relevant chapters(in accordance to the syllabus)from other books or reference material .

2.What to sudy and how to go about it?

Ashutosh

Start your preparation with the standard text books, especially, when you are a studying a subject for the first time. Get your concepts clear, and then you can gradually move on to the next level. For instance, for main-2008, I began my pub ad preparation by reading Mohit Bhattacharya’s “New Horizons of Public Administration”. While, it is an excellent book, it might be more useful for the beginners to start with Laxmikant on Pub ad, which is an easy read and explains concepts much more simplistically. I learnt from my mistake, and for the main 2009, relied heavily on Laxmikant. It rekindled my interest in the subject and reading Mohit Bhattacharya now made more sense than before.

Tanvi

Well,there are three kinds of civil services aspirants, the kind who read only chaalu notes, the kind who read as if there is a phd to be done at every topic of every subject and the kind who stick to standard textbooks only...my advice is that you would have to be each one of these at different points of time :)

Start as Ashutosh says from a basic textbook esp if the subject is completely new to you...for eg,in Sociology and most of General Studies portion,the basic textbooks would be NCERT class XI,XII....then you would proceed to a standard textbook for eg Bipan Chandra for Modern Indian History....then you would look at the syllabus and the kind of questions asked...and its only then that you would refer to these notes in the market,study material but be careful do pick and choose,do not buy randomly...I did buy books like a maniac so,now I have this huge collection of stuff most of which I touch only to remove the cobwebs ;)

3.Is making notes important?If it is,how should you do it?

Ashutosh:

I was in the habit of making notes. However, I did not do it very smartly. My suggestion would be: Do not make any notes in the course of your first reading. Use first reading to familiarize yourself with the topic. In your second reading, you can start making notes. Your notes should be concise and preferably in points, so that you can do few quick revisions before the exam. There is absolutely no point in reproducing everything you have read, in the form of notes. Leave ample space at the end of each topic, so that you can add on more information that you might collect from various sources.

Tanvi:

Note Making is important especially if you are from a science/engg background and have completely switched over to humanities 'cos its important to inculcate a writing capability specific to the demands of your optional.But like Ashutosh says , dont make it in your first reading,preferably it should be done in your third reading(yes, you would have to read the same stuff at least three times!)....some of the topics can be in the form of exhaustive notes like Thinkers and Theories because only when you know them well can you apply them to the analytical questions so popular with the upsc nowadays....for others see the syllabus ,see the questions asked and then make pointers...for some other topics that were say completely given in a book I would xerox it and put it my notes...this made my notes organised and in one place,so I didnt have to sift through the 100 books that I had during revision time!I also used to make it in A4 size punched white sheets with margins on both sides (just like a upsc mains answer sheet) and put everything in an organised manner in a spiral folder...this would ensure that you know how much you are writing and also let you add more stuff easily....Let me give you the format for more clarity...

FIRST PAGE

Paper 1,Topic 1

List of sub topics -books/material referred,(I put big question marks next to topics I had no idea about :) )...Its important in case you want to refer back to the book esp when you cant understand your own pointers after giving prelims ;D!

SECOND PAGE

Topic

Sub topic 1:

List of questions asked from past years question papers with the year/(s) when they were asked and whether they were asked in the form of short notes and/or long answers alongwith arrows interlinking subtopics in case a question relates to more than one issue.

(This will help you understand the trend and hence , its here that you will truly understand what NOT to study !)

Sub Topic 2:

The same thing........

THIRD PAGE:

If it related to the few topics that you are going to cover exhaustively...write down a framework of how you aim to do so for eg who's name would come under what theory,who criticised what and what future trends if any

If its amongst the topics(dont worry,majority of the topics fall under this!) that you aim to cover through pointers do that say with an intro,body and conclusion all in bullet form

This note making process is only with respect to an optional like Sociology or Law(in the case of Ashutosh),with a subject like Public Administration a wide reading with pointers should suffice.

In the case of General studies please donot attempt the mistake of trying to make notes...you cant possibly tame an ocean right!Make 3 things as your starting point: 1.NCERT books,2.a standard textbook for each portion,3.Vaji Ravi Ram or some other dependable coaching notes of GS as your base,then make pointers from or cut out relevant articles from The Hindu alongwith with print outs of appropriate online resources,like Wikipedia ;)

3.So much to do ....how do you manage?

