Prelims Startegy by Prajnanandan Giri AIR 24

FAQ on Prelims strategy below with things to focus on in the coming 45 days -

Modern History -

      1. Proper revision of Spectrum Modern History with focus on the summaries given in last page of every topic & the last few pages of the book

      2. Focus on chronology, contributions of Viceroys/GGs, committees, books, newspapers etc published during Freedom struggle.

     3. Ensure that none of the questions coming directly from Spectrum should be missed.

Ancient & Medieval History with Art & Culture -

     1. Revise 11th-12th NCERT/Tamilnadu textbook/Nitin Singhania properly

     2. Sometimes questions are factual and random, which can be skipped in exam

     3. Rather focus on questions that are direct from textbook like chronology and timelines of kings/empires, Architectures, Buddhism & Jainism related Qs.

Geography -

1. NCERT 11th, 12th, GC Leong - Revise Physical Geography part with conceptual clarity

  2. Should be thorough with India and World map - Both physical & political maps- before prelims

For History and Geography, I would recommend the revision classes by Pratik Nayak and Sudarshan Gurjar respectively on Unacademy.

(Only if you have time left after textbook revision)

Polity & Governance -

1. Laxmikant - As much revision as possible based on your retention ability

2.  Questions nowadays are mostly conceptual. So proper understanding of the constitution is expected.

3. Maximise solving of MCQs from Polity as a method of revision and brainstorming.

International Relations -

PT 365 of VisionIAS is recommended to glance over the recent developments.

Economy -

Classes and Notes by Mrunal Patel Sir is enough and must be revised properly. That's enough to attempt 90% of Economics questions in prelims.

Environment -

1. Environment book by Vaishali Anand -          

(i) To cover the developments of various climate summits, conventions, acts etc

       (ii) To cover basic concepts on ecosystem (for non-biology students)

2. PT 365 for recent developments (most important)

3. Remember locations of Wetlands, National parks, Tiger Reserves, Bird sanctuary etc

Additional Tips -

1. Remove the fear of MCQs

2. Practice MCQs as much as possible

3. Better to start from sectional tests, then go for full length tests

4. Target 30+ '2 hrs long tests' in next 45 days

5. Try to attempt full length paper within 1.5 hours ( I used to do in 1 hour in online mocks)

6. Try be strong with static topics (It also helps in Mains)

7. Ensure that easy to moderate questions are attempted correctly, minimising silly mistakes.

8. I used to start from Q1 and go till Q100. I used to fill the OMR sheet after every 20 questions. (This removes the last minute rush)

9. I used to attempt questions in 3 rounds.

i) Attempt easy to moderate questions as much as possible (60-70)

ii) Those difficult questions where I may be 50% sure (20-25)

iii) Where I am 25% sure (3-5 at max) - May be avoided

Suggested Mock Tests -

1. Vision Sectional + FLT + Abhyaas Test series with All India Rankng

2. ForumIAS

3. Rau's IAS

4. Unacademy (For practice of easy to moderate questions)

I used to attempt Unacademy Combat, 1:1 Live battle, Practice MCQs on the Unacademy App. This helped develop faster MCQs solving ability.