By sticking to Schedule:

Ashutosh

Make a balanced schedule and try to stick to it. Allocate time for each subject. We tend to focus more on topics that we are already familiar with. Doing so might be alright from the prelim perspective, but avoid doing that for the main preparation. Both the optional and the GS carry equal weightage in the main examination. Therefore, it is important to do well in every paper rather than just one paper. I did not enjoy reading pub ad much, especially paper-I, but I had to force myself to study it. Similarly, as much as I hated Science and technology, I had no option but to study it. My aim was to do reasonably well in every paper rather than scoring excellent marks in just one of the optional.

Tanvi

A schedule of study is a must esp after the prelims...your aim should be to identify the short(weekly),medium(monthly),long(till 15-20 days before the exam) term goals for GS and the two optionals and try to stick to it...have a daily target(realistic!) with a little flexibilty thrown in for eg if you dont feel like studying History for General Studies take up one optional instead....and please don't judge your progress by the number of hours you put in on a day to day basis...everyone has their own way of studying with varying outputs for the same number of hours put in....remember no one here is a study-robot,everyone takes breaks just make sure the break is not as long as your study hour :)

Also,I agree with Ashutosh, you have to do average to above average in every subject including GS so,please don't ignore any subject esp if you dont want to appear again for the prelims ;)

By studying smartly:

Ashutosh

Clearing the exam with a good rank was my only goal throughout. Pursuit of knowledge was only incidental to my primary goal. Please remember, you are not studying for a doctorate but for a competitive exam. You will have to be very clear about what to study and how much to study? In depth study of the entire syllabus is extremely difficult and time consuming. Therefore, it is important to delineate the important areas and pay great attention to them in the course of preparation. However, this is not to suggest that you should not cover the entire syllabus. I am only suggesting that your efforts should be directly proportionate to the importance of the topic.

Tanvi

Ashutosh is right, you should be able to identify what's important and what's not...the next question would be how to do that?

There are no short cuts here,it will take you some time...you would have to read the basic material,have a conceptual understanding,then you could look at the old question papers(before doing the spadework if you look at a new optional's question papers you would definitely end up feeling like a loser!) ...it's only after this, can you reorient yourself to whats more relevant and important.You also need to understand that you can only delineate important topics in your optionals,GS on the other hand needs wide reading where you should have a "general" overview of everything under the sun with a special focus on current news items.

4.Is joining a Coaching Institute absolutely necessary?:

Ashutosh

Join an institute only after you are convinced that you will get the best possible guidance there. I did not join any institute for law and pub ad, since, I did not see any value being added to my preparation. You must talk to as many people as possible before zeroing on to any institute. There is absolutely no point in wasting your time and money on third class institutes.

Tanvi

I have unfortunately wasted alot of my parent's money on coaching which were well,disasterous for me....so , now I see my name splashed across ads for coachings some of which in effect pulled me down,and then there are some others that were encouraging in the sense that, I felt I knew more than the teacher himself!....its sad the way I was mislead as a newcomer by pictures and ranks of qualified candidates...now others would be too :( .....so if you are really underconfident that you won't be able to manage your optionals and GS(I was!) and you need the kind of discipline and study group that a coaching can give you...do meet the teacher under whom you intend to study,see his communication skills as well,also ask other students who already have studied under that teacher,check out the pros and cons before joining a coaching...remember a poorly exercised choice would not only result in wastage of your parent's hard earned money but also waste something which is priceless,your time.

The only full fledged coaching which really helped me was Vaji Ravi and Ram's Mains coaching for GS which I took for my first mains....also,I do believe that a good Test Series can prove to be a blessing,I think it worked for me.A "good" test series would be:

one which is regularly held so that your preparation takes place in a time bound manner,

which is of upsc ie not too high(too demoralising) nor too low a standard(can make you overconfident),

which evaluates you in such a comprehensive manner that you can identify and improve upon your weakpoints ....

I know that I am repeating myself but do ask around before you join any coaching institute...its placing your career at risk,good guidance can push you forward and a bad coaching can well,place you at a sub-zero level where first,you would have to unlearn then, relearn the same thing , all on your own...How I wish that I was as smart as Ashutosh was :) (point to be noted: smartness here credited only wrt decisions regarding coaching ;D!